Donnie and Jet pursued Brother Bataar, Turbold, and Kamil on foot at first, taking care to stay hidden. The monkeys moved quickly, swinging from tree to tree out of the jungle, then jumping from rock to rock through the desert. When they reached Agra, they scampered up the sides of buildings and jumped across the rooftops.

“We’re losing them,” said Jet. “We might be quick, but we lack their climbing skills.”

“Let’s use the meerkite,” said Donnie. From his backpack he pulled out a small glider, with two fold-out wings. He opened up the wings and slid the control bar into position. Then Jet grabbed hold of one end, and Donnie the other.

“Hang on tight!” Donnie cried, as they launched themselves off a rooftop. The wings caught a gust of wind and the two meerkats soared into the sky. Donnie angled the glider to the right to follow the monkeys. But as they did so, Jet noticed a huge circular red and black tent.

“It’s the Ringmaster’s big top,” he said. “Let’s take a closer look.”

“But what about the monkeys?”

“We’ll be able to see them for miles from up here, and catch up with them quickly,” Jet assured him. “Anyway, if it is the Ringmaster who hired someone to steal the jewel, then we should definitely find out what he and his circus goons are up to.”

“Good point.” Donnie steered the glider lower to get a better view.

“Look, there’s Sheffield and Grimsby,” said Jet, spotting two sinister clowns patrolling the area.

“And Doris too,” said Donnie, seeing the Ringmaster’s faithful dancing dog coming out of the tent behind a tall blond man wearing a red shirt and a black vest. “But I don’t recognize the guy she’s with.” The man had a belt full of knives strapped across his chest.

They swooped lower, circling the tip of the circus tent. “Hey, I wonder what’s in those big trucks,” Jet added, spotting two large trucks parked alongside the big top.

“Who knows, but we’d better get out of here before they spot us,” Donnie whispered, making sure that their enemies below couldn’t hear him.

Suddenly, there was the sound of dramatic music. “Oh no! That’s my phone!” cried Donnie, fumbling to reach it.

But it was too late. The clowns looked up.

“Eh, Grimsby boy, what’s got two tails and goes arrrghh?” said Sheffield.

“I don’t know, what has two tails and goes arrrghh?” replied Grimsby.

“Those two meddlesome meerkats any second now.” He turned to the man with the belt of knives. “Herr Flick, bring ’em down.”

“With pleasure,” replied the knife-thrower, speaking with a thick German accent. He selected a knife, took aim, and threw it. The knife spun through the air before slicing cleanly through the right wing of the glider, sending the meerkats spiralling to the ground.

Jet pulled out his nunchucks and swung at Doris, catching her nose as she leaped at them. She yelped in pain and fought back with a tango step, a growl, and a bite. Jet evaded her teeth, slid under her legs, grabbed her tail, and flung her into a large pile of elephant manure.

“Ha, the meerkätzchen threw the puppy into the poo poo,” said the knife-thrower. “Now, it is my turn to cut in.”

He drew two knives from his belt and flung them at Jet, who was forced to leap into a midair roll to avoid them.

Meanwhile, Donnie took on the clowns, both of whom had picked up huge rubber mallets. He dodged several blows, then whipped out a pair of handcuffs from his backpack and slapped them over the clowns’ wrists. Sheffield lifted his mallet again, but as he did so he brought Grimsby’s weapon down onto his own head.

“Ow! Watch what you’re doing with that,” said Sheffield.

“No, you watch it,” replied Grimsby, lifting his mallet and whacking himself in the head with Sheffield’s.

With the two clowns occupied, Donnie was free to help Jet with Herr Flick. He delved into his backpack again and pulled out a large magnet. Then he hurried over to the nearest of the two trucks and hastily tied it to the front wheel. All of a sudden, the German knife-thrower found himself being dragged toward the magnet by his knife belt, and pinned to the truck.

“Nice one, Donnie,” said Jet.

But the meerkats’ moment of victory was short-lived as the back doors of both trucks crashed open. Two gigantic elephants stomped out of the darkness toward them, their trunks raised menacingly. Suddenly, two jets of water shot toward the meerkats, lifting them off their feet and knocking them out.