Zebra at the Zoo Read online

  CHAPTER 7

  THE next day was trip day. Alex almost forgot his permission slip.

  He had to go back home for it.

  He left the kitchen door open a little bit. Maybe Oreo would come home.

  “Let’s go,” the teacher said after the pledge.

  Everyone raced to the side of the room.

  They weren’t going far. Just down Zoo Lane and into the zoo.

  “We’re about to meet a man named Clem,” Mrs. Hall said. “He knows all about animals. ‘The wilder the better,’ he says.”

  Alex nodded to himself.

  On the way, he kept an eye out for Oreo.

  Alex was tired. He’d stayed awake last night. He kept waiting to hear her meow at the door.

  Dad had come in. He hadn’t seen her either.

  Now Clem waited for them in a large room. The walls were covered with pictures: llamas, bears, bobcats, and even a chicken.

  Or maybe it was a rooster.

  “Grab a seat,” Clem said.

  Alex sat next to Luke, the new boy.

  Lucky Luke. His father was the zoo doctor. He could see the baby animals whenever he wanted.

  Clem went to the chalkboard. He drew a bunch of circles in a line.

  He was a terrible artist.

  The circles were lopsided. So were the lines that joined them.

  Alex tilted his head. Was Clem drawing a necklace like Mom’s? A chain anyway.

  He must have said it aloud.

  “Yes,” Clem said. “A food chain. These lines link them together.”

  Luke raised his hand. “My dad said if one group of animals is extinct, everything goes wrong.”

  “Yes!” Clem pointed to the first circle. “These might be grasses.”

  “I’ve got it,” Luke said. “A rabbit eats the grass.”

  Clem smiled. “And then a hawk is hungry. It needs food.”

  Mitchell nodded. “The hawk pounces on the rabbit.”

  “One thing depends on another,” Clem said. “All the way up….”

  He drew an X over the first circle. “Suppose there was no grass? What would happen to the rabbit? And then to the hawk?”

  Mrs. Hall was nodding.

  “Think of that as you write,” Clem said. “Learn what’s happening in your animal’s world. How is it part of the food chain?”

  He grinned at them. “And now, there’s lunch in your world! I hope it’s good.”

  Outside, the class stopped at the park area to eat.

  Alex watched a llama behind them. Its cheeks were moving. It looked like a cow chewing its cud.

  A llama would have been better than writing about a wolf.

  Much better.

  He’d talk to Mrs. Hall. Maybe she’d let him pick a different animal.

  He tried to think. No one had picked the llama.

  And what about a bear?

  He thought about polar bears, who lived in the ice and snow.

  He had to talk Mrs. Hall into a great animal. He just had to.

  CHAPTER 8

  THE next day was Saturday.

  School would wait until Monday. He’d talk to Mrs. Hall then.

  Today he’d go back to the zoo. He’d search for Oreo. She had to be somewhere.

  He had to find her.

  If only she hadn’t sneaked into Wolves’ World or Lions’ Lair.

  If only she was all right.

  Would she be hungry? Or maybe thirsty?

  He’d race home with her. He’d fill her bowl with cool water. He’d give her a plate of kibbles.

  She’d have everything she needed.

  Later, he’d come back to see the wolves. Maybe Mrs. Hall wouldn’t change her mind.

  “I’ll be back soon, Mom,” he called.

  He passed Nana-Next-Door on his way.

  “Off to the zoo?” she asked. “Lucky guy.”

  He nodded. Usually he’d stop to talk to her. But there was no time today.

  He darted around the corner. He rushed through the open gates.

  “Oreo,” he called. “Please come home.”

  But then he saw Callie. She was sitting on a bench. It was near the red panda’s forest. He walked past her.

  Was she crying?

  He looked back. Yes. Her face was red.

  She reached up. She wiped her eyes on the edge of her shirt.

  What was the matter? Why was she crying?

  She saw him. She turned away quickly.

  He took another step. Then he stopped. He sank on the bench near her.

  What could he say?

  He saw the red panda. She was sharpening her claws on a tree.

  He heard Callie sniffle.

  “What’s the matter?” he said at last.

  “Nothing,” she said. “Why are you sitting here?”

  He said it before he thought. “Maybe I could help.”

  She didn’t say anything.

  The panda was chewing something now. He’d read that they ate roots and acorns. They liked fruit.

  Sometimes they ate young birds and birds’ eggs. They were part of the food chain.

  He waited awhile. “What’s the matter?” he asked again.

  She spread her hands. “Just everything.”

  “Me too,” he said. “Everything.”

  “I don’t know one thing about wild animals,” Callie said.

