The Puzzled Penguin

  To Mum and Craig, Dad and Jackie x

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One: Summer at the Rescue Zoo!

  Chapter Two: Mr. Pinch’s Plan

  Chapter Three: The Tricky Tickets

  Chapter Four: Making a Splash!

  Chapter Five: The New Arrival

  Chapter Six: Penguin Rescue

  Chapter Seven: The Puzzled Penguin

  Chapter Eight: Pip the Flamingo!

  Chapter Nine: The Show is Canceled

  Chapter Ten: Zoe Goes Swimming!

  Chapter Eleven: A Very Special Ice Pop

  Acknowledgments

  New at the Zoo!

  Copyright

  Zoe Parker grinned as she ran out of the school gates, swinging her bag beside her. Her mom was waiting for her. “It’s summer vacation!” Zoe yelled, giving her mom a big hug.

  Her mom smiled and ruffled her daughter’s wavy brown hair. “How was the last day of school?” she asked.

  Zoe began to skip excitedly along the sidewalk. “It was fun, but I just couldn’t wait for vacation to start.” She smiled at her mom. “And I get to spend every single day at my favorite place.”

  As they got closer to home Zoe heard noises ahead: roars, bellows, screeches, and squeaks. Animal noises!

  Finally they turned a corner, and there in front of them stood a pair of tall, beautiful gates with a line of lush oak trees on either side. The gates were made of golden wood and covered with delicate carvings of every sort of animal you could think of. There were majestic tigers, soaring eagles, snapping crocodiles, and elegant gazelles. About halfway up, two words were carved across the gates in swirling letters: RESCUE ZOO. Right at the top, a golden hot-air balloon twinkled in the sunlight.

  A line of excited visitors was streaming through the gates, but Zoe and her mom walked right past them. As she stepped inside the zoo, a familiar warm, happy feeling spread through Zoe’s stomach. “Home sweet home,” she whispered.

  Zoe and her mom weren’t visiting the zoo — they lived there! Zoe’s Great-Uncle Horace was a famous explorer and animal expert, and on his travels around the world he had met lots of animals in need of help. That was why he’d decided to build the zoo, so it could be a safe place for any creature who was lost, injured, or in trouble. Now it was home to hundreds of amazing animals!

  Zoe’s mom was Horace’s niece and the zoo vet. She and Zoe lived in a little cottage on the edge of the zoo, so Zoe’s mom could be there whenever the animals needed her. Zoe couldn’t imagine a better place to live!

  Beyond the gates, a redbrick path wound its way through the zoo. On a warm summer’s day like this, there were hundreds of visitors, chattering as they wandered past each enclosure. Now that school had finished, lots of families were starting to arrive. Zoe spotted Jack and Nicola from her class, still in their green-and-white school uniforms. She smiled and waved at them, and they waved back.

  “That’s Zoe, the girl I told you about,” she heard Jack telling his dad. “She lives here. It’s so cool!”

  As Zoe and her mom made their way through the crowds to their cottage, Zoe heard an excited chattering noise above her. She looked up, shading her eyes from the bright sunlight. From the top of a sycamore tree, a furry face peeked down at her.

  “Meep!” called Zoe, smiling. “Come down from there, you silly thing!”

  With a swift leap, the little creature bounded down and landed nimbly on Zoe’s shoulder. Zoe gathered the soft, warm bundle into her arms for a hug. Meep was a tiny gray mouse lemur with enormous golden eyes and a long, velvety tail. Great-Uncle Horace had rescued him when he was just a baby and had brought him to the Rescue Zoo. Now Meep lived in the cottage with Zoe and was her very best friend.

  “Meep has been especially mischievous today,” Zoe’s mom told her as they continued along the path. “Mr. Pinch brought in a very tasty-looking blueberry muffin this morning for his breakfast. Then this week’s fruit delivery arrived, and he went to supervise it. When he came back, his muffin was gone. Mr. Pinch was very upset.” Zoe’s mom shook her head at the little lemur. “He didn’t know what had happened to it, but I noticed that Meep’s paws were covered in crumbs!”

  Zoe couldn’t help laughing and hugged Meep closer. Mr. Pinch was the zoo manager, and was always grumpy. Meep loved teasing him!

