Peril at Palm Shores (Kristi Cameron Book 7) Read online

  They jumped out of the vehicles with their bags and belongings, and with promises that they’d be back at the zoo the next day to help with the cleanup, they thanked Bill and Randy for the ride home. The men were anxious to get to their own homes to check things out.

  The Camerons and their friends followed Elizabeth up the driveway to the house. Elizabeth unlocked the front door, and they stepped inside. The floor was dry. They walked into the living room. There was no electricity, and the room was dark due to the boards over the windows, but Steve grabbed a couple flashlights off the coffee table and shone the light around. There was not a stick of furniture, a book or a picture frame out of place. They walked through the house and found everything just as they’d left it. They went out to the backyard. The pool was cloudy and overflowing with water, but otherwise there was no damage out there, either.

  There were tears in Grandma’s eyes. “It’s a miracle,” she said softly. “It’s as if the Lord placed a bubble around my house and protected it though the storm.”

  Kristi gave her grandma a hug. “Well, you deserve it, Grandma!” she said. “The Lord probably looked down and saw how hard you were working at the zoo and decided you didn’t need more cleanup here at home! I’m so happy for you!”

  The electricity had been out for more than twenty hours, but the things inside the refrigerator were still chilled. They quickly grabbed some sandwich fixings and drinks out of the fridge and slammed the door shut again, hoping to keep the cold air in as long as possible. They made a light supper and sat out on the patio to eat in the setting sun and cool breeze.

  Steve bowed his head to pray before they ate. “Father, thank You for Your safety through the storm. Thank You for protecting all of us and this house, as well. Thank You for keeping Kristi and Skeeter safe from harm today when they found themselves in a dangerous situation. We ask that You would be with our friends at the zoo, that they may get some rest tonight, and that somehow You will provide the funds and the way to get the zoo back on its feet again. Please be with poor little Fudge tonight and heal him, if it is Your will. We ask that the police might find Brownie quickly before it is too late to rescue him. And Father, thank You for this food tonight, too. We praise You for the way You always provide for us and protect us, and that You never leave or forsake us. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”

  The conversation around the table was slow and quiet. They were all tired, completely worn out from having been through a hurricane, the further stresses of the day, their hard work, and the lack of sleep the night before. Kristi was trying to stifle yet another yawn when Steve finally said, “Well, guys, let’s get the boards off the windows and then everyone is going to bed early tonight!” There was no argument from the teens. They were more than ready!

  It wasn’t even eight o’clock when at last the girls sunk into their nice soft beds and snuggled into their pillows. What a difference from the night before, Kristi thought, when she’d slept in the pen on the floor with the baby antelope and goat! She glanced over at Robyn and Anna and remembered her conversation with her mother—the one over the mistaken identity. She giggled. “Good night, friends!” she called softly to them.

  “G’night, Kristi,” they innocently murmured, already falling asleep. She giggled once more, and then she was asleep, too.

  Elizabeth was up before anyone else in the morning. The smell of coffee brewing and bacon sizzling on the stove woke them, and one by one drew them out to the kitchen. The sun was shining brightly through the windows and Elizabeth’s smile lit up the room even more.

  “The electricity is back on!” she sang out as the girls came in. The refrigerator was humming softly in the background, the clock was lit up on the microwave and the coffeemaker was making funny gurgling noises as the rich, dark liquid dripped through into the pot. “I’m making a nice, warm meal for everyone! Pancakes, eggs, bacon, juice, milk and coffee! How does that sound? We’ll all feel so much better today after a good night’s sleep and some good food in our tummies!”

  “Grandma, you’re the best!” Kristi said. “Here, let me take over with those pancakes! Anna and Robyn, would you like to set the table?” By the time breakfast was ready the rest of the family had joined them and soon there was a much livelier bunch gathered around the table than there had been the night before.

