by Amelia Cobb
The next day was Friday – the day before the treasure hunt. Zoe woke up bright and early, feeling very excited.
“I wonder what funny things Max will do today,” Meep said, hopping on to the bedroom windowsill.
“Hopefully nothing as dangerous as yesterday!” Zoe replied, as she put on her favourite tiger-print T-shirt. “We’re lucky that the snake wasn’t in a bad mood or he could have really hurt Max!” She turned round. “Meep, what are you doing?” The little lemur was standing upright with his tummy pressed against the window.
“I’m warming up like a meerkat,” Meep replied.
“Oh, Meep,” Zoe giggled. “I’m not sure if it works the same for mouse lemurs. Come on, let’s get some breakfast.”
Down in the kitchen, Lucy had placed a large cardboard box on the table.
“What’s in the box?” Zoe asked.
“Prizes for the treasure hunt,” Lucy smiled. “And here’s the special prize.” She took a bag from the kitchen counter and pulled out a huge cuddly meerkat toy.
“Oh, Mum, it’s so cute!” Zoe exclaimed, stroking the meerkat’s silky fur. “Whoever wins this is going to be so lucky.”
“We’ll have to hide all the prizes as soon as the zoo closes this evening,” Lucy said, as she poured Zoe a glass of orange juice.
Zoe nodded eagerly. She couldn’t wait!
After breakfast, Zoe and Meep headed for the meerkat enclosure. All of the other meerkats were in the centre of the enclosure but Max was standing on his own on the log, with his tummy facing the sun. As Zoe let herself into the enclosure Max’s dad barked at him, asking him to help clean one of the tunnels. Max turned his head to one side, as if he hadn’t heard.
“What are you doing, Max?” Zoe asked.
Max yelped at her.
“But surely you must be warm enough by now,” Zoe replied. “The sun’s been up for ages.” She bit on her lip to try and stop herself from grinning. She thought she knew what was really going on. “Is it because you don’t want to help clean the tunnel?” she whispered, crouching down next to him.
Max nodded and chirped in her ear.
“What did he say?” Meep asked.
“He said chores are for bores,” Zoe replied.
Meep giggled and Zoe had to turn away to hide her smile from Max. He was right, chores could be boring, but she really didn’t want him getting into trouble with his mum and dad again. How could she show him that jobs had to be done … and that they didn’t have to be super boring?
“I know,” she said. “If you go and clean the tunnel, I’ll show you the chores I have to do and how I make them more fun.”
Max nodded, then he bounded down from the log over to his mum and dad and started cleaning the tunnel.
“But you don’t always enjoy your jobs, Zoe!” Meep chirped.
“You’re right,” Zoe replied. “But helping other people sometimes is important. We just have to show Max that, and it will hopefully make him feel better about the jobs he has to do!”
Once Max had cleaned the tunnel and Zoe had checked with Mo that it was OK for her to take Max out of his enclosure, the three friends set off into the zoo.
The first chore Zoe had to do was help Kieran the kangaroo keeper sweep out the part of the enclosure where the kangaroos slept, including Bouncer the baby kangaroo. Zoe tied Max’s lead to a post and began sweeping away the old straw.
Max chattered curiously.
“I’m making it nice and clean,” Zoe explained. After she finished sweeping, she went and fetched some fresh straw.
Max yawned.
“It might look boring but this will make it all cosy for the kangaroos tonight,” Zoe explained. “It feels nice doing something to help them.”
Max turned round and round in circles, chasing his tail.
Zoe frowned. She wasn’t sure her plan was working yet! Next she had to deliver more leaflets about the hunt to the café – perhaps Max would find that more interesting. She untied Max’s lead from the post and led him out of the enclosure.
Outside the café the tables were bustling with visitors sipping cool drinks and eating ice creams in the sun. When they saw Zoe approaching with Max and Meep, they started pointing and smiling. Zoe took her leaflets from her bag and started handing them out.
“There’s going to be a treasure hunt here tomorrow,” she told the visitors. “It’ll be so much fun.”
“What a lovely idea,” a lady said as she looked at the leaflet. “I’ll bring my grandchildren along!”
Zoe beamed with pride. Max looked happy too, exploring and getting lots of attention from everyone!
