by Pixie H

by Pixie H

© 2006 Knowledge Adventure, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.kabooksbyyou.com

This book is dedicated to my Mum for buying me my first monkey. If it had not escaped I wouldn't have had a story to write.

Chapter 1: Party at the Grand PavilionThere are not many people in the world

who have seen purple and pink-speckled

monkeys. They are impossibly rare. And

because the purple and pink-speckled

monkey is one of the smartest animals on

earth, it is extremely good at hiding. In fact,

most of the monkeys that have been caught

have quickly escaped. So you can imagine the

enormous excitement at Monkey Zoo early

4

one spring. They had one purple and pink

-speckled monkey placed in their care.

Among the most excited people at the zoo

was a short and skinny, black-haired girl

named Ro Hanif. Her mother was a

zookeeper in charge of the monkeys. After

school on Fridays and all day on Saturdays,

Ro helped at the monkey house, or the

"Monkey Palace," as it was more properly

called. Her mother said she could help look

after the new purple and pink-speckled

monkey as soon as it arrived.

Now, while everyone loves zoos, it's also

true that capturing wild animals and locking

them up isn't exactly a nice thing to do.

Located in Te Aroha, in the city of Hamauck,

Monkey Zoo was one of the nicest zoos in the

world. The animals lived in such blinding

splendor that, in the 10 years since the zoo's

founding, none of them ever tried to escape.

More important, however, Monkey Zoo

5

specialized in taking care of sick and orphaned

animals. This is important to this particular

story because, sadly, the purple and pink

-speckled monkey was himself an orphan,

having lost both his parents to hunters in the

jungles of Canada.

Part of the

excitement caused

by the new monkey

came from the fact

that there was going

to be a big afternoon

party in the zoo's

Grand Pavilion. The

monkey was going to be presented in a small

but very comfortable cage hidden behind an

enormous silk curtain. While all the most

important people of Hamauck watched, the

monkey was going to be unveiled.

"Oh, Bluebell, it's going to be the most

thrilling event of the year!" Ro's mother said

6

after telling Ro about the party.

"And we're definitely invited?" Ro asked.

"We're definitely invited."

"Awesome!" exclaimed Ro.

It did, in fact, turn out to be a very exciting

event. By all accounts, this was absolutely

true. But it was not exciting for any of the

reasons people had expected. That is, it was

not exactly exciting in a good way.

On the day of the party, the zoo was

something close to complete chaos. The party

was scheduled to start at two o'clock that

afternoon, but by nine that morning people

were running around like maniacs. Even the

Zoots and Boots were surprised to see how

strangely people were behaving, and it's

common knowledge that Zoots and Boots are

the strangest animals on earth.

Ro too was running around like a maniac.

The monkey arrived early that morning in a

large traveling cage. Ro's job was to look after

7

the monkey, so she opened the cage to play

with it. A little-known fact is that purple and

pink-speckled monkeys are fairly

mischievous. They don't exactly do what

they're supposed to, and they absolutely love

playing tricks on people. So, just as Ro

opened the cage and said

"Cute," the monkey poked her in the nose and

charged out of the cage, across the room, out

the door, and right into the Elephant House.

Now, if you've

ever chased a

monkey through an

Elephant House, you

know how difficult

this is. Ro dodged

swinging elephant

trunks and swishing

elephant tails and stumbled past water

buckets. Worse, it's well known that elephants

are terrified of monkeys, and as the purple

8

and pink-speckled monkey ran between the

rows and rows of elephant legs, the elephants

all trumpeted in a deafening and

blood-curdling manner. But Ro didn't give

up. She couldn't. She was in charge of the

monkey. She just kept chasing it, the whole

time yelling, "Get back here!" which wasn't

very useful, seeing that purple and pink

-speckled monkeys don't speak English - or

any human language, for that matter.

As the monkey

approached the zoo's

Boot and Zoot pit,

Ro, who was right

behind him,

screamed,

"Eeek!" Her scream

surprised the little

creature and made it possible for Ro to finally

catch up with him. She employed a little trick

her mother had taught her. Although purple

9

and pink-speckled monkeys are wild and

rambunctious animals

(not unlike human children), if you start to

scratch his tummy, the monkey immediately

calms down and becomes so cuddly that he

will grab hold of you and won't let go. So,

when Ro finally cornered the purple and

pink-speckled monkey, instead of grabbing

him, she started to scratch his tummy. The

monkey sighed, rolled into Ro's arms, and

hugged her right around the neck. This made

Ro pretty happy. Who doesn't like to be

hugged by purple and pink-speckled

monkeys? Ro whispered back,

"If you had gone into the Boot and Zoot pit, I

never would have caught you, you silly

monkey." Ro had an absolute phobia of Boot

and Zoots and the zoo's Boot and Zoot pit -

which is worth remembering, because it will

come up again later on.

At any rate, the zoo was busy. Ro spent the

10

whole rest of the

morning and early

afternoon carefully

watching the

monkey. She gave it

a bath. She brought

it lots of fresh water.

She even fed it,

although the purple and pink-speckled

monkey is a very picky eater. The purple and

pink-speckled monkey ate one apple after

another. Everybody else kept busy as well.

People ran to and fro taking care of small

tasks around the Grand Pavilion. They dusted

off the piano. They swept out the coat room.

They washed the windows. And they made

the dessert, which was an enormous apple

cake in honor of the monkey. Finally, after all

that running around, the clock struck two and

the guests started to arrive.

"I don't think I've ever seen the Grand

11

Pavilion look so beautiful," Ro's mother said

to her.

