Meet the Crew at the Zoo

path. Tree branches met over his head. A squirrel chittered somewhere.
“Don’t miss the giant ant-eater,” a woman said. She was wearing a raincoat.
A raincoat on this hot sunny day?
She must have known what he was thinking.
“I keep the ponds clean.” She grinned at him.
He grinned back.
“Anteaters are my favorites,” she said. “I talk to schoolchildren about them.”
Luke nodded.
“They’re great swimmers,” the woman said, waving her arms around. “They use their long snouts as snorkels.”
“Really?”
“Everyone calls me Nana-Next-Door,” she said.
“Really,” he said again.
“I live next door to the zoo,” she said. “I even live next door to you.”
Luke closed his mouth before he could say “really” again.
He watched as Nana cleaned around the edge of the pond.
He looked along the path. A boy was sweeping toward him.
Dust rose in the air.
Luke bent over sneezing.
The boy raised his shoulders.
Was he sorry? Luke couldn’t tell.
A box lay half hidden in the bushes.
Luke reached for it. So did the boy. They rolled on the path.
“Hey,” Luke yelled.
The boy yelled “hey” too.
Was he friendly? Maybe not.
Were the kids terrible here?

CHAPTER 4
WRONG!
“Sorry.” The boy let go of the box.
Luke let go too.
“Are you a new kid?” The boy didn’t wait for an answer. “I’m an old kid, Mitchell. I’ve always lived here.”
Luke nodded. “I’m Luke, named for my grandfather. Almost. His name is Lukas.”
“Let’s see what’s in the box,” Mitchell said.
A peacock swept past. He fanned out his blue and gold feathers. They stopped to watch.
Then they opened the box, which had a zebra-striped cover.
Inside was a green collar. Luke’s favorite color.
The collar was too small for a jaguar, too big for a black spider monkey.
The best part was a dollar bill, never mind that it was old and crinkled.
A note was stuck to it. FOR FOOD THE FIRST DAY.
A girl went by, a cat in her arms.
Luke held up the box. “Yours?” he called.
“No, sorry,” the girl said.
“That’s Tori,” Mitchell told him.
But then Dad was calling. “Luke?”
The black spider monkey must have been born.
Luke was ready to run. “My father wants me.” But what about the box? “Maybe we could find out whose it is.”
“Wait, I can’t help,” Mitchell said. “Sorry. I’m going to Zoo Camp for a week. See you when I get back.”
“See you.” Luke would take the box. Maybe he could find the owner.
“Get some of the kids to help,” Mitchell said.
“All right.” He didn’t want to say that the only kid he knew was his five-year-old sister.
Mitchell called back, “Just watch out for Alex. He never stops talking.”


CHAPTER 5
LUKE opened the Baby Zoo House door. He was out of breath.
Dad smiled. “Look.”
The mother black spider monkey was behind a glass door. A baby was wrapped around her middle.
Luke leaned forward.
He saw a tiny head and closed eyes.
“The mom looks like a spider when she holds on to branches,” Dad said. “She has long legs, a long tail. They go in different directions.”
She could grab the closet monster with one leg. She’d slam the door with her tail.
“Can you train a black spider monkey?” he asked.
Dad shook his head. “No. And really important, Luke: Wild animals are never meant to be pets.”
He nodded. Dad had said that over and over.
Luke saw another door. STAY OUT, the sign said.
“What’s in there?” he asked.
Dad didn’t answer. He looked at his watch. “The zoo is opening.”
Luke went outside. People were walking up the path.
Kids were standing near Nana-Next-Door. She was talking about anteaters.
“No teeth,” she said, “but sticky tongues. They scoop up thousands of ants every day.”
She saw Luke and waved.
He waved back. Then he dusted off the zebra box with his elbow.
He thought of Mitchell.
A new friend?
But he’d be gone for…Luke couldn’t remember how long.
What good was that?


CHAPTER 6
AT Tapir Town, Luke sank down on a bench.
The tapirs were huge. Abuelo had said they weighed hundreds of pounds.
One of them raised its snout; it curled its lip.
Was it making a face at him?
He curled his lip too, just for fun.
There was a shadow next to him.
Luke looked up. A boy stood there. His jeans had mud on the knees. His sneakers were filthy.
“Hey.” The boy gave the box a rap. “What do you have there?”
He left a handprint of dirt.
Luke held the box tighter.
The boy gripped his shoulder. “It might be mine. I had a box like that. I’ve looked all over…”
“What’s inside?” Luke asked.
“I don’t remember. It was a zebra box, though. I had it yesterday.”
“Is your name Alex?” Luke asked.
“Right,” said the boy. “It’s not a great name. I couldn’t spell the whole thing at first: Alexander. The kids laughed…”
He was never going to stop talking. Luke nodded and hurried up the path.
“Wait,” Alex called. “I’ll tell you about…”
Luke crossed Zoo Lane.
Footsteps came behind him.
He climbed his front steps.
The door was locked.
He rang the bell and kept his finger on it.
At last Benita opened the door.
She stood on tiptoes to look over Luke’s shoulder.
“Come on in,” she said.
Was she talking to Alex?


CHAPTER 7
“HEY, Tori,” Benita was saying.
Luke ducked inside. He looked back. It was the girl with the cat.
Alex was trotting across the lawn, going the other way.
“Where’s the cat?” Luke asked.
“Home, slurping down my mom’s miso soup.”
She made slurping noises. Her teeth were covered with orange braces.
She touched the box with one finger. “Zebra stripes.”
“It’s not mine,” Luke said.
Benita was talking at the same time. “Mom made cookies. Want one?”
Tori circled around him into the house.
She followed Benita down the hall.
“My friend David used to live here,” Tori said. “You can see the whole zoo from the attic window.”
In the kitchen, Benita held out a plate of cookies. They were mostly crumbs. “I ate a few.”
She raised her shoulders. “I guess I ate