Once Zoe had given out her leaflets she set off back to the cottage. It was time to show Max some of the chores she had to do at home.
When they got to the cottage Zoe went straight to the cupboard under the stairs and got out the vacuum cleaner. She helped her mum to vacuum each week and she quite enjoyed that job. She hoped Max would think it was fun too! She switched the vacuum on and started to clean.
Max began barking really loudly.
Zoe turned off the vacuum cleaner. Max kept on barking. “Max, what’s wrong?”
“He’s doing his warning bark,” Meep said.
Zoe giggled. “Oh no, Max, the vacuum cleaner isn’t going to hurt you! It cleans dirt off the carpet.”
Max kept barking at the vacuum cleaner suspiciously and so Zoe put it away again.
“Let’s go into the kitchen,” Zoe said. “I’ll show you some of the things I do to help there.”
They all went into the kitchen. Max started barking excitedly when he saw the huge toy meerkat on the table.
“No, it’s not a real meerkat,” Zoe laughed. “It’s a toy for people to play with.”
Max barked again.
“No, you can’t play with it. It’s the special prize for the treasure hunt tomorrow. Anyway, I need to get on with another one of the jobs.” Zoe opened the dishwasher and started to load it with the plates from breakfast.
“This is how we get everything clean,” Zoe said. “And I – uh – make it fun by singing the cleaning dishes song.”
Zoe quickly tried to think of a song about doing the dishes.
“Hip, hip hooray! It’s dish cleaning day!” she sang.
Meep giggled loudly.
“One of my greatest wishes, is for sparkly, shiny dishes.” Zoe looked at Max hopefully. He was perched on the counter staring at her. He barked loudly.
“Why does the machine clean the dishes?” Zoe said.
Max nodded.
“Well, it makes our bowls and plates nice and clean so that we can use them again for different food, later.”
Max barked again.
Zoe burst out laughing. “No, Max! We can’t lick them clean!”
“Why not?” Meep asked. “I always lick my bowl clean.”
Zoe sighed. This wasn’t working as well as she had hoped!
Max leapt down from the counter and scampered out of the room, with Meep chasing after him.
Zoe finished loading the dishwasher and then followed them into her bedroom. Max was standing upright on her bedside cabinet, with his tummy facing the lamp. Meep was hopping up and down, hooting with laughter.
“Look, Zoe, he’s warming up!” the little mouse lemur cried.
Zoe started to laugh. He might not have been enjoying Zoe’s chores … but at least Max was having some fun!
Chapter Six
Hiding the Treasure
After lunch, Zoe took Max back to his enclosure. Lots of visitors had gathered around to see the newest arrivals at the Rescue Zoo. Great-Uncle Horace was there too, telling them all about the meerkats in the wild.
“Oh, look at that meerkat on a lead!” a boy cried when he saw Zoe.
“Aha, Zoe!” Great-Uncle Horace exclaimed. “How’s this little fellow doing?” He bent down and peered over his glasses at Max.
“He’s doing really well,” Zoe said. “He loves going out for walks and meetin
g people.”
Max’s mum yelped when she saw Max, and his dad barked some instructions to him. They wanted Max to help groom the babies. Zoe let herself into the enclosure and carefully removed Max’s lead.
“Grooming your baby brother and sisters is a really nice thing to do,” she whispered hopefully in his ear.
Max tilted his head to one side, like he was thinking hard. Then he nodded and scampered off to the babies.
“As you can see, meerkat families work very closely together to take care of each other,” Great-Uncle Horace told the crowd.
Zoe watched as Max’s mum and dad got busy on the other side of the enclosure, foraging for food. She couldn’t believe how fast their paws moved. Then she heard laughter coming from outside the enclosure. She turned to see several of the visitors giggling and pointing. Zoe looked over at Max.
“Oh no!” she exclaimed.
Instead of grooming the young meerkats, Max and the babies were rolling around in the dirt! And now, instead of one messy meerkat, there were four! Zoe’s heart sank. Max’s mum and dad had stopped foraging and were looking around to see what was causing the commotion. When they saw Max and the babies rolling about in the dirt they came scampering over.
