Earthquake Escape

by J. Burchett

  Ben got two ropes from his backpack, threaded one through the two eyelets in the top corners of the sleeping bag and the second through the eyelets at the bottom.

  “Now we have to tie the ropes over the nanocord,” he said. “You take the top and I’ll take the bottom. That will hoist him up off the ground. Ready? Pull.”

  Soon Jing Jing was suspended above the ground in his makeshift sling. Ben climbed on at the front, next to the panda cub’s head.

  “You go at his feet,” he told his sister, as he tied the strap of his FIN firmly to one of the sling ropes. Zoe climbed on behind and gripped hard. The sling rocked with her weight, but the ropes held.

  “Are you sure about this, Ben?” said Zoe. “We might all end up in the river.”

  “It’s Jing Jing’s only chance,” insisted Ben. “Hang on tightly to the ropes – and here we go!” He pressed the retract button.

  They were jerked forwards as the nanocord wound itself back inside the gadget and pulled the sling along.

  “It’s working!” he shouted. “Keep holding on, Zoe.”

  With the FIN whirring madly, they found themselves being pulled out over the tumbling water as the nanocord retracted.

  Zoe glanced down at the fierce foam. It made her feel sick to think of them plummeting down into the fast-flowing torrent below. She gripped tightly to the sling ropes and kept her eyes firmly on the bank opposite.

  “Nearly there!” Ben shouted to his sister at last.

  They were almost over the bank when they felt a sudden jolt.

  “What’s happened?” cried Zoe in alarm. “We’ve stopped!”

  Ben pressed the retract button again and again. “It’s broken,” he called. “My nanocord’s stopped glowing. We’re stuck.”

  “Could you jump to the bank from here?” Zoe shouted back. “Then you can pull us the rest of the way.”

  “I’ll try.” Ben eased himself round to face the bank.

  “Be careful!”

  Ben crouched. As he launched himself over the water he knew he wasn’t going to make it. He half-jumped, half-fell towards the high bank. His legs plunged into the water. The cold current sucked at him as he clutched desperately at a tangled root. He kicked out and managed to get his knees into a hole in the bank. At last he hauled himself up and collapsed, breathless.

  “Ben!” Zoe was calling and her voice sounded strange. Ben looked up. The clouded leopard was back. It was crouched on the bank, scarcely a metre away.

  Belly on the ground, it began to slink slowly and deliberately towards him.

  Ben’s heart was beating so fast he thought it would burst out of his chest. Any moment now the leopard was going to leap – and there was nothing he could do about it. Or was there? He snatched up a stone and flung it hard at the beast. It flinched back as the stone struck the ground in front of it, sending up a shower of earth. Then it tensed, ready to pounce.

  Suddenly the air was filled with a tremendous roar. The leopard whipped round, its ears twitching wildly. Horrified, Ben followed its gaze.

  “It can’t be…” he whispered.

  A huge tiger was standing a metre from them, its teeth bared.

  The leopard gave a yowl of terror and was gone.

  And then, to Ben’s utter astonishment, the tiger shimmered and disappeared. Confused, he looked over to Zoe. And then he understood. She was holding her BUG and directing it towards where the tiger had been.

  “It was a holo-image!” he gasped. “Of course it had to be. South China tigers are practically extinct in the wild. There certainly aren’t any in this region any more. Good job the leopard didn’t know that. Brilliant, Zoe. You saved my life.”

  “Well, in return perhaps you’d like to get us to the bank,” said Zoe, clambering round to the front of the sling. Holding tightly to the rope with one hand, she stretched out the other towards Ben.

  “It’s no good,” she said. “I can’t reach you.”

  Ben looked about the bank and picked up a sturdy branch. “Get hold of this,” he called. Zoe made a grab for the stick but her fingers slipped down the wet wood. Ben thrust it out again and this time Zoe managed to grip it tightly. Ben pulled with all his strength. Slowly the sling began to move forwards until it was hovering over the bank, just a few centimetres from the ground. Zoe jumped down and helped Ben untie the ropes. The sling bumped to the ground and Jing Jing rolled out with a faint groan.

  “We made it!” exclaimed Zoe. “I just hope Jing Jing’s all right.”

  As she bent down to the panda cub there was a sudden shout from the forest.

