The Monkey Howled at Midnight (6 page)

Splash!

An animal had just fallen into the river. What was it?

The crocodile whirled around so fast that its body was a blur in front of their eyes. There was another splash as it headed into the water. They heard thrashing for a few seconds, and then all was calm.

Still, nobody said anything. They all knew that something had been a meal for the croc. An unfortunate
something
that had saved them.

“I think I may be sick,” Cody said finally.

“Me, too,” said Otis.

“And me,” said Rae.

“After that, what else can possibly scare us tonight?” Cody asked.

“Plenty of things,” Otis replied.

“Yeah,” Rae agreed. “Lots of things.”

“Like a hungry jaguar or an eight-foot-long snake … or Aldo,” said Otis.

“Well, then, we'll have to be really careful,” said Cody. “Let's get going.”

“Hang on,” said Otis. “Cody, have you got those iodine pills in your backpack? Better bring them in case our canteens run dry and we need to purify some water. And don't forget the insect spray, and some allergy medication.”

They all got busy finding stuff they thought they might need. Then they headed out into the jungle, using their flashlights to follow the prints of Pino's and Aldo's hiking boots. Right before she left, Rae tucked a camera she'd brought along into her pocket.

When they had been walking for about forty-five minutes, they began to realize that the jungle wasn't as dark as before—in fact, it was getting brighter and brighter. It wasn't the moonlight. It barely penetrated the thick canopy of trees. The light was coming from somewhere up ahead.

About ten minutes later, the trees stopped abruptly. Rae and the twins found themselves looking ahead to a clearing. What was in it took their breath away.

Surrounded by a chain-link fence was a huge one-story brick building that looked like a giant warehouse. There was a guard with a rifle on patrol at the open gate.

“Let's see if there are more guards,” Otis whispered. “This is a big place for just one of them.”

Sure enough, about a minute later a second, taller guard rounded the corner. In another minute, they watched the first guard pass by again. They waited a few more minutes to see if there were any more. There weren't.

“It looks like there are only two,” Rae said softly. “We have a minute to get through, but we can't make any noise.”

“Start moving after the first one rounds the corner,” said Otis.

Cody and Rae nodded. The moment the first guard passed, they got ready. Then they started to move.

Before they had gotten clear of their cover, they heard a bone-chilling roar. Another one, even louder, followed. They froze in their tracks as one of the most beautiful animals they had ever seen streaked past them in a blur of gold and black.

“Jaguar,” Otis breathed in a whisper.

The animal raced toward the fence and launched into the air. Animals inside the compound were already chattering, warning of danger. The yard erupted into a frenzy of activity. At least ten guards showed up, all jabbering at once.

As the jaguar flung itself over the fence, one of the guards took out a pistol and fired. Cody, Otis, and Rae each stifled a desperate cry as they saw the animal claw at the air and then fall to the ground.

The guards gathered around the jaguar. “He'll be all right,” they heard one say. “Get him back to his cage. How'd he get out?”

“Tranquilizer guns,” Cody whispered. “That's what I saw them unloading from the crate in the village.”

Otis nodded. “Let's move.”

They hurried past the distracted guards through the gate and toward the building. Otis pointed to a surveillance camera just over the door. They all crouched down low and prayed that it didn't pick them up. Then Otis reached up and opened the door.

He pointed one finger under each eye, and then pointed upward. Rae and Cody nodded to show that they knew what he meant. They had to keep an eye out for more cameras.

They found themselves in a long hallway with rooms leading from either side. Hearts hammering, they walked past an office. There was a computer on the desk with images of the different rooms.

“Nobody's checking the cameras for now,” Cody whispered. “But we should still try to keep away from them.”

Otis and Rae walked ahead. Cody glanced into the office and saw an open drawer underneath the computer. An official-looking document inside the drawer caught his eye—it was signed very clearly “Enrico Estevez.” Then he saw the words “Bill of Sale.” Almost without thinking he reached out, grabbed the sheet of paper, and stuffed it into his back pocket. Then he walked after the others. He would share with them what he had found when they were somewhere safe again.

