Monkey Mayhem (2 page)

A banging at the front door in the early morning startled all three Irwins out of their beds. It took Bindi a moment to remember where she was.

‘
Bonjour, bonjour. Excusez-moi?
' a strange man's voice shouted.

Bindi was pretty sure the visitor was speaking French. She opened the door to find a tall man wearing a suit and sporting a fancy moustache. ‘
Bonjour?
' he said with a deep voice.

‘G'day, I'm Bindi Irwin.' She reached out her hand and the man gave it a gentle shake.

‘Ah, good day to you too, I am Jermaine Indigo,' he said, with a heavy French accent.

Terri and Robert, who had now joined Bindi, were introduced to the Frenchman. Terri asked whether he was looking for a place to stay.

He chuckled. ‘
Non, non.
I am the owner of a boutique hotel called
the Tropicale Deluxe. You may have heard of it?'

The Irwins shook their heads.

With a small frown, he continued. ‘Ah well, never mind. I have recently opened the hotel a small distance from this quaint little ecolodge. When I heard the owners here had organised some friends to look after the place while they were away, I thought I would offer my help to you.'

‘Well, that is really kind of you, Mr Indigo,' smiled Terri.

‘Call me Jermaine,' Mr Indigo replied in his deep voice. He glanced around the lodge. ‘Where are all the staff? I expected them to open the door. I did not expect
to wake the Australian visitors.' He looked apologetically at Terri through his thick black eyelashes.

Bindi piped up. ‘Well, that's one thing you might help us with, Mr Indigo. We don't know. They were meant to be here to help us with the American tourists.'

‘Ah yes, your special guests,' said Mr Indigo, and twirled his moustache.

Robert frowned. He did not like the way this man was twirling his moustache in front of his mother. ‘Do you know where they've gone, Indigo?' he asked.

Terri looked at Robert. ‘Mr Indigo, Robert,' she corrected.

‘Hmmm,' answered Robert, watching the moustache and not liking it one little bit.

‘The locals in this area are rather superstitious. They have many customs that mean they can be unreliable. I tend to use French staff at my hotels.'

Terri looked surprised. ‘Well, from what Susan told me, she is very happy with the staff here. She said they're wonderful and are teaching her and her husband about the country and its incredible flora and fauna.'

‘Interesting,' Mr Indigo replied with an eyebrow raised. ‘Here is my business card. Please know I would
be happy to take your guests to the Tropicale Deluxe if there are any problems here.'

Terri shook her head. ‘That is very kind, Mr Indigo, but I'm sure we'll be fine. We'll go down to the local village and find out what's happened.'

‘
Au revoir
and good luck!' He went to give Terri a kiss on both cheeks, but Robert jumped between the adults and waved the Frenchman away, as though he was swatting a pesky fly.

After a delicious fresh fruit salad for breakfast, the Irwins made their way down a dusty road towards the local village. The group of tourists were scheduled to arrive later that night, and without staff, the family would have quite a job on their hands.

The local Malagasy people spoke their own dialect and a little French, but no English. While Terri went to talk to some local women, Bindi and Robert attempted to communicate with a small group of Malagasy children, who tried their best to understand what the Irwins were saying.

One child, who introduced himself as Berriman, nodded as Bindi
told them about the ecolodge being empty. He pointed to one of his hands, then pointed to his middle finger and raised it to his face, looking menacing. The other children all shivered with fright, nodding in agreement.

Bindi knew a bit about lemurs, and the aye-aye, a nocturnal lemur, was known for having a very long middle finger. That must be what the child was trying to show her.

She nodded at the group of kids. ‘Is there an aye-aye in the village?' she asked enthusiastically.

The children all squealed hysterically and ran away.

Robert turned to his sister.
‘You're usually beaut at making new friends, B.'

‘Not this time,' Bindi answered, bewildered.

Terri had no luck with the villagers either, so back at the ecolodge, the family started preparing for the guests' arrival. Robert had spotted a Parson's chameleon on the walk home, and was desperate to try to find more of the species Madagascar
had to offer. Instead, he was put to work sweeping out the guestrooms. He was not a happy little Wildlife Warrior.

Terri was busy in the kitchen, trying to work out what she could possibly cook for her visitors when Bindi appeared in the doorway, followed closely by a teenage Malagasy girl.

‘Guess what, Mum? Sylvie's come to help us with the meals for the visitors.'

Sylvie spoke quietly, in English. ‘I sometimes help with the cooking here when I'm not studying.'

