Zebra at the Zoo Read online

  Text copyright © 2021 by Patricia Reilly Giff

  Art copyright © 2021 by Abby Carter

  All Rights Reserved

  HOLIDAY HOUSE is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  www.holidayhouse.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Giff, Patricia Reilly, author. | Carter, Abby, illustrator.

  Title: Zebra at the zoo / by Patricia Reilly Giff; illustrated by Abby Carter.

  Description: First edition. | New York : Holiday House, 2021.

  Series: Mysteries on Zoo Lane; book 3 | Audience: Ages 7–10.

  Audience: Grades 2–3. | Summary: Alex sneaks into the zoo to visit his favorite animal, but when a cat sneaks through the same hole and gets lost he must find her before any of the other animals do.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2020020617 | ISBN 9780823446681 (hardcover)

  ISBN 9780823449071 (paperback)

  Subjects: CYAC: Lost and found possessions—Fiction. | Zoos—Fiction.

  Zoo animals—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.G3626 Ze 2021 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020020617

  Hardcover ISBN 9780823446681

  Paperback ISBN 9780823449071

  Ebook ISBN 9780823449057

  a_prh_5.6.1_c0_r0

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  What Alex Wrote

  Read More of the Mysteries on Zoo Lane!

  CHAPTER 1

  SCHOOL again!

  Mom had bought Alex a new shirt. It was scratchy with lines going up and down.

  Worse, he was going to have that strict teacher, Mrs. Silver.

  “Hurry, Alex,” Mom called. “You don’t want to be late.”

  Alex really was in a hurry. First, he wanted to stop at the zoo.

  “See you later, Mom,” he yelled.

  She called something back. Was it about Oreo, his cat?

  He didn’t have time to wait. Not if he wanted to see the red panda.

  Not many were left in the world. Zoos were trying to save them.

  He’d stopped to see the panda every day this summer.

  He rushed down Zoo Lane and turned the corner.

  He slid to a stop.

  The huge iron gates were shut.

  The zoo wasn’t open yet.

  Never mind. He knew how to get in.

  He threaded his way along the outside.

  There were a million weeds.

  Maybe even poison ivy.

  Too bad. He knew there was a hole in the fence. It was large enough to crawl through.

  He could do it.

  He stopped on one foot. Was that the schoolyard bell? Were the kids lining up already?

  But there was the opening.

  He sank down and crawled through.

  He felt his shirt rip. Mom wouldn’t be happy.

  He went around the bushes and stood up.

  The panda’s forest area was along the path.

  Bamboo thickets grew there. Red pandas loved bamboo.

  He crossed his fingers. If only she wouldn’t be hiding.

  “Hey,” a voice yelled.

  Alex ducked.

  It was a keeper. He wore a baseball hat over his eyes.

  Alex had never seen him before.

  The iron gates slid across. The zoo was open.

  He looked up. The keeper’s hands were on his hips.

  Alex shook his head. If only he’d waited outside for a minute.

  “What are you doing here?” the keeper asked.

  He sounded angry. Worse than angry.

  “It’s the first day of school. It was my only chance to see the red panda.” He stopped to take a breath. “She’s the best.”

  “Enough!” the keeper said. “I’m taking you to the office.”

  “I’ll be late for school,” Alex said. “I’ll be in trouble.”

  “You’re in trouble now,” the keeper told him.

  Alex looked at the gate. It was only steps away.

  He took a chance.

  He ran.

  CHAPTER 2

  ALEX was a mess.

  His shirt sleeve was flapping. His jeans were dirty.

  He was the last one in the classroom.

  “Sit anywhere.” The teacher waved her hands around.

  Alex couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t the strict teacher. This one was new.

  Her hair hung down over her eyes.

  Alex dived into a seat next to the window.

  He could see the zoo from here. Some of it, anyway.

  He’d watch the leopards, panda, bobcats, and even the pack of wild wolves.

  Starting this summer, he had read about zoo animals.

  He’d learned about the red panda. She had lived in China and the Himalayan Mountains.

  It was cold there. Freezing.

  The panda had fur on the soles of her feet. It kept her warm.

  He was glad he could watch her from the window.

  He’d never be able to go to the zoo again. Not even to see Dad.

  Dad worked there every day. He made sure the animals had the food they needed.

  The zoo was Dad’s favorite place. And Alex’s too.

  Alex felt his eyes burning.

  But something else. Suppose the keeper came to school looking for him?

  What would happen?

  He tried not to think of it.

  He hunched up to look outside the window.

  Leopard babies were sleeping near the fence. Last year they were only fifteen pounds. Now they were about a hundred. Not really babies anymore.

