7 A desperate plea

Chapter Seven A DESPERATE PLEA Kiki and Ollie stood under a fig tree, picking as many figs as they could manage. Soon every pocket they had was crammed with sticky, juicy figs. So were Kiki's backpack and the hoods of their waterproof jackets! Ollie picked one last fig. "I don't think we can carry any more," he said. "Better get started, then," said Kiki.

They put a fig down near the mangrove trees, moved away a few paces and put another one down. They kept this up until they'd made a trail of figs. Ollie ran back to the fallen log, where Fig was still digging out insects with her new pencil. "This way, Fig!" he called. "Time for your favorite food." Fig didn't look up at first. She still had plenty of bugs to munch. But then she stopped and sniffed.

She can smell the fig juice on my hands, Ollie realized. He ran over to the first fig in the trail, and Fig came chasing after him. She found the fig on the ground, made delighted hooting noises, and stuffed it into her mouth. "It's working!" Ollie cheered. "Come on!" Kiki called. "Plenty more figs where that one came from!" Ollie led the way through the rainforest, using his map and compass to keep them on track, while Kiki made sure Fig was still following them. She dropped a fig from time to time. That was enough to keep

Fig following the trail. The little orangutan didn't always eat the figs—some of them got tossed over her shoulder, sniffed, or played with—but she was always interested in them. "She definitely has the right name, doesn't she?" Ollie said.

"I didn't think anything on earth could love figs this much," said Kiki, dropping two figs at once. Fig finally put down Kiki's camera so she could grab a fig in each hand. Kiki ran back to snatch it up again, with a look of great relief. When they arrived back at the wildlife preserve, they found Jamal and a crowd of volunteers were still busily checking the buildings and searching the enclosures for the baby orangutan. When they saw Fig was coming, everyone burst into wild applause. "There she is!" Jamal yelled. "You did it! You really did it!" Ollie and Kiki were suddenly surrounded by people wanting to shake their hands, pat them on the back, and high-five them. There were smiles all around. Doctor Faridah

went over to Fig and whistled. "You've had quite a feast, haven't you? Look how big your tummy is!"