The Mystery of the Lion's Tail
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Wake-Up Call
Chapter 2 A Message from Home
Chapter 3 The Big Five
Chapter 4 Operation: Lion
Chapter 5 A Suspicious Swish
Chapter 6 Special Visitors
Chapter 7 Running Out of Time
Chapter 8 Searching for Charlie
Chapter 9 The Lion Cubs
Glossary
‘The Mystery of the Mysterious Spices’ Excerpt
About Harper Paris and Marcos Calo
CHAPTER 1
Wake-Up Call
Squaaawk!
Ethan Briar woke up to a strange noise and glanced around, confused. Where was he? This wasn’t his room. The bed was covered with a gauzy gold canopy, not soccer-ball sheets. He didn’t recognize the tree growing in the middle of the room . . . or the lantern by his bed either.
His gaze fell on the window. A giant bird perched on the sill opened its long, thin beak.
Squaaawk!
Ethan let out a yell. He’d never seen such an enormous bird before—at least not up close!
“What’s wrong?” Andrew Briar called out from the other bed. He fumbled around for his glasses.
“Dad! There’s a pterodactyl in our window!” Ethan exclaimed.
Mr. Briar slipped on his glasses. “Wow, it’s big! No wonder you thought it was from the age of the dinosaurs. I’m guessing it might be a hammer-headed stork. Or a sacred ibis. Wait. Let me look.”
Mr. Briar reached over to the tall pile of books on his nightstand. “Okay, here we go. Birds of Africa.”
Africa! Ethan nodded to himself, remembering. They were in a lodge in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which was in Kenya. They had arrived last night with Ethan’s twin sister, Ella, and his mom, Josephine.
The Maasai Mara was the latest stop on their trip around the world. Mrs. Briar was a travel writer for the Brookeston Times, which was their newspaper back home. Her job was to write articles about different interesting places like Venice, Italy; Paris, France; and Beijing, China. This week, she was planning to write about the Maasai Mara, which was home to tons of wild animals, such as giraffes, zebras, gazelles, lions, and more!
The fun part was that Ethan and Ella would get to tag along to observe the animals. The not-fun part was that they would have to return to the lodge with their dad every afternoon for their homeschooling lessons.
“I believe our visitor might be a purple heron!” Mr. Briar said, flipping through his book. “Apparently they are very good hunters. Maybe this one is looking for its breakfast.”
Ethan eyed the bird nervously. “There’s nothing here for you to eat!” he told the bird.
“It says right here that there are approximately five hundred different kinds of birds in the Maasai Mara. I wonder how many of them we’ll see on our safari,” Mr. Briar said.
Ethan glanced at the window again. The bird looked at him and then flew away. Outside, the grassy brown savanna seemed to stretch on forever. There were only a few trees. The dawn sky was a mix of pinks and oranges and yellows. Ethan got back into bed.
Just then, there was another noise—this time, out in the hallway.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Then the door burst open.
CHAPTER 2
A Message from Home
“Rise and shine, my friends!”
The Briars’ guide, Kafil, stood in the doorway. He wore a khaki shirt, matching shorts, and hiking boots. A pair of binoculars dangled from his neck.
“Well, good morning, Kafil! What adventures do you have in store for us today?” Mr. Briar asked brightly.
“We have many adventures to look forward to, but only if we leave right away,” Kafil said, tapping his watch.
“But it’s six a.m.! Can’t we go back to sleep for a bit?” Ethan complained.
“Not if you want to see the animals. They like to be out and about in the early morning because it is still cool out. Later, when it gets hot, they like to hide in the shade and take their naps,” Kafil explained.
Ethan groaned. At this rate, he would need a nap later too!
Kafil disappeared down the hall to help Mrs. Briar pack up their things. Mr. Briar got ready and went to join them.
Ethan had just finished getting dressed when Ella skipped into the room. She carried their dad’s laptop computer under her arm.
“You are soooo slow. I’ve been up for a whole hour!” Ella bragged.
“Liar!” Ethan shot back.
“It’s true. I got dressed, wrote in my journal, read two chapters of my book, and checked our e-mail.”
“And?” Ethan asked.
“And we have a new message from Grandpa Harry!” Ella announced.
Ethan’s face lit up. Grandpa Harry lived near their hometown, Brookeston. Before the Briars left on their big trip, they saw him all the time. Now they spoke to him only through e-mails and phone calls. The twins missed him a lot!
Ella put the computer down and opened up Grandpa Harry’s message. She and Ethan leaned forward and read it together.
To: ethanella@eemail.com
From: gpharry@eemail.com
Subject: A lion sighting!
Hello, my dears. Karibu Maasai Mara! (That’s Swahili for “Welcome to Maasai Mara.”)
Did I ever tell you about my first safari in the Mara? Your grandma Lucy and I loved seeing all the animals. But we couldn’t find any lions.
One night, we were on our way back to our lodge when our car broke down. We were frightened. Then, another car appeared. The driver was a scientist named Alex Broad. It turned out that Dr. Broad was studying the lions of the Mara.