  Ben and Zoe looked at each other. “Quick! We’ve got to hide!” said Ben urgently.

  “And conceal all evidence,” added Zoe, twisting her FIN to eject it from the tree. She held the two buttons down. The dart on the other side of the river was released and her cord flew back into her gizmo. But Ben’s was still dead.

  “There’s no way we can cut this nanocord,” he said. “I’m going to have to ditch my FIN.” He slung the gizmo high up into the tree. Now there was no sign of it.

  They snatched up their backpacks and the sleeping bag and dived into the bushes just as someone in a blue sanctuary sweatshirt burst on to the bank. She shouted something in Sichuanese.

  “Put your translator in!” Zoe hissed to Ben.

  “Jing Jing’s here!” they heard the woman shout.

  Three men and a second woman ran up and knelt down next to Jing Jing, dropping their bags to the ground.

  “He’s still alive!” Someone opened a medical box.

  “But only just. His pulse is weak.”

  “Wonder who sent that message.” One of the workers scanned the trees. Ben and Zoe shrunk back into the shadows. “There’s no one around.”

  “No questions, the man said, remember! The main thing is we’ve got to him in time.”

  Very soon the little panda was being gently eased on to a stretcher. A drip with a bag of clear fluid was attached to one leg. A woman stood beside the stretcher, holding the bag up.

  At last the rescue party disappeared, carefully carrying the panda cub back home. Ben and Zoe crept out from their hiding place.

  “Jing Jing’s in good hands now,” said Zoe softly. “I think he’s going to make it.”

  CHAPTER

  ELEVEN

  Ben and Zoe emerged from the forest in to the sunshine. They were near the site of the new medical centre and beyond they could just see the roof of their hotel. Behind them, the landslide water plunged down the hill on its way to meet the river.

  Ben’s BUG vibrated. “It’s Uncle Stephen!”

  “Hello there!” Their godfather’s voice came out loud and clear. “Any news?”

  “The sanctuary people made it up the mountain,” Zoe reported. “We’re on our way now to check on Jing Jing.”

  “I told you they’re a good lot at Ningshang,” said Uncle Stephen.

  “But what did you tell them?” asked Ben. “I mean, who did you say you were?”

  “I said, hello there, I’m Dr Fisher, head of a topsecret organisation... ” They gasped and heard their godfather chuckling away. “No, don’t worry. I hinted that I was something to do with the government and that they’d better ask no questions. I didn’t want to scare anyone but I had to make sure they took me seriously. Anyway… cheerio.”

  “Our godfather has some strange ideas sometimes,” said Zoe with a grin.

  “But they seem to work!” added Ben, pocketing his BUG.

  “I can’t believe how tired I am,” groaned Zoe. “My legs have never ached so much.”

  “What do you expect?” Ben laughed.

  “We’ve walked for miles, narrowly missed a landslide, got stuck on a zip wire, escaped from a leopard and rescued a panda.” He looked slyly at his sister. “So you’re too tired to go to the sanctuary and find out how Jing Jing’s doing?”

  Zoe’s eyes sparkled. “Course not!” she exclaimed. “Race you.”

  Laughing, they ran down
the slope.

  They were soon at the gate of the sanctuary.

  “I’ve just had a dreadful thought,” said Zoe, pulling at Ben’s sleeve. “Do you think Xu Mei will want to see us? We weren’t her favourite people yesterday.”

  “Let’s just go and ask about Jing Jing and see what happens,” said Ben.

  A man was coming towards them carrying buckets of vegetables.

  “Excuse me,” called Zoe. “We were wondering if the little panda has been found?”

  The man looked them up and down, a shocked expression on his face.

  Ben and Zoe suddenly realised how dirty and dishevelled they were. Zoe pulled a twig out of Ben’s hair.

  “Er…we fell down a hole,” said Ben lamely.

  The man put down his buckets and scratched his head. “I not understand,” he said at last. “My English not good…”

  “Jing Jing?” Zoe prompted him.

  “Ah yes…he is…”

  “Zoe! Ben!” A happy cry came across from the infirmary. It was Xu Mei and she was beaming from ear to ear. “Jing Jing’s back and he’s going to be alright.”

  The man motioned for them to go and they ran over to her. She grabbed their hands and took them inside the building. They had to make their way past an area of rubble and tarpaulin where the wall was damaged.

