The Wild Place Adventure Series 3-Book Bundle by Karen Hood-Caddy

Author:Karen Hood-Caddy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Published: 2014-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Robin and Zo-Zo made their way to the back of the bus. As they did, their classmates called out “oink” or “moo.” Some held up flattened palms for high-fives, and others shouted “boo” or “way to go, Zo!”

“Zo-Zo, you were awesome,” Robin said as soon as they sat down.

“Thanks. I was scared. At first, anyway.”

“You didn’t look it. Even when people jeered —”

“I’ve got my dad to thank for that. He shouted stuff at me, just like they did, when we were practising. He says that anyone who does anything cool always gets jeered, at the start anyway. Like I said in the speech. It’s just what happens.”

Zo-Zo pulled a can of pop from her bag and took a long sip. “A lot of kids jeered, but some said they wanted to help. Maybe I should start an animal rights group.”

“I’d join,” Robin said.

Zo-Zo smiled. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to burn down any research labs. Not in the first week anyway.” She nudged Robin hard. “Kidding, Robs, kidding!”

Robin hoped so. But with Grizzly involved now, anything was possible.

“Did you mean that about not eating meat?”

Zo-Zo grimaced. “I think the vegetarians are right. You can’t love animals and slaughter them at the same time.”

“Griff thinks you can. She even hunts sometimes.”

“Maybe in the olden days when people had to kill animals to survive, but not anymore. Grizzly doesn’t eat meat. I’m not going to either.” She took another sip of her pop. “When I was little, I used to fight with my mom about eating meat. She used to make me. Told me that I’d, like, get sick if I didn’t.”

Robin shrugged. “I’ll never forget the day my dad told us that hotdogs came from pigs! I swore I wouldn’t eat one ever again. I only held out for a month, but Ari held out for three whole months.”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. How did the spying thing go?”

Robin lowered her voice. “She hardly ate anything!” She told Zo-Zo about the deception over the fruit and sandwich.

“She’s hiding things all right,” Zo-Zo said. “Does she do that thing with laxatives too?”

Robin shrugged. She didn’t know. She’d read how people with eating disorders took laxatives to flush food through their systems. Did Ari do that? She’d better check out Ari’s purse.

Zo-Zo squeezed her soda can so hard it bent. “Are you going to tell somebody?”

“They’ll freak….”

Zo-Zo filled her cheeks with air until they looked like balloons, then blew the air out. “I know, but you’ve got to tell. Even if they do freak.”

“I wish I could help her without telling anyone.” When she’d been in grade five, she’d failed two math tests. When Ari had found out, she’d spent hours with her, explaining things, giving her mock tests and correcting them. She told the story to Zo-Zo now.

“By the end of the year,” Robin said. “I got the third-highest mark in the class. Ari wanted me to get the highest mark, but I thought third was pretty good.”

“Ari aces school, doesn’t she?”

Robin nodded.

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