All of a sudden a crow snapped up a bug.
Sumiko pulled out her pad. “I’ll draw that crow.”
Tori watched her sketch quick lines. “Neat,” she said.
Back home, Tori tacked it up next to the ones from last year.
“Let’s sit on the patio,” Sumiko said.
Tori thought about her dream. She looked at her polka-dotted nails. “I guess so.”
Outside, Tori looked at the giant sticker bush.
Everything was quiet.
She turned on the hose.
The sprinkler would feel cool on their bare feet.
Kimi, the cat, stared at them from the window.
Once she’d eaten a sparrow, feathers to tail. But no more. Now she was an indoor cat, eating cat food.
Tori put the torn green paper from the tree on the patio table.
“Missing!” Sumiko read aloud.
“From the zoo? I hope it isn’t dangerous.”
“Me too.” Sumiko shook drops of water off her feet. “I have to text my mom.”
She went inside.
Tori stayed a little longer.
And then she heard someone say “Tough!”
At least she thought she did.
She turned her head.
Was it was coming from the sticker bush?
Was someone calling her tough?
CHAPTER 4
INSIDE, Tori picked Kimi up. “I’m glad you weren’t out there,” she whispered to the cat. “Something strange happened.”
Kimi gave her a quick cat kiss. She jumped out of Tori’s arms and padded away.
“Love you,” Tori called after her.
Maybe her brother, Ken, had been outside.
He was at the kitchen table now, stirring a pot of pink goo.
He was always trying things. They never worked.
Sumiko leaned over, watching.
Tori leaned over too. “Did you call me tough?” she asked Ken.
He looked surprised. “You’re not one bit tough. You’re even afraid of flies!”
She shook her head. “Only the gigantic ones.”
Maybe the voice was just another dream, she thought.
Bang!
Pink goo shot everywhere.
“Volcano!” Ken yelled.
He began to wipe up the lava with his shirt.
Tori and Sumiko took dishcloths. They worked at the wall.
When they finished, the wall was still pink. So were the dishcloths.
They threw them into the sink.
Ken looked disappointed. “Nothing comes out right,” he said.
“You can’t be perfect all the time,” Sumiko told him.
Tori was glad to hear her say that. But only for a moment.
She was worried.
Who was missing?
And who might be on the patio?
She thought of Mr. Stewart, the boss of the zoo.
He always said, “Use your brain.”
Tori’s brain told her…
Nothing.
But wait.
Maybe it was a kid.
Not Ken.
Not Alex. He was at the dentist.
His teeth were a mess.
And Mitchell was at camp.
The only one left was Luke.
CHAPTER 5
TORI unlocked the door. She listened.
Sumiko was still talking to Ken.
No one was calling her tough.
Some scraps of paper blew toward her. They landed near the sticker bush.
She walked across the patio, but so slowly, she hardly moved. She took the papers and tucked them in her pocket.
Who was hiding behind the sticker bush? She had to find out.
She pulled a branch aside.
Ouch!
Her arm had a pink scratch.
Nothing there except stones and weeds!
Three more weeks until school began. She wouldn’t be out in the patio so much anymore.
But by then she needed a life story. If only she had something to say…
Something like:
I saved someone’s life.
I won a million dollars. I gave it all to the zoo.
They needed ants for the anteaters.
The screen door flew open. It was Sumiko.
“I found more green papers.” Tori said. She didn’t have time to finish talking.
Sumiko was yelling. “I figured out what the papers say. It’s bad news.”
“What news?” Tori could feel her heart beating.
“Keep your eyes open at the zoo,” Sumiko said. She grabbed the paper.
If only she could close them. But no!
They hurried into the zoo.
Sumiko slid to a stop at Ostrich Row. “Empty. I knew it.”
“What?” Tori asked.
Sumiko held out the scrap of paper. “Look. O for ostrich! She must be loose somewhere.”
Now Tori did close her eyes. Was that who was hiding on her patio? What if the ostrich was hungry? Or angry? Would it come after them?
But Mom was calling. “Time for dinner.”
CHAPTER 6
THEY darted in the door.
“Salad and miso soup,” Mom said.
Mom’s salad was always crunchy; her miso soup was the best.
Under the table, Kimi lapped up kitty soup.
When they finished, Mom said, “It’s beautiful outside. You need fresh air.”
“I guess…” Tori said.
She and Sumiko looked at each other. What about an ostrich on the loose?
Outside, someone was coming up the path.
Not an ostrich.
It was Luke.
“Hey.” He bent to catch his breath. “Something happened at the zoo. Come and see. My dad’s the zoo doctor. He’ll show us.”
They stood up and hurried toward the Baby Zoo.
Luke’s dad was waiting. He pointed to a window.
First they saw a nest. It was empty.
“All the ostriches lay their eggs in one nest,” Luke’s dad said. “But then…”
They saw.
A few ostriches were inside. Babies wandered around underneath them.
“They’re born with their feathers, ready to go,” Luke’s dad said. “All the grown-up ostriches watch out for them.”
Luke leaned toward the window. “They’ve been here for days.”
Sumiko pulled out her pad. She began to draw.
No ostriches were missing, Torry thought. Then what was hiding behind the sticker bush?
Sumiko looked at her and nodded.
They both knew…
An animal was at large.
Was it scary?
Maybe, Tori thought.
CHAPTER 7
IT wasn’t dark yet. And it was still hot.
Could she have dreamed those sounds? She tried not to think of her messed-up nails.
“I guess we could go to the patio and turn on the hose,” she told Sumiko.
They sat at the table.
The hose felt cool on their feet.
Tori stood up to fill the feeder. The seed was almost gone.
“Tough,” a voice said.
Had she heard that?
Sumiko turned. “What did you say?”
Tori shook her head. “I didn’t…”
Sumiko raised one shoulder. “Sorry. I thought…”
“Tough,” the voice said again. Someone began to laugh.
Not a dream. Of course not.
CHAPTER 8
TORI turned off the hose. They hurried inside.
Sumiko tacked her ostrich drawing over the bed.
Tori looked at the bird with its fat feathered body and