Ro was still sore from chasing the monkey

through the Elephant House, but she was

dazzled by the decorations as well.

"It really is cool," Ro agreed.

But Ro and her mother didn't have too

much time to talk. Soon the guests were

coming up to congratulate them on their

new monkey.

Among the more

important guests that

Ro greeted, there

was the mayor,

Really Strong, a

skinny, loud,

dark-haired

woman, who always

seemed to be laughing at one thing or another.

She was best known for disco dancing in the

'70s, which everyone agreed was one of the

12

most amazing things ever to happen in

Hamauck. She was also good friends with Ro's

mother. They had gone to high school

together and had both been trombonists in

the marching band. Ro liked the mayor a

great deal, and Mayor Strong felt the same.

Also in

attendance were

Tom and Ted Trap,

world-famous

hunters who owned

their own private

island where they

kept rare animals for

their hunting pleasure. People paid them top

dollar to hunt there as well. The Trap brothers

were also twins, which was confusing to

everyone because they looked nothing alike.

Tom was tall and unnaturally skinny. Ted was

short and plump. Both, however, were entirely

bald, and they always wore the exact same

13

outfits - camoflage clothes.

Madame Rosey

was there, too. She

ran a bustling

fortune-telling

business from her

small house in

Hamauck. She had

a huge garden where

she grew all sorts of strange plants she used in

potions that helped her predict the future. Ro

didn't believe in fortune telling, but if anyone

could tell the future, it was Madame Rosey.

She had a strange, distant gaze, long bony

fingers, and wild, jet-black hair that looked

like black snakes. In addition, she was often

at the zoo looking for the hair of rare animals

to use in her various fortune-telling

concoctions.

A world-famous scientist and certainly the

brightest man in Hamauck, Professor Big

14

Banana, also came

to see the new

monkey. He had

made great

breakthroughs in

matters of animal

behavior and first

made a name for

himself by teaching parrots how to play Fruit

Loops. He was particularly interested in the

purple and pink-speckled monkey for his

latest experiment. Because the purple and

pink-speckled monkey was so smart, he

believed he could teach it to play Checkers, a

very difficult game for animals. The zoo,

however, had refused to let Professor Banana

experiment with the monkey. After all, rare

monkeys have far better things to do with

their time than play board games.

Ro actually knew quite a few of the guests

and was fairly exhausted once all the

15

introductions and hellos were over. She really

did like Mayor Really Strong, however, and

they were even seated next to each other for

the grand unveiling of the monkey.

"You've done an excellent job with all this, Ro,"

the mayor said as they took their seats.

"I'll bet you and the monkey are already

friends."

"The monkey is completely crazy!" Ro

replied. "I spent the whole day chasing him

through the Elephant House. But I already

love him."

About the time that Ro and the mayor were

talking, Ro's mother stepped up to a

microphone that stood at the front of the

Grand Pavilion. She was distinguished

looking at the age of 36, very kind, and, like

Ro, was short and skinny and had black hair.

Ro felt very proud as her loving mother began

her speech. "I'd like to welcome you all here,"

she said after taking a deep breath.

16

"I'm so happy you've come. And I know what

you're all waiting for, so I won't delay another

second. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to

introduce you to our very special guest."

As Ro's mother said this, several people

wheeled in the monkey pen, which was

covered by a large black curtain. This would

be the first sighting of the purple and pink

-speckled monkey for most people in the

room. Everyone was very excited.

"Monkey Zoo

will be the only

place in the country

where you can see a

monkey like this,"

Ro's mother

continued.

"I won't make you

all wait a second longer. Friends, I introduce

you to our brand-new purple and pink

-speckled monkey!" Ro's mother reached

17

behind her and pulled on a golden rope that

was attached to the curtain. The curtain came

flying off, and the crowd instantly gasped. But

the gasp quickly turned into silence and then

to quiet muttering. The crowd had expected

to see the miraculous new purple and pink

-speckled monkey. The only problem was that

the cage was empty. There was no monkey.

The monkey was gone.

Ro's mother quickly said,

"Don't worry, folks. I'm sure he's here

somewhere." But the quiet muttering

continued as Ro's mother and all the other zoo

workers started looking for the monkey. The

search ended quickly. Ro's mother checked

the cage again and noticed that the lock had

been cut clean through.

"The monkey hasn't escaped!" she suddenly

yelled. "Someone has stolen it!"

"Wow!" cried Ro with surprise and

anxiety.

18

"Help! Help!!" some people started

yelling, and the chant "The monkey's been

stolen!" began circulating throughout the

Grand Pavilion. A few guests fainted. People

were quite upset.

The person who looked most upset,

however, was Ro's mother, because now

everyone seemed to be mad at her.

"Where is the monkey?" people were

demanding. Ro and the mayor ran up to Ro's

mother to lend her a hand.

"Don't worry,"

the mayor said.

"We'll find out who

took it."

Even though the

mayor was standing

right beside her, Ro's

mother didn't feel

any better. In fact, after looking around the

room and seeing all those angry faces, she

19

suddenly started to cry. Now Ro also felt

terrible. As anyone knows, seeing your

mother upset is one of the worst things in the

world. It was certainly one of the worst things

that Ro had ever seen.

After another minute, the mayor suggested

that she and Ro's mother go somewhere to

talk about what might have happened.

"May we leave you on your own for a bit?"

Mayor Strong asked Ro.

"No problem," Ro said, although she

wasn't crazy about leaving her mother. But

they had to find the monkey. Maybe it was

best if her mother and the mayor got right to

work. Why did they need her around?