Terri breathed a sigh of relief. It was one thing to cook for her own
kids in her own kitchen. It was quite another thing to cater for twenty guests at an ecolodge in a remote part of Madagascar!

Sylvie set to work, with Bindi helping out. Sylvie had two large raffia bags filled with fresh vegetables and fruit, and within a few minutes delectable smells were coming from the kitchen. The two girls chatted as they worked.

‘Sylvie, when I mentioned the aye-aye, the children in the village ran away,' said Bindi. ‘Did I say something wrong?'

Sylvie smiled. ‘Ah no, Bindi, it is not you. It is the children and their parents. Madagascar has a lot of
superstitions, and fear of the aye-aye is one of the most common.'

Bindi was curious. ‘But why be scared of such a cute little creature?' she asked, genuinely surprised.

‘Well, the superstitious elders in our village tell the children that to see an aye-ye is a very bad thing. Spotting an aye-aye means that someone is going to die.'

‘How strange!' said Bindi. ‘Madagascar is an island full of amazing creatures. Why would looking at one particular species mean that someone was going to die?'

‘There's no easy answer to that question, Bindi,' said Sylvie. ‘Our
people have told these stories for generations. Some villagers will even kill an aye-aye if they see one, to avoid bad luck.'

Bindi was outraged. ‘But that is so unfair! Isn't the aye-aye endangered?'

Sylvie nodded. ‘Yes, but it is very hard to police these things. There have been rumours of aye-aye sightings near the ecolodge, which is perhaps the reason why the staff have left.'

‘Why aren't
you
scared of being here?' asked Bindi.

‘My parents love the wildlife of Madagascar, and have brought their children up to respect nature
and the land, and to question old superstitions that will harm the island's creatures,' answered Sylvie.

Terri flew into the kitchen. ‘Okay, guys, we need to go and pick up our guests from the airport. I'll take the lodge minibus, and I'm sure I can handle the drive to the airport. How hard can it be?' she asked confidently.

Sylvie raised an eyebrow, gave a gentle smile but said nothing.

Three quarters of an hour later, Terri, Bindi and Robert were stuck in the minibus, only a few kilometres from the ecolodge. They were most definitely not moving. The scenery was beautiful, but that wasn't what was keeping them from
travelling further. A wayward herd of zebu – humped cattle – were strolling across the main road without a care in the world.

Robert and Bindi were feeling way more anxious than the cattle. ‘How long are those zebu going to take, Mum?' asked Bindi. ‘We'll be late to pick up the guests!'

Terri grumbled. ‘I know,' she replied. ‘I wasn't expecting zebu traffic congestion along the way!'

At last the cattle moved and the rest of the journey was super fast and bumpy as Terri raced towards the regional airport. After she swung the minibus into a parking space, Bindi and Robert jumped out with
their placard, which read ‘GUESTS FOR KILY ECOLODGE', and sprinted towards the arrivals gate.

When they reached the waiting area, they found Mr Indigo, the Frenchman, corralling a large crowd of American tourists. Neither Robert nor Bindi was pleased to see him there.

Bindi approached the guests. ‘Are you the tour group for Kily Ecolodge?'

A few of the tourists nodded but, before anybody could speak, Mr Indigo interrupted. ‘Aha. It's the Australian girl and her little brother.' He didn't look particularly pleased to see them either. He was one of
those people who could smile with their mouths but not with their eyes.

‘Hello, Mr Indigo,' said Bindi, politely. ‘What a surprise to find you here.'

‘I had a meeting about a freight delivery, and I chanced upon the arrivals hall at the very minute these weary American guests came through the gate. I thought I could offer my services.'

Terri arrived. ‘So sorry to keep you waiting, folks,' she said to the tour group. ‘My name's Terri and, believe it or not, we were stymied by a herd of zebu. You'll soon find out what an amazing array of wildlife there is to see in Madagascar.
If you'd just like to grab your luggage and follow me and my kids out to the car.'

As the travellers collected their belongings, Mr Indigo pulled Terri aside. ‘I have been entertaining your guests while you were waylaid,' he said.

Terri smiled. ‘We certainly appreciate it, Mr Indigo,' she said.

‘You were lucky I was here to make sure they were looked after,' he continued.

Robert coughed loudly in annoyance.

‘Would you be so kind as to drop me back to my hotel on the way?' the Frenchman asked.

‘Of course,' Terri replied, before leading the group out to the minibus.

Mr Indigo started chatting to two younger travellers, who were immediately charmed by his French accent. Bindi and Robert shared a look. They were beginning to think this overly helpful Frenchman might not be so helpful after all!