They entered the second room. It was huge, with rows and rows of stalls that had partitions about three feet high. Cody and Otis peered over the side and found that some held medium-sized lizards and tortoises.

They walked to the end of a row of stalls and found three heavy doors with thick glass windows. Through them they could see thermostats on the walls. They were temperature controlled. This was a big, professionally run business.

Behind one door were brightly colored frogs; behind another were beautiful birds. Rae recognized rare blue hyacinth parrots. Behind the third door, in a large tank, a lone animal swam listlessly. It was a rare pink river dolphin. Rae's heart plummeted. She knew those animals were sometimes killed for their eyes and teeth. Some people thought they were magical and used them to make charms.

Suddenly some monkeys began chattering and jumping all at once. Some of them hurled themselves against the chain link walls of their cages. Above the animal noises they heard human voices calling loudly to each other in Portuguese.

Workers would soon come to see what had caused all the fuss. If Rae and the twins didn't get out of there fast, they'd be found for sure.

Cody held a finger to his lips and hissed, “
Shhh!
”

Rae and Otis both nodded with exasperation. Did he really think he needed to tell them to be quiet?

Since Cody was nearest to the door, he moved quickly to hide behind a row of cages and waved the others to follow him. Otis lifted his feet carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible with his hiking boots. Rae hurriedly clicked a couple of pictures and then caught up with him. They had just reached the area behind a stall where turtles were kept when they heard footsteps outside—running.

Cody silently motioned to the others. They backtracked their steps and edged into the office. Then they waited, hearts pounding.

The men raced toward the monkey cages. They checked one after another, talking in excited tones. Then Rae and the twins heard the footsteps of two more men. These two weren't running, but their steps sounded firm and sure.

“These dummies think the monkeys might be sick.” It was Aldo's voice. He was talking to Pino in English so that the others wouldn't know what he was saying about them.

“It's not such a stupid idea, really.” That was Pino's voice. “These monkeys shouldn't really be caged up inside. Maybe it
could
make them sick.”

“Maybe you thought that jaguar was sick, eh?” Aldo asked accusingly. “I hope you weren't dumb enough to let him out of his cage.”

“What's dumb is keeping these animals caged up. It's beyond dumb; it's cruel,” Pino replied.

“There's something wrong with you.” Aldo's voice was full of contempt. “They are just animals. Animals that will bring us a lot of money. Are you forgetting that?”

“I'm not forgetting anything.” Pino's voice was angry. “I'm just not sure it's a good idea. Waldo Lou is trapping too many animals to be killed. Tigers are chopped up and eaten by people who think tiger meat will make them strong. Lizards are ground up to make medicines that don't even work. Elephants are killed for ivory. Lots of the animals he gets are endangered. I don't think I like working for someone like that.”

Aldo laughed. It wasn't a funny laugh, but a nasty one.

“These animals aren't going to be killed—except maybe the turtles. Lots of people think turtle meat is mighty tasty. These animals are going to zoos and aquariums, and to be exotic pets. People pay big money for one of these little gold monkeys, or the blue macaws—or one of those anacondas.”

“Oh, come on, now. You know that the guy we work for kills animals. Maybe not these, but others. Rhinos for horns. Gorillas for paws. We can make lots of money. But it's wrong.”

“What are you, a Boy Scout now? You didn't think it was a bad idea before. All you wanted was money to go to some fancy art school your rich daddy won't pay for. He wants to hand you a multimillion-dollar coffee business. Boo-hoo, he's so mean.”

“I don't want to run a coffee business.”

“Well, you're a lousy photographer. You barely know enough to take the lens cap off.”

“You know as well as I do that the photography angle was just a cover for what we're really doing. I'm a painter, not a photographer.”

“Oh? You think you're going to be another Hayden Carson?” Aldo snorted. “Let me tell you something, rich boy. You're going to play along. If you do anything to mess up this business, I'll tell your daddy what you've been doing. He won't like that. Meanwhile, get him to sell me this land.”