The mayor quickly got on her cell phone

and called the police. She escorted Ro's

mother out of the Grand Pavilion, leaving Ro

alone in the now confused mob of partygoers.

Ro felt so helpless and worried about her

mother. Then something strange happened.

20

She was standing near an exit when she

noticed that the Trap brothers looked just a

little too happy. Tom, the tall one, had just

gotten off his cell phone and was saying,

"This is wonderful! Our men have done a

wonderful job. We've been trying to get one

for so long. And now we have it!"

Ted just nodded

and said,

"Cool."

Ro was shocked.

Maybe they took the

monkey. She

thought she should

go tell the mayor,

but in the next second the brothers were

walking quickly toward the exit. There was no

time to find Mayor Strong. She had to follow

the Trap brothers herself. Maybe she could

get to the bottom of this on her own.

21

Chapter 2: Solving the CaseTo be perfectly frank, Ro was an absolutely

magnificent candidate to solve a crime. In

fact, if you filled a room with 99 people and

had to choose one person to save you from

certain disaster, Ro would probably be your

first or second choice.

To begin with, Ro had dazzling athletic

abilities. She was the city-wide wrestling

champion, a highly accomplished

22

speed-skater, and an astounding clarinetist, a

thing that demands a great deal of athleticism.

Ro was also a shrewd judge of character,

which meant that she knew what kind of

person she was dealing with in the blink of an

eye. This is important because criminals tend

to lie quite a bit, especially if you're trying to

send them to jail.

Additionally, Ro was a very creative

thinker. This didn't always get her high marks

from teachers. In fact, it sometimes meant that

Ro did exactly the opposite of what she was

told to do. But a person needs to be a

free-thinker if she wants to get to the bottom

of the matter. (Of course, a person should also

listen to her teachers, as Ro well knew!)

At any rate, Ro followed Tom and Ted

Trap out of the Grand Pavilion and into the

bright afternoon sunlight. She wasn't sure

where they were headed, but soon she realized

they were walking to their enormous car,

23

which was an SUV

with the words

"Trap Brothers

Huntmobile"

written on it. Ro had

to follow them, but

all she had was her

bright purple with

gold sparkles bike. She'd never be able to

keep up. If only she could figure out where

they were going...

Suddenly, a strange bird call sounded

from the zoo. The taller of the twins, Tom,

came to an abrupt halt and said,

"Did you hear that? That was a Purple Flying

Kiwi!"

The call sounded again. Ted paused,

listened and said, "I'm afraid you don't have

that quite right, old boy. That was the call of a

Gold Peacock."

"You're out of your mind," Tom replied.

24

"That was a Purple Flying Kiwi."

"No," Ted said. "It was a Gold Peacock."

"A Purple Flying Kiwi!"

"A Gold Peacock!"

"A Purple Flying Kiwi!"

"A Gold Peacock!"

This argument carried on for some time.

Eventually, Tom suggested that they had both

bird calls on tape at home.

"We'll go home immediately and listen to

both," he said. "Then you'll realize your

mistake."

So they were headed home. Ro knew

where they lived - everyone knew where the

palatial Trap mansion was - and soon Ro was

running back to the zoo. She had to get her

bike. She'd ride to their house and meet up

with them there.

By the way, and in the interest of truth, the

call was from neither a Purple Flying Kiwi

nor a Gold Peacock. It was the call of the

25

purple flamingo, an entirely different bird.

The trip across

town took about

twenty minutes by

bike. And when Ro

arrived at their

house, she saw the

Trap brothers' car

was already parked

in the driveway. The Trap house was

absolutely enormous and almost entirely dark.

It looked like a hunting lodge you might find

in some far-off country filled with lots of

dangerous animals. Ro wasn't sure what she

should do at this point. Part of her wanted to

sneak in and start looking for the monkey, but

Ro had always believed that sneaking into

other people's houses was not a very nice

thing to do. She decided that she'd just ring the

bell and when the brothers answered, she'd

start asking questions. She thought she'd know

26

if they were lying to her.

But this plan did

not, in fact, work

out. As she walked

up to the house, a

gigantic guard dog

suddenly appeared

behind her and

started barking

wildly. Ro thought for an instant that she

might be able to calm it down and even

become friends with it. She did work with

animals, after all. But when she caught sight

of the dog's terribly huge teeth, she decided

that what she really ought to do was run for

her life. There was a small set of stairs leading

down to a door to the basement. This was

closer than the front door. And since the dog

was now getting very close, she decided the

basement door was her only escape. She flew

down the stairs, pushed open the door, and in

27

the next instant she was safe from the crazed

dog.

Strangely,

though, Ro didn't

feel much safer in

the Trap's basement.

Only a small

reading lamp was

on, so Ro had a hard

time seeing at first.

She kept imagining the scariest noises, like the

sounds of a ghost, someone breathing, or a

book slamming open and shut. When her

eyes became adjusted to the dark, though, she

almost wished there was no light at all. She

was surrounded by animals that had been

hunted and stuffed. There were stuffed purple

gorillas, squeaking dogs, several dinosaurs,

and even a moose head. Worse, there were

jars and jars of fake eyeballs - the kind you'd

use when making dolls or stuffed animals.

28

They resembled marbles although they didn't

seem quite as fun. "I've got to get out of here,"

Ro finally said to herself.

"Oh dear me!." There were more rooms in the

basement, but Ro thought she heard talking

upstairs.

