Free Trouble at the Zoo by Bindi Irwin Page B

Zac. I don’t want to be last in the line to get in.” Holly was holding her mum’s and dad’s hands, and skipping fast, making a beeline toward the entrance.
    Zac was sulking behind them. “There’s no rush, okay. We’ll be waiting in line forever anyway. And it’s not even nine o’clock yet.”
    Mr. Brown, who was dressed as a sea monster and covered head to foot in seaweed, turned and gave his son one of those stern be nice to your sister looks, before he was dragged away.
    Zac watched as a bakery van pulled up to the zoo entrance and two delivery men maneuvered a large birthday cake out of the van’s back doors. Well, on the plus side, he did love cake, and that cake looked big enough to feed an elephant! He moved closer to the delivery men. Perhaps he could run up and sneak a taste of the icing. It looked really good. He inched a little closer.
    Mrs. Brown glanced over at her son. “Zac, keep out of the men’s way. Come over here and join the line.”
    Zac sighed as he watched the cake being carried through the front entrance. No, he did not like the way his tenth birthday was turning out, and it had only just begun.

All over the zoo, staff members dressed as dolphins, swordfish, slippery eels, and every underwater creature you could think of were buzzing around, helping set up for the day’s many activities.
    Bindi, Robert, and Rosie made their way around the zoo, taking in the extraordinary sights—slippery slides and music stages were ready for action, aquamarine helium balloons were tied to signposts, and enormous bubble machines were getting a test run.
    A few of the zoo’s employees, with walkie-talkies in hand, were busy making sure the three kids didn’t see anything that would spoil the surprises the day had in store.
    “Keeper One to Keeper Three?” a zookeeper dressed as a puffer fish whispered into his walkie-talkie as he sped past the kids in a golf buggy. “There’s a mermaid, a sea horse, and an octopus heading to the croc enclosures now. Move that cake outta there, pronto!”
    Over by the crocs, a dolphin and two clown fish were moving the whale-sized birthday cake when the walkie-talkie crackled through its message. The three froze in position for a moment, and then started scampering off in the opposite direction. The clown fish kept hold of the cake while the dolphin answered the call. “Copy that, Keeper One, or should I call you Puffer Fish One? Cake taking a detour via the Tasmanian devils, over.”
    Just past the croc enclosure, Bindi waved to a starfish setting up a popcorn stand. “The zoo is always an amazing place,” she said to Rosie and Robert, “but today it looks even more amazing than usual.”
    “Yeah,” piped up Robert. “Maybe everyone should dress up as underwater creatures every day.”
    “That’d be cool,” said Bindi. “Although I wonder if it would confuse the animals if their keepers began looking like animals themselves?”
    Rosie pointed to a creature who was busy trimming a tree nearby. “Is he dressed as a snail? That isn’t an underwater creature, is it?”
    The snail overheard the comment and turned to the kids indignantly. “I’ll have you know I’m not a garden snail, but a sea snail. Look at the stripes on my shell. I’m a Cabestana snail, of course.”
    Rosie giggled. “Well, excuse me, Mr. Snail. I do apologize. I don’t know as much about gastropods as I should.”
    “Apology accepted,” said the snail, bowing solemnly, “because you’re such a polite mermaid. Oops, nearly forgot. Happy birthday, Bindi. You’re in for a whale of a day.”
    “Ha ha. Thanks, Mac. Catch ya later,” Bindi replied.
    Rosie groaned. “Oh no, the under-water jokes have started already and the zoo isn’t even open yet!”

    An announcement came over the PA system. It was Terri. “Five minutes till showtime, guys. Take your starting positions. Bindi and Robert, stop ‘sea-horsing’ around, and start running!”
    The siblings rolled their eyes