Monkey Trouble
Authors: Charles Tang,Charles Tang
GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER
Illustrated by Charles Tang
ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago
Contents
CHAPTER
At the Zoo
“H
enry, I will be back to pick you all up at exactly three o’clock,” Grandfather Alden told his fourteen-year-old grandson as he dropped his four grandchildren off at the zoo. Henry was the oldest of the Alden children, and he always looked out for his younger siblings.
Henry checked his watch. “Perfect,” he said. “We’ll meet you here, right after the tour is over.”
“I’m so glad we signed up for the spring break two-day zoo tour. It’s going to take both days to see all the new animals,” said twelve-year-old Jessie. As Jessie spoke, she pulled her straight brown hair into a ponytail. “The article I read online said there were twenty different kinds of babies born at the zoo this spring. Giraffes, zebras, penguins, monkeys—”
“Ohhh!” interrupted Jessie’s sister, Violet. “Baby monkeys are so cute! I can’t wait to see them.” The ten-year-old rushed forward and gave Grandfather a big, tight hug. “Thank you so very much for bringing us today.”
Jessie, Violet, Henry, and Benny Alden lived with their grandfather. After their parents died, they ran away and hid in a railroad boxcar. They’d heard that James Alden was mean, and even though they’d never met him, they were afraid to live with him. But when Grandfather finally found them, it turned out that he wasn’t mean at all. As a matter of fact, he was a kind and generous man.
When the Aldens moved in with Grandfather, he let them bring along the dog they found on their adventures—a wire-haired terrier named Watch. Now the boxcar was a clubhouse in their backyard.
Grandfather handed Violet her lunch bag. Violet put the sack into a colorful patchwork tote bag that she’d decorated with puff paints.
Jessie took her own lunch and went to the car’s trunk to put on her backpack. She liked to write about things she saw, so she had tucked a new notebook into the side pocket. “I can’t wait to get started,” she said.
“Me neither,” said Benny. At six years old, Benny was the youngest of the Alden children.
Henry took his own lunch sack from Grandfather, then pulled Benny’s pack out of the trunk with a grunt. “Wow, Benny,” he said. “This is very heavy for a six-year-old! What do you have in here? Rocks?”
Benny smiled and licked his lips hungrily. “Better than rocks.” He put out his arms so Henry could heave the pack onto his small shoulders. “I have snacks! Lots and lots of snacks.”
Violet, Jessie, and Henry all laughed. They knew that Benny’s stomach was a bottomless pit.
Grandfather held up Benny’s brown lunch sack. “I guess you don’t need this, then.”
“Oh, but I do!” Benny said, taking the bag. “Lunch is the most delicious meal of the day.” Benny paused. “I mean, besides breakfast and dinner.”
Everyone laughed again.
Benny asked Henry to put the lunch bag in the outside pocket of his backpack.
“I’m ready!” he declared. Then he pointed at the entrance to the zoo. “Let’s go!”
Grandfather waved goodbye as the children went on their way. With Benny in the lead, Jessie, Violet, and Henry followed him to the ticket line. After Jessie paid, they went straight to a small red barn. There was a sign hanging in front: Greenfield Zoo Education Center, it read. Benny opened the door to the barn, and they all went inside.
There were no animals in this barn. Instead, there were twenty metal folding chairs set up in a circle, a chalkboard, and lots of posters of animals on the walls.
“I’m so excited,” Benny gushed. “Kids from all over Greenfield will be at this zoo tour. I can’t wait to make new friends.”
“I hope there will be some kids we already know from school,” Violet added. “That would be nice, too.”
After putting their lunches in a cooler and their bags and backpacks in cubbies, the Alden children hurried to sit down. The tour was about to begin.
Jessie waved across the circle to a few kids she knew from school.
“Hi Sophie!” Benny said as a tall blond girl walked in.
“Hi Benny.” Sophie Webb was fourteen—Henry’s age. She was a very fast swimmer. In elementary school, she had won so many races on the Greenfield Swim Team that now she was training with a professional coach. That meant Sophie didn’t go to school with Henry anymore. Tutors taught her school subjects at home every morning. In the afternoons, Sophie trained in the pool.
Benny leaned over to Violet. “Sophie is amazing,” he whispered.
“I know,” Violet whispered back. “Someday she’ll probably be swimming in the Olympics. Wouldn’t it be incredible if she won a gold medal?”
A pair of twin boys sat next to Henry. Benny didn’t know them, but they said that their names were Matthew and Griffin Cho. They told Benny that they were six years old.
“Just like me!” Benny said happily.
“Here comes the tour guide,” Jessie said. She ruffled Benny’s hair and reminded him to pay attention.
“Hello,” greeted a young man with dark hair and glasses. He was carrying a bag that had the zoo’s name printed on it. “My name is Rob Newton.” He set the bag on the ground near his feet. “I’ll be showing you many amazing baby animals over the next two days. I’m studying to be a zoologist, so I can tell you all about them.”
Benny’s hand shot up. “What’s a zoologist?” he asked.
“That’s a good question,” Mr. Newton told Benny. “I learn all about animals. I study the differences between those that live in the wild and the ones that are in cages at the zoo.”
Benny’s eyes lit up. “Can I be a zoologist someday, too?”
Mr. Newton grinned. “Sure. You can study zoology in college.”
“Oh,” Benny said with a big sigh. “I don’t think I can wait that long.”
Mr. Newton saw the disappointment on Benny’s face. “Well, I need a helper during the tour,” he said. “Would you like to be my assistant zoologist today?”