  As they arrived at the cottage, Zoe’s mom handed Zoe her school bag. “I have to go and check on a leopard now, so I’ll leave you two to have fun. Be home in time for dinner.” She planted a quick kiss on Zoe’s head and tickled Meep’s soft little belly.

  “OK, Mom!” Zoe smiled as she watched her dash away toward the zoo hospital.

  Once Zoe’s mom was out of sight, Zoe stepped inside the cottage and grinned at Meep. The mischievous little lemur leaped from her shoulder and scampered over to the bowl of fruit on the kitchen table.

  “Yummy!” he chirped, peeling a banana with his nimble fingers. “Blueberry muffins are nice, but I like bananas best.”

  Zoe giggled. It was always fun to be alone with Meep or any of the animals at the Rescue Zoo. When other people weren’t around, she didn’t have to hide their amazing secret.

  Zoe knew that animals could talk to people, and that just a few special people could talk back to them. And she was one of them!

  Zoe dashed upstairs to get changed. She picked out a bright-yellow sundress and her favorite blue flip-flops and quickly rubbed some sunscreen into her cheeks. Then she fastened a pretty silver necklace around her neck. This was a very special necklace. It had a charm shaped like a paw print, and it had been a present from Great-Uncle Horace. The paw-print charm opened every single gate in the Rescue Zoo, so Zoe could see any of the animals whenever she wanted!

  Meep perched on her bed. “Zoe, do you really not have to go to school tomorrow?” the little lemur asked hopefully.

  Zoe smiled at Meep in her bedroom mirror. “No, Meep. No school for two whole months, so I can spend lots of time with you!”

  Meep squeaked happily, bouncing up and down on the bed.

  Zoe slid a yellow butterfly clip into her hair and turned to face her friend. “It’s good I’m here to stop you from doing troublesome things, like eating Mr. Pinch’s breakfast! You shouldn’t take things that don’t belong to you, Meep. You’re lucky he didn’t spot you.”

  Meep leaped into her arms for a hug. “But it was funny, Zoe. And delicious!”

  Zoe couldn’t help smiling. Meep was so adorable that she found everything he did cute — even when he was getting in trouble. She stroked his soft ears gently and lifted him up to her shoulder.

  “Come on, Meep. Let’s go and see what’s going on in the zoo!”

  Zoe and Meep raced outside and weaved through the bustle of visitors until they reached a little path between the llamas and the porcupines. Tall beech trees stretched overhead, shading the path from the warm sun. Zoe knew all the shortcuts around the Rescue Zoo, and this pretty path was always one of the quietest places. With fewer visitors around, she and Meep could chat as much as they wanted!

  “Let’s go and see the hippos first,” Zoe suggested. “Little Hetty’s learning to swim at the moment. If we’re lucky, we might catch her while she’s splashing around!”

  Like all the enclosures at the Rescue Zoo, the muddy lagoon that Hetty shared with her mom and sisters was specially built for them and looked just like a hippo’s home in the wild. Zoe and Meep loved watching them wallow around, blowing bubbles in the gloopy mud.

  As they walked along, Zoe twirled on the path happily. “We can do so many fun things over the summer, Meep,” she said. “Every morning we can help give Rory and Leonard their breakfast. And Luna is going to have her pups any day
now, so we can help look after them. I’ve never seen arctic wolf cubs before.”

  Meep wriggled excitedly. “I hope Goo comes home too, Zoe,” he chattered. “I miss him.”

  Zoe grinned at Meep’s nickname for her Great-Uncle Horace. “So do I, Meep. And I hope he brings a new animal for the Rescue Zoo with him! That would make this summer perfect.”

  As they walked toward Hetty’s enclosure, they heard an angry voice grumbling further along the path. “Oh no. Paint on my clean hat!”

  “Quick, Meep!” whispered Zoe. “Hide!”

  They both darted behind a large cherry tree and peered around it. Just in front of the penguin enclosure was Mr. Pinch, clutching a paintbrush and a can of blue paint. He was painting a sign on a little wooden hut with a pointed roof. There was a drop of blue paint on his hat and he looked very upset. Meep giggled.

  A little further down the path, Zoe’s mom came out of the rhinoceros enclosure, her vet’s bag slung across her shoulders. She smiled at Mr. Pinch and nodded at the hut. “Hello! You look busy!”

