Monkey Madness by Anna Wilson

Author:Anna Wilson [Wilson, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781447261520
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books

Mum groaned. ‘No! You didn’t?’

Felix suddenly understood. ‘You – you threw the puppy to the crocodile?’ he said, his voice small.

Bibi nodded. ‘It was the saddest thing I have ever done. But imagine how sad my parents would have been to lose me and the puppy? This way, only one of us was sacrificed. This is what life is like in Africa, Felix. It can be hard.’

Felix’s throat was dry. He could not think of anything to say.

Zed put his arm around him and gave him a squeeze.

Bibi hastily turned his attention back to the road and said, ‘I think we should see what the guinea fowl were warning us about, don’t you?’

He drove on, causing the birds to scatter from the path. The jeep went careering through the scrubby landscape, jolting and jarring over dips and ruts in the ground.

‘Safari Rule Number One,’ said Bibi. ‘Do not leave the road.’

He immediately swerved off the road and into the bush.

‘Whooah!’ Mum shouted, as she was thrown to left and right. ‘What’s happening?’

Bibi looked over his shoulder and grinned. ‘Safari Rule Number Two – ignore Rule Number One!’ he cried, stepping on the accelerator.

‘I-I d-don’t like thiiiis,’ Mum said. Her voice wobbled in time to the shaking of the vehicle and her face was white. ‘Clive, ask him to stop!’

But as soon as she said this, Bibi braked and slowed right down, saying, ‘Lion tracks! Shhh!’

Felix thought it was a bit silly being told to ‘shh’ when the jeep engine was making so much noise, but then something occurred to him. ‘We’re not being ch-chased by l-lions, are we?’ His voice sounded bumpy too.

‘WHA-AT?’ Mum cried.

Bibi called back. ‘Do not worry, Mma. It is we who are doing the chasing – look down and you will see tracks going away from us. At this time of day, the lions will be hunting – for animals, not humans,’ he added hastily.

Felix tried to look over the side of the jeep, but he was not sure what lion tracks would look like in this dusty earth. How could Bibi have spotted them while driving along? He added this to his ever-lengthening Mental List of things he wanted to ask about later.

Bibi began driving again, but more carefully this time.

‘Lean in, dude,’ Zed whispered into Felix’s ear.

‘Why?’ Felix asked. ‘Would a lion jump on top of me?’

‘Ooohh,’ Mum quavered.

‘No, no. I meant cos of the sharp thorns on some of these bushes,’ Zed said, hugging Felix into him a little more tightly. ‘Don’t be scared, sis,’ he added to Mum. ‘Bibi wouldn’t take us into danger. Just do what he says and everything will be sweet.’

That’s when Felix saw them: two lionesses with four – no, six! – cubs.

This is more than ‘sweet’, he thought, as wonder rose up from his belly and squeezed his chest. This is magic! He trained the camera on them.

‘Oh, man!’ breathed Zed.

Bibi brought the jeep to a standstill. Then he turned to his passengers and beamed. ‘I will leave the engine turning over.

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