  The new teacher clapped her hands.

  He took a last look outside.

  He saw a bobcat with its short tail. It was stalking something in the trees. Maybe a rabbit.

  Poor rabbit.

  The bobcat reminded Alex of his cat, Oreo. But Oreo had a long skinny tail. She had lots of black-and-white stripes.

  Alex turned to look at the teacher.

  He heard a wolf howling.

  Alex made a quiet wolf growl to himself.

  He was good at animal sounds.

  The girl next to him raised her hand. “Can I change my seat? Alex is growling at me.”

  “No, at myself,” he said. “I was thinking of wolves.”

  Maybe the teacher wasn’t listening. She was writing on the chalkboard: Zoo Animals.

  The girl made wolf claws at him with her fingers.

  What was her name?

  Callie. Right. The one with the ponytail. It was always swinging back and forth.

  The teacher dusted off her hands. “I love projects,” she said.

  Alex just had to tell her! “We made maps of the school last year,” he said.

  Could anything be worse than that?

  “Alex never raises his hand,” Callie said.

  “You’ll love this project,” the teacher told the class.

  She wrote her name on the chalkboard: Mrs. Hall.

  Alex looked out
the window.

  The bobcat was climbing a thin tree.

  If only Alex were at the zoo.

  He’d lean against the fence.

  He’d look at the bobcat up close.

  Most of all he’d say hello to the red panda.

  “We’ll do a project with the zoo,” the teacher said. “We’ll write about an animal.”

  Alex sat up. What was she saying?

  What could he do?

  He couldn’t go to the zoo.

  Not this year.

  Maybe never again.

  CHAPTER 3

  MRS. Hall smiled at them. “We’ll go around the room now. We’ll each choose an animal.”

  She pointed to the first row.

  Mitchell said, “Bear.”

  “Anteater,” Tori said.

  They went back and forth. “Prairie dog, otter, alligator.”

  Alex knew what he’d pick, of course. The red panda.

  She was his favorite. And he wouldn’t have to go to the zoo. He knew all about her.

  “Leopard,” Ellen said.

  Suppose someone picked the red panda?

  Lots of kids were before him. He couldn’t wait any longer.

  He yelled it out. “Red panda! They’re almost extinct. That means there aren’t many left in the world.”

  “Not fair,” Callie said. Her face was all scrunched up. “Alex is out of turn. And I wanted the panda.”

  “They’re not big,” Alex cut in. “But they’re fierce.”

  The teacher tilted her head. “You’re excited about this project, Alex. I see that.”

  She knew his name already. That was a surprise.

  “We’ll give Callie the panda,” Mrs. Hall said. “How about a wolf for you, Alex? You made a great wolf growl.”

  Wolves were the worst. They hunted small animals in a pack. Nothing could escape them.

  Mrs. Hall was looking at someone else.

  Alex gave it one more try. “I read about red pandas.” But Luke was talking. “Maybe a meerkat?”

  “Neat idea,” Mrs. Hall said. “That will be fun.”

  Alex put his head down on his desk.

  It was a long way to the weekend.

  It was even a long way to the end of this day.

  It was forever until summertime again.

  CHAPTER 4

  SCHOOL was over for the day. Alex turned into Zoo Lane.

  Nana-Next-Door was outside. She was digging in her garden.

  Her dog, Hero, shook himself. Mud sprayed all over the place.

  Never mind. He was a great dog.

  Nana looked up. She grinned. “Too hot for school. Right?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Hey.” She walked down the path. “You don’t look happy.”

  Hero walked with her. He left paw prints on the path.

  Alex bent down and hugged the dog.

  Out back, a lion roared.

  Or maybe it was a leopard. Did leopards roar?

  “What’s wrong?” Nana asked. “Is it something with school?”

  He raised his shoulders. “It’s everything.”

  He didn’t mean to say anything else.

  But he couldn’t stop.

  He told her about Callie and the red panda. “And now I’m stuck with the wolf,” he said.

  Nana tilted her head.

  “Even worse,” he said. “I can never go back to the zoo.”

  “Never is a long time,” Nana said.

  Was he going to cry? “This morning I snuck in early. A keeper saw me, so I ran.”

  Nana said, “Let’s see about all this.”

  She put her hands on his arms. “We’ll talk to the keeper.”

  He tried to swallow. And was that his heart hammering?

  “I might have run away too,” Nana said. “But we have to go back.”

  She threw her trowel in the weeds.

  Hero headed for the patio. He liked to nap in the shade.

  Alex couldn’t run away from Nana.

  But suppose the keeper was still angry?

  What then?

