Savanna Showdown Read online

  TO BRANT AND WILSON AND FURTHER ADVENTURES —KJE

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER 1: A DIZZYING DRIVE

  CHAPTER 2: SAFARI STARTUP

  CHAPTER 3: BURIED DEEP

  CHAPTER 4: ON THE WRONG TRACK

  CHAPTER 5: MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

  CHAPTER 6: CROSSING POINT

  CHAPTER 7: DARKNESS REVEALS

  CHAPTER 8: A SLIP OF THE CHIP

  CHAPTER 9: A VIEW FROM ABOVE

  CHAPTER 10: A WILD RACE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ALSO AVAILABLE

  COPYRIGHT

  I can’t believe this is happening. Again!

  Trying to fight off dizziness, Mari forced herself to close her eyes. It wasn’t easy, shutting out the vast African landscape and the intense sun. The silhouette of a tree, its branches arching toward the sky, still burned in her mind.

  Mari’s stomach was feeling shaky, so she wrapped her right hand around her left wrist and pressed hard with her thumb. She had learned the technique only days earlier, but it had been useful. The vibration of the double-decker bus pounded in her head. The ride was bumpy, and, on the upper level, the bus seemed to sway back and forth.

  She had never had motion sickness before the race, but she had also never ridden on boats in the open sea or in tiny private planes buzzing over icy mountaintops. Racing around the world for a million-dollar prize was demanding. The Wild Life contestants were constantly on the move, rushing to reach the next landmark and answer the next clue. All five of the remaining teams were on the bus, crammed in with tourists who were anxious to start their safaris. The teams were anxious, too.

  The bus slammed to a stop and jolted the sick feeling from Mari’s stomach.

  “What’s going on?” she asked as she stood and looked around. At once, she focused on a giraffe. It would have been hard to miss, since it was just about the tallest thing in view. Mari scanned the horizon and saw that the rest of its herd was far away, grazing across the flat grassland. She wondered why this one was on its own. Then she saw the answer: a lion. The great cat crouched on one side of the road; the giraffe stood on the other.

  Mari pointed it out to her teammates.

  “Oh, great,” Sage muttered. “Why’d they stop? I don’t want to see a bloodbath.”

  “What makes you think there will be one?” Mari’s voice was hushed as she studied the scene.

  “The lion’s a top predator with piercing teeth and sharp claws on its mammoth paws. Need I say more?” Sage counted each point with a crisp flick of her fingers.

  Russell and Dev, their other two teammates, remained silent as they watched the encounter.

  Mari focused on the animals. The lion, a female, was crouched in the long grass. The giraffe stood tall.

  “Giraffes are fast, right?” Russell whispered. “She should run for it.”

  In an instant, the giraffe did run, but not to escape. It charged at the lion, taking three long strides to cross the road. The lion sprang into motion. Sage flinched and looked away. But Mari wasn’t surprised when the lion darted in the opposite direction.

  “What?” Dev asked, his dark eyes clouded with disbelief. “What just went down?”

  The bus jerked into gear again, and Mari stumbled back into her seat. It took only seconds for her motion sickness to return. But she would fight through it. She had seen a giraffe confront a lioness! She had read about how a giraffe could kill a lion with one well-placed kick. Drama on the savanna was not always predictable.

  The crowded double-decker bus blazed along the dusty road through the African grasslands. It was the last leg of The Wild Life. The race had taken her team from the Amazon rain forest to the Great Barrier Reef to the Arctic tundra, and now to the savanna. For Mari, it had also turned three complete strangers into three of her closest friends. She didn’t want the contest to be over. Win or lose, it didn’t matter. She was never in it for the prize money or even bragging rights. She’d entered for the experience—and the animals. Everyone on her team knew that. When would she get to travel to such extreme locations and see so many animals in their natural habitats ever again?

