Terror at the Zoo Read Online Free PDF Page A

ticket booth, near where the taxi stopped.”
    They started back, past the Nocturnal House. “I want to go in the marsh,” Corey said, “and see where the cranes sleep.”
    Ellen hesitated. The marsh, she knew, was at the corner of the zoo, near the parking lot. She supposed they could go that way and then take the outside path back to the entrance. It wouldn’t be much out of the way.
    When they reached the Family Farm, they left the main path and went toward the marsh. As they drew near the Animal Health Care building, Ellen thought she heard voices.
    She ran to the building and tried the door. It was locked. She knocked loudly. No one came. She stood there for a moment, listening and waiting, but she heard nothing more.
    “Hurry up,” Corey said. “Maybe the cranes play secret games at night, like duck, duck, gray duck or wingtip tag.”
    When they reached the first of the wire doors that led into the marsh area, it was locked.
    “We can’t go in,” Corey wailed. “Somebody locked the door.”
    “Probably the security guard,” Ellen said. Somehow she felt better, knowing the guard was at the zoo, taking care of his duties.
    Instead of taking the outer path, Ellen retraced her steps and led Corey past the Animal Health Care building again. She could swear she had heard someone talking there. She knocked at the door again. There was no answer.
    “The light is out now,” Corey said.
    “What light?”
    “Before when we were here, I could see light under the door. Now I can’t.”
    Then someone
had
been inside. More than one person, if she’d heard voices. Why hadn’t they come to the door when she knocked?
    “Cross your fingers that Mom and Dad are waiting for us,” she said.
    As they approached the entrance area, Corey said, “Let’s tell Mom and Dad that they missed all the excitement. Let’s say a buffalo got loose and it was stampeding down this path, right toward our tent. And you and I waved our arms and got its attention and then we talked to it and got it all calmed down and put it back where it belongs.”
    Ellen agreed, knowing Corey would do it whether she said yes or not.
    Corey didn’t get to tell his buffalo story.
    As they approached the zoo entrance, Ellen could see that no one was there. She tried not to let Corey see her disappointment. When she made the decision to come to the zoo alone, she had been certain that Mom and Dad would arrive shortly. Now she was no longer sure that she had done the right thing.
    “It’s lucky for us I always carry money for a phone call,” Ellen said. She took off her left shoe and pulled on the piece of tape that kept the quarter from sliding around.
    “You said you didn’t have any money,” Corey complained.
    “This is for emergency phone calls only. Mom told me that when she put it in my shoe.”
    She put her shoe back on, stood up, and followed Corey toward the entrance walkway.
    At exactly the same instant, they saw it. Metal fencing completely blocked both the ticket booth walkways where people entered the zoo. The fencing had been lowered from the ceiling. Ellen peered through the fencing at the telephone.
    “We could go out the exit turnstile and call,” Corey said, “but how would we get back in?”
    “We won’t. But we have to call and tell Grandma and Grandpa that Mom and Dad haven’t come.”
    “Maybe we can climb backward through the turnstile,” Corey said.
    They walked to the right, toward the turnstile. When they reached it, Ellen stopped and stared. The turnstile was also blocked by a heavy metal gate.
    “It must slide into place after everyone has left for the night,” Ellen said.
    Corey pushed on the gate but it didn’t budge. “It’s locked,” he said. “Mom and Dad can’t get in.”
    And we can’t get out, Ellen thought. Where were her parents? Even with a delayed flight, they should have reached the zoo by now. Had Corey’s terrible story been a premonition? Had the plane been hijacked? Had it crashed and