Zoobreak Read Free

rich and leave you losers in the dust!”
    Mr. Martinez laughed tolerantly. “You’d better start saving now, Darren. Rememberwhy the Rutherford family had to give it away. Even
they
couldn’t afford to pay the taxes.”
    Darren shrugged. “So I’ll invent the Dumb-Pick or something like that. How hard can it be?”
    Griffin was about to whack Darren with his lunch bag when he noticed that Ben had dozed off in the seat beside him. The timing of this field trip had thrown off his friend’s corrective nap schedule.
    “Wake up, man!” Griffin hissed, with a sharp elbow to Ben’s ribs.
    Ben’s head bobbled upright. “I’m awake!” He peered out the window. “Wow, look at this place!”
    The main house was a gray stone castle, complete with turrets and towering balconies.
    Melissa peered through her hair curtain. “Is that the zoo?”
    “Nice crib!” Darren exclaimed. “I wish
I
was an animal!”
    “You are,” Griffin pointed out. “A pig.”
    “That’s not fair,” Savannah protested. “Pigs are highly intelligent, sensitive creatures.”
    “All Aboard Animals
is a
floating
zoo,” Mr. Martinez reminded them. “Look, everybody —”
    The bus crested a rise, and the gleaming waters of Long Island Sound stretched out before them. Moored at the wooden wharf was a large boat that resembled a Mississippi River steamer, long and rectangular, with a paddle wheel at the stern.
    The bus parked behind two others, and Mr. Martinez led his students down the path onto the dock. As they waited for the class ahead of them to file down the gangway, Griffin noted that the paddle-wheel steamer didn’t look quite as spiffy as it had from a distance. The paint that wasn’t peeling was considerably faded. And close up they could see that the pictures of jungle cats, elephants, and giraffes on the hull were merely decals.
    Savannah was frowning. “No way is there a giraffe on this ship. Even a baby would have its head sticking right through the roof. And an elephant? It would probably break through the deck.”
    Finally, it was their turn to go aboard. The first thing Griffin noticed as he stepped inside the hatch was an overpowering foul smell. Heads retreated into shoulders; fingers came up to hold noses.
    As usual, Darren was the first to find his very nasal voice. “Ugh! What hit this place — a stink bomb the size of California?”
    Only Savannah was unaffected. “What a bunch of babies. Animals have a smell, just like people do. We just don’t notice our own. But,” she added disapprovingly, “it’s possible that the cages aren’t being cleaned as often as they should be.”
    The interior of the paddleboat was cramped, airless, and badly lit. They were greeted by Mr. Nastase, the manager. He was a tall, cadaverous man in a hand-tailored suit with shirt cuffs that set off his impeccable manicure. Even his haircut looked expensive.
    “Welcome to
All Aboard Animals
,” he intoned. “You stand on the threshold of an incredible adventure….” His speech was dramatic, but it was obvious he’d given it ten thousand times, and it bored him mightily.
    Savannah couldn’t hold back her curiosity. She waved her hand right under his pointed nose, but he ignored her, studiously focusing on a rivet in the bulkhead behind the class. Finally, she blurted out, “Mr. Nastase, exactly what kind of animals do you have here?”
    “I’m glad you asked me that,” the zookeeper deadpanned, smoothing down a thin mustache that was shaped like the apex of the Great Pyramid and looking anything but glad. “You will see animals that will astound you, animals from the four corners of the earth….” He droned on for some time about what they were going to see. When it was over, he still hadn’t mentioned a single animal.
    Even Mr. Martinez was becoming impatient with the man. “How about a little hint?” he asked.
    Mr. Nastase drew himself up to a tall, gaunt height. “I will not spoil your voyage of discovery.” He