Dr. Broad helped fix our car. The next day, Dr. Broad invited us to go to a famous lake. During the long drive, we mentioned how much we wanted to see a lion. Dr. Broad stopped the car, got out, and imitated the cry of a wildebeest. A few minutes later, two lions appeared—a male and a female! Apparently, lions like to eat wildebeests. So we finally got our lion sighting. (And yes, we drove away quickly!)
I hope your safari is as exciting as ours was. And I hope you run across a lion or two (or more)!
Lots of love,
Grandpa Harry
“Now I really want to see a lion!” Ella said eagerly.
“Definitely,” Ethan agreed. “But how?”
“Maybe Kafil will have some ideas,” Ella suggested.
“I don’t want to try Dr. Broad’s wildebeest trick,” Ethan said.
Ella shook her head. “Neither do I. I don’t want to be a lion’s dinner—or breakfast!”
The twins shivered.
CHAPTER 3
The Big Five
The Briars enjoyed a quick breakfast of papaya slices, porridge with goat’s milk, and mandazi, which was a kind of doughnut. Then they headed outside and crowded into Kafil’s car.
“I have sunscreen, bug spray, water, and snacks. Did you remember your hats and cameras, kids?” Mrs. Briar asked, spinning around in her seat.
Ella patted her messenger bag. “Yep,” she said.
“Hey, how about my comic books?” Ethan piped up.
Ella sighed. “Yes, I remembered your comic books. Next time, bring your own bag!”
“You’re not going to have time to read, Ethan. There will be too many exciting things to see!” Mr. Briar said.
Kafil started the engine and headed down a narrow dirt road. Dust kicked up as they drove along. It was very dry out . . . and very hot.
“The Mara goes on for many, many miles,” Kafil told the Briars. “It is home to giraffes, cheetahs, hippos, hyenas, and many other wild animals.
It is also home to the Big Five. The Big Five are the five most popu
lar animals to see: the rhinoceros, the leopard, the Cape buffalo, the African elephant—and, of course, the lion.”
The lion! Ella and Ethan grinned at each other.
“Hopefully, we will be able to see all five during the next few days,” Kafil went on.
“We have to see all five,” Ethan insisted.
“Especially the lion!” Ella added.
“If we are lucky, we may also catch part of the Great Migration,” Kafil continued.
“What’s that?” Mrs. Briar asked.
“Each year, millions of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles walk in an eighteen-hundred-mile loop between here and the country of Tanzania,” Kafil replied.
Ella elbowed Ethan. “Wildebeest!” she whispered, remembering Grandpa Harry’s e-mail.
“Eighteen hundred miles? That’s a long way to travel!” Mr. Briar remarked.
“Yes. These animals follow the rainy season from place to place. Otherwise, they will not have water to drink or green grass to graze on,” Kafil explained.
They soon reached a grove of acacia trees. Ella thought the trees looked like umbrellas that had turned inside out in the wind.
Just beyond the trees was a small watering hole.
Kafil slammed on the brakes. “Look! Look!” he shouted.
CHAPTER 4
Operation: Lion
Kafil pointed to a huge animal that was drinking at the watering hole.
It was a rhinoceros!
“Wow!” the twins exclaimed.
“This type of rhinoceros is called a black rhinoceros even though it is really more gray than black,” Kafil told the Briars. “Our friend there looks to weigh around three thousand pounds.”
“Three thousand pounds? That’s the weight of a small truck!” Mr. Briar said, surprised.
Kafil chuckled. “Yes, they are quite large. They also like to be alone. However, they have been known to have ‘houses.’ Houses are certain areas they like to visit often.”
“Aww!” Ella smiled.
Mrs. Briar snapped pictures with her camera.
Ella took her notebook out of her messenger bag. Grandpa Harry had given it to her as a special going-away present.
She wrote:
THE BIG FIVE
Rhinoceros
Leopard
Cape buffalo
African elephant
Lion!!!
* * *
Later that morning, they spotted the second of the Big Five in a thicket of shrubs: a Cape buffalo! It was dark brown and had two curly horns that angled out to the sides. Several small birds nestled on its back.
“Those birds are called oxpeckers. They eat bugs and other things that live on the buffalo. It’s free food for them, and the buffalo get nice and clean. In fact, I once saw an oxpecker picking a buffalo’s nose with its beak!” Kafil said with a wide smile.
“Ewww,” Ella remarked.
Ethan laughed.
Kafil added that buffalo were one of the most dangerous animals on the African plains. “Do not worry, though. This one will leave us alone as long as we leave him alone,” he assured the Briars.
Around noon the group returned to the lodge. The sun was high in the sky. The air felt like a thick blanket of heat.
“What a successful outing!” said Mr. Briar as he hopped out of the car.
“We didn’t see any lions, though,” Ella replied, disappointed.
“Lions are difficult animals to spot. For one thing, they sleep an average of twenty hours a day in caves, dens, and other safe places,” Kafil said. “I do hope we see a lion this week. But there is a chance we may not.”
Inside the lodge, Ella called Ethan aside.
“We have to find a lion,” Ella whispered.
“I know. But how?” Ethan asked.