  Alex followed her along Zoo Lane.

  But he went slowly.

  If only he could change her mind.

  CHAPTER 5

  THE zoo was noisy this afternoon.

  Birds chittered. A raven cawed.

  Alex heard a wolf howl. It almost made him shiver.

  “You haven’t met Clem yet,” Nana said.

  He shook his head.

  “He’s a new keeper. He loves to take care of wild animals. He says they’re important.”

  “Does he wear a baseball hat?”

  “Sure,” Nana said. “It must be as old as he is.”

  Clem must be that keeper!

  They went through the iron gates and along the path.

  “Keep looking,” Nana said. “We’ll go toward the back.”

  Alex saw Callie running out of the zoo. Her ponytail was swinging.

  Up ahead was Wolves’ World. Inside, there were some trees, and bushes…

  And a pack of wolves, of course.

  They didn’t look friendly.

  But the keeper did. He grinned at them. He was wearing a blue baseball cap.

  It looked about a hundred years old.

  The keeper looked a hundred years old too.

  “That’s Clem,” Nana said.

  Alex shook his head at Nana. Clem wasn’t the one.

  Nana-Next-Door smiled back at Clem.

  “This is Alex,” she said. “He likes animals. He likes to talk too. But he’s had a little trouble today.”

  Clem pushed back his cap. He had almost no hair.

  He nodded at Alex. “I like kids who talk.”

  He pointed to a bench. “Let’s sit for a minute.”

  Alex sat at one end. It was hot. It still felt like summer.

  If only…

  There were too many “if onlys” to count.

  Then Alex saw another keeper. He had a baseball hat too.

  Alex was ready to run again.

  The keeper saw Alex too. He stopped.

  “I’m sorry,” Alex whispered.

  The keeper nodded. “All right, I guess. I’m worried about something else.”

  Alex took a breath.

  “A cat is in here somewhere,” the keeper said. “I hope she’s all right. I tried to catch her. She was just too fast for me.”

  “All these wild animals,” Clem said. “It’s dangerous for a cat.”

  Lucky that Oreo was home. She liked to sit under the kitchen table. She always waited for food.

  “I don’t know how it got in,” the keeper said.

  The hole in the fence! Alex almost said it aloud. But the zoo people would fix it then.

  And suppose the cat waited until the gates were closed?

  How could she get out again?

  Alex watched the keeper walk down the path again.

  He wasn’t in trouble anymore. He could come back to the zoo every day.

  He was worried about that poor cat, though. What if she went into Wolves’ World?

  Nana-Next-Door was smiling. “All right now, Alex,” she said. She gave his arm a pat.

  “This week we’re having a zoo project,” Clem said. “I talked to Mrs. Hall. She had everyone pick an animal. So we’re almost ready to begin.”

  Mrs. Hall. His teacher.

  Clem was talking about their class.

  “I want to see kids who write about wild animals,” Clem said. “And why we should save them.”

  Alex looked over his shoulder.

  The wolves were lying in the shade, half asleep.

  One of them was panting. Alex co
uld see its long tongue and its curved teeth.

  If only he could write about the red panda.

  But what could he say about a pack of wolves?

  Weren’t they cruel?

  Wasn’t everyone always afraid of them?

  And why not!

  Right now, one of them opened its mouth wide.

  It howled.

  Even Clem jumped. “That’s the way they talk to each other,” he said.

  Alex saw a baby wolf. It was tumbling over its mother.

  Clem nodded at him. “Something good in everything,” he said.

  “I guess,” Alex said.

  He wasn’t sure he believed it, though.

  CHAPTER 6

  MOM met him at the door.

  “Where have you been? Did you have a good day? I’ve been worried.”

  Mom liked to talk a lot too, Alex thought. “Don’t worry. I’m all right.”

  “I’m really upset about Oreo,” she told him.

  “Is she sick? Isn’t she under the table?”

  Mom shook her head. “I’ve looked through the house. She hardly ever gets outside. But I can’t find her.”

  Mom raised her shoulders. “She isn’t anywhere.”

  Alex felt his heart thumping again.

  The cat in the zoo!

  Was it his cat?

  “I’ll look for her outside,” he said.

  Mom nodded.

  Alex ran back to the zoo.

  It was still open.

  He ran up one path. Then he skittered down the next.

  He kept calling. But he didn’t see her.

  At last he went back home.

  Alex and Mom waited through dinner.

  Dad was still at the zoo. If only he’d find Oreo. He’d bring her home right away.

  Now Alex knew what Mom must have called to him this morning.

  Make sure you close the door.

  He hadn’t.

  It was his fault that Oreo was gone.