Panda-Monium Read Free Page A

the meetings. Do they, Finju?’
    Finju shook his head. He stood and cleared away the plates before disappearing inside.
    â€˜Perhaps Vicki should come, to add her perspective to our cause. But –’ Chandra paused to look Bindi in the eye, ‘I think you should stay here with Finju and Wangchuk.’
    Vicki nodded in agreement. ‘Chandra’s right, Bindi. They have different customs here, and as they don’t speak English, you wouldn’t be able to talk them round in your usual convincing fashion.’ She reached across to tousle Bindi’s hair.
    â€˜All right, I guess.’ Bindi took a deep breath. ‘But I’d like to find out who’s behind those panda poo thieves.’ She thought of the beautiful young red panda they’d spotted that morning and felt a rising anger about everything that had happened. Red pandas were a critically endangered species. People needed to do everything they could to protect them, not play tricks and try to get out of taking any responsibility.
    â€˜Hopefully we can get to the bottom of it at the meeting tomorrow,’ Vicki said.
    Chandra smiled at the kids. ‘So we need to sort out the photos and write up our notes for the presentation. Would you two like to give us a hand?’
    â€˜I have to drop off a package to Aunty Maya, then go and feed Tom,’ Wangchuk said quickly.
    Bindi felt a kick under the table.
    â€˜Do you want to come, Bindi?’
    Usually Bindi would have loved to help write up the field notes. But she couldn’t wait until tomorrow to sort things out. She needed to do something immediately. And judging by the way Wangchuk was looking at her, he had an idea.
    â€˜Sure,’ she said.
    Wangchuk leapt up and disappeared inside with his ball under his arm.
    A minute or two later he returned, clutching a package. ‘Ready?’ he said.

They set off down the road.
    â€˜What’s in the package?’ Bindi asked.
    â€˜Tea, I think.’
    Bindi glanced down and noticed for the first time that the package had been rather carelessly wrapped in an old tea towel and tied up with fraying grey string. What’s more, it was vaguely spherical and about the size of Wangchuk’s ball.
    â€˜Tea, you said?’ Bindi raised an eyebrow.
    Wangchuk just nodded.
    Bindi took a sidelong glance at her new accomplice. ‘So you’re not worried about losing your job anymore?’
    Wangchuk shook his head. ‘I’m more worried about the pandas now. They’re my friends. I want to help them.’ He glanced across at Bindi and flashed her a smile.
    â€˜We’ll help them together.’ Bindi threw her arm around her friend’s shoulders. ‘But where are we going?’ she asked. ‘Where does your Aunty Maya live? Can she tell us what’s going on?’
    The boy looked at Bindi out of the corner of his eye but said nothing.
    â€˜Where does she live?’ Bindi asked again, poking him in the side.
    Wangchuk didn’t look around. ‘Next door to Mr Ming-Ma.’

    Aunty Maya was out in her herb garden, digging. Still clutching his parcel, Wangchuk called out hello and strolled over. Bindi followed.
    â€˜ Namaste ,’ the woman said, looking up. Like Wangchuk, she had a straight black fringe and laughing eyes.
    Bindi waited while Wangchuk and his aunty talked. Neither of them even looked at the parcel, Bindi noticed, and she guessed it hadn’t been mentioned.
    Eventually, Wangchuk turned to Bindi. ‘Aunty thinks Mr Ming-Ma would do anything to stop the sanctuary going ahead. But she also says the other villagers don’t really trust him. If they found out he’d lied, they’d be very angry.’
    â€˜Well, that’s good to know,’ Bindi said.
    Wangchuk resumed chatting with Aunty Maya.
    Biding her time, Bindi looked around. Aunty Maya was kneeling by a couple of bamboo buckets, an old trowel still in her hand. Bindi glanced into the