  Mari went back to pushing on her wrist to ward off the spinning and whirring inside her head. It was bad enough that she wasn’t as athletic as her teammates—Sage and Russell were practically semi-pro as far as she was concerned—but why did she have to deal with motion sickness, too? This race was all about speed and being able to adapt to new climates and challenges. Mari felt like she was holding the others back. She might not care about winning, but they did. Sure, she knew a lot about animals, which had helped them on previous legs of the race, but she couldn’t unravel the harder Wild Life clues when her brain was all fuzzy.

  “Are you feeling better?” asked Sage.

  Mari nodded. Even with her eyes closed, she could picture the concern in Sage’s. Sage’s blue eyes could be compassionate and deep like the ocean, but they also could be cold and unmoving, like an iceberg. Mari knew that the combination made her a good leader.

  “Mari! You’ve gotta check this out!” That was Russell. He was the opposite of an iceberg—funny, loyal, and easily excited. “Look!” he called, pointing. “I’ve never seen a giraffe drink before!”

  “Dude, we just got to the savanna. There’s a lot you haven’t seen before.” That was Dev. The two boys were always joking around, even though they were very different. Dev knew a ton about science and tech stuff, but there was a lot more to him than that.

  Mari took a deep breath and raised her head. Black dots blurred her vision as her eyes adjusted. She soon focused in on the giraffe. The bus had caught up to the rest of the herd. So cool! Mari knew that a giraffe had to spread its front legs far apart and bend down in order to get close enough to the water. The position put the animal at risk. A giraffe would never drink if there was a predator around. She hoped none of the lion’s friends were nearby.

  “Isn’t it the middle of the dry season?” Russell asked. “Why is only one giraffe drinking? Aren’t they thirsty?”

  “Giraffes get almost all the water they need from the leaves they eat,” Mari explained. Giraffes were fortunate. They were so tall, they could eat high leaves the other grazing animals couldn’t reach. For this reason, they were less likely to go hungry.

  Mari loved giraffes—with their elegant necks and graceful gait, they reminded her of her oldest sister, who ran in cross-country races. But even though the red team hadn’t gotten their first clue on this leg of the race yet, she knew the giraffe would not be the answer. It was never that easy. The chances of them getting the clue while they were on the bus seemed slim. The race organizers liked to make it more of a “moment.”

  Still, Team Red needed to be poised and ready to answer the first clue the instant it came in. They were currently in third place, so they had a lot of catching up to do.

  “I can’t believe the orange team was booted, just for sending in the wrong photo,” Russell said under his breath, so only members of Team Red could hear.

  “I thought it was for talking with their mouths full,” Dev tried to joke, but no one laughed.

  “Julia from Team Purple told me they doctored the photo,” Sage confided. “That’s why they were kicked out of the race.” Her gaze darted between her teammates and the passing stretches of dry, grassy land.

  “I don’t get how they could do that,” Dev stated, suddenly serious. He pulled out the team ancam. The ancam was a combination walkie-talkie and camera. It was the team’s sole communication device—how they received clues and submitted answers—and Dev was in charge of it. “As far as I can tell, the system is locked. There is no way to alter the photos you shoot, or to load different
files. It would take an expert hack.”

  Mari tried to hide her smile. If Dev couldn’t figure out how to tamper with the ancam and their answers, Mari doubted anyone could.

  “Do you really think Bull Gordon would kick out a team just for giving a wrong answer?” Russell wondered. “It seems extreme.” Bull Gordon was the host of The Wild Life competition. Before he became the spokesperson for the race, he had been a wilderness explorer and adventurer.

  “It seems unlikely. And unfair,” Sage admitted. “But we’re down to the wire. Maybe it’s his way of letting everyone know the competition is serious. There’s no room for mistakes if you’re going to win.”

  Russell sighed so loudly that the whole team turned to him. “I wonder what he’d do if he found out someone really cheated.”

  “They’d be gone in an instant,” Sage replied. “And they’d deserve it.”

  Mari looked at Sage. The team leader had mellowed out a lot since the start of the race, but Mari suspected that Sage’s old grit—her we’re-in-it-to-win-it attitude—had returned.

