Forest Fire (5 page)

“It would have been better to do this in the day when Kawan was awake,” said Zoe.

“We've got no choice,” Ben replied. “And I'm sure he'll forgive us if it means he comes home.”

They sat as still as they could, carefully scanning the area through their goggles.

“Fruit bats, otters and one or two monkeys,” reported Zoe. “I think they were silvered langurs. No orang-utans.”

Ben played the call again and again.

“Looks like we're going to be unlucky,” he said at last. “Perhaps we should be making our way back –”

He stopped. There was a rustling in the branches above their heads, followed by a loud chomping sound. Zoe quickly held out her BUG towards it to analyse the sound. “It's an orang-utan!” she whispered.

“I've read about their vocalisations,” said Ben. “That sound means it feels threatened.”

“Keep still then,” said Zoe. “It has to be Kawan, doesn't it? He's responded to the call. And after all we're in his territory so none of the others would dare to be here.”

“Goggles on zoom,” Ben reminded her, adjusting his as he spoke.

“Wow!” murmured Zoe. “He's right above our heads.”

A dark shape was stealing through the high branches.

Ben wriggled round and held his BUG above the leaves, activating its camera function. “Got a photo,” he whispered. They peered down at the screen. The face of a familiar-looking young orang-utan stared back at them. He had a distinctive tuft of hair sticking up on one side of his head, just like they'd seen in the film.

“Awesome!” breathed Ben. “It
is
Kawan!”

CHAPTER
SIX

The young orang-utan sat in the branches above their heads, gazing at Ben and Zoe, his eyes flickering nervously.

“I've got a rusk in my backpack,” Zoe said quietly. “Let's see if we can tempt him down and make him feel safe in his territory again.”

“Mat's going to be so happy,” said Ben.

Moving in ultra slow motion, Zoe stood up and held the rusk above her head.

Kawan began to swing gracefully down from branch to branch. He waited just out of reach, hanging from one long, shaggy arm and gazing around as if searching for somebody. He looked tense – ready to escape at the slightest threat.

“Do you think he's wondering where Mat is?” said Ben. “I hope he doesn't leave when he realises Mat's not here.”

“Come on, Kawan,” said Zoe gently. “Here, boy.” She waved the rusk.

Kawan hesitated, then extended one leathery hand and took the rusk. Eyes firmly fixed on them, he solemnly nibbled at the treat, dropping the crumbs around their feet.

“He still looks very nervous,” said Ben. “Those loggers must have really scared him.”

“I think we've got his trust or he wouldn't come so close,” said Zoe, pulling out another rusk ready to hand to the young ape. “Something must be telling him we're OK. Maybe it was Mat's call.”

Kawan put out a crumby finger and touched Zoe's cheek. Zoe sighed with delight.

“I can see why Mat's so fond of him. He's adorable.”

Kawan dropped down on to the platform and reached out for the second rusk.

“Good boy, Kawan,” whispered Ben.

At that moment, the sound of an explosion filled the air. Without thinking, the children threw themselves down on to the wooden slats.

With a terrified shriek Kawan was off, swinging away through the trees. Soon he was out of sight.

“Was that a gunshot?” Zoe said in horror.

“I don't think so,” said Ben. “But I've heard that sort of sound before somewhere.” He gripped her arm. “Someone's down there – heading through the undergrowth.”

They peered down over the side of the slats. A shadowy figure was hurrying along the ground.

“It's a man,” hissed Ben. “What's he doing here at this time of night?”

“Let's follow,” said Zoe.

Moving swiftly along the swaying walkway, they followed the sound until they reached the next platform.

“This is where we saw Lola and Kiki,” whispered Zoe. “The walkway after this is much higher, remember. There's a ladder somewhere here.” She flinched as another sharp bang filled the air, followed by frightened animal cries. “What
is
that?”

Zoe found the top of the ladder and climbed up to the next platform, feeling for each rung in the dark.

“Hurry,” hissed Ben. “He's getting away.”

Zoe didn't need telling twice. She set off ahead of her brother along the wobbly wooden slats of the new walkway.

CRACK!
There was a loud splitting sound under her feet. She heard Ben's cry of alarm as she felt herself falling.

Zoe flung out her arms and grabbed desperately at the broken walkway. Her hands closed round a wooden slat and she felt her arms being almost jerked out of their sockets as she stopped falling. She gripped on with all her strength, not daring to look at the ground.

