The Race Across Anaconda Swamp by Sharon Duke Estroff

Author:Sharon Duke Estroff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: West Margin Press

Chapter 11

When Daniel looked over the edge of the platform, he spotted a little monkey stranded on the roots of the tree below him. A tiny monkey. A wide-eyed, fuzz-headed monkey, stumbling around unsteadily like a furry toddler.

“That’s the same baby as before,” Joy said.

“The dumb one,” Daniel said.

“It must’ve fallen,” Kimani said.

Daniel chewed his lower lip. “Where’s its mother?”

“There!” Joy pointed at the troop of monkeys leaping through the forest. “Look, the grown-ups are already coming.”

“Thank goodness,” Kimani said.

The grown-up monkeys suddenly stopped a few trees away. One started shrieking, and a second later they were all growling and snarling.

“They sound scared,” Kimani said.

“Of us?” Daniel asked. “We’re, like, fifty feet away.”

Joy frowned. “Maybe they’re worried the baby will slip into the swamp or—”

“The anaconda!” Kimani said.

A moment later, Daniel spotted a ripple in the black swamp water heading toward them. It looked slow and lazy, but was getting closer to the baby monkey.

Daniel swallowed. “Don’t worry. The grown-up monkeys will save it.”

They didn’t though. The monkeys were too scared of the anaconda. They just shrieked louder, piercing cries that were echoed by what sounded like a thousand birds.

“I guess that’s an alarm call,” Kimani said above the din. “They’re warning other monkeys.”

“What about the little one?” Joy sounded like she was going to cry. “What are we going to do?”

“Can we climb down and get it?” Daniel asked.

Kimani shook her head. “These branches are too far apart.”

“Well, what do we have to work with?” he asked, looking around the platform.

“More driftwood.” Kimani rummaged through a pile of stuff jammed between the platform and the tree trunk. “Broken pottery and a bunch of sea glass.”

“Great,” Daniel said. “That’s a big help, mysterious drummer.”

“There’s a few vines past these huge leaves.” Joy reached for a ropy shape dangling down from above. “Ew! Slimy.”

Daniel spun toward her. “Are you sure that’s not another snake?”

“Snakes aren’t slimy,” Kimani said.

“Of course I’m sure!” Joy said, prodding the vine again. “Uh, but where is the snake?”

“Still in the water,” Kimani said. “She hasn’t spotted the baby yet.”

“Maybe she won’t,” Joy said.

“Maybe,” Kimani said, but she didn’t sound like she believed it.

“Oh!” Daniel said, eyeing a cluster of green fruit that hung over the platform from a neighboring tree. “There’s fruit!”

“I don’t care how hungry you are,” Joy snapped at him. “We’re not eating, we’re saving the baby!”

“I’m not—”

“And you ate an entire pizza before we got here.”

“I only had four slices,” he said. “But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“That’s the same fruit the monkeys were eating earlier,” Kimani said as she tugged her ponytail thoughtfully. “I know what you’re thinking, Daniel! That’s pretty smart.”

He ducked his head. “Thanks.”

“So, what are you thinking?” Joy asked him.

“We’ll pelt the snake.” He mimed throwing fruit at the swamp, toward the anaconda ripples that were spreading between the roots. “Maybe that’ll scare her off.”

“Uh,” Kimani said, “that’s not what I thought you were thinking.”

“Ha!” Joy laughed. “Not so smart after all.”

“No, no,” Kimani said. “I just thought we could use the fruit as bait.

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