“Well . . . first we should learn as much as we can about them,” Ella suggested.
Ethan nodded. “And what about Grandpa Harry’s friend Dr. Alex Broad? Do you think he still lives in the Maasai Mara? If we can find him, maybe he’ll be able to find a lion for us—just like he did for Grandpa Harry and Grandma Lucy!”
The twins exchanged high fives. Then Ella reached for her notebook, opened it to a clean page, and wrote:
OPERATION: LION
1. Learn all about lions.
2. Find Grandpa Harry’s friend Dr. Alex Broad. He’s a lion scientist!
CHAPTER 5
A Suspicious Swish
Just before sunset, the Briars and Kafil went back out on the savanna again. The air was cooler and smelled like flowers. Birds and other creatures twittered and squawked in the trees.
“The animals should be up from their naps and looking for dinner,” Kafil explained as he drove.
Ella opened her notebook. “Excuse me, Kafil? You told us that lions like to sleep a lot. Can you tell us more about them?”
“Yes, of course! First of all, they live in groups called prides. Prides are made up of adults and cubs. The adult males are the only ones with manes. The darker the mane, the more powerful the lion.” Kafil added, “And speaking of powerful . . . a lion’s roar can be heard from five miles away!”
“Wow!” Ella wrote all this down.
“Kafil? Do you know a scientist named Dr. Alex Broad?” Ethan asked.
Kafil nodded. “Yes, of course! Everyone knows Dr. Broad. She has been studying the lions of the Mara for many, many years.”
“She?” Ethan repeated. He and Ella had thought Dr. Broad was a man!
“Yes. Dr. Alexandra Broad. I have not seen her in a while. She lives in a tent much of the time. She moves from place to place, following the lions,” Kafil said.
“Big Five alert!” Mr. Briar shouted. He pointed out the window.
The twins looked. Three leathery gray elephants stood at a riverbank. One of them lifted its trunk and sprayed the other two with water.
“Awesome!” Ethan exclaimed.
“Are they giving each other baths?” Ella asked.
“Perhaps,” Kafil replied. “Or they could be goofing around. Elephants are very playful creatures. They are also very smart.”
“I read that some of the noises they make can’t even be heard by humans,” Mrs. Briar said as she snapped pictures.
“Yes, that is true. Another interesting fact about elephants is that they sleep only about three or four hours every day. They spend most of their time searching for food. They need to eat a lot because they are so huge,” Kafil said.
Kafil parked the car so they could get out and enjoy the scenery. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was the color of flames.
Mrs. Briar took more pictures. Kafil and Mr. Briar discussed the history of the Maasai people. Ethan and Ella sat down on a pile of rocks.
All of a sudden, Ethan saw a small movement in a far-off bush.
It looked like the swish of a long golden tail.
Did it belong to a lion?
CHAPTER 6
Special Visitors
Ethan elbowed his sister and pointed. “Look!” he whispered.
Ella followed her brother’s gaze. “So? It’s a bush.”
“I think I saw a lion hiding there!” Ethan told her.
The twins stared and stared. But there was no lion.
“False alarm,” Ella declared.
“But I saw it swish its tail!” Ethan insisted.
“It was probably an optical illusion. That’s when you think you see one thing but it’s actually something else,” Ella explained.
Ethan rolled his eyes. Ella was always trying to teach him things.
“Maybe you saw a branch blowing in the wind,” Ella continued, “and you thought it was a lion’s tail.”
Ethan frowned. Was Ella right? He could swear whatever it was had a fuzzy tuft at the end of it.
But before he could say any more, Kafil called everyone to the car. It was time to head back.
* * *
At the lodge, the Briars and Kafil sat outside around a roaring campfire. Other guests com
pleted the circle. Several conversations were going at the same time in different languages. Ella thought she recognized Italian, French, and Chinese among them. Overhead, a million stars twinkled in the sky.
After a while, some visitors arrived: six men and six women. The twins gazed in wonder at their outfits. Cloths with colorful patterns covered their bodies. Strings of beads dangled from their necks, arms, and ears. Several of the men carried long sticks.
One of them spoke to Kafil in a language Ella didn’t recognize.
“These are Maasai people from a nearby village,” Kafil explained after a moment. “They would like to perform a dance for everyone.”
“Cool!” Ethan said.
An elderly man began singing. “He is their song leader,” Kafil whispered. “The others in the group will sing back to him now.”
The twins listened intently as the Maasai villagers responded to the song leader’s call. As the music continued, everyone’s words wove together.
Then the villagers began to dance. They bobbed their heads back and forth and waved their sticks in the air.
When the performance was over, everyone clapped. “That was truly incredible!” Mrs. Briar gushed.
One of the Maasai women pointed to the twins and said something to Kafil. “They would like to invite your family to visit their village tomorrow—that is, if you are not busy,” he told the Briars.
“We’d love to! I think we’ve seen enough animals, anyway. I have plenty of photos for my article,” Mrs. Briar replied.
Ethan and Ella glanced at each other in alarm. Seen enough animals? A trip to the village sounded fun. But they hadn’t seen a lion yet!