Terror at the Zoo by Peg Kehret Read Free Book Online Page B

certain she was still on the path.
    She heard something move behind her. Holding her breath, she stopped and listened. When she didn’t hear it again, she turned on her light and aimed it behind her. She saw only a clump of bushes.
    Her mouth felt dry. All around her, the leaves whispered secrets and in the distance, a lone wolf howled at the moon. The mournful sound sent a prickle of fear up the back of Ellen’s neck.
    She took a deep breath and told herself to relax, but she still had an uneasy feeling, as if some unknown danger lurked just around the corner.
    EEIIIYYAHHHH!!!
    The scream came with no warning, from the area behind her where she had heard rustling, the place where she had just beamed her light.
    Ellen jumped, drawing her breath in sharply. She swung around, instinctively putting one hand across her face for protection. With the other hand she waved the flashlight back and forth, shining it from side to side.
    “Who’s there?” she croaked. It was a wonder she could speak at all; her throat felt like sandpaper.
    There was no answer but she heard that same rustling sound again. It was closer this time. She didn’t know whether to turn off the light and run, or try to see who (or what) had screamed.
    In the split second that she tried to make up her mind, a peacock stepped into the circle of light. His blue andgreen feathers fanned high above his tail as he strutted.
    “Eeiiiaayahh!”
he screamed again.
    Ellen stared, her heart thudding in her chest. She had always thought that peacocks—or peafowls as she knew they were properly called—were the most beautiful of birds but she had never heard one cry before. It was harsh and shrill, like a cat in pain. How could such a lovely bird make such an ugly sound?
    She took a deep breath, turned, and continued down the path away from the peacock. The light jiggled because her hand was shaking. Anyone’s hand would shake after that experience, she thought. Any sensible person would fear for her life if a peacock screamed at her in the dark.
    She wondered if Corey had heard the peacock’s cry. If so, he was probably running for the tent as fast as he could go right now, convinced that some terrible demon was loose in the zoo.
    Well, it would serve him right. He knew better than to go off alone this way. When Mom and Dad heard about it, he would catch heck for sure. If Mom and Dad ever heard about it.
Where were they?
    She came to a fork in the path. She stopped, unsure which way to go. Even though she was familiar with the zoo from previous visits, everything seemed different in the dark. She couldn’t look off in the distance for landmarks and she was afraid she might have missed some of the signs along the sides of the path.
    I should have stayed in the tent, she thought. Eventually, Corey would return. Maybe he already had and, when he found she wasn’t there, had gone out lookingfor her. It could go on that way all night—missing each other, searching in the dark—unless one of them stayed at the camp.
    She took the path to her right. If she was guessing correctly, it would wind past the Nocturnal House and back to the North Meadow. She wondered what the Nocturnal House looked like at night. Was it lighted, so the animals would think it was daytime? After she found Corey, maybe she would go to the Nocturnal House and find out. It was close to the North Meadow; she wouldn’t get lost. And it would be fun to see her favorite exhibit under different conditions.
    The minute she thought of it as her favorite exhibit, she knew where she would find Corey. The monkey house. Of course. It was always his favorite part of the zoo. He had even told Grandma and Grandpa that he wanted to sleep in the monkey house tonight. Why hadn’t she thought of that right away?
    She walked faster, shining the light back and forth across the path as she went. She hoped she was on the short cut across the middle of the zoo but even if she was on the outside path, she would end up