Ro spotted a staircase that led upstairs. She

quickly walked to it and climbed up to the

next floor. Still, it was very dark. Ro didn't

know where to go next, when she suddenly

heard a strange howling sound. Ro nearly

jumped out of her skin it was such a

frightening noise. For a moment, Ro thought

she recognized the sound. It was almost

certainly from the purple and pink-speckled

monkey. As Ro listened more carefully, she

realized it was coming from the next floor up.

She quickly found another staircase and

headed to the second floor.

Unfortunately, when Ro reached the top of

the stairs, the howling stopped. She thought it

29

had come from her

right, though, and

quickly headed

down a long

hallway. A single

light glowed at the

end of the hall, and

Ro could make out

doors on both the left and right. The walls

were heavily decorated with guns, swords, and

more animal heads.

"Oh dear me!," Ro said again. But she

thought about her mother and decided to keep

going. She'd find the monkey and then call the

police to arrest the Trap brothers. Still, where

should she look? Which door should she

open?

All at once, Ro heard scuffling and

bumping noises that a trapped animal might

make. It came from a room at the end of the

hall. Ro ran directly there. She opened the

30

door. The room resembled a library.

Bookcases covered every wall, with more

guns and animal heads hung as decoration.

Before her was a huge animal crate with air

holes drilled into it. Ro ran to the crate and

began to unlatch the metal fasteners that held

its top on. She was almost done. She'd have

the monkey in a second.

Suddenly, a hand clamped down on her

shoulder. Ro was so scared she actually

screamed, "Eeek!" She turned around and saw

the two hunters behind her. And they looked

pretty angry.

"What are you doing here?" Tom, the tall

one, bellowed.

Ro didn't know how to answer.

"Nothing," she said, although this didn't make

much sense.

"Nothing, eh?" Tom said.

"It looked like you were opening this crate."

Ro again didn't know what to say. But

31

finally, her courage

returned, and she

said,

"I'm here for the

purple and pink

-speckled monkey. I

know you took it."

And with that, Ro

turned and opened up the crate.

"Explain this," she yelled.

But the fact was that there wasn't much to

explain. There was no monkey in the crate.

Instead it was a very large Zoota.

"I'm not sure what you want us to

explain," Ted said. "That's a very, very rare

howling Zoota. Our men just captured it."

At that moment the Zoota started howling -

which, by the way, is an extremely unusual

thing for a Zoota to do. Ro wasn't quite sure it

sounded the same as the earlier howling, but it

was definitely howling. Ro hardly knew what

32

to say. She turned bright red from

embarrassment. Finally, she just said,

"I'm very, very sorry for making a mistake."

"You'd better be,"

Tom snapped.

"Now I think it's

time for you to

leave."

Ro quickly

agreed and, to tell

the truth, was now

fairly thankful she was getting out of there. All

the guns, the strange animals, and the jars of

fake eyeballs were just too much.

Tom and Ted showed Ro the door while

she continued to apologize profusely. As she

was stepping through the front doorway and

wondering what she would do next, Ted said

something interesting.

"If you're looking for the monkey thief," he

said, "I'd check with Madame Rosey - the

33

fortune-teller. She once told us that if we ever

captured any purple and pink-speckled

monkeys, she wanted to buy some fur. She

seems to think the fur has special magical

powers."

Ro just nodded and said she was sorry

again. She was quite upset, but she had not

entirely lost hope. As the door shut behind her,

she decided she could pay a visit to the

fortune-teller. And if she hurried, she could

still make it home before nightfall.

It wasn't such a

long bike ride to the

fortune-teller, and

after about 15

minutes of

moderately fast

pedaling, Ro arrived

at her destination.

The fortune-teller lived in a strange little

house near Lots of Trees, the big wooded area

34

at the edge of Hamauck. Ro had noticed the

house before, because it had a large sign out

front that read, "You ask, I know." She had

even wanted to visit one day, although she was

pretty sure people couldn't really tell

fortunes.

Ro wasn't exactly sure what to do after she

arrived. But she'd always believed that a

person should be very honest and forthright no

matter what the circumstances. So she

decided to simply walk to the front door, ring

the doorbell, and ask Madame Rosey directly

about the missing monkey. And this is exactly

what she did. But again, things didn't go quite

as planned. Madame Rosey answered the door

when Ro rang, but the madame quickly said,

"Hello, darling. I'm with a customer right now.

Make yourself comfortable in my waiting

room. I'll be with you shortly." Madame

Rosey pointed to a small room.

"But I really need to speak to you right

35

now," Ro said.

"Everyone needs

to speak to Madame

Rosey," she replied.

"But you must wait

your turn."

Ro was about to

speak again, but

Madame Rosey said,

"Please, my dear. In due time." Then she

turned and disappeared behind a curtain. Ro

didn't particularly feel like waiting. But what

could she do? She walked into the waiting

room, sat down, and said to herself,

"I'll give her five minutes." Then, as Ro

looked to her right, she saw something very,

very startling. It was a pair of hair clippers

next to a little pile of brownish-purple and

pink hair that looked just like monkey fur.

And just as she saw the fur, she glanced down

another hallway that led away from the

36

waiting room and saw a flash of brownish-

purple and pink fur run from one room to the

next.

"So this is where they have been hiding

you!" Ro said, jumping up.

Ro quickly darted

down the hallway to

where she saw the

flash of brown fur,

but she didn't see the

monkey anywhere.