“Hold on,” Ben called, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“I'm not planning on going anywhere,”

Zoe puffed.
Especially not down!
she thought to herself. She could just see Ben crouched on the walkway, one hand reaching out to pull her to safety.

Then something else caught her eye. The ropes that supported the slatted walkway were only holding by a single strand.

“Get back, Ben,” she shouted. “The whole thing's going to give way!”

There was a ripping sound as the last strand of rope began to fray, and Zoe felt herself jolting downwards, legs swinging.

Then the rope snapped and Zoe began to fall.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

Ben had a split second to react. He slammed the button on his belt and felt a cord shoot out from his boots towards the trees, as he dived off the platform. He grabbed hold of Zoe by the straps of her backpack and together they tumbled through the air.

For a second, a whirl of dark undergrowth flashed in front of their eyes as the ground came towards them at a dizzying speed.

Then suddenly they were jerked upwards again.

“Good old Uncle Stephen!” Ben yelled in Zoe's ear. They finally came to a halt dangling above the ground, twisting slowly. “That certainly tested out his EEL.” Ben checked the terrain below. “Not a crocodile in sight. Prepare for landing.” He put his thumb over one of the buttons on the gadget at his waist and gradually lowered them both to the ground.

“So for once you
were
listening when Erika told us about our new gadget!” puffed Zoe, staggering as Ben released her from his grip. “I'm glad I had my backpack strapped on securely.”

Ben flipped the far end of the EEL line off its branch, and retracted it. Then he looked up at the broken walkway dangling high above their heads.

“We've lost our prey,” said Zoe crossly. “He'll be far away now.”

“But at least we know what he was up to,” said Ben grimly.

Zoe looked at him, puzzled.

“There's no way that was an accident,” Ben said solemnly. “When the wood cracked I could see it had been sawn almost through – just ready to break with the weight of a person.”

Zoe gasped. “He must have cut through the ropes as well.”

“Those walkways were fine when we were here this afternoon,” said Ben. “And I wonder if he had something to do with the explosions as well – whatever they were.”

“Our mission's not going to be as straightforward as we thought.” Zoe sounded worried.

“You're right,” said Ben. “Someone's targeting the reservation.” He had a sudden thought. “And maybe the booking cancellations weren't just a mistake. Do you think those loggers who scared off Kawan are behind it all?”

“Whoever it is,” said Zoe, “I reckon it's someone who knows Mat.”

“How can you be sure?” asked Ben.

“Mat said he takes the same route every day to call Kawan. Only Mat's friends and people who work with him will know that. He would have stepped on the sabotaged walkway and fallen – without an EEL to save him.”

“Do you think Mat realises someone's after him?” asked Ben.

“If he does, he's not going to tell us, is he?” said Zoe. “He thinks we're just visitors.”

Ben nodded. “We must speak to Mat about the walkway straight away.”

“And admit we've been out on our own in the night?” scoffed Zoe. “How's that going to look?”

“You're right,” agreed Ben. “He'll see it in the morning anyway.”

Zoe suddenly bent down and picked up a silver strip of paper from the ground. She held it out towards Ben triumphantly.

“It's a chewing gum wrapper,” said Ben with a shrug.

“And it could be a clue,” replied Zoe. “Whoever sabotaged the walkway must have dropped it just now.”

“How d'you figure that out, Sherlock Holmes?” scoffed Ben. “It could have been here for days!”

“That's where you're wrong.” Zoe grinned. “This wrapper's perfectly dry. It rained before we came out, so it must have been dropped after that. And who else would be out here in the middle of the night?”

“Good thinking!” exclaimed Ben. “You're not as dopey as you look.”

Zoe slipped the chewing gum wrapper into her pocket. Then she rubbed her shoulders under the backpack straps and stretched painfully. “I thought you were going to pull my arms out of their sockets when we fell!”

“Sorry,” grinned Ben. “I'll remember not to save your life next time!” He took his BUG and pressed some buttons to bring up the satellite map of the area. “Let's get back before it's light.”

They set off, pushing through the undergrowth, but they hadn't gone far when Zoe suddenly went sprawling.

“Ow!” she groaned, rubbing her shin. “There's some sort of rock or something in those ferns.”

Ben took a look and gasped. “I knew those explosive noises sounded familiar. We heard them all the time on that farm near Gran's cottage.” He parted the leaves to reveal a small metal box. “It's a bird scarer.”