“I’d love it! Thanks!” Benny jumped out of his seat, excited to help.
“This spring break tour group is very lucky! Because of all the new animal babies, the zoo has decided to have a photo contest—just for you!” Mr. Newton pulled a small cardboard camera out of his bag. It was the disposable kind. They had a digital camera at home, but the Aldens had seen this kind of camera at a wedding last summer. These cameras were made so that a person could use up the film quickly, develop the pictures, and then recycle the cardboard camera.
“Cameras cost five dollars,” Mr. Newton explained. “At the end of our tour tomorrow, I will collect them and get the pictures developed. The photos will be judged by the Greenfield Zoo’s zoologists. Then, tomorrow night we will have a pizza party to announce the winner. The first-prize winner will get their picture in the zoo newsletter. That person will also get a year-long free pass to the zoo!”
Everyone cheered.
“A pizza party!” Benny said. He rushed over to Henry. “I don’t think my tummy can wait until tomorrow evening.”
Henry laughed. “It definitely makes sense to have the party at the end of the tour, Benny. Your tummy will just have to wait.”
“Hang in there,” Benny said to his belly with a sigh.
“It would fun to take pictures for the photo contest,” Violet said.
“I wonder . . .” Henry looked at Jessie. She was carrying the change from the zoo tickets. “Do we have enough money to buy a camera?” he asked her.
Jessie pulled out the cash and counted what was left. “We have five dollars and thirty-seven cents,” she reported.
“Terrific!” Violet said, taking the money. “We can get one camera and share it.”
“But what about the prize?” Jessie asked. “The winner gets just one zoo pass.”
“We can take turns with that, too,” Henry said.
“Can I take the first picture?” Benny asked. “Please?”
“Of course,” said Jessie.
“And after that, whoever sees something interesting can have a turn,” Henry said.
Violet went to buy the camera, and Benny, proud to be Mr. Newton’s assistant, went to help him sell them.
“Here,” Benny said, giving Violet the camera. “Don’t forget, I get to take the first photo!”
“I won’t forget,” Violet said, handing Mr. Newton the money.
Violet recognized Blake Morrison, the photographer for the school newspaper, by his bright red hair. He was standing in line behind her. “I’ll need two cameras,” Blake told Benny. He held out a crisp ten-dollar bill.
“Two?” Annika Gentry, a girl in the grade below Violet and Blake, spun around. She was petite with short, brown hair. She held up the camera she just bought. “Everyone should only get one.”
Annika’s tone was curiously angry. Violet and Benny both stopped to listen.
“I’m a professional photographer,” Blake told her. “I need two cameras.”
“You aren’t a professional,” Annika replied.
“Am too.” Blake took a step toward her. “I take pictures for the school paper. You don’t.”
“I want to! But you won’t let me,” Annika said.
“Yes. I’m the only photographer and the editor, too. I get to decide what jobs everyone has for the newspaper,” Blake said. “You can write the horoscopes if you want.”
Annika gave Blake an angry look. “If I’m on the paper, I want to be a photographer!” She stomped her foot. Then she turned to Mr. Newton. “Please don’t sell Blake two cameras. It won’t be fair to the rest of us. He’ll have twice as many chances to win the contest.”
Mr. Newton considered what Annika was saying. He pushed up his glasses and then looked over a sheet of paper that had the contest rules on it. “Sorry, Annika,” he told her at last. “The rules don’t say anything about a camera limit.”
Blake snorted at Annika while Benny handed him two cameras.
“Listen,” Blake said to Annika. “If you win this photo contest, I’ll let you be a photographer on the newspaper staff. But if you lose, you have to promise to stop bugging me about it. Deal?”
Annika thought about it for a second, staring at her one and only camera. Then she looked over at the two cameras that Blake held.
“You can buy a second one tomorrow if you want,” Mr. Newton told Annika.
“That’s okay,” Annika said to Mr. Newton. “I’m such a good photographer that I don’t need two cameras.”
Annika turned to Benny, who was still standing nearby listening. “You’re our witness, okay?” Annika said to Benny. “You heard what Blake said. If I win, I get to take pictures for the school newspaper.”
“Okay,” Benny said. “I’m a good witness. I witness stuff all the time.” Then he asked, “Umm. What’s a witness?”
“It’s someone who makes sure everyone keeps a deal,” Blake said.
“Got it!” Benny said smiling.
Annika and Blake shook hands to seal the agreement.
“Excuse me,” Matthew and Griffin Cho said to Benny. “We want to buy a camera too, please.”
“Sure!” Benny handed a camera to the Cho twins. “Good luck to you both!”
Mr. Newton finished selling cameras. “I want everyone to put on sunscreen,” he said. “We are leaving the Education Center in two minutes.”
Jessie and Violet were putting lotion on their faces when they saw Sophie come up to Blake at the sunscreen table. “Can I borrow one of your cameras?” she asked.
“Huh?” Blake looked at Sophie with a confused expression. “Why don’t you buy one of your own?”
“Preparing for the Olympics is really expensive,” Sophie explained. “My parents don’t have any leftover money. They got me the ticket to come on the tour, but I can’t buy anything.” She pointed at Blake’s hand. “So can I use your extra camera?”
“No,” Blake said, putting both his cameras into his over-the-shoulder bag. “I am doubling my chances to win first place in the contest. I can’t share.” And with that, he turned and walked off. Sophie stared at the back of Blake’s head as he went.