Monkey Trouble Read Free

making it to the Olympics. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
    Jessie’s words seemed to make Sophie feel a little better. “I guess there will always be baby animals to take pictures of, right?”
    “Exactly,” Jessie told her. “New babies are born at the zoo every year!”
    At that, Sophie smiled and headed off after Benny and Mr. Newton toward the giraffe habitat.
    Once they all got there, Henry and Violet stood at the fence looking at the newest little giraffe.
    “The baby’s so wobbly on those toothpick legs,” Henry said to Violet. “It’s amazing that he can stand up at all.”
    Blake squeezed in between Violet and Henry, shoving his way toward the fence. “Excuse me,” he said. “This is the best spot for a contest-winning picture.” Violet took a step back.
    Henry tried to move to let Blake get right up next to the fence, but Annika was shoving her way in on his other side. Henry was sandwiched between the two photographers.
    “I saw this spot first!” Annika said, putting the camera to her eye to frame the picture.
    “It doesn’t matter.” Blake put his camera up to his eye, too. “I have the better angle.”
    “Looks to me like they are taking the same shot,” Violet commented to Jessie.
    “Sure does. It’s the same view. Same position. Same baby giraffe,” Jessie said.
    Blake and Annika clicked their camera buttons at the exact same time.
    “Done!” Blake said, stepping back from the fence.
    “Whew,” Henry said, finally able to breathe. “I’m surprised you don’t want to take a few more pictures to make sure you got it just right.”
    “When you have a winning photo, all it takes is one shot,” Blake said with certainty. He glanced over at Annika, who was busy taking multiple shots of the same view. “I think I’ll use this camera, with the winning picture, for the rest of today. Then I’ll have a completely new one to use tomorrow.” Blake patted his over-the-shoulder bag.
    Annika leaned over to the fence and clicked her tongue. “Come here, little giraffe,” she said. She fired off another couple of pictures.
    “Henry,” Benny said, rushing up to the others. “Have you seen Sophie?”
    Henry looked around the group. “No. Why?”
    “I don’t see her,” said Benny. “Being an assistant zoologist is hard work. It’s my first day, and I already lost a tourist.”
    “Sophie’s not lost,” Violet said. She pointed to the tall blond girl sitting alone by the nearby picnic area. “There she is.”
    Sophie was far off from the group. She was sitting in the grass. Instead of looking at the giraffes, she watched some peacocks.
    “I’ll go get her,” Benny said.
    Benny scampered off and came back a minute later without Sophie. “She says giraffes are boring,” he told the others. “She’s waiting for us to get done with the giraffes so we can eat lunch.”
    “Let’s go, then,” Blake said, holding his bag tightly against his chest. “I’m hungry.”
    Benny rubbed his tummy. “I’ve been so busy today, I forgot to eat my snacks. I’m starving!”
    Everyone went over to the picnic tables, where Sophie joined them.
    The lunch cooler was there, waiting for them. The students set their cameras and backpacks on a table and went to get their lunch sacks.
    For a few minutes, Nico was alone at the table. Then Benny came rushing over. “Here. These are for you.” Benny gave Nico an orange, a bottle of water, and some chips from his pack.
    Sophie, Blake, Annika, and the twins sat on one side of the table, with Nico and the Aldens on the other. The rest of the tour group sat with Mr. Newton at another table.
    “I’m not very hungry,” Henry said. He gave Nico half of his turkey sandwich, too.
    “You Aldens are lifesavers!” Nico said, perking up after taking a bite of Henry’s sandwich. “Thanks a million!”
    A few bites into lunch, a fight broke out at the far end of the picnic table.
    “I want to take a picture of that bird,” said Griffin. He was