Free Poacher Peril by J. Burchett

CHAPTER
ONE
    â€œThat’s got to be the weirdest present I’ve ever had!” said Ben.
    A shiny glass eyeball was glaring at him from its brown envelope.
    â€œThe weirdest present we’ve ever had. It’s my birthday too,” his twin sister Zoe reminded him. “Who’s it from?”
    â€œDunno,” said Ben. He shook the eyeball out of the envelope. It was the size of a small marble, yellow flecked with a black dot.
    Zoe took the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper with a printed message.“Happy eleventh birthday, Zoe and Ben,” she read. “But it’s not signed.”
    â€œThis is one of your jokes, isn’t it?” Ben grinned, waving the marble in her face.
    His sister shook her head, flicking her brown hair out of her eyes. “I don’t know anything about it.”
    â€œYeah, right!”
    â€œNo honest!” insisted Zoe. “I’ve never seen it before.”
    â€œPerhaps Mum and Dad sent it,” said Ben.
    â€œWe’ve had their presents already,” said Zoe. She studied the envelope more closely. “Anyway, it’s not a Mexican stamp.”
    Ben and Zoe’s parents were vets who travelled the world working with endangered animals. A month ago they’d been posted to Mexico on a project to protect the critically endangered Chiapan Climbing Rat. Ben and Zoe had always gone with them in the past. But in September they would be starting secondary school so their parents had decided they had to stay in England. Mum and Dad kept them up to date with regular phone calls, but it wasn’t the same as being there. Gran had come to look after them while their parents were away, and at this moment she was clattering about in the kitchen, icing a birthday cake.
    Ben held up the eyeball. “Maybe it’s a clue to something,” he said. “Like in those treasure hunts Mum and Dad used to do for us.”
    â€œIt’s not much of a clue though,” said Zoe, frowning. “What do we do next?”
    â€œMaybe the sender has left a message on our website,” said Ben. “That’s how most people get in touch with us.” He pocketed the glass eyeball, went to the computer and logged in. A picture of a gorilla filled the screen, with the words “animals in danger” arched over its head. The deep cry of a silverback male echoed round the room.
    During their travels with their parents Ben and Zoe regularly posted updates of their projects on their website. And they also used it to keep in touch with the people they’d met all over the world.
    â€œThere’s loads of new posts,” said Ben. He scrolled down.
    â€œThere’s one from the Elephant Sanctuary in Kenya,” said Zoe. “Open it up. Awwww, Zahara had a bull calf this morning!”

    A photo of a tiny baby elephant with huge ears and a tufty topknot flashed up on the screen.
    â€œCute,” gushed Zoe. “And he shares our birthday.”
    Ben rolled his eyes and quickly scrolled down the list. He was just as keen to protect animals as his sister, but sometimes she hit the jackpot on the Gooey Scale.
    â€œThere’s one from Brian and his orangutans.”
    â€œI don’t recognise the one below it,” said Zoe. “It says the Island.”
    Ben clicked on it. “You’ll have got the eye by now,” he read slowly. “Time to give it back to its rightful owner. Then the adventure can begin.”
    â€œAdventure?” said Zoe. “What adventure?”
    Ben pulled the eyeball out of his pocket. “Better do as we’re told. But who’s lost a glass eye?”
    â€œLooks like a cat’s,” said Zoe thoughtfully. “But there’s no one-eyed cat round here!”
    â€œIt’s not a cat’s eye,” Ben said. “They don’t have round pupils, more of a slit.” Suddenly he jumped to his feet and made for the door. “I’ve got it! Come