Monkey Mayhem (4 page)

Mr Indigo's van bumped down the main road towards the airport. Bindi and Robert raced behind on their bikes. It was still early in the morning, but the Madagascan sun was already hot. The cool breeze on their faces felt great.

Bindi looked over at her brother as they rode. ‘This is much better than serving iced tea and sweeping guests' bedrooms, don't you think?'

‘You betcha!' he grinned.

They both continued to pedal hard until the Tropicale Deluxe van made the turn-off towards the airport.

By the time they pulled into the airport compound, Bindi and Robert were both drenched in sweat but there was no time to stop and catch their breath. They leaned their bikes against a wire fence, and continued on foot.

Mr Indigo's van was parked a short distance from a smallish-looking runway where a freight
aircraft sat, preparing for take-off. A conveyor belt was moving boxes from the tarmac through the aircraft's open door. The boxes all had large ‘FRANCE' stickers on them. Mr Indigo was taking the caged lemurs, now covered in an old blanket, over to a man wearing blue overalls, who was in charge of the boxes.

Bindi and Robert edged closer and closer, but there was too much open ground between them and the runway to get near enough to hear what the men were saying. They saw the man in overalls put the lemur cage onto the conveyor belt and watched it begin its climb onto the plane.

‘There is no way this is legal,' said Bindi, angry.

Robert agreed. ‘Mr Indigo is trafficking animals illegally, no doubt about it,' he said.

Mr Indigo and the man wearing overalls walked away from the conveyor belt and moved towards a nearby office.

‘Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' Robert asked his sister.

‘We have to get those lemurs off the plane!' Bindi said. The children started towards the aeroplane but stopped short, and sprinted behind a pile of boxes when they saw a man emerge from the side doorway of the aeroplane.

‘Argh, that was close,' whispered Bindi.

The man looked around, saw that there were no more boxes to be loaded, turned off the conveyor belt and jumped from the plane to the tarmac. He walked away to light a cigarette.

‘Okay. Take two,' suggested Bindi, and the brother and sister sprinted across the tarmac.

Once inside the aircraft, the kids didn't take long to identify the lemurs, as they could hear high-pitched barking coming from their cage. Bindi whipped the blanket off, and saw the two sad little lemurs peering up at her.

‘Don't worry, you guys. We'll have you back running through the rainforest in no time.'

Robert glanced around. ‘Can you hear something else in here?' he asked, straining his ears.

A box much further back in the shadows was emitting a similar quiet yapping noise. Robert went over and pulled off another blanket to find the lemur the kids had seen at the Tropicale Deluxe the previous day.

Robert and Bindi quickly took a look through the rest of the cargo but found no more live animals. They poked their heads out of the aircraft and saw that the man was
about to finish his cigarette. There was very little time!

Bindi turned to Robert. ‘You take the single lemur. I'll take the young ones. On your marks, get set –'

Robert was off before Bindi could say ‘go'. He ran down the conveyor belt and sprinted towards the bikes they'd left by the fence. Bindi followed close behind, trying her best not to bump the lemurs.

They put the creatures into the baskets at the front of their bikes, and sped off. After they'd left the gates of the airport, Robert couldn't help himself.

‘Wooo-hoo!' he shouted into the wind.

Bindi laughed. ‘Total monkey mayhem!' she yelled.

‘You mean “prosimian mayhem”,' said Robert, with a cheeky smile.

‘Doesn't sound as good though, does it?' said Bindi, and poked her tongue out at her brother.

The lemurs looked like they knew they were on their way to freedom, and emitted a high-pitched catlike miaow, obviously excited.

A few kilometres further on, the rainforest, which backed onto the ecolodge, began. The children released the lemurs, who skipped off towards the trees, their striped tails sticking straight up in the air like flagpoles.

‘It feels good to have freed them,' said Robert.

Bindi was thinking. ‘Yes, it does, but if we don't manage to stop Mr Indigo, he'll just continue to steal Madagascar's precious wildlife.'

Robert nodded. ‘Yep, that guy has got to go down!' he said in his best
Superstars of Wrestling
voice.

