Free The Clue at the Zoo by Blanche Sims Page B

writing.
    Just pictures . . . two of them.
    “A red stop sign,” said Dawn. “And a bottle.”
    “What does it mean?” Jill asked.
    Dawn wrinkled her forehead. “The stop sign may mean don’t read .”
    “What about the bottle?”
    Dawn tried to think.
    “There are letters on the bottle,” Jill said.
    “P-S-N,” Dawn spelled out.
    They looked at each other. “Poison,” they said at the same time.
    “The white lumps must be—” Dawn began.
    Jill screeched. “Poison.” She dropped the book on the ground.
    They stood there staring.
    Jill waved her hands in the air. “I’ve got this stuff all over me.”
    Dawn looked down at her own hands.
    She could feel the gritty lumps under her fingernails.
    Jill looked as if she were going to cry.
    Jill cried a lot.
    This time Dawn felt like crying too.
    “I think we’d better wash our hands.” She tried to sound calm.
    Just then she thought of something else.
    “Where’s Arno?”
    Jill was thinking the same thing. “What happened to that kid?”
    Dawn spun around.
    He was nowhere in sight.
    They started to run.
    Dawn poked her head into the snake house. A zillion snakes were slithering around in cages.
    “Arno,” she yelled.
    The sound echoed through the room.
    No one answered.
    She raced up to the seal pool.
    He wasn’t there either.
    She shaded her eyes and stared up the hill.
    It was no use.
    Arno was gone.

CHAPTER THREE
    D AWN STOOD ON TIPTOES. She looked down the path. “What will Noni say? We have to find him.”
    Jill shook her head. “Not yet. We have to wash our hands. Right away. This minute.”
    “Wait. There’s something else.”
    Dawn raced down the path. She looked for the book.
    It was still there . . . right where Jill had dropped it.
    She rubbed her hands on her jeans.
    She had to solve the mystery, but she didn’t want to touch the book.
    She nudged it under a bush with her toe.
    She’d find a way to look inside . . . after they washed their hands . . . after they found Arno.
    “The girls’ room is over here,” Jill said. She held her hands out in front of her.
    Dawn held her hands out too. She followed Jill inside.
    She let the water run over her fingers for a long time.
    Then she picked up a sliver of soap and began to scrub.
    The door banged open.
    A girl with a mud spot on her jeans was standing there . . . the girl who had been on the path.
    The girl reached for a paper towel. She dabbed at her knee.
    “Look at that,” she said. “Some kid knocked me over a few minutes ago.”
    Dawn raised one eyebrow at Jill. “Arno.” She reached for a towel too. “Did you see where he went?”
    The girl pointed. “Toward the alligator swamp. Horrible place. I hope he found it. I hope they chomped his head right off.”
    Dawn’s eyes widened. “Well, I don’t hope that. Noni would—” She broke off. “Where’s the alligator swamp?”
    “I’ll show you.” The girl stuck out her hand. “My name is Candy.” She grinned. “That’s because I love you-know-what.”
    She raced ahead of them . . . past the seal pool . . . past the zebra’s den.
    Suddenly she stopped.
    Dawn bumped into her.
    Jill bumped into Dawn.
    “What’s the matter?” Dawn asked.
    “I have to close my eyes as we go around the cotton-candy stand,” she said. “Otherwise I’ll have to stop for some.”
    They went around the stand, Candy looking in the opposite direction.
    “I don’t want to worry you,” she said. “But all that kid has to do is jump over the rocks, climb the iron bars, and . . .”
    Dawn ran her tongue over her lips. “He’s too smart to walk into an alligator swamp.”
    “Some other kid thought he was smart too.” Candy rubbed her nose. “Squish.”
    Dawn looked at Jill.
    Jill’s face was turning green . . . green as her bows.
    “Don’t worry,” said Dawn. “She doesn’t mean it.”
    “She’s right,” Candy said, winking.
    “There it is,” Dawn said. “I see it.” She pointed to a bunch of rocks and an iron fence