The hallway walls

were covered with

loose red velvet curtains and several paintings

hung on either side. All of the paintings were

portraits of very old people who looked just a

little like vampires. It was very spooky. Ro

was looking at a picture titled

"Cousin Trotter" when she began to hear

muffled talking. Ro made out the words,

"Thank you, Madame Rosey. Thank you."

37

"It's been a pleasure," she replied. Then

there was the sound of the front door opening

and shutting. Next, and much to Ro's horror,

there was the sound of footsteps coming back

toward the hall where she was.

More important, Ro heard Madame Rosey

calling out to something.

"Here, sweetie," she said.

"Hop over here." Ro heard the pattering of

paws. The same sound the purple and pink

-speckled monkey made when he ran. Now Ro

just had to figure out a way to get the monkey

to safety.

Unfortunately, Ro was paying so much

attention to what she heard, that she forgot

where she was. She leaned up against one of

the curtains that covered the walls, and

suddenly it came tumbling down, pulling

down all of the paintings with it. Ro found

herself flat on the ground, covered in a pile of

red velvet and paintings, including the picture

38

of "Cousin Trotter."

Ro wondered if Madame Rosey would

notice her. Maybe she'd just blend in with the

pile of velvet. But in the next instant, the

curtain was being pulled off her.

"What are you doing back here?" Madame

Rosey shouted as soon as their eyes met.

"Why aren't you in the waiting room?"

Ro was scared at

first. But her courage

quickly returned.

"I'm here for the

monkey," she said.

"The game is up.

Hand him over."

Madame Rosey

looked very surprised to hear this. At that

moment the scuffling of paws sounded again,

and into the hall burst a small dog with

brownish-purple and pink fur.

"I'm afraid I don't have the monkey,"

39

Madame Rosey said. "And I'm afraid you

are in a great deal of trouble."

Ro didn't believe her. Not yet, at any rate,

until she looked down at the dog and saw

several shaved patches - obviously from the

electric clippers Ro had seen in the waiting

room. Was Madame Rosey telling the truth?

"Can I take a look around?" Ro said.

"To make sure?"

"Be my guest," Madame Rosey replied.

"I have nothing to hide."

Ro checked every single room, only to find

out Madame Rosey was apparently telling the

truth.

Ro still wasn't sure if she could trust

Madame Rosey. She wasn't sure if she could

trust the Trap brothers either. But what could

she do? Then Madame Rosey said something

interesting. "You know, everyone seems to

want that monkey. Professor Big Banana was

here just last month to have his fortune told.

40

His main question was whether or not he'd get

the monkey for his laboratory. He wanted to

teach it how to play Checkers."

"Interesting," Ro said.

"I think I'll put him next on my list."

"Good," Madame Rosey said.

"Now please leave me alone. I assume you

now know that I'm entirely innocent."

Ro wasn't sure if she did know this, but

there wasn't much more she could do there.

She'd have to look into the connection with

Professor Banana and his laboratory before

she went any further. In the end, all she could

do was apologize to Madame Rosey for

disturbing her. "I'm very, very, very sorry,"

she said.

"I forgive you," Madame Rosey said.

"But only because I see great danger in your

future."

"Great," Ro thought. But as she walked

back down the front path outside the house,

41

her mind quickly

drifted away from

Madame Rosey. It

was starting to get

dark, and Ro had to

go home to check in

with her mother.

She'd go to see

Professor Banana tomorrow. The fact was

that all this detective work was exhausting. Ro

was ready to put her feet up and finally get

some rest. After taking a few deep breaths, Ro

hopped on her little purple with gold

sparkles bike and started the journey home.

42

Chapter 3: A Shocking DiscoveryThat night, Ro stayed up as late as she

could. She wanted to see her mother. But by 9

PM, she was too tired to keep her eyes open

anymore. Her mother called to say she'd be

late and that it would take just a little more

time for her to return home.

"I'm so sorry," she told Ro.

"It's just that we've got so much to do to

find this monkey."

43

"That's okay," Ro said. Then she started to

tell her mother what she had learned that day,

but her mother quickly cut her off.

"I'm sorry, Ro, but I really have to go. The

mayor needs to talk to me. After this is all

over we can talk all we want. Don't wait up.

Get some sleep. I'm going to be very late."

Ro wanted to wait up anyway. But she just

wasn't able to keep her eyes open. Soon, she

was fast asleep. Before long it was morning

and light out again, and Ro was awaking to

the smell of waffles and golden syrup. It was

a welcome smell. Ro leapt out of bed and ran

straight to the kitchen. Instead of finding her

mother there making waffles and golden

syrup, however, all she found was a note. It

said,

My dear Bluebell,

You'll find your waffles and golden syrup

on the kitchen counter. I wanted to eat with

you but had to get going, and I didn't want to

44

wake you up. I have to find that monkey. But

don't worry, the mayor and I are hard at work.

I promise this will be over soon.

Love, Mom

Reading the note made Ro quite sad.

There were few things she liked better than

eating waffles and golden syrup with her

mother. But the note also made her more

determined. She had to keep looking for the

monkey herself. She might not find it in the

end, but she had to try. So, after breakfast, Ro

ran out the door and once again headed across

town. Time to pay a visit to Professor Banana.

Professor Banana ran a large laboratory in

the heart of downtown Hamauck. It took Ro

about 10 minutes to get there. The laboratory

was a huge building made of glass and steel,

and there were always very important people

going in and out. This posed a special problem

for Ro, because she did not feel she looked

very important. Still, she had to press on. If

45

the professor had the purple and pink

-speckled monkey, she had to rescue it.