  Xu Mei led them to a room at the end. She knocked on the door and stuck her head inside. They heard some gabbled Chinese but didn’t pick up what was being said. Then the door opened wide and Xu Mei’s father stood there.

  “Come in.” He beamed. “Meet our naughty cub.”

  A woman was leaning over a large plastic cot. There, lying on a blanket and with the tube still in his leg, lay Jing Jing. At once Zoe and Ben could see there was more life in his eyes. He was sucking noisily at a bottle of milk. As soon as he caught sight of them he gave an excited little squeak.

  “He thinks you’re his friends,” said Xu Mei.

  “He looks a lot better than…” began Zoe. Ben coughed loudly. “…better than I expected him to,” she gabbled.

  “He’s getting water and food in the drip,” said Xu Mei. “Father doesn’t want him eating too quickly. His stomach has shrunk and it will make him sick. But he loves his milk so much that we couldn’t say no to a little bit.”

  They stayed at the panda’s side, stroking his ears, while he gulped down his milk. Then his eyes grew heavy, the bottle fell to his side and he began to snore.

  “A good sleep,” said Zoe. “Just what he needs.”

  Xu Mei nodded. “We leave him now.”

  Out in the corridor, Zoe took Xu Mei’s hand. “I hope you’ve forgiven us for not going into the mountains with you yesterday.”

  The little girl looked at her gravely. “I was silly. It was too dangerous for children to go up there.”

  “It certainly was,” said Ben, catching his sister’s eye.

  “If only I knew who found Jing Jing,” Xu Mei went on. “I could say thank you.”

  “I’m sure his rescuers know how grateful you are,” said Zoe.

  Suddenly Xu Mei stared intently at their filthy clothes.

  “I was just thinking,” she said, her eyes shining. “Jing Jing did his happy cry when he saw you. It was like he had met you before.”

  “But that’s impossible,” said Ben, “isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” Xu Mei nodded. A huge smile spread over her face. “Impossible.”

  They peered through the glass door of the infirmary. Jing Jing lay peacefully asleep in his cot.

  Xu Mei sighed happily.

  “There’s one thing his rescuers can be sure of,” said Zoe, smiling. “Jing Jing is the best loved panda in the whole world.”

  WILD RESCUE

  GIANT PANDA FACTS

  GIANT PANDA SURVIVAL

  Giant pandas were once widespread across southern and eastern China,Myanmar and North Vietnam. Now they are only found in the wild in South West China.

  No. of giant pandas living in the wild todayabout 16,000

  No. of these living in protected reservesabout 1,000

  No. of giant pandas living in zoosabout 160

  Life span: About 20 years in the wild; more than 30 years in captivity.

  Oldest panda recorded: 37 years old.

  The giant panda is called the giant cat bear in China.

  Weight: Adult pandas weigh between 80–150kg.150kg is about the weight of two men.The male panda is a little larger than the female.

  Amazingly, a panda cub is very tiny at birth. It weighs only about 140g – a little heavier than a newborn kitten.

  STATUS: ENDANGERED

  The giant panda is included on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Numbers of the giant panda are declining.

  Poaching has declined thanks to tough laws. A poacher can receive a prison sentence of up to ten years. However, pandas sometimes get caught in traps intended for other animals such as musk deer and black bears.

  THREATS

  DEFORESTATION

  Giant pandas live in a few high mountainous areas that have natural forested areas with fir, spruce and bamboo. These areas are threatened by logging, mining and road building. Destruction of their habitat is now the major threat to their

  survival. In the eleven years from 1973 to 1984, it shrank by 50 per cent.

  STARVATION

  When bamboo flowers it dies down and takes about 20 years to grow again. This can cause severe food shortage for pandas.

  LOW REPRODUCTiON

  It has been difficult to breed giant pandas in captivity.

  They do not adapt easily to the presence of humans.

  PREDATORS

  Jackals and leopards prey on adult pandas.

  It’s not all bad news!

  By mid-2005, the Chinese government had established over 50 panda reserves protecting more than 10,000 square kilometres of forest – nearly half the remaining giant panda habitat. Efforts are being made to plant bamboo corridors to link bamboo areas for the wild pandas. Breeding success is gradually increasing as scientists learn more about how to make the giant pandas’ captive environment more natural.