Ch5-Bing-Bing

Bing-Bing Annie pulled Jack to the bars of the panda house and pointed out to the yard. "See? Over there," she whispered. A giant panda was climbing down the trunk of a maple tree, rump-first. She touched the ground, then sat up and raised her head. She was bigger than Jack had expected. Her head was the size of a basketball. "Oh, wow!" said Annie. "She's amazing!" "Yeah, she is," whispered Jack. The giant panda was much more amazing in real life than in photos, Jack thought. She looked like a gigantic stuffed animal that had come alive. Her nostrils quivered as she sniffed the air. Her black ears twitched. "Hello, Bing-Bing," Master Lee said. Jack and Annie jumped in surprise.

Master Lee pushed a cart loaded with bamboo through the back door of the cage. "Can we go out in the yard and pet Bing-Bing?" asked Annie. "Oh, no," said Master Lee. "We always keep our big pandas separated from our visitors. They won't hurt you, but we don't want people intruding on their space." "Really?" said Annie. "Pandas are not pets," said Master Lee. "They are wild animals. We want them to live as naturally as possible." "That makes sense…," said Annie. She let out a big sigh as she stared at Bing-Bing. "It's just that she looks so soft and cuddly." Jack felt sorry for Annie. He knew how badly she wanted to be close to the panda. "At least we get to actually see one," he said. "Now that we have found Bing-Bing, I have one more job for you," said Master Lee. He handed each of them clipboards with paper and pencils. "I need you to record data. If she stays in view, observe her and write down every sound and movement she makes. Can you do that?"

"Sure. Jack loves to collect data," said Annie, trying to be cheerful. "And I love to watch animals." "So you are true scientists. Good," said Master Lee. "Now I will get more bamboo." The panda keeper dumped the cartful of bamboo onto the floor, then left Jack and Annie alone. Jack and Annie took off their gloves and observed Bing-Bing through the bars. They held their pencils, ready to record data. The giant panda didn't pay any attention to them. She sat against the maple tree and scratched her back by rubbing it up and down the trunk. Then she scratched the top of her head with a forepaw and her belly with a hind paw. Annie giggled. Jack wrote: scratches back, head, and belly The panda raised a paw and scratched her nose. Jack added: and nose

The panda swatted at a fly to shoo it away. Jack wrote: swats fly "Hey, I think she's coming over here!" Annie whispered. Bing-Bing had stood up. She was staring in Jack and Annie's direction. Then she started moving on all fours with graceful rolling steps. She came right up to the bars of the cage, sat down, and peered at Jack and Annie. Jack held his breath. He felt as if he and Annie were zoo animals and the panda was a curious visitor observing them. The giant panda tilted her large head. Then she covered her eyes with her paws. "Oh my gosh!" Annie whispered with delight. The panda put her paws down and looked directly at Jack. He stared back into her bright, intelligent eyes. Holding her gaze, he lowered his pencil and clipboard.

Jack felt as if he were falling through time. For a moment, the panda wasn't eight years old. She was three million years old. She was filled with wisdom. She knew things he could never understand. He didn't know what to write—words couldn't possibly capture the wonder of her. "I'm back. How are you doing?" asked Master Lee. Jack snapped out of his dreamlike thoughts and turned to the panda keeper. "Uh… fine," he said. "How unusual that Bing-Bing came so close to you," said Master Lee, walking over to them. "Did you record her behavior?" Silently, Jack and Annie handed him their pencils and clipboards. Annie's paper was blank, and only a few words were written on Jack's. "Ah," said Master Lee with a smile. "Well, if you ever come back, you can observe more." Jack nodded, but he knew he'd observed a lot— only it was more with his heart than his head. "You have to go now," said Master Lee. "I saw your grandmother headed to the bus with everyone else. I'm surprised she didn't come for you."

"She's a little forgetful sometimes," said Annie. She turned back to the panda, who was still staring at them. "Bye, Bing-Bing." "Bye, Bing-Bing," Jack murmured, looking into the panda's eyes once again. He hated to leave. Their time together had been too short. "Hurry," said Master Lee. "You don't want to keep the others waiting." Master Lee ushered them out the back door of the cage and along the path. He stopped at the goldfish pond. "Follow the stone path to the entrance gate. Don't forget to leave your volunteer clothes in one of the bins there." "Thank you, Master Lee," said Jack. "Good-bye," said Master Lee. Then he turned and headed back to Bing-Bing's house. "I have to admit, that was really, really great," said Jack. "Ready to get back to our mission now?" "Yes," said Annie, "but first, let's follow the path the other way. Maybe we can get a quick peek at some more pandas." "Okay, but a really quick peek," said Jack. "We have to solve that riddle."