  “Hello,” Mr. Pinch muttered. “Yes. I seem to be the only one who does anything around here.” On Zoe’s shoulder, Meep blew a raspberry. “Actually, I’m glad you came this way,” Mr. Pinch continued. “I’ve been meaning to speak to you today. I have a project for your daughter.”

  Zoe and Meep looked at each other and frowned. What was Mr. Pinch up to? They both stayed very still, trying to hear what he said. Meep’s ears quivered curiously.

  Zoe’s mom glanced at the wooden hut. “A project? That sounds like fun! Zoe’s been so looking forward to spending more time at the zoo now that school’s done for the year.”

  “Hmm. It will definitely keep Zoe and her little … er, friend, entertained,” Mr. Pinch agreed with a smirk. “I thought she could start tomorrow.”

  Zoe’s heart sank. Whatever Mr. Pinch was planning, she knew it wasn’t going to be fun! He didn’t like Zoe and Meep being allowed to wander around the zoo like all the grown-up staff did, and he’d do anything to ruin her vacation! Say no, Mom, she pleaded silently.

  Zoe’s mom hesitated. “Well … I’m sure Zoe will want to help out in any way she can —”

  “Excellent!” Mr. Pinch interrupted. “Tell her to be here at nine o’clock sharp. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mrs. Parker, I must keep painting. Lots to do.”

  He smiled and waved as Zoe’s mom walked off down the path, then turned back to the sign he was painting, muttering to himself. “Ha! Fun! This job will keep that pesky girl and her fluffball out of mischief all summer long. Now, that is fun!”

  Mr. Pinch whistled cheerfully to himself, as Zoe and Meep looked at each other in dismay.

  The next morning as the zoo gates were opening, Zoe and Meep made their way back to the little wooden hut. When Zoe’s mom had told her that Mr. Pinch wanted them to help with a special summer project, Zoe had just nodded sadly.

  As they walked along the redbrick path through the zoo, a pair of colorful plum-headed parakeets flew in circles above their heads. Zoe could tell it was going to be a beautiful hot day. From the enclosures around her, different animals squawked, roared, and squeaked in greeting, happy to see her and Meep. Zoe desperately wanted to stop and talk to them all, but she knew she couldn’t be late for Mr. Pinch.

  It was even harder to keep going when Oscar, the African elephant, saw her and trumpeted in excitement.

  “I’m sorry, Oscar,” Zoe said miserably, reaching through the fence to stroke his long, wrinkled trunk. “I can’t give you your breakfast today. I promise I’ll try to visit later on.”

  Oscar blinked his dark eyes sadly, and then nodded his enormous head to show Zoe he understood.

  As they arrived at the hut, Mr. Pinch was already waiting for them. He was holding a small cardboard box under one arm.

  “Hello, Mr. Pinch,” Zoe said in the most polite voice she could muster. “What would you like us to do?”

  Mr. Pinch pointed to the hut. Pictures of penguins had been carefully pasted on the sides, and Mr. Pinch’s sign had been finished.

  Zoe read it out loud. “PENGUIN FEEDING SHOW. EVERY DAY AT THREE O’CLOCK.”

  Mr. Pinch nodded importantly. “This summer there will be a new attraction at the Rescue Zoo: a daily penguin feeding show.” He made a face. “If you ask me, it will be a horrible messy business, but it was Will, the penguin-keeper’s, idea. Anyway, it occurred to me that you two would be the perfect pair to sell the tickets.” He smiled smugly at them. “After all, I am far too busy to do it myself. I have the entire zoo to run.”

  Mr. Pinch handed Zoe the cardboard box he was carrying. Zoe lifted the lid warily. The box was packed full of small yellow tickets. Stamped neatly on each one were the words PENGUIN FEEDING SHOW. ADMISSION: ONE.

  “Do we have to sell all of these?” Zoe asked. “There are hundreds!”

  “A hundred and fifty for each show, to be precise.” Mr. Pinch smirked. “There’s a chair in the hut so you can sit down, and there’s a box to collect the money every time you sell a ticket. You’ll be far too busy to go around the zoo, poking your nose into things that don’t concern you.”

  Whistling happily, Mr. Pinch strolled off down the path. Meep leaped onto the roof of the little wooden hut and blew a very rude raspberry at the grumpy zookeeper. “Horrible Mr. Pinch!” he chirped.

