The Golden Monkey Mystery by Piu DasGupta

Author:Piu DasGupta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nosy Crow Ltd
Published: 2026-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Stumbling to her feet, Roma blinked. A pair of eyes blazed at her through the darkness, as orange as a bloody sunset. A great black panther was crouched in the undergrowth waiting to spring. Its eyes were fixed directly on Arabella. Perched on the rock, his back against the tree, Max was snoring.

Roma leapt forward. “Look it in the eye! DO NOT run!” she barked, stretching out a hand to restrain Arabella.

But it was too late. Arabella had already turned and bolted away from the creature across the glade. With a rasping snarl the panther sprang.

“STOP!” Roma ran in front of the beast. The panther stopped in its tracks and stared at her, nonplussed. Roma glared at it. “Be off with you!” she scolded. “Shoo! SHOOOOOOOO!” She waved her arms menacingly.

The panther paused, then took a step back.

“By Jove, what on earth is going on?” Max had woken up and was looking indignantly around. “Oh!” He spotted the panther and his eyes popped out on stalks.

“Shut up,” Roma hissed. “Fat lot of use you were on predator watch! Remind me not to use Boy’s Own magazine as a reference book.” Her panicked thoughts were racing faster than a cheetah, but she wasn’t about to let him know.

Max stared, speechless. Then he turned and began to scramble up the tree to the shelter of the machan.

“STOP!” cried Roma. But it was too late. The panther, as Roma well knew, was one of the most expert tree climbers in the jungle. One of its favourite practices was to haul its prey up a tree to enjoy it in peace without interference from rival predators. The machan would be the perfect place for it to dine on Max. It immediately shot up the tree after him.

“You idiot!” Roma waved wildly at Max to jump down. But the panther was already snapping at Max’s heels as he clung to the branches.

WHOOOSH!

A flying black furball of hissing, spitting fury dropped on to the panther’s head. The jungle cat gave a roar of confusion. It released its grip on the tree trunk and fell backwards to the ground, flipping over to land nimbly on its feet. It shook its head in rage, sending the furball flying in the air and into a wait-abit bush. Between the thorns, one blue and green eye peered out.

“Birala!” Roma’s face burst into a grin.

But all was not over. The panther, now wary of the furbolt-dropping tree, decided to turn its attention elsewhere. It readied itself to spring on Roma.

“Shoo! SHOOOOOOOOO!” Roma cried, glaring at the creature with all her might. Picking up a stone she hurled it towards, but not directly at, the beast. It bounced harmlessly a few paces away. The panther shrank back, unnerved by the missile.

“Go away! SHOOO!” Roma continued to scold, walking backwards in the direction of the ringing rock. Catching sight of the smooth round holes in the rock’s surface gave her an idea. Grabbing her knife, she struck it against the rock. An eerie

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