"Where's JP?" Asked Wildernessa.
"He's rounding up an okapi." Said Craig. Soon enough, JP returned riding an okapi as if it were a horse.
"Howdy, partners." He joked with a southern drawl. This made Wildernessa mad.
"JP!" She said angrily and quietly. "Get off of that okapi!" JP carefully jumped off the okapi and back on the ground. "Why didn't you just tie it to a piece of rope?"
"Craig already used that idea." He said in defeat.
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After 15 minutes, all the freed African animals were put in either cages or pet crates and placed in the truck. Craig and JP helped put mailing tags on each of the crates and cages, as well as the six they missed earlier. As for Blink the gecko, he was in Craig's sack.
"Let's all review this." Said Mark. "The leopard and okapi will be shipped to the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in Congo, the turtles, warthog, and sitatunga will be shipped to the Banhine National Park in Mozambique, the monkeys and hamerkops will be shipped to Arusha National Park in Tanzania, the hornbills will be shipped to the Mwea Wildlife Reserve in Kenya, and the cranes and tortoises will be shipped to the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Park in South Africa." Craig then heard growling from his sack. He opened it up and saw Blink.
"Guess you're hungry, huh, little fella?" Craig said as he held the tank near his face. "I think we need to pack food for the animals."
"Yeah." Said Kelsey. "We don't want the animals to eat each other." JP then felt his stomach grumble.
"I don't know about you guys," He said. "But I think it's time for lunch."
"Alright." Said Mark, handing each kid ten dollars. "You four go to a food court and buy yourself a lunch. You deserve it after all that work in rounding up these exotic animals. Just don't spend all your money in one place. And remember to give the change back, please."
"But what are you going to eat?" Asked Craig.
"Luckily for you," Said Mark. "I packed myself a turkey sandwich and some spicy potato chips in advance." Mark then pulled a turkey sandwich and bag of potato chips out of his bag. "I'll feed the animals in the truck after my lunch." The four kids, Mortimer, and Cheesesticks all headed to a local food court.
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After 15 more minutes, Craig, Kelsey, and Wildernessa all bought different food from Zoo Central, and promised to meet up with JP and Cheesesticks at the penguin exhibit. Craig bought a pulled pork sandwich and a bottle of root beer, Kelsey bought two slices of cheese and pepperoni pizza and a box of orange juice, JP bought some sardines at an eatery near the penguin exhibit, and Wildernessa bought a salad and a bottle of water. As for Mortimer, he had seeds that were packed before they came to the zoo. As the kids were eating, Blink barked like a dog to remind Craig of something.
"Oh yeah!" Said Craig. "I forgot about you, Blink! You're a lizard, so you must eat bugs!"
"I'll get some bugs!" Volunteered JP. He picked up a large rock, scooped up some beetles, ants, and earwigs, and poured them into Blink's tank, and he devoured the bugs in a pinch.
"You must've been hungry, Blink." Craig told the lizard. "Anyone know what we're going to do next?"
"I'm going to free a bear." Said Wildernessa, and everyone gasped.
"Are you insane?" Asked Kelsey. "He could kill you just like when you tried to free that leopard!"
"It'll be better this time," Assured Wildernessa. "Because Cheesesticks will be by my side. Besides, the biggest meat that bears usually eat is fish. Well, I better be on my way." Wildernessa grabbed a key from the keychain and headed for the brown bear exhibit, and Cheesesticks followed.
"What are we supposed to do next?" JP asked Craig, who was putting Blink away in his sack.
"Since we can't free any critically endangered species," Said Craig, looking at the map. "Let's see if there are any exotic animals at the Maryland Wilderness exhibit."
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Five minutes later, Craig, Kelsey, JP, and Mortimer arrived at the Meeting Barn. There were an awful lot of people looking at the goats, sheep, llamas, and adorable Kunekune pigs.
"How are we supposed to free the animals without anyone noticing?" Asked Kelsey.
"I have an idea." Said JP, grabbing a piece of cardboard from the garbage and folding it into a cone. He then started to speak into it like a megaphone. "Hey, everyone! The Panamanian golden frog has found a mate!" The crowd immediately headed to the African Safari to see the so-called 'mate' for the endangered frog, leaving the barn empty.
"It worked, JP!" Said Craig. "Now we have to decide which animal to release back in the wild."
"I'll call Stacks!" Said Kelsey, pulling out her cellphone. She dialed Stacks' phone number, and Stacks eventually answered. Kelsey pressed the megaphone icon on her phone so Craig and JP could hear.
"Hey, Kelsey!" She said. "Need help deciding which animal to release back in the wild?"
"How did you know?" Asked Kelsey.
"Lucky guess." Replied Stacks. "Where are you now?"
"The Meeting Barn." Answered Kelsey.
"Many of the animals in this exhibit have evolved to live on farms. However, there is one animal that would do well in the wild without being invasive: A peacock. Are you there, Craig?"
"Hi, Stacks!" Said Craig. "Why do you need me?"
"Well, do you know the difference between a boy peacock and a girl peacock?" Asked Stacks.
