Chapter 6

Chapter six The soccer ball was coming at me so fast that it didn't even look like a ball. It looked like those pictures of meteors I've seen hurtling toward Earth—except at that moment, I was Earth. I had no time to think. Luckily, my reflexes took over, and I dove into the dirt. When I lifted my head, I saw the ball crash into the fence behind me. It landed so hard, it actually made the chain-link fence rattle. "You got one hot foot there, Elsie," I told her. "You should consider going pro." As I stood up and started to brush myself off, I heard someone calling my name. I've heard that same voice ever since I was two years old.

"Hank!" Frankie called. "Yo, Hank! Where are you?" "If you can hear us, give us a sign," Ashley yelled. "I'm in here, guys," I answered. "Hank," another voice called. "This is Ms. Shimozato. Where exactly are you? We're all so worried." "I'm in the elephant enclosure. With Elsie." There was a long silence. Then Ms. Shimozato said, "You mean you're inside there?" "As in, actually inside?" Frankie called out. "As in, next to an elephant?" Ashley added. "Her name is Elsie," I called out. "Come around the corner to the gate and I'll introduce you." I looked over at Elsie who was shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "You're going to meet my best friends," I explained to her. "And Ms. Shimozato. Her son Ryan is in my class." Elsie didn't seem too interested. She

reached out with her trunk and sucked up some dirt from the ground, then sprayed it all over her back. "Don't be nervous," I said. "You're going to like them as much as you like me." Two seconds later, Frankie, Ashley, and Ms. Shimozato appeared at the fence. When they saw me inside, standing next to Elsie, Ms. Shimozato let out a shriek. "Hank, get out of there right this second," she said. "What's the rush?" I said. "It's safe in here."

"Hank," Ashley said. "In case you haven't noticed, there's a giant elephant standing right next to you." "Don't worry. Elsie and I are friends. Well, maybe not friends, but teammates." "Mrs. Flowers sent us to bring you back immediately," Ms. Shimozato said. "You better listen this time, Zip," Frankie said. "You're in big trouble." "When you didn't come back with McKelty, Ms. Flowers got worried," Ashley went on. "She called the office and got a bunch of staff members to help look for you. I talked her into letting Frankie and me go on a search if we promised to stick with Ms. Shimozato and come back right away." "I can't get out of here," I told them. "The fence is too high, and the gate is locked." "So you're stuck in there forever?" Ashley asked. "A zookeeper named Nora has the key," I explained. "She's wearing a T-shirt that says Wild About Giraffes. If you find her, she'll help."

"We're on it," Frankie said. "Hank, you stay right there," Ms. Shimozato told me. "As if I have any choice," I muttered. "Come on, children," I heard Ms. Shimozato said. "This is an emergency. We have to hurry." The three of them ran off down the path and I turned around to see what Elsie was up to. She had wandered over to her cave, where several large bales of hay were stacked up against the wall. She lifted the top one with her trunk and carried it over to the middle of her enclosure. "You must be hungry," I said to her. "That's a lot of hay for lunch. Talking about lunch, I'm hungry, too. I wish I liked hay, but I'm more of a hot dog guy myself." Elsie went over to the stack, lifted another huge bale of hay, and brought it back to the middle of her space. Then she picked it up as high as she could and slammed it against the first one. I think she was trying to break them up so she could start eating the hay. Boy, was she

strong. "I bet your trunk could lift me," I said to Elsie. "I weigh a lot less than those bales." Wait a minute, Hank Zipper brain, I thought. You may have a hard time in school, but sometimes that brain of yours comes up with a brilliant idea. And this is one of those times. "Elsie," I began. "I need your help." She stopped eating her hay and stared at me. "That's good," I said. "Now watch me. I'm going to explain what I need you to do. You're