Stephen nodded. âA female may only have two or three babies in her whole lifetime.â He pressed the screen again and a photo of a smiling young Bornean with black hair appeared. âHereâs Mat Ginting. He set up the reservation ten years ago to help preserve the rainforest and its endangered inhabitants.â
âHe must be very brave,â said Zoe. âI read that there are a lot of people whoâll do anything to snatch rainforest land.â
âIndeed, Zoe,â agreed Dr Fisher. âMatâs one in a million. Heâs been running the reservation against all the odds, but moneyâs becoming increasingly tight so heâs going to start taking paying visitors.â
âApparently thereâs a grand opening in a few days,â Erika added, âwhich is perfect timing for us. Tourists will be able to stay there and see orang-utans in their natural habitat.â
âSo you want us to pose as visitors to the reservation, locate Kawan and bring him back to his home?â asked Ben.
Dr Fisher nodded. âOf course, Mat Ginting mustnât know about our organisation. And thatâs why you two are perfect for the job. Heâs unlikely to suspect a couple of kids.â
âWeâre pretending youâve won a competition by writing about endangered wildlife,â said Erika.
âErikaâs idea.â Uncle Stephen beamed. âAnd a very good one.â
âWeâve told Mr Ginting that the prize was a trip to a sanctuary in Brunei,â Erika continued, âbut unfortunately the people there had to cancel at the last minute because of illness. We asked if he could take you instead and he was delighted. In fact, youâre going to be his very first guests.â
âSo you need to be on your way,â said Uncle Stephen eagerly.
âWhat about our BUGs?â Ben reminded him.
âOf course!â Their godfather handed over what looked like two games consoles. The Brilliant Undercover Gizmos had a lot of useful functions: working as communicators, scent dispersers, translators and much more.
âIâve invented a new gadget especially for this mission,â said Dr Fisher, passing over a belt and pair of boots each. âInside the boots there is the EEL â the Electronic Escape Line â a top-of-the-range bungee cord to prevent an over-speedy descent.â
âIn other words, it will save you if youâre falling from a height!â explained Erika. âAnd you may be spending a lot of time in the trees in Borneo. All you need to do to activate it is press the silver button on the belt. Now, time to get you out of those wetsuits!â
âHope you get Kawan back,â called Uncle Stephen, diving back under the console.
âYou can count on us!â declared Ben.
CHAPTER
TWO
Erika drove the hired jeep through a pair of wooden gates and parked in a bare earth courtyard.
Bright, new wooden buildings joined to form two sides of the square. The whole courtyard was hung with colourful bunting and flags. Trees lined the fourth side and towered over the roofs all around, as if the rainforest was just waiting to take back this little space.
âThe Adilah Reservation,â announced Ben. âWeâre here!â
He and Zoe jumped out of the car and gasped in the humid afternoon heat after the cool of the carâs air-conditioning.
Insects buzzed overhead and they could hear exotic bird and animal cries from the forest. Two workers were fixing a banner over the entrance of one of the buildings.
It read: âGrand Opening Todayâ. Another man came over eagerly to greet them.
He was carrying a hammer and nails, and a heavy sign. They recognised him from the photo theyâd seen.
âHello there! You must be Ben and Zoe!â He put down his tools and sign and shook the childrenâs hands enthusiastically. âIâm Mat Ginting. Welcome to my