  “Well, we won’t submit any bad photos,” Dev reassured everyone, “just as long as Mari points me in the right direction.”

  “What?” Mari felt her face grow hot, and not from the burn of the sun.

  “What do you mean, ‘what?’ You are the whiz when it comes to these clues.”

  “But we’re a team,” Mari insisted.

  “Yes,” Sage agreed. “And we’re lucky to have you. You could have easily ended up with the other Smarties on Team Purple. You’re our secret weapon.”

  Mari lowered her head again and stared at a rusty spot on the bus floor. She pressed harder on her wrist. Her brain ached. She didn’t feel like a weapon, and she wasn’t sure that’s what she wanted to be.

  CREATURE FEATURE

  GIRAFFE

  SCIENTIFIC NAME: Giraffa camelopardalis

  TYPE: mammal

  RANGE: African plains

  FOOD: leaves, shoots, and sometimes seed pods, of a variety of bushes and trees; acacia trees are a favorite

  The giraffe is the tallest land animal in the world. It also holds the record for the longest neck, even though it has the exact same number of vertebrae (bones) in its neck as humans.

  Giraffes are browsers, which means they only eat from trees and bushes. During the rainy season, they can get all the water they need from leaves. During the dry season, they need to drink from a watering hole or stream once every three days. When they do, they can guzzle about ten gallons. (Open your fridge and find the biggest milk, juice, or water jug. Do the math to see just how much a giraffe drinks at one time: a lot.)

  The giraffe’s tongue might not hold any records, but it’s still unique. It’s long and prehensile, which means it’s really flexible, and can wrap around things like leaves. It’s also deep blue, to help protect it from the sun.

  “Good to see you all made it.” The bus had come to a stop and Bull Gordon greeted them from below. The battered rim of his trademark fedora shielded his face from the sun, but his smile was still gleaming and bright.

  The red team was already striding up the aisle toward the stairs. They wanted to be the first off the double-decker bus. Mari couldn’t wait to be back on solid ground.

  “Excuse us,” one of the girls from Team Purple said, forcing her way into the aisle right in front of Mari.

  “They should let us go first, anyway, since we’re ahead of them,” Eliza, the Team Purple leader, insisted. “Remember, Team Red, you’re in third place.”

  Mari’s eyes narrowed. She was somewhat insulted that Sage had said she would fit in with the purple team. Sure, all the members were smart, but they weren’t very nice.

  Mari sighed and stepped back, letting the purple-clad contestants leave their seats.

  “Hey. Us, too,” a boy in lime green cut in with a chuckle. His team had been sitting on the opposite side of the aisle. “We’re in the lead.”

  Mari glanced over her shoulder. Sage nodded. It was Russell who rolled his eyes. There was history there. Russell had known all the guys on Team Green before the race. Mari remembered that they’d played football together. It was weird, how Russell had ended up on Team Red instead of Team Green.

  The four boys strutted off, each with his own swagger.

  “There go your bros,” Dev whispered.

  “Yeah, right,” Russell whispered back.

  Sage nudged Mari’s elbow, and Mari led her team off the bus.

  “One map per team,” Bull Gordon said as he placed a folded brochure in Mari’s hand.

  She gave him a quick smile. To her, Bull Gordon seemed like a super cool uncle or a fun science teacher.

  She looked around the small rest stop, drew in a deep breath, and started feeling more like herself again.

  “Two team members come with me,” Bull announced. “Two stay and study the map.”

  Mari held up the map, and Russell moved next to her. Sage and Dev headed off with Bull. Both Mari and Russell watched as members of each remaining team joined them.

  “Can you imagine being kicked out?” she said. “That would be the worst. Especially if you didn’t cheat.”

  “It’d be worse if you did cheat,” Russell replied. “Then Bull would be all, ‘I’m disappointed in you. That’s not how we run this race.’ ” Russell shook his head. “Nothing would be worse than that.” Russell was staring out at the rolling land, but he wasn’t really looking at it. He turned to Mari. “You know what? There’s a team that did cheat. For real. And they’re still in the race.”

