Ch4-Baboon Babysitters

CHAPTER FOUR Baboon Babysitters Everyone was silent for a moment after Florence left. The Bickersons were the first to speak. "Well!" said Lady Bickerson. "How utterly rude!" said Lord Bickerson.

"Excuse me for a moment while I check on Flo," said Selina, a worried look on her face. "Perhaps the heat was too much for her today." And with that, Selina left the sitting room, too. "Well!" said Lady Bickerson again. "I hope I did not offend Miss Nightingale by complaining about the rat," said the countess. "I like her very much. Miss Nightingale, I mean, not the rat." "You do not know Florence as we do," said Lord Bickerson. "You have no idea of the trouble she has caused her family." "It's shocking," said Lady Bickerson. "She refuses to behave like a lady. She is full of her own thoughts and opinions. She tells her poor mother she has dreams to leave home so she can work!" "What's wrong with that?" asked Annie. Uh-oh, thought Jack. Annie sounded angry. "No proper lady works out in the world!" Lord Bickerson snapped. "Why not?" asked Annie. "I mean, if you wanted to follow your dreams and people wouldn't let you, wouldn't you feel bad, too? And

what's wrong with having thoughts and opinions? I have thoughts and opinions all the time!" "What a rude child you are!" said Lady Bickerson. "Is that how your parents taught you to speak to your superiors?" Jack was starting to get angry, too. "We don't have superiors at home," he said. Lord Bickerson glared at Jack and Annie. "It is high time you children left this boat," he said. "Miss Nightingale does not even know who you are. None of us know who you are, or who your parents are!" "Excuse me, sir, but this is not your boat, is it?" Annie said. "I thought it belonged to Selina and Charles." "Oooh!" the aristocrats both gasped. Lord Bickerson strode to the door. "Be gone!" he said. "You children are the very definition of the word impolite. Leave before I send for the local governor! He'd know what to do with you!" "Seriously? What does that mean?" said Jack. "It means go," said Annie, "which I'm happy to do." "Me too," said Jack.

Jack and Annie stood up. As they headed for the door, Annie looked back at the countess and her baby baboon. "Good-bye, Countess. Good-bye, Koku. It was great meeting you." Jack nodded in agreement. "Must you leave?" said the countess. "I fear we must," said Annie, echoing Florence. She curtsied, and Jack bowed. Then they both headed out the door. Outside, the sun was brighter and hotter than ever. Flies buzzed everywhere. Jack put his hat back on. "Come on, let's get away from these beasts," he said. "The flies or the aristocrats?" asked Annie. "Both!" said Jack. Jack and Annie headed over the gangplank to the riverbank, then walked toward some shade trees at the edge of the Nile. "Send for the local governor? Seriously?" said Jack. "Their behavior was unthinkable!" said Annie. "The very definition of impolite!" Jack laughed, but then he sighed. "We blew it," he said. "We got sidetracked. How can we complete our mission now?"

"Don't worry, we'll wait for the Bickersons to leave," said Annie. "Then we'll try to get back on board and visit with Florence." "Okay, sounds like a plan. Sort of," said Jack. "C'mon. Let's wait on that big rock under the trees," said Annie. Jack and Annie headed toward the shady rock. Not far away, Mustafa was sitting next to his rowboat, reading a book. The guide looked up, gave them a nod, then went back to his reading. Across the river, Ali was resting with his donkeys. "Could you believe the way those two talked about Florence?" said Annie. "She can't be a nurse. She can't work outside her house. She can't even have her own opinions! How do you become great if people make you feel so bad about yourself? And did you notice how they tried to make us afraid of everything? That was crazy." "Yeah… crazy," said Jack. But the aristocrats' warnings had gotten to him. Now he was on alert for all the beasts of the Nile. What do black mambas look like? he wondered. Do jackals ever come out during the day? When he heard the

whine of a mosquito, he shook his head as if his hair were on fire. "What's wrong with you?" said Annie. Before Jack could answer, he heard a loud call. WAHOO! Jack and Annie jumped up and whirled around. "Koku!" cried Annie. The baby baboon was scrambling toward them on all fours. Countess von Kensky hurried after her. "Koku! Wait!" she called. Koku leapt into Annie's arms. "Well, hello!" cried Annie, hugging the baby baboon.