  Zoe pushed open the door of the hut and went inside, with Meep scampering after her. As she sat down behind the little hatch with the box of tickets on her lap, she had a sudden, horrible thought. “Meep, Mr. Pinch said the show was daily, all through the summer, didn’t he? I think he’s going to make us sell tickets every single day until I go back to school!”

  The lemur squeaked in alarm, his big eyes wide. Zoe took a deep, shaky breath. She felt so disappointed. It was as though Mr. Pinch had just snatched all her plans and ideas for the summer vacation out of her hands, and there was nothing she could do about it.

  Just then, a couple walked down the path with a little girl. Zoe sat up straight and smiled bravely. “Come on, Meep,” she whispered. “The sooner we sell the tickets, the sooner we can be back out in the sunshine having fun!”

  The little girl spotted the hut first and read the sign out loud carefully. “Ooh, penguins!” she said, tugging at the man’s hand. “Daddy, look! Can we go?”

  “That sounds like fun,” her dad agreed, smiling at Zoe. They started to walk over to the hut, and Zoe practiced what she was going to say in her head. Three tickets? That’s six dollars, please! I hope you enjoy the show. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so hard after all! But before she could say a word, there was a long hooting call from further down the path. It was so loud that the couple gasped and the little girl’s eyes went wide. “What was that?” she whispered, glancing at Zoe.

  “That sounds like Sydney, our siamang gibbon,” Zoe explained. “Siamangs are the loudest of all the apes. Sydney’s just a baby, but she’s very noisy — especially in the morning before breakfast!”

  The little girl’s face lit up. “Mommy, let’s go and see her!”

  The family all rushed down the path toward Star’s lush forest enclosure.

  “Wait!” Zoe called after them as Meep chattered loudly. “Wouldn’t you like to buy your tickets first?”

  But they were already too far away to hear her. Zoe sighed. “Never mind, Meep,” she told her little friend. “We’ll sell tickets to the next visitors who come along, you’ll see!”

  Zoe and Meep tried their best to sell as many tickets as they could — but it was hard work. By 12:30 the stack of yellow tickets didn’t seem any smaller than when they’d started. “We’ve only sold … eleven,” Zoe said, glancing worriedly at the pile of bills in the money box.

  “That’s not very many,” grumbled Meep.

  Zoe gathered her little friend into her arms for a cuddle. “I think the problem is that there are too many amazing animals to see at the Rescue Zoo. Hardly any visitors have stopped at our hut because they’re all rushi
ng to see Star or the orangutans or the lions or the dolphins. They’re just having too much fun to buy our tickets!”

  “Cheer up, you two!” a friendly voice called.

  Zoe’s mom was walking down the path toward them, a large brown paper bag under her arm. “Come out and get some sunshine. I’ve brought you a picnic lunch.”

  “Yum! My stomach’s rumbling. I knew it must be lunchtime!” chirped Meep as he scampered through the hatch.

  Zoe’s mom handed the paper bag to Zoe, gave her a hug, and continued on to see her next patient. Zoe and Meep dashed through the zoo to their favorite picnic spot: a sunny stretch of grass overlooking a wide, glittering lake where the dolphins swam.

  The little lemur was so excited about the picnic, he started leaping around in circles on the grass, spilling his lunch.

  “You’re dropping seeds everywhere, Meep!” Zoe laughed, shaking her head at her funny friend. She sighed as she finished her sandwich. “I wish we could stay out here all day, Meep,” she said wistfully. “Now that we’re in the sunshine, it’s going to be even harder to go back inside the hut.”

  As Zoe began to gather up the leftovers from their picnic, she felt a sudden ripple of excitement run through the zoo. On the path behind her, there was a new burst of chatter among the visitors. Across the sparkling lake, the springboks had all stopped grazing and were standing alert, their slender ears pricked up. The dolphins swam up to the surface and lifted their gray heads into the air, clicking happily. Zoe could hear Star calling loudly, and in the aviary nearby, hundreds of birds had started to squawk and hoot. Even Meep was gazing up into the sky, his soft ears quivering gently. “Listen!” he chirped.

  Over the sudden noise of the animals, Zoe could hear a low, distant buzzing sound. It gradually grew louder and louder. Suddenly she recognized the sound, and a huge grin spread across her face.