  Mari didn’t have a response.

  “I didn’t tell anyone. It didn’t feel right.” Russell’s face was blank for a long time. Then he shifted the weight of his hiking pack, and focused on the map. “So, where are we?” he asked, glancing around for landmarks while Mari did the unfolding.

  “We’re right here,” Mari declared, relieved by the change of subject. There was a red star in the middle of the map, right next to a tourist rest stop. “In the middle of the Serengeti Plain. We’re going to see giant herds of grazing animals. And predators—lots of predators. It’ll be amazing.” Already, the possibilities churned through Mari’s head. The Serengeti was the perfect place for the last leg of the race. Here they would witness wild animals being truly wild, out on the open plain. It would be a real safari.

  Mari had once read that the word “safari” came from the Swahili word that means “journey.” The last leg of their journey was about to begin. Mari looked up to see Sage and Dev rushing back. “We’ve got our clue!” Dev yelled.

  “And some Jeep keys,” added Sage, jangling them over her head.

  As soon as the teammates were together, Dev held out the ancam so they could all crowd around and read.

  This earth pig

  Can really dig.

  It hears its foes,

  And smells its food.

  Its tongue is covered

  With something like glue.

  THE AFRICAN SAVANNA

  A savanna is a large grassland that is located close to the equator. It has two seasons: winter, which is dry, and summer, which is rainy. Not enough rain falls for a forest to grow, so the gently rolling plain is dotted with bushes and a few trees. It is always warm during the day, but it can cool off at night. There are savannas in South America, Australia, and Africa.

  The African savannas are home to amazing wildlife. These savannas are famous for safaris: treks through remote areas in search of impressive species. Lions, giraffes, cheetahs, cape buffalo, rhinoceroses, and many others roam these large stretches of land. The grasslands of Serengeti National Park, in the heart of Africa, boast over a million wildebeest and about 200,000 zebras.

  “So, a sticky tongue. Maybe an anteater?” Sage suggested, keeping her voice low so the other teams couldn’t hear.

  “Close,” Mari said, but she wouldn’t offer more. She glanced around. She still didn’t know what to think about what Russell had told her. She might not
be as competitive as her teammates, but no way was she going to let someone cheat off of Team Red. “Let’s get some distance between us and the other teams.”

  “Yeah, isn’t that the green team leaving?” Dev pointed out. The others turned to see a Jeep filled with lime-green jerseys pull onto the dusty track. The team in first place always got to head out before the others. The second place team would go next. Team Red would be third. “How much of a head start do you think they’ll get?”

  “We should find Javier” was Sage’s response.

  Javier had been their chaperone for the first three legs of the race, and Mari was hoping that that fact hadn’t changed. The teammates grabbed their gear and ran to the row of army-green Jeeps on the other side of the tourist center.

  “Guys, over here!” It was Javier.

  “You really dressed the part, didn’t you?” Russell said, looking their guide up and down. Javier’s wardrobe always hinted at their location. Today, he wore khaki cargo shorts, a leather belt with a toolkit clip, hiking boots, and a button-down shirt with pockets. His brown-rimmed hat looked a lot like the one Bull Gordon always wore—minus the shark tooth—and the bandanna tied around his neck was bright red.

  “I have hats and bandannas for all of you, too,” he said, motioning to the bag on the Jeep’s front seat. “You’ll need them. We’re almost smack dab on top of the equator.”

  Russell looked uncertain, but Sage hooked the bag by its handle and handed out the accessories. Mari liked the way the hat fit snug over her thick black hair, which, as always, was pulled into a braid that fell down her back. She wondered if they’d get to keep the clothes. She felt silly for even thinking about it, but she was the youngest of three sisters. It would be nice to have some new things to call her own.

  “Team Purple is getting ready to head out,” Javier announced. “You’ll be next. Do you have a plan?”

  Mari could remember the first time she had seen an aardvark. It was on a nature show on TV. She had started watching wildlife documentaries when she was five, and it had become a kind of habit, like a security blanket.