Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 There were no street lamps in the zoo, so only the moon and stars lit up the cold night sky. The cats stuck to the shadows as they tiptoed past the African Bird Safari and the Gorilla Kingdom. Toto didn't fancy coming face-to-face with a huge silverback gorilla, even though Catface had assured her they actually posed no danger to a little Italian cat.

Better safe than sorry, thought Toto, as they skirted round the bend. Then, looming out of the darkness, there it was: the entrance to Tiger Territory, marked by a wooden arch emblazoned with a picture of a tiger. Its hard stare seemed to be looking right at them.

'Here we are,' said Catface in a small voice. 'Let's do this. Then we can find Silver and get out of here.' 'Catface... um... how exactly should we do this?' Toto asked. 'Well,' said Catface, 'if by some miracle we don't get torn to shreds in the next thirty seconds, I suggest we show respect by making sure we're lower than them. And bow. They like bowing.' 'That shouldn't be too hard,' Toto replied as she jumped up on to the roof of the enclosure. 'They're going to be quite a lot bigger than us!' Catface was struggling to jump high enough. He's really bad at jumping for a cat,

thought Toto, but he did have that big meal out of our bins earlier, plus all the food on our tour of London. Perhaps he's still a bit full? Eventually Catface made it on to the roof, then they both jumped down as silently as possible into the long grass and started walking slowly through the undergrowth. After a minute or two they heard something- faint at first, but getting louder as they drew closer. 'Strange,' whispered Catface. 'Doesn't sound like a tiger.' 'That's because it isn't. IT'S SILVER!' Toto set off at a run through the undergrowth until she reached a clearing. She could just about make out Silver, clinging to the top of a giant pole.

'What are you doing up there? Get down now!' Toto hissed. 'Have you any idea how dangerous this is? Don't you know where you are?' 'Yes, thanks for stating the obvious, sis,' Silver called down. 'I'm really sorry- I just saw the raw meat up here and went for it. I didn't know it belonged to... you know... them! He gestured behind Toto and Catface with his paw. They both turned, knowing full well what was behind them, but praying that Silver might just be mistaken...

Keep cool, Toto told herself. You're a ninja, remember. Silver wasn't mistaken. Hungry? Yes. Greedy? A bit. Foolish? Definitely. But there was nothing wrong with Silver's eyesight. Toto could make out two enormous shadows in the moonlight, stalking slowly and deliberately towards them. The tigers broke through the long grass and stood majestically before them, two sets of bright fiery eyes shining in the darkness. 'Er, now might be a good time to bow,' said Catface. Toto swept one paw and stooped low, as if she was bowing in front of the queen. 'Let me handle this, little one. Catface cleared his throat, took off his hat and made