"Not really." Said Craig.
"Only the boy peacocks are blue with the huge green tail feathers." Replied Stacks. "The girl peacocks are brown with black heads and green necks. There should be a plaque near the fence with a picture of two peacocks: One boy and one girl." Craig, Kelsey, JP, and Mortimer walked to the fence and saw a picture of two peacocks: One blue with a huge green tail feather, and the other one brown with a black head and a green neck. Craig took a picture just in case.
"Thank you, Stacks!" Said Kelsey, and she hung up the phone. "JP! You go in the pen and find two peacocks! Make sure they look exactly like the ones on Craig's phone." Craig showed JP his cellphone to show him what he needed to find.
"May I borrow your phone, Craig?" Asked JP.
"Alright." Said Craig, handing his phone to the 13-year-old. "But please don't break it. Also, try handling the birds with care."
"Roger Dodger!" Said JP. He took the key from Craig, walked over to the pen, opened the gate, closed it, gave the key back, and started looking for two peacocks. He took out Craig's phone and opened up the picture of the sign. When he put Craig's phone away, JP saw a female peacock pecking at the ground for seeds. Since it had no fragile tail feathers, JP picked it up and put it in a spacious cage. When JP came back, he saw something green open up like a fan. It was a peacock showing off in front of two helmeted Guinea fowl.
"How do I get it in the cage without breaking its tail?" He asked.
"Try luring it in with a worm!" Said Craig. "Kelsey and I will get a bigger cage to put the peacock in! We'll be right back!" Craig, Kelsey, and Mortimer headed to another exhibit in the zoo to find a cage big enough for a peacock. This left JP all alone.
"Where am I supposed to find something to lure the bird with?" JP asked himself. With luck, a worm poked out of the ground, grabbing the peacock's attention. JP pulled the worm out and lured the peacock to behind the barn, and the peacock ate the worm. After a couple minutes of keeping the peacock behind the barn, Craig, Kelsey, and Mortimer returned with a cage on a wagon, big enough to hold a llama.
"We hope this is big enough!" Said Kelsey. JP managed to coax the peacock into the cage by throwing a seed in there.
"Now to deliver this one to Mark!" Said Craig.
"And after that," Said JP, handing Craig back his cellphone. "We'll free some prairie dogs!" The three kids and Mortimer then started pulling the wagon to wherever Mark was, and then back to retrieve the female peacock.
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Back at the Creek, a kid was at the Trading Tree, who was ready to trade with Kit some marbles for a Choco-Roll.
"I've been wondering." Said Pete, the kid trading for a Choco-Roll. "Now that Jason, Tony, and Boris are watching over the kindergartners, who's going to be the new Forest Scouts of the Creek?"
"You didn't hear this from me," Said Kit. "But I heard that they're being replaced with three new Junior Forest Scouts from Vermont." Suddenly, the noise of a loud bugle could be heard. It was Josh, leader of the Goshen, Vermont Junior Scouts, along with his friends Ravi and Ian. Josh was Hispanic with a similar body to JP, Ravi was stout with dark skin and a big nose, and Ian was Caucasian with a head similar to Craig's.
"Good afternoon, Herkleston!" Said Josh. "My name is Josh, leader of the Goshen Junior Forest Scouts Squad 7-B! May I help you today, young lady?"
"My name is Kit, and I run the Trading Tree." Replied Kit. "Sorry, but I'm busy with a customer right now. If you want a tour of the Creek, go see Craig, Kelsey, and JP. However, none of them are available at the moment, so if I were you, I'd go see the Horse Girls in the tall grass. Whatever you do, don't call them 'people'."
"Mam, yes mam!" Said Ravi.
"Then it's settled, men!" Said Josh. "Next stop, the tall grass to meet some horses!"
"Horses!" Said Ian, and the three of them marched towards the tall grass.
Author's Notes: A sitatunga is an African antelope that lives in swamps. They are strong swimmers, and can even hide in the water with only their nostrils showing! Male sitatungas are brown with antlers, while females are orange with white stripes and no antlers. Craig in this
At the Maryland Zoo, there's a sitatunga exhibit across from the flamingos.
A hamerkop is an African bird with a long, flat crest on its head that makes it look like, you guessed it, a hammer. These birds eat frogs and fish.
At the Maryland Zoo, hamerkops can be found in the African Aviary exhibit, alongside ground hornbills, blue-bellied rollers, African spoonbills, and African crowned cranes.
A helmeted guinea fowl, which looks a bit like a chicken, is named after its horn-like casque on it's head, which looks like a helmet.
These strange birds live throughout most of Africa. At the Maryland Zoo, the helmeted guinea fowl can be seen at the Maryland Wilderness exhibit, though I don't know where.
Josh, Ravi, and Ian, OCs I made for this chapter, are essentially human versions of Lazlo, Raj, and Clam from Camp Lazlo. I even went as far as drawing designs for them!
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| I wanted to make sure the designs for these characters look appropriate for the world of Craig of the Creek, while still resembling the happy-go-lucky Bean Scouts. |
These three will appear again in Chapter 15.
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