Max’s dad barked crossly at him. Then he and Max’s mum set about grooming the dirt from the babies’ fur. Max slunk off to a corner of the enclosure looking very grumpy. Zoe sighed. Would Max ever enjoy helping out his family?
Once the zoo was closed for the evening Zoe and Lucy took the prizes for the treasure hunt and went and met up with the zookeepers outside the café.
“Here are the prizes to hide around your enclosure,” Zoe said, handing each of the zookeepers a bag of treats. “And here are the answers to the clues to show you where to hide them.” She handed them each a sheet of instructions. She’d had a lot of fun writing out rhyming clues for each of the hiding places.
“Oh, who’s going to hide the special prize?” Zoe asked Lucy, pulling the cuddly meerkat from the bag. The night before, she’d attached a large gold bow and a sign saying SPECIAL PRIZE to its packaging.
“I think you should do it,” Lucy told her. “The treasure hunt was your idea, after all.”
“Cool!” Zoe knew exactly where she was going to hide the prize. It had to be near the new meerkat enclosure!
“OK then, happy hiding, everyone!” Lucy called.
As the zookeepers all headed off to their enclosures, Zoe and Meep hurried over to the meerkats. When they got there Zoe saw Max standing by the enclosure wall, gazing out. When he saw Zoe his ears pricked up and he yelped excitedly.
“Sorry, I can’t take you for a walk,” Zoe said. “I have to hide this special prize.” She showed him the cuddly meerkat.
Max yelped again.
“No, you still can’t play with him, I’m afraid.” Zoe spotted the perfect hiding place for the toy, a nearby bush with bright green leaves.
“Ooh, good idea,” Zoe hurried over to the bush and crouched down. Then she parted the branches and placed the toy meerkat deep inside.
Max watched her closely.
Then Zoe saw Mr Pinch heading towards her.
“Hello, Mr Pinch,” she called. “I’m just hiding the special prize for the treasure hunt.”
“Hmm, well, I hope you’re going to tidy up the mess that gets made tomorrow,” Mr Pinch said with a frown.
“I will,” Zoe replied. “It’s going to be such a fun day!”
Mr Pinch sighed. “I don’t call all this fuss and nonsense fun,” he muttered crossly, before turning and marching away.
Zoe stuck her tongue out at his back. Mr Pinch might be the grumpiest person ever, but nothing could spoil the special treasure hunt!
Chapter Seven
Another Messy Meerkat
Zoe was woken up early the next morning by the sound of the elephants trumpeting and the monkeys chattering. It turned out she wasn’t the only one excited about the treasure hunt – the animals couldn’t wait too!
“Hip-hip hooray, it’s finding treasure day!” Meep chirped as he bounced up and down on the end of Zoe’s bed.
Zoe giggled and quickly got dressed. She and her mum still had some last-minute clues to put around the zoo before it opened. With Meep on her shoulder she hurried downstairs.
In the kitchen, Lucy was making blueberry pancakes. She’d also put some of the blueberries in a bowl with some seeds for Meep. The little mouse lemur gobbled them up hungrily.
“I can’t wait for the treasure hunt to begin,” Zoe said excitedly. “I hope the person who wins the special prize likes meerkats.”
“I’m sure they will,” Lucy said as she flipped a pancake over.
Just then there was a knock on the door.
“Do I smell pancakes?” a voice boomed through the letterbox.
“Great-Uncle Horace!” Zoe rushed to open the door. “It’s treasure-hunt day!”
“I know,” Great-Uncle Horace said, giving Zoe a big hug. “Kiki and I are most excited.” Kiki fluttered down from his shoulder and perched on the top of the kitchen cupboard. “You’ve done a wonderful job of arranging all this, Lucy and Zoe.”
“Thank you. But we haven’t finished yet,” Zoe said, sitting down at the table. “We still have some clues to put up.”
“Would you like to help us, Uncle Horace?” Lucy asked.
“I most certainly would.” Great-Uncle Horace gave her a twinkly-eyed grin. “As long as you give me some of your delicious pancakes. Putting up clues is hungry work!”
