Mo and Felix were instructed to clear up the awful mess the monkeys had made. Once Bibi was sure that Mo was suffering from nothing but a few scrapes and bruises, he said he would not listen to any explanations until ‘every single piece of food and every can and wrapper is cleared away’.

The children worked in silence; Mo seething and muttering at the unfairness of it all (‘After all, am I a monkey? Did I make this mess? No, I did not!’), and Felix feeling utterly ashamed that he had made Bibi, Mum and Zed so cross with him.

This is actually all Flo’s fault, he thought as he picked up mushed bananas and squashed tomatoes. I don’t want to give her a cool present now. In fact, I’m not sure I even care if she’s my friend any more.

He felt a rush of heat to his face and battled to keep the tears at bay.

Zed came up behind him. ‘Hey, little dude,’ he said softly.

‘Don’t worry. We all know it was Mo’s idea. Even your mum knows you would not have done this without some encouragement.’

Felix looked up at his uncle. His bottom lip began to wobble.

‘Feels, don’t!’ said Zed. He put his arm around him. ‘Listen, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?’

‘No, I’ve got to finish doing this . . .’ Felix began. A big, fat tear landed on the front of his T-shirt and spread, leaving a dark splodge.

‘It’s OK,’ Zed said. Then he called out, ‘Hey, Feels is just taking a little break. Be back in a jiffy.’ Then he quickly marched Felix away from the scattered picnic food before Mo could intervene.

‘So,’ said Zed. ‘Hit me with it.’

‘It’s all Flo’s fault,’ Felix began, and let out a shuddery sigh.

Zed frowned. ‘Don’t you mean Mo?’ he said.

Felix shook his head. ‘Flo. Flora,’ he added, to make it clear who he was talking about. ‘She got all huffy with me – I told you.’

‘Ye-eah,’ said Zed slowly. ‘You said you were going to get her a present. It’s OK. We’ve still got time for that. Bibi can stop on the way back and . . . OH!’ said Zed. He stopped abruptly. Then he whispered, ‘Oh, man – you weren’t trying to steal her a monkey?’

Felix nodded glumly.

‘MAN!’ Zed cried. ‘Don’t you ever learn your lesson? I thought you’d promised “no more monkey business” after . . .’ He broke off as Felix’s shoulders began to shake. ‘OK, OK. I guess now is not the time. So, what are you going to do?’

Felix sniffed and shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Flo is going to hate me. She said if I didn’t bring her back a monkey there would be No More Us.’

Zed stroked his beard. ‘Doesn’t sound like she is being much of a friend if she’s asking you to do such a stupid thing,’ he said.

‘You don’t understaaaand!’ Felix cried.

‘OK,’ said Zed firmly. ‘This is what we are going to do. We’re going to explain everything to Bibi and he will come up with a cool idea for something you can take back to Flo which will guarantee that she will be amazed and will still be your friend. How does that sound?’

So Zed took a reluctant Felix to talk to Bibi.

‘Bibi, I’ve been thinking, man,’ said Zed. ‘Is there, like, anything as cool as the baobab tree, but smaller, obviously, that Felix could take back to impress his friends? He really wants to show them something amazing from your country.’

Bibi raised his eyebrows. ‘No animals are allowed to leave the country without a very special licence,’ he said.

Zed waved his hand hastily. ‘No, no, no! I didn’t mean that. Felix has totally learned his lesson about that, haven’t you, dude?’

Felix nodded.

Bibi thought for a moment, then he said, ‘What about some tambotie seeds?’

Zed beamed. ‘Yeah, that’s the kind of thing.’

‘W-what are they?’ Felix whispered.

Zed ruffled his hair. ‘They’re awesome! You could tell Flo they were a little bit of African magic.’

Bibi rolled his eyes. ‘I have told you already, there is no such thing. I will get Harmony to show you some tambotie seeds and I will explain.’ He called over to his daughter who was making a big deal out of picking up the last bits of food from the monkey disaster, and told her to go and find some seeds.

She came back with a handful of things which looked a bit like tiny snail shells. She also had a cup of water. Then she said to Felix, ‘Pour some of this water on your hands.’

Felix looked at Bibi and Zed. They both nodded their encouragement, so he did as she asked. Then he held out his wet hands, palms facing upward and Mo tipped the seeds on to them.

‘Oh!’ He started, as the seeds immediately began jumping the minute they hit his wet skin. ‘What’s going on?’

Mo grinned. ‘African magic,’ she said.

Bibi groaned. ‘Stop it, Harmony,’ he said. ‘Felix, these seeds have small larvae in them – a moth lays its eggs inside the seed. When the rains fall, or any water touches them, the larvae begin to move because they think it is time to hatch, and the seed is dispersed so that new tambotie can grow. African children play with these seeds all the time. We call them jumping beans.’

Felix was impressed. However, something told him this was not special enough to impress Flo. ‘They are cool,’ he said, ‘but . . . we have jumping beans at home. Plastic ones,’ he admitted, ‘but still . . .’

Mo looked cross and was about to protest.

Bibi said hastily, ‘Well, I think I can come up with something that you will never have seen before. It is also a plant and it is completely safe, but if you want to do a magic trick back home, this will amaze everyone . . .’ And he proceeded to explain.

Felix listened, wide-eyed with wonder.

‘That really is the most fantastic thing I have ever heard!’ he said, when Bibi had finished.

‘I think even Miss Flora Small will be impressed by that,’ Zed said, ‘don’t you, man?’