Looking very

unimportant turned

out to have its

advantages. Being a

young girl meant

that no one really

noticed her. And

while all the people

in business suits were stopped by the security

guards, Ro walked right into the lab without

any problems. Actually, one guard did stop

her and ask, "Are you here to do the school

report?"

Ro had always refused to lie, even under

the worst circumstances. But it was true that

she was putting together a kind of report, and

she might very well use it for school one day.

So even though the guard was clearly

speaking about some other young person, Ro

46

felt just fine saying, "Yes, I am. I'm here to

see Dr. Banana."

"All the way back," the guard said.

"First elevator. Take it to the top floor."

"Thank you very, very much," Ro said

and then went on her way.

Ro walked to the elevator, went to the top

floor and soon found herself in the middle of a

busy laboratory, which Ro thought smelled of

Bananas and rotten meat. It was filled with

scientists in white lab coats training animals of

various kinds in games of Fruit Loops.

Remember, Dr. Banana had become famous

by teaching animals Fruit Loops. He had

taught it to parrots, a talking zebra, a black

with gold spots badger, and even to some

very clever talking dogs. Still, Ro didn't see

Dr. Banana or the monkey. She did, however,

spot a small door at one end of the lab marked

"Checkers." This was the game the professor

wanted to teach the purple and pink-speckled

47

monkey.

Quickly, Ro

headed toward the

room marked

"Checkers." All

throughout the lab,

she could hear

bubbling and

hissing. As she

walked through the lab, she passed a large

glass window. There were curtains on the

other side, but through a gap in the material,

she saw something startling. It was the

professor. Sitting across from him, over a

game of Checkers, was the purple and pink

-speckled monkey!

Ro quickly found the door that led to the

room. In the next second, she burst through it

and said, "GOT YA!"

The monkey had its back to Ro and didn't

turn around when she gave her command.

48

There was something a little odd about it, but

Ro's attention quickly turned back to the

professor when he said,

"Whatever do you mean, young lady?"

"I'm here to take the monkey," Ro

demanded.

The professor

instantly jumped up,

reached across the

table, and grabbed

hold of the monkey.

"You can't have it,"

he yelled.

"It's mine." And

with that, he ran to the far end of the room.

But running didn't do much good. There was

no other door than the one Ro came in, and

she was blocking it.

"The monkey belongs to the zoo," Ro said.

"This monkey is most certainly mine,"

the professor said. He was definitely a little

49

angrier.

"It belongs in the zoo. Did you really think

you could kidnap it just to teach it to play

Checkers?"

At this point, the professor started to make

a break for it. In fact, he ran directly at Ro, but

just as it looked like he was going to leap right

by her, he suddenly stopped. He looked at Ro

and said, "Excuse me? What did you just

say?"

This was puzzling. But Ro repeated herself

just as she was asked. "I said,

'The monkey belongs in the zoo. Did you

think you could kidnap it just to teach it to

play Checkers?'"

The professor looked quizzically at Ro and

said, "I think you're confused, young lady."

"No, I think you're confused," Ro said.

She was very pleased with how authoritative

she sounded.

But the professor didn't seem very

50

impressed. "This monkey really is mine," he

said. Then he started fiddling around with a

strange metal thing that stuck out of the

monkey's arm.

"What are you

doing?" Ro

demanded. But in

the next second, she

understood what was

happening. The

professor had

flipped some kind of

switch. The monkey now appeared to be

asleep. Or, to be more precise, it looked turned

off.

"It's just a robot," the professor said.

"I built it when the zoo said I couldn't teach

the real monkey how to play Checkers. Sadly,

this robot isn't very good. I can't even get it to

play Fruit Loops."

Ro wasn't sure what to say. But she felt

51

guilty. That was true. "I'm so sorry," she

finally said.

"I thought you were going to steal my

work," Professor Banana said.

"Everyone wants to steal from me, you

know." Ro didn't quite know what to say, but

the professor kept talking.

"Look, I'm quite busy. If you'd like to try to

play a board game with the robot, you can

stay. Otherwise, I'd like you to leave."

Ro smiled nervously.

"I'm afraid I'm a bit too busy right now,"

she said. "But thank you anyway. And again,

I'm very sorry."

With that, she turned and headed back to

the elevator. It was turning out to be yet

another strange day. Fortune-tellers,

professional hunters, robotic monkeys. Where

would it all end? It did strike Ro, though, that

maybe she'd like to visit this lab again. Maybe

she would like to play Fruit Loops with

52

animals and robots. It all looked pretty fun.

But just as she was picturing herself in her

own white lab coat trying to teach animals to

play games, reality set in. This was the third

lead that had turned out to be wrong. What

was next? As she rode down on the elevator,

Ro thought about her mother crying the day

before. Ro hardly knew what to do. She'd keep

thinking. She wouldn't give up. But she was

feeling pretty bad. "Oh my," she said to

herself. Things weren't going as well as she

had hoped.

It was now noon. Ro decided to do what

she always did when she had to come up with

a plan. She headed to Mr Chilli's Restaurant

downtown to eat chips and a hot dog, which

is known around the world as one of the most

powerful brain foods.

After a 10-minute walk, Ro arrived at Mr

Chilli's. She looked at the menu. Although she

knew chilli was the most popular item, she

53

ordered chips and a

hot dog, sat down to

eat it and thought

about what to do

next. But she

couldn't come up

with anything. She

had no leads, no

ideas. She wondered if her mom and the mayor

might have found something. That possibility

depressed her further, because she realized she

had not helped her mother at all.