  Skeeter was back to his usual boisterous, noisy self. He jumped up several times from the table, acting out for his grandmother the events that had taken place in the Tiki Hut, and his little game with Bejo later. Elizabeth had heard it all before, of course, but she laughed all over again at her young grandson’s antics. Finally he settled down long enough to clean up everything that was still left on the table, including the scraps from Kristi and Anna’s plates. “Thanks, Grandma,” he sighed contentedly when at last every morsel was gone and he had had his fill. “That was a great breakfast!”

  “Well, I have another little surprise for you all, too!” she said as she reached behind her for the newspaper that was sitting on the buffet. “The paper was on the porch, just like normal, when I went outside this morning, and look what I found on the front page!” She opened the paper and spread it out on the table before them.

  The first thing that caught their attention was the giant headline, “Jenna Jolts Palm Shores!” There were several photos of damage done around the small town, and a story along with it. Down in the lower right hand corner, though, was another photo. This one was of several teenagers painting and sweeping. The smaller headline above it said, “West Coast Teens Help Out P.S. Zoo.”

  “Hey, that’s us!” Dan exclaimed. They looked more closely. Sure enough. The picture had been taken on Monday, the first day they’d worked at the zoo. Skeeter and Pete were pushing brooms, sweeping up the broken egg shells and mess left behind by the vandals. Dan was pouring paint into a tray while Kristi and Robyn had just started rolling over the graffiti on the wall behind him. Anna was bent over a bucket, washing something out.

  “How did this get in the paper, Grandma? I don’t remember seeing a photographer around,” Kristi said.

  Her grandmother laughed. “I don’t think any of you kids saw him! You were all so focused, and working so hard that I stood not thirty feet away with the reporter and talked for at least twenty minutes, and you never even noticed! I have a friend who works at the Palm Shore Times. I called her last week and told her that you were coming to town to help at the zoo and suggested that they do a story about you!”

  “Grandma!”

  “Well, I can’t help it! I’m a proud grandma! Besides, this is a small town. We don’t usually have a lot of crime or big stories happening—well, until this week, that is—so they like doing feel-good stories, or what they call The Good News, to fill their pages. I was just helping them out—and bragging on my grandchildren and their friends at the same time! That’s what they call a win-win situation, isn’t it?” Grandma looked around at all of them with a twinkle in her eye and grinned. They laughed and looked again at the picture.

  “The story is on page three,” Grandma added. “They were going to come back and do an interview with you all later in the week, but then a bigger story called Jenna came along, and I guess they’ve been a bit too busy to get back to you. Well, at least you made it on the front page, right up there with the hurricane! Now I can hold my head up high in front of my friends—especially Emily Watson. Her grandkids only made it to page five last month when they cleaned the washrooms behind the concession stand at the Little League field.”

  “Mother! I never knew you were so proud!” Rachel laughed, looking at her mother in astonishment.

  “Well, of course I’m proud of my grandchildren! Wait until you’re a grandma someday, Rachel. Then you’ll understand!”

  “Well, I gotta say—I look pretty good in that picture!” Skeeter said. “And Kristi, I noticed they got your good side, too!”

  Kristi looked again at the photo and realized her back was turned to the camera. You couldn’t even see h
er face, but… She whacked Skeeter with her spoon. He just laughed—and so did Dan and Pete.

  “Okay, enough, you guys!” Steve said. “Everyone get dressed. I finally found a rental van and they’ll be delivering it at nine o’clock. Let’s be ready to go when it gets here. This is our last day to be able to help at the zoo, so let’s make it count, okay? There is still plenty that needs to be done.”

  “I know. I’m going to hate going home tomorrow and leaving them with all that work,” Kristi said. “I wish we could stay a little longer.”

  “Me, too,” the others all chimed in.

  “I’m sorry, kids,” Steve said. “I have to get back to work on Monday, and the rest of you all have obligations and responsibilities back home, too. We’ve done a lot this week, and we’ll get as much done as we can today, but then we’ll have to leave it in the Lord’s hands to provide for them as He wills. Let’s clear the table and help Grandma clean up, and then go get dressed, okay?”