Bindi laughed. ‘For now, though, I think we'd better get back to Mum and the ecolodge.'

‘I wonder how she's getting on?' said Robert.

‘Yes, of course, I'll check to see whether there are any spare left-footed size nine walking shoes with good grip.' Terri shook her head as she headed for the laundry. These guests were the worst! She knew that Susan hadn't put her in this
position on purpose but, boy, did her friend owe her big-time!

Terri had suggested the guests go for a walk around the rainforest before lunch, in the hope that Sylvie and the kids would turn up in time to help prepare the food so at least there would be something to eat at lunchtime.

As it got closer to midday, the temperature was cranking up. She needed these guests out of here so she could begin tidying the rooms.

‘Terri? When you have a moment, could you take a look under my bed? I have arthritis and I'm missing a sock.'

‘Terri? Could you bring me another cool drink, please?'

‘Terri? I've lost a pair of earrings …'

It was too much. She couldn't handle it a moment longer. Terri walked back into the main area. ‘Now listen here, everyone …' she yelled, growing redder and redder by the moment.

Before she could go any further, the front door opened and four young Malagasy children bounced into the room, bringing their beautiful smiles and good-natured energy with them. One of the older children came up to Terri.

‘Excuse me, Mrs?' he said. ‘Sylvie told us to come and give guests a tour of the rainforest. We know
a lot about the wildlife,' he said proudly.

Terri almost kissed the boy in relief. ‘What's your name?' she asked.

‘Berriman. I met Bi-ndi and Ro-bert yesterday.' He pronounced their names carefully.

‘You are a lifesaver, Berriman,' said Terri.

Berriman frowned. ‘A what, Mrs?'

Terri didn't have the energy to explain. ‘Thank you,' she said.

Berriman nodded.

He turned to the guests, cleared his throat, and said slowly, ‘We show you special things today. Come with us.'

The guests were charmed and hurried to follow the children. They were just on their way down the path when Terri heard a scream, along with a few other yelps. What is it this time? she thought to herself.

She ran out the front of the lodge to see a Madagascan hog-nosed snake crossing the path in front of the American guests. The tourists were almost jumping into each other's arms in fright.

Terri grinned. Finally this was one ‘problem' she could solve. She went quietly over to the snake, lifted him up by the tail, and deposited him out of harm's way.

The guests applauded, and the local kids started singing a Malagasy folk song.

Bindi and Robert, who had been anxious about their mum, rode up to see the group clapping and singing. There was obviously nothing to worry about. Terri had it all under control!

Back in the kitchen, Terri was horrified to hear about Mr Indigo and the lemurs. When Sylvie came in at the tail end of the kids' explanation, she frowned. ‘I have heard stories like this before. The owners of the ecolodge have had their suspicions
about Mr Indigo for a while, but they've never had any proof.'

‘Well, unfortunately, we don't have proof either,' said Bindi. ‘We let the lemurs go.'

‘And unless we catch Mr Indigo, we won't be able to stop him,' said Robert, looking grim.

Sylvie was already starting to unpack lunch provisions. ‘Don't worry, I have an idea,' she said.

At dinner that night, the American guests had fully relaxed and were
finally enjoying Madagascar and the ecolodge. In the kitchen, Bindi asked Sylvie what had happened to the woman who had collapsed at the market.

‘My brother found out she had food poisoning, and was dehydrated,' answered Sylvie. ‘He made it very clear to the woman's family that this was nothing to do with the aye-aye.'

‘Do you think they listened?' asked Bindi.

Sylvie smiled. ‘When I told the village kids what had happened, they became brave enough to come up to the ecolodge and help with the tour. Previously, they were scared
about being anywhere near where the aye-aye has been seen.'

‘That's great,' said Bindi. ‘It means they might be beginning to change the way they think.'

Sylvie smiled. ‘I hope so. And they're going to accompany us on our night-time walk to the forest. So they might even get to see an aye-aye in the flesh.'

‘I guess that could be scary for them,' said Bindi, thoughtfully.