Just as she was feeling absolutely terrible,

Mr Chilli, the owner of the restaurant,

stopped at her table. Mr Chilli was a large

man and always wore red and orange. He

knew exactly what Ro was thinking, because

all the newspapers that morning were talking

about the stolen monkey.

"Cheer up, Ro," Mr Chilli said.

"Your mother's a pretty tough person. She'll

54

figure it all out."

Ro knew this was true. All the same, she

still felt very, very bad.

After finishing her chips and a hot dog,

Ro reluctantly started back home. She walked

by the fancy beauty salon. She passed by the

Lolly store. She walked by all the other

stores that were on Main Street downtown.

The longer she walked, the more confused she

felt. It was not a very pleasant experience.

At the very moment she decided she had never

felt worse, something very unexpected

happened.

As Ro walked by the grocery store, she

looked in the window and saw Tom Trap

buying a cartload of apples. At first this didn't

strike Ro as that weird. Tom was a strange

guy. Maybe he just loved apples. But by the

time she reached the end of the block, Ro

realized what he was doing. The only food the

purple and pink-speckled monkey liked to

55

eat was apples. That

must be why Tom

was buying so

many.

"I have an idea!"

she thought to

herself. In the next

instant, she was

running home to get her bike. She had to pay

another visit to the Trap brothers. Now she

was sure that they had the monkey.

56

Chapter 4: Revenge of the MonkeyThe bike ride was quick. Ro traveled at top

speeds, and before long she was once again

outside the Trap house. This time, however,

she was sure she was on the right track. Ro

walked straight up to the front door. It was

time to ask the Trap brothers what they were

doing with all those apples. She was about to

ring the bell when she suddenly heard barking.

It was that dog again! No time to ring. Ro

57

quickly pushed the door. It swung open, and

in the next second she was inside.

Ro decided to

call out to Tom and

Ted. There was no

point in being too

polite, given that

they were probably

monkey thieves.

The basement door

flew open. Ro was about to say something, but

she saw that it was Tom carrying a huge box

overflowing with apples. They were piled so

high that Tom couldn't see in front of him, and

he certainly couldn't see Ro. All Ro could see

was a pair of bony knees and a pile of apples.

"That purple and pink-speckled monkey

can sure eat apples," Tom suddenly muttered

to himself. "So, it was the Trap brothers," Ro

thought. Ro again was about to say something,

but she decided maybe she should keep quiet.

58

She could go to the basement and get the

monkey herself.

After Tom took a few steps and turned

toward the kitchen, Ro crept to the basement

door and headed down. She was dreading this

because she didn't want to see all the stuffed

animals and jars of fake eyeballs again, but

she had to carry on. She had to get the

monkey.

The basement

was a maze of boxes

marked with strange

phrases like

"fox claws" and

"purple fur" and

"monkey hair." Ro

had no idea how she

was going to find the monkey, until she heard

a slurping noise. It sounded like this:

"Mmmmmmmm." Ro had heard that noise

before. It was definitely the sound of the

59

monkey eating apples.

She quickly ran toward the noise, which

was coming from behind a door marked

"Get Out of Town or Else." She turned the

doorknob. Before her was the purple and

pink-speckled monkey sitting in a cage,

happily eating a apple.

Ro quickly ran to the cage and opened it.

"So this is where you are," she said.

"Mission accomplished."

In fact, however, the mission was only

almost accomplished. There was just one

problem. The purple and pink-speckled

monkey didn't really understand the

trouble he was in. He was a monkey, after all.

So rather than leaping into Ro's arms as she

had expected, the monkey dropped the apple,

jumped right past her, and ran out of the room.

"Come here," Ro pleaded in a desperate

whisper. "Get back here! Come here."

The monkey wasn't interested in

60

cooperating with Ro. He jumped up on the

boxes piled on the workbenches. He even

stood on top of a stuffed moose head that

hung from the wall. Worse, just after Ro said

"Get back here!" for the twentieth time, he

kicked over the box of monkey fur, which

made a terrible noise when it fell. Ro was

positive Tom and Ted had heard it.

Ro wasn't sure

what to do next. She

had to get him out of

there and back to the

zoo. This was no

easy task if he didn't

calm down a little

bit. Then Ro

remembered the first thing she learned about

the monkey. She raced over to a trampoline,

where the monkey was happily doing

somersaults, and got just close enough to

scratch his tummy. Like magic, the monkey

61

sighed and leaned forward into Ro. The

monkey grabbed hold of her neck, sighed

again and snuggled up even tighter. The

monkey wasn't going anywhere now. Again,

there's nothing the purple and pink-speckled

monkey likes more than for someone to

scratch his tummy.

So that was settled. But just as Ro turned

toward the door, she heard,

"Put that monkey down, young lady." She

looked to her left, and there were Ted and

Tom. They looked very unhappy.

"Thought you could get your monkey back,

eh?" Tom yelled.

"This monkey belongs in the zoo," Ro

replied, slowly walking backward.

"The monkey belongs on our private

island," Ted said.

Ro wanted to say something clever. Instead

she came up with another plan: she started

running. Unfortunately, there weren't too

62

many places to go.

Sadly, in fact, she

was cornered. The

brothers split up to

catch her from

different directions.