  “Then why did you pick the red panda?”

  He tried not to sound angry.

  “I have a panda at home,” she said.

  “Really?”

  “Not a real one. But I sleep with it at night. I’m afraid of the dark.”

  Sometimes he was afraid of the dark too. He never told anyone that.

  “And my mom has allergies,” she said.

  What did that have to do with pandas?

  “She won’t let me keep my cat, Zebra.”

  “That’s an odd name for a cat,” he said.

  Callie didn’t answer for a moment. She wiped her eyes. “How can I just let her go? She’ll be so hungry and thirsty.”

  Everyone had a cat worry, Alex thought.

  But Callie was right. How could you just let a cat go?

  “I don’t know what to do about anything,” she said

  “I guess I could tell you about the red panda,” he said.

  He leaned forward.

  Why had he said that?

  She turned to look at him. “I know you wanted the panda. I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head. “The red panda’s name in Latin is colored cat.”

  What else? He tried to think. Yes. “They have a tail with rings. There’s an almost real thumb on their wrists. It helps them climb.”

  He was out of breath.

  Callie was staring at him.

  “I’ll try to think of more,” he said.

  “Even this is a lot,” she said. “Thank you.”

  She took a breath too. “Would you like to have a cat?”

  He shook his head. Did she see he was almost crying?

  He couldn’t say any more.

  He just wanted his own cat.

  And he thought his own cat wanted him.

  CHAPTER 9

  IT was Monday again.

  What could he say to Mrs. Hall? He’d write about almost any animal. If only it wasn’t the wolf.

  Mrs. Hall was standing in the schoolyard.

  “Alex,” she called when she saw him.

  She began to talk before he did.

  “I have something for you,” she said. “A book I love.”

  She reached into her back-pack. She pulled it out. “I thought of you all weekend.”

  He opened his mouth.

&n
bsp; “It’s about wolves.” She handed it to him. “I’ve been waiting to give it to you.”

  “Thanks,” he said. How could he ask her to change animals now? What would she think?

  “People don’t like wolves,” she said. “But I know you do. You’ll love the gray wolf. And the red wolf is almost extinct.”

  He had to say something.

  Say anything, he told himself.

  “I’ll read it as soon as I can. All of it.”

  “You’ll be a terrific wolf boy,” she said.

  The bell rang. There wasn’t time for more.

  He headed for his line.

  “Have fun with it,” Mrs. Hall called. “Read and then write.”

  “I will,” he said.

  He had to!

  He stood behind Callie.

  “Good,” she said. “I wanted to ask you. Do you cry a lot?”

  What a thing to ask!

  “I was wondering about it,” she said.

  “Everyone says that’s babyish,” he said after a minute.

  He hoped no one was listening.

  “You were crying at the zoo,” she said.

  “I had a good reason.”

  If he told her why, he really would cry.

  But she was waiting. He had to say something.

  “I lost my cat. She’s somewhere in the zoo.”

  “Your cat?” Her hand went to her mouth.

  She said it again. “Your cat.”

  “I don’t know what happened to her.”

  The line was moving. But Callie stood still. “What does she look like?”

  “She has a long skinny tail.” He ran his fingers up and down in the air. “She has black-and-white stripes.”

  “Zebra!” Callie grabbed his arm.

  “I know what happened. Let me tell you.”

  The rest of the line moved around them.

  “A black-and-white cat was wandering around,” Callie said. “I picked her up…”

  “You found my cat?” He was crying now.

  “Yes.” Callie twirled. “I’m so happy. The cat will be happy. My mom will be happy.”

  “I’ll be happy,” Alex said.

  They began to walk with the line.

  Oreo would be back home this afternoon. Zebra!

  What could be better?

  He didn’t even mind writing about wolves.

  Maybe he’d find out what Clem had been telling them about food chains.

  What a great school year this was turning out to be. And even Callie was a new friend.

  WHAT ALEX WROTE

  THE WOLF

  Many Native Americans say that wolves teach us how important family is. They learn to hunt for food together. The Ojibwa consider wolves to be great teachers to humans.

  A pack of wolves could be called a family. There’s a mother, a father, and young wolves.

  They take care of each other. They hunt together. And they help other animals. As soon as they kill, ravens fly down to eat. Coyotes wait until the wolves leave. Then they have a meal.

  And wolves may leave fast. Bears chase them. They want to eat too.

  Wolves are part of the food chain. But some wolf families are endangered. What would happen if they were gone? The chain would be missing a link. Zoos will see that this doesn’t happen.

  READ MORE OF THE

 

 

  Patricia Reilly Giff, Zebra at the Zoo

 

 

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