‘Yes,' agreed Sylvie, with a grave expression. ‘But the future of the species depends on their bravery.'

There was a knock at the door as everyone was preparing for the nocturnal walk.

Robert bounded over but was taken aback to find Mr Indigo at the door.

‘Oh, it's you,' he said, a little unkindly.

‘
Oui, oui,
it is me,' said Mr Indigo. ‘Sylvie invited me to take part in the nocturnal tour.'

Mr Indigo's mobile phone rang, and he answered in rapid French. He seemed upset by what the person on the other end was saying. Sylvie gathered up Bindi and Robert, and whispered that he was talking to someone in France who had not received the package they had paid for.

Bindi's eyes lit up. ‘D'you think they mean the lemurs?' she whispered.

Sylvie nodded, suppressing a smile.

Mr Indigo ended the call angrily.

The Irwins rounded up the guests and the group headed off into the forest, along a dirt track. Terri was at the front of the group with a torch. Shining eyes could be seen from tree branches as Terri pointed out various nocturnal lemur species, but there was no sign of the aye-aye.

Robert turned to Bindi. ‘I thought Sylvie said the local children were coming on the tour too,' he said.

‘Perhaps they changed their minds,' said Bindi.

They continued to listen to the wonderful night-time noises coming from the forest. They were on the last part of the track when Terri's
torch lit upon the endangered aye-aye.

‘Crikey, folks. There she is. You can see her huge eyes, batlike ears and big bushy tail, which is similar to a squirrel's. I've never seen one in the wild before tonight.'

The guests were thrilled by the discovery. Sylvie went over to Terri and whispered something in her ear. Terri nodded.

‘Okay, folks, let's keep moving and give this little critter some privacy.' Terri ushered the group on. Mr Indigo lagged behind, using the light from his mobile phone to catch glimpses of the aye-aye.

Robert called out to him. ‘You
don't want to be left behind, Mr Indigo!'

‘I'd like a quiet moment with this remarkable creature,' said Mr Indigo.

Once Mr Indigo assumed he was alone, he removed a large dark sack from the pocket of his jacket, and crept closer to the aye-aye's tree.

‘You will be the crown jewel, aye-aye,' he murmured to himself. ‘They won't mind about not getting the ring-tails if I can deliver an endangered aye-aye instead.' He began to climb the tree. His trousers snagged and his hair got ruffled, but he was getting closer and closer to the lemur, who was so focused on
searching out insect larvae with her long middle finger that she did not notice the intruder.

Mr Indigo was almost close enough to grab the aye-aye, when five torchlight beams swung onto him.

‘Smile for the camera,' said Bindi, as she took a photo of Mr Indigo with his sack, ready to pounce on the creature. The local children, headed by Berriman, were chattering excitedly to one another. They had seen their first aye-aye!

Bindi turned to her new friends. ‘The only bad thing that's going to happen as a result of seeing this amazing animal is that Mr Indigo is
going to jail!' she said. ‘And for us, and for you and Madagascar, that is a very good thing!'

Sylvie called the police and they were there within minutes. Mr Indigo was furious and refused to come down from the tree. He tried to talk his way out of the situation but the local police had long suspected he was involved in illegal trade, and would not listen to his excuses.

‘I hate this ecolodge and everything to do with conservation. It's ruining my business,' he screeched, before falling out of the tree and landing, uncharmingly, on his bottom, right in front of the police.

‘
C'est horrible!
' he cried.

After the excitement of Mr Indigo's capture, Bindi and Robert found it hard to get to bed. The three Irwins sat on the end of Terri's bed in their pyjamas, talking through their two days of action-packed adventure.

‘Hopefully we'll get a few less exciting days now, kids,' said Terri.

Bindi was counting the lemur species she still wanted to see. ‘Three down, thirty-six to go.'

Robert was reading through a reptile dictionary. ‘I reckon I've spotted about eight different types
of lizards already. I only have,' he made a quick calculation, ‘about two hundred and two left to find!'

Terri yawned. ‘Well, perhaps the excitement is set to continue then,' she said resignedly, as Bindi and Robert leaned in and gave her a big hug.