Ann Martin - Mary Anne And The Zoo Mystery

Mrs. Wofsey hadn't specifically mentioned the people with the picket signs but I was sure that’s who she meant the animals needed to be protected from. I'd read about animal rights activists who set laboratory animals free, so I wouldn't have been surprised if one of them did try to let the animals out of their cages.

Then Mr. Chester stepped forward and gave us a quick rundown of the zoo regulations. They were pretty standard. Don't litter. Don't feed the animals. Never stick your hand in a cage. Try to be respectful and not scare the animals in any way. Even Howie and Alan found it easy to agree to follow those rules.

"All right then." Mrs. Wofsey clapped her

hands together. "You have an hour and a half. Enjoy yourselves."

Howie, Alan, and I decided that we would circle the zoo and each make a list of the top three animals we would like to study.

"Then we'll compare notes," I said, "and make our selection."

I watched to see which way Logan, Claudia, and Dawn went, and then deliberately headed our group in the opposite direction.

Here's the most bizarre thing about the afternoon — Howie, Alan, and I actually enjoyed ourselves. The sun was shining, and the animals seemed to have spring fever. They all looked interesting. It was going to be hard to choose just one to study. On the bus ride back to school, everyone talked nonstop about the animals. Logan and Alan didn't say one mean thing to each other.

Chapter 6.

The Free Babar project was now in full swing. We'd talked to all of our regular clients, and the kids were anxious to do whatever they could to save that little elephant.

The Pike kids were particularly interested. Since their suggestion of making Free Babar buttons had been taken up by the BSC, they'd hardly talked about anything else. None of Mallory's seven brothers and sisters thought of Thursday as a baby-sitting day. It was E (for elephant)-Day.

Mallory met Kristy at the door that afternoon. "Come on in. The kids have been waiting for you. We've turned the kitchen into the art room. And the dining room is the button shop."

"Button shop?" Kristy peered around the door of the dining room. Nicky and the triplets, Byron, Jordan, and Adam, were all wearing visors of varying types and sitting around the dining room table. In the center of the table sat something that looked like a weird stapler.

"What is that?" Kristy asked. "It looks dangerous."

"It’s my button-maker," Nicky said, smiling proudly. "Grandma and Grandpa gave it to me, but we can't figure out how it works."

"Are there instructions?" Kristy asked, joining the boys at the table.

Jordan held up a crumpled piece of paper. "Yes. But no one can understand them."

"We've each taken a turn at it," Mallory explained, "but so far we've struck out. We're hoping you can do it."

Kristy examined the instructions, muttering to herself and pointing to the different parts of the stamp machine as she read. After a few minutes she looked up. "It says we're supposed to have perfectly cut round circles of paper that will go over the metal backs."

Mal nodded. "We've got those. Margo, Vanessa, and Claire are working on the drawings in the kitchen — excuse me, the art room."

"Let’s go see."

The kitchen table was covered with Magic Markers, glitter pens, glue, and pictures of elephants. Some Babar books lay open for reference.

"Awfully quiet in here," Kristy murmured to Mallory as they watched the girls work.

Mal nodded. "They take this button business very seriously. Their pictures of Babar have to be perfect. At least that’s what Margo told me."

Margo looked up. "I decided just to do Babar's head. Does it look okay?"

Claire peered over Marge's shoulder. "It looks like a dog with big ears."

Margo was crestfallen. "It does?"

"Of course not," said Kristy. "If you make the nose just a little bit longer, it will be perfect. Also, put a bit of Babar's green suit in the picture and everyone will know who he is right away."

"Especially if we write Free Babar on the buttons," Vanessa pointed out.

"Vanessa hasn't drawn one elephant picture," Margo complained. "I've had to do them all."

Vanessa was bent over her paper, working diligently. Scattered on the floor around her were crumpled pieces of paper.

"If you're not painting Babar," Kristy asked, "what are you doing?"

"I've written a poem," Vanessa said, blushing slightly. She kept her arm crooked around her paper. "But it’s not ready yet so don't anybody look."

Mallory patted her on the shoulder. "Come on, Vanessa, let’s hear it. It doesn't have to be finished."

Vanessa thought about it for a second, then moved her arm. "You read it," she said to Mal.

"Babar the elephant

Is very, very sad.

If you help him find a home

He will be oh, so glad."

"That’s really great, Vanessa," Kristy said. "Don't change a word."

"Now we have two kinds of buttons to sell," Kristy said.

"Three!" Claire held up her drawing. It was an elephant with a banana almost his size next to him.

"Three!" Kristy took Claire's button drawing. "Good work, guys."

Mallory raised one finger. "We don't exactly have the buttons yet. Remember, we can't make the machine work."

Kristy rubbed her hands together. "I read the instructions. We'll be making buttons in no time."

"Here." Margo handed her the picture of the dog with big ears. "Do this one first. I made a bigger nose and wrote 'Free Babar,’ on it."

"Write 'Free Babar,’ on mine, too," Claire cried.

"I'll do it," Mallory said, taking the drawing and printing the words in her best calligraphy.

"Here we go!" Kristy took the first buttons to the dining room to assemble them in the machine.

Mallory stayed with the girls, helping Margo draw elephant noses that were big enough, and gathering Claire's banana drawings. She was also ready to help Vanessa with her spelling, which tended to be creative.

Meanwhile in the dining room, Kristy tinkered with the Badge-o-matic, reading the instructions out loud as she followed them. "First, place the big ring in your palm and set the metal back, the artwork, and the plastic cover in its center. Be sure they're dead center. Now put the thin ring on top of that, and the lid over that. Put your other hand over your palm and press the pieces together. But not too hard."

"This is confusing," Nicky said. "You're telling me," Kristy muttered. She looked at the paper again. "Now place the metal backing on top, flip it over, and place the entire button in the Badge-o-matic. Press down lever."

Adam pushed down the lever. Nicky held up a perfectly shaped button with Claire's elephant in the middle. "Look! Our first button!"

"All right!" The triplets gave each other and Kristy high-fives.

Kristy studied the instructions again. "It looks like the problem spot happens when you put the metal clasp on the back, press down with your palm, and flip the badge. That’s probably where things go wrong."

"No. We got confused way before that," Nicky said.

"Well, we know what we're doing now," Kristy replied. "We can declare the Badge-o-matic factory officially open."

Margo's picture was done next, and then came Vanessa's poem. In the meantime, Claire had made several more elephants and Mallory had joined in with her own interpretation of Babar. By the end of an hour they had successfully assembled twelve buttons.

"I think we should start selling them," Vanessa said.

"But don't you want to make more?" Kristy asked.

"No!" Claire shook her head furiously. "We need money for Babar. Right now."

Kristy looked at Mallory and shrugged. "I guess we can do a test run. You know, just to see if anyone is interested in buying them."

Mal checked her watch. "We have one more hour before Mom and Dad are due home. That'll give us enough time to cover a good chunk of the neighborhood."