As soon as they finished breakfast, Zoe, Lucy and Great-Uncle Horace headed out into the zoo with the clues. Zoe had written them in gold on brightly coloured card. Lucy went off to put some clues by the zoo hospital, and Zoe and Great-Uncle Horace made their way to the panda enclosure. When Mei Mei and Chi Chi saw Great-Uncle Horace they scampered over and gave excited squeals. All of the animals at the Rescue Zoo loved Great-Uncle Horace and were very grateful to him for saving them and giving them such a lovely home.
“Goodness me, look how big you’ve got!” Great-Uncle Horace exclaimed. When he first brought the pandas to the zoo they’d been small cubs.
Chi Chi and Mei Mei squealed again. Zoe knew that they were saying thank you to Great-Uncle Horace! Once they’d put out some of the clues, they moved on to the penguin enclosure. Zoe had chosen blue and white bunting to match the blue of the lagoon and the giant glittering iceberg. As soon as the penguins saw Great-Uncle Horace they dived off the iceberg and swam over.
“Look, they’re so excited to see you.” Zoe smiled.
“And I’m excited to see them too,” Great-Uncle Horace replied, adjusting his round glasses and peering into the lagoon. The penguins flapped their wings joyfully as they greeted Great-Uncle Horace.
Finally, after putting up clues by the lion enclosure and the insect house, they just had one left.
“Let’s put it by the meerkat enclosure,” Zoe said. She wanted to check how Max was doing.
“Excellent plan!” Great-Uncle Horace replied.
As they walked past the hippo enclosure the sun was just coming up over the lake. Zoe smiled, imagining the meerkats warming up on a log.
But when they got to the enclosure the meerkats were nowhere to be seen.
Then Zoe heard an urgent barking from the other side of the enclosure. She hurried round to investigate and found Max’s mum and dad by a freshly dug hole right next to the glass wall. The three babies were huddled together by a nearby log. There was no sign of Max.
“Goodness me, what’s all the commotion about?” Great-Uncle Horace exclaimed.
“I’m not sure,” Zoe replied, but she had a horrible feeling Max had something to do with it.
“What on earth is making that dreadful racket?” Mr Pinch said as he marched down the footpath towards them. As usual, his uniform was extra smart and his polished shoes gleamed in the morning sunlight.
“Good morning, Mr Pinch,” Great-Uncle Horace said cheerily. “Yes, the meerkats ar
e certainly full of beans this morning. They must be excited for the treasure hunt.”
“They’re not the only ones,” Mr Pinch said. “There’s a huge queue of people outside waiting to get in.” To Zoe’s surprise he actually smiled. “That’s one good thing about the treasure hunt, I suppose. More money for the zoo. I’d better go and open the gates.” He walked on briskly.
In the enclosure, Max’s mum and dad carried on barking.
Zoe wondered what was wrong.
Then she heard Mr Pinch yelling. “This is NOT acceptable!” She turned and saw him standing by the bush where she’d hidden the special prize the night before.
“What on earth’s the matter?” Great-Uncle Horace asked as he and Zoe hurried over.
“Uh-oh!” Meep exclaimed, scampering along ahead of them.
“Oh no!” Zoe said when she saw the reason why Mr Pinch was so cross.
There, next to the bush, was a freshly dug hole and a big pile of mud and dirt. And next to the hole was a very muddy, messy Max. A golden bow lay on the ground beside him, next to the SPECIAL PRIZE sign and torn strips of wrapping paper. And there was Max, holding the cuddly toy meerkat, which was also totally covered in mud.
“What is the meaning of this?” Mr Pinch spluttered.
“What’s going on?” Mo asked, running up the path to join them.
“It looks as if someone dug an escape tunnel,” Great-Uncle Horace chuckled.
“Oh no!” Mo groaned. “There must be a weak spot in the foundation of the enclosure wall. I’ll have to find it and fix it.” He hurried off to the enclosure.
“What’s he’s holding?” Great-Uncle Horace said, pointing to Max.
“It’s the special prize,” Zoe cried. “He’s made a mess of the special treasure-hunt prize!”
“Oh dear!” Great-Uncle Horace said, shaking his head.
“I’m about to open the zoo,” Mr Pinch spluttered, looking down at the muddy, messy meerkats. “We can’t have animals escaping all over the place! And what about this mess?”