“You wouldn't dare tell my father,” Pino said. It sounded more like he was asking a question.

“Yes, I would.” Aldo paused. “Maybe I deserve a little reward for not telling him about it. You could give me some money. I'll let you know how much.”

“That's blackmail!”

“Bingo. You win. But if you tell anybody what is going on here, I warn you, you'll be in for a lot worse. You don't know who you're dealing with. The guy we work for doesn't play around. He's not just dangerous … he's deadly.”

“Let's just make sure the monkeys are all right,” said Pino after a moment. Cody and the others heard his footsteps as he moved from one cage to another, followed by the heavier trudging of Aldo's feet.

“Looks like everything is fine,” Pino said finally.

“I told you so,” said Aldo. “Let's finish getting the packing crates ready for shipment. We'll put some of those little lizards that jump and bite on top of the snakes. Inspectors get sick of being bitten and move the crates along.”

“Okay, okay. But we've got to get back to the kids at the camp.”

“Aw, don't worry about them. The little geniuses will be just fine. It might do them a little good to get scared, anyhow. They think they know everything.”

Cody, Otis, and Rae stood perfectly still as Pino and Aldo left with the workers and turned off the lights inside the warehouse. They could still see the lights from the yard outside streaming through the windows.

“So we were right about Pino. He's involved with an endangered-animal smuggler,” Rae said with disgust.

“Hold on now,” said Cody. “It sounds like Pino is having serious second thoughts.”

“Yeah, but it doesn't sound like Aldo's conscience is bothering him,” Otis observed.

“True,” Cody agreed. “And if Pino decides he doesn't want to play along, it sounds like Aldo and his boss would make it dangerous for him. Anyway, I think it explains those cell phone numbers all over the world. I'll bet it's buyers or distributors.”

“We'd better not stand around here whispering,” said Rae. “We've got to get back to Manaus and get help.”

“You're right. Let's get going.”

They had all brought their flashlights, and Cody was sure that between the three of them, they could find their way back to camp.
If
they could get out of the compound, they had a chance—that is,
if
they could avoid any animals that didn't want to be friends on the way.

They had seen Aldo put the keys to the plane in a pouch.
If
Aldo had left the pouch at camp, maybe they could get back to Manaus.
If
he and Pino didn't get back to camp before they had a head start, that is. It was a lot of
ifs
.

The three made their way cautiously to the doorway. As they stood there looking for workers on patrol, several lights snapped off suddenly. Only one was left on, directly over the entrance gate. There was a worker stationed there. He was shouldering a rifle.

Cody could see Otis's face outlined in the darkness. He took Otis's hand and put it to his own throat. Did Otis understand what he meant?

Otis nodded. He knew that Cody had been practicing throwing his voice. He was pretty good at it. He waited for Cody's next move and prayed that it would work.

Cody took several deep breaths and tried to focus, the way the sensei had taught him in karate class. It wasn't easy to concentrate when you were so scared. He told himself that they were all depending on him. Then he took one more breath and …

Ow! Ow! Ow!
The shrieks came from the corner of the building. The guard's head snapped in that direction.
Ow! Ow!
Two more shrieks sent him running that way.

Cody felt a wave of relief wash over him. It had worked. He had been practicing for months.

“Awesome, dude,” Otis whispered. “Let's move.”

In an instant, the three were through the gate and on their way into the jungle. They ran until the trees closed over them and their lungs were about to explode.

As they ran, Cody thought about the document he'd seen in the office and stuffed into his back pocket. It put Mr. Estevez in the middle of the whole business. It was hard for Cody to believe it. He hoped there was some explanation, but he could not imagine what it could be.

“Can you find the path, Cody?” asked Rae, panting.

“Right over here.”

Otis and Rae followed Cody through the tangle of trees. “Remember, don't step over any logs,” said Rae. “That's where snakes often hide.”