  They were on their way back to the zoo forty-five minutes later. Skeeter could hardly wait to see Bejo. The girls were hoping they’d get a chance to spend some time with the babies in the nursery again before they had to leave. Dan and Pete were questioning Steve about his Cessna 207 that had been parked at the airport during the hurricane.

  “They put it in a hangar for me. I called yesterday to check on it, and they said it’s fine. We shouldn’t have any problem flying home tomorrow.”

  Gretchen answered the bell at the employees’ entrance as soon as they rang it. She had a big smile on her face. “Ah! Our front-page celebrities have arrived!”

  Kristi couldn’t wait to find out. “How’s Fudge?” she blurted out.

  “Good news! He’s doing better this morning! He does have some pneumonia in his lungs, but Tammy thinks we caught it fast enough that he is going to recover. He’s awake now, and though he’s still a pretty sick little guy, it’s not going to be long before she’s going to have her hands full with him. She’s sure going to be happy to see you this morning, Elizabeth! Maybe Tammy can get a little nap now. She looks like she could use it!”

  “I’ll get right over there then,” Elizabeth replied. She waved goodbye to her family and headed for the nursery/hospital.

  “How’s Bejo today?” Skeeter asked.

  “He seems to be fine this morning, but remember all that candy he ate yesterday? He had a pretty good bellyache last night! You should have seen the look on his face! If he hadn’t looked so pitiful, it would have been funny! I doubt if he learned a thing by it, though. If he had it to do all over again, I’m sure he would.”

  “Oh, yeah. I can relate to that,” Skeeter said seriously. His family and friends burst out laughing. How true that was!

  “Any news about Brownie yet?” Pete asked.

  The smile disappeared from Gretchen’s face. “Not yet,” she said sadly. “The police know who they’re looking for, but they haven’t caught up with them yet.”

  “Well, you know what they say, no news is good news,” Rachel tried to comfort her.

  “Maybe not in this case, though. The longer Brownie is missing, the greater the chance that he’s been sold or hurt.”

  “We’ll keep praying he’s found quickly,” Anna said softly.

  “Let’s get to work,” Steve suggested. “Is Jimmy at the maintenance shed?”

  “I’m not sure, but if he isn’t, Sam is back and he has the list of jobs for today. He’ll get you started.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Gretchen. Come on, kids, let’s go.”

  “Hey, Dad, would it be okay if I stop by the Monkey Jamboree and say hi to Bejo before we get started? I promise I’ll only stay a couple minutes and then I’ll meet you over at the shed.”

  “Sure, Skeeter. Don’t be long, though.”

  Skeeter started over toward the primate house, but a moment later he heard Kristi call, “Skeeter! Wait for me! I’ll go with you!”

  He stopped and she caught up with him. “I decided to say hello to Bejo, too. After all, he did save my life yesterday!” They went into the Monkey Jamboree and the rest of the group went on to the maintenance shed.

  Twenty minutes later Rachel looked around and said, “Where are Kristi and Skeeter? Didn’t they come back yet?” They had finished looking over the list of jobs, gathered their tools and were ready to get to work.

  “Let’s take a look with the video surveillance cameras and see if we can find them,” Sam suggested.

  Sure enough. There they were on one of the monitors in the back room. They were still at Monkey Jamboree. They were standing on the other side of the wire screen from Bejo. The camera was at just the right angle to catch what they were doing. Skeeter was making funny faces at Bejo, and of course, the orangutan was aping everything he did. What was really hilarious, though, was seeing Kristi going along with them and playing their little game, too!

  Their unseen audience stood back and laughed till their sides hurt as they watched the two teens making fools of themselves in front of the orangutan. Skeeter stuck his tongue out and squinted his eyes. Kristi jumped up and down and waggled her fingers in her ears. What was really funny, though, was when Skeeter and Kristi seemed to forget Bejo and started entertaining each other. They were facing one another and competing to see who could make the craziest, silliest face. Bejo just stood back, crossed his long arms and shook his head. You could almost hear him thinking, Crazy humans!