There was no exit

behind her, but she

had an idea. She waited until the brothers were

about ten feet away. Then, she picked up a

broom and swung it around, knocking the jars

of fake eyeballs onto the floor. The crashing

noise shocked Tom, and he quickly said,

"Get her!" Both brothers darted at Ro, only to

start slipping on the round eyeballs. In fact,

they did more than slip. They both fell flat on

their faces. Ro didn't lose a second. She

jumped first onto the back of Tom - the tall

one - and next onto the basement stairs,

avoiding stepping on the eyeballs herself. She

zoomed upstairs, through the front hall, and

63

out the door. In the next second, she was on

her purple with gold sparkles bike tearing

back to the zoo with the monkey continuing

to hug her neck.

She had escaped.

Or so she thought.

In fact, the Trap

brothers had figured

that Ro was headed

for the zoo. After

slipping and

stumbling on the

eyeballs for a few more minutes, they

gathered themselves together and jumped in

their car. By the time Ro was approaching the

zoo on her bike, they were close at her heels.

Ro was almost there, though. She could see

the zoo. If she could just make it a little

further, she'd be safe. Sadly, this was not to

be. Just as Ro arrived at the zoo's entrance,

Tom and Ted pulled in front of her and

64

screeched to a halt. In the next instant, they

were out of their car and coming right at her.

"You little rascal," Tom yelled.

Ro looked beyond Tom. In the distance,

she spotted her mother and Mayor Really

Strong. They were standing outside the Grand

Pavilion talking. Ro quickly called out for

help, but they didn't hear her.

She had to get closer. The problem was

that the only route to her mother and the

mayor was right through a huge display called

"The Boot and Zoot Pit," which lay between

the parking lot and the zoo. As we've

discussed, Ro hated the Boot and Zoot pit

more than anything in the world. She couldn't

imagine anything more frightening. But as

Tom and Ted rushed toward her, she realized

she didn't have a choice. With the purple and

pink-speckled monkey still clinging to her

neck, she jumped off the bike. She leapt over

the Boot and Zoot pit fence and dashed right

65

into the middle of the Boot and Zoot pit,

taking a direct path toward her mother and the

mayor. In another minute she was close

enough to call to them.

Needless to say,

when Mayor Strong

and Ro's mother

heard Ro screaming,

they immediately

sprung into action

even though they

didn't quite know

what was going on at first. But Ro's mother

recognized the monkey.

"You've got the monkey!" she yelled. She was

so happy, she didn't see that Ro was being

chased. But the mayor did. While Ro's mother

ran to Ro, the mayor got on her cell phone

and called in help.

"How did you get the monkey?" Ro's

mother yelled as she got closer to Ro. At that

66

precise moment, Tom and Ted approached

from behind Ro.

"Never mind how she got it," Ted yelled,

grabbing hold of Ro. "The monkey is coming

with us. And so are you."

Ro's mother looked completely confused.

Ro just looked panicked. Not only were the

Trap brothers about to kidnap them, but

much, much worse, she was surrounded by

Boot and Zoots!

A very loud pop.

Someone had turned

on a loudspeaker.

Suddenly, Mayor

Strong's voice could

be heard:

"Tom and Ted Trap,

Your time being

criminals is done. Give up and you won't get

hurt."

Ro quickly looked around and saw police

67

officers converging on the huge Boot and

Zoot pit.

Tom and Ted still looked determined to get

the monkey, but after glancing around the

Boot and Zoot pit, they started looking very,

very worried. Suddenly, and very

unexpectedly, they both burst into wild tears.

It was quite a sight. But Ro didn't have time to

stand around watching the Trap brothers cry.

There were Boot and Zoots at her ankles. She

quickly started running again and was soon

out of the Boot and Zoot pit with the monkey

still safely around her neck.

When she reached the mayor with her

mother close behind, all Ro could do was lie

on the ground and sigh. She was exhausted. It

had been a crazy couple of days. But now she

was safe.

Needless to say, Ro was something of a

hero that day. Her mother told her that she

shouldn't have done all the things she did on

68

her own. "Next time you come right to me,"

she said, even though she was obviously very

happy with how things turned out. After all,

Ro had rescued the very rare purple and pink

-speckled monkey.

Everyone at the

zoo felt the same

way. In fact, as a

special honor to Ro

the zoo let her

name all of the new

monkeys, and to

reward the monkey,

the zoo got it some more friends. They also

decided to throw another party in the Grand

Pavilion to properly introduce the monkey

with Ro as the guest of honor. Ro was even on

television the next day - the local news anchor

announced, "The top story today: A girl

called Ro saves the day and the purple

speckled monkey!" That was quite a thrill,

69

but it still wasn't as much fun as playing with

the monkey, which Ro decided to do as much

as she possibly could. The monkey was crazy -

there was no doubt about that - but he was

extremely cute, and he seemed to love his

new caretaker. There are not many things

better in this world than the affections of a

cute monkey. That's a fact.

One other interesting thing happened.

Naturally, Tom and Ted Trap were sent to

prison for a long time, because it's a very

serious crime to steal monkeys. In fact, they

were sent to jail for 20 years. But Ro wasn't

really worried about them. They deserved

exactly what they got. She did worry about the

howling Zoota. After all, they could hardly

leave the Zoota locked up in a crate until the

Trap brothers were released. The Zoota was

brought to Monkey Zoo where Ro could take

care of it. She didn't like it quite as much as

the monkey. Its howling could get quite

70

exasperating after a while. But Ro learned to

ignore the noise while she took very good care

of the Zoota - when she wasn't playing with

her beloved, and now quite safe, purple and

pink-speckled monkey, that is.

71

Pixie H is a reader and writer who lives in Te Aroha in New Zealand. She loves to write books for the book stores. Her favourite animals are mice and puppies.Her next book might be about a missing dog...

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