  Suddenly Kristi glanced at her watch. They couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she grabbed Skeeter’s arm and pointed toward the door. They could lip-read him saying, Oh-oh! They watched as they waved goodbye to Bejo and ran for the door.

  No one said a word when Kristi and Skeeter dashed into the maintenance shed a few minutes later. “Sorry we’re late!” Kristi gasped breathlessly.

  “Uh, Bejo looked a little lonely so we tried to cheer him up,” Skeeter added.

  No one was saying anything yet, but they had funny looks on their faces. “What?” Skeeter asked. “What? What are you looking at?”

  “Oh, nothing,” his dad said. “There are your supplies. We’d better get to work.”

  Skeeter and Kristi bent down to pick up their tools and equipment. Dan stuck out his tongue and squinted his eyes at Skeeter. Robyn jumped up and down and waggled her fingers in her ears behind Kristi’s back. Everyone burst out laughing again.

  Kristi and Skeeter stood up and looked around. “What’s going on?” Kristi asked, puzzled.

  “Nothing, honey. We’re just happy you cheered up poor Bejo, that’s all,” her mother said. “Now let’s go.” They left the maintenance shed for their various jobs, the rest of them still snickering.

  They spent the morning working in the outdoor pens and enclosures. The water that had flooded the zoo the day before had disappeared for the most part, but it had left behind a mess of mud and trash. The wind had broken a number of trees and some of the play equipment. There was a lot to be done before they could let the animals back outside. And by the sounds of it, the natives were getting restless. Jimmy hoped to have the bigger animals all back outdoors by the end of the day, and the rest of them by tomorrow.

  They worked hard the rest of that morning and had just stopped for a quick lunch at the Tiki Hut when they saw a police car pull up outside the front gates. Jimmy got up and went over to let the officers in. They watched the three men talking for a few minutes before Jimmy led them over to the rest of the group. He had a grin plastered across his face from ear to ear!

  “Good news!” he said as they approached the tables. “They found Brownie and he’s okay! He’s at the Miami Zoo, but they’re going to bring him to us as soon as we give them the word that we’re ready for him.”

  “The Dade County police caught the guys who stole him at the airport down there. They were about to get on a plane, trying to smuggle the chimp out of the country!” one of the policemen said. “They had tranquilized him and then claimed the animal in their carrier was a dog. Unfortunately for them, the ch
imp woke up and began making noises that were not like any dog the airline agent had ever heard before, and she got suspicious. When they discovered the animal inside was a chimpanzee the airline called the police. They had our bulletin about, uh—Brownie—and took the guys into custody and called the zoo to come get the chimp.”

  “Hurray!” the group gathered around the tables cheered. It was great news!

  The afternoon sped by. They worked feverishly, trying to get as much done as they could before they left the zoo for good. At last they stopped their work and gathered at the nursery. It was time to say a final goodbye to the babies there.

  Elizabeth let them in. “Just in time to feed the little beggars!” she smiled. “But first let me take you to see Fudge. He’s feeling lots better this afternoon, and Tammy said if you’re quiet you can visit him for a couple minutes.”

  They tiptoed into the small room where they were caring for Fudge. The hospital side of the building was too badly damaged to keep him there, so they had improvised with a small room off the office. Fudge looked up at them and a little sparkle seemed to come into his sad-looking eyes. A little monkey grin appeared and disappeared as quickly as it had come. They could tell he wasn’t feeling well, and with a bandage wrapped around his head, and his arm in a cast and taped down to a board across his chest, he was a pathetic sight. They spoke softly to him for a few minutes and then quietly left the room. Poor little guy! Well, praise the Lord, he was out of danger now and seemed to be on the road to recovery.

  Elizabeth warmed up the bottles for the babies and passed them out. The teenagers took their usual spots and talked to the little ones softly as they ate. It was a sad feeling to know they were leaving, and when and if they ever got back, these little guys would be all grown up and wouldn’t even remember them. The baby chimp in Skeeter’s arms was full of milky kisses, as usual, and Skeeter chuckled as he wiped the drips off with the back of his hand.