Ben could feel the cub struggling weakly in his arms as it smelled its mother’s familiar scent. Any second now, she would realize her baby was there. If Ben moved, the lioness would attack.

Zoe watched, horrified, as the lioness stirred. She couldn’t leave the buggy. Without her weight holding it in position, Ben and the cub would fall back down the well.

The rumbling in the animal’s throat grew louder and more threatening. Then the lioness got to her feet and turned to face Zoe! There was only one thing to do. She had to tranquilize the mother again. Zoe raised the gun and fired. The lioness stumbled, turned, and fell to the ground.

Ben hauled himself and the cub over the edge of the well. As soon as the rope went slack, Zoe jumped off the WASP and ran over to help him.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re shaking.”

Ben laid the little cub gently on the ground. “I thought she was going to eat you,” he said nervously.

“No way,” Zoe said with a grin. “She didn’t stand a chance against my super-quick trigger finger.”

Zoe gazed at the baby lion. “You are a beautiful little boy, aren’t you?” she said. She stroked the soft fur of its big, floppy paws. “But it looks like you could use a good meal. Let’s check you out and see if you’re okay.”

They both knelt beside the cub. “He doesn’t look too bad, considering the poor thing fell pretty far down the well,” said Zoe, checking the cub’s limbs.

“The ledge was near the water, so he’s been able to get a drink, at least,” Ben said. He set the cub on his feet. The little creature tried to take a step but collapsed.

“Is he too weak to walk?” asked Zoe, lifting him up. “Wait, what’s this?”

A deep gash ran down the inside of the cub’s left front leg. He mewed and struggled weakly as Ben inspected the wound.

“The wound is bad,” he said. “This little fella needs treatment.”

“Then we have to help him,” said Zoe. “There’s no way we can leave him with his mom. They’ll never get back to their pride. They’ll be sitting targets for any predators around. And this cut could get infected.”

Ben nodded. “Looks like our mission has changed,” he said. “We need to fix his leg.”

“And take him back to his family ourselves,” said Zoe. “That is, if we can find his pride.” She glanced around at the dry, dusty desert as it baked in the intense heat. “This was supposed to be the end of our mission. Now we don’t know how long we’ll be out in the Kalahari.”

“We’ll be okay,” said Ben. “We have the kit, the WASP, and plenty of food and water.” He stroked the soft fur under the young lion’s chin. Ben stood. “We’ll let WILD know about our change of plans, but first let’s get out of range of our friend over there.” He jerked a thumb toward the sleeping lioness. “I don’t want to be around when she wakes up and smells her son. There’s not enough wind to make a fast getaway, so I’ll drive.”

“Fine with me,” said Zoe. “That means I get to hold this little fella!” She picked up the cub and climbed onto the WASP. She made the cub comfortable on her lap. “I’m going to call you Jossy — after that nice boy we met earlier.” She stroked his soft fur. “I’m sorry we have to take you away from your mom for a little while, but it’s for your own good.”

Ben jumped in and turned on the engine. “I say we head for the pool that Tukwenethi told us about. She said all the animals go there. So I bet that Jossy’s pride drinks at it, too.”

“I’ll find it on the BUG,” said Zoe. She held it above the dozing cub and began to scroll through for the satellite map. “That’s where his mom will probably go when she wakes up and realizes her baby is gone. But hopefully not until we’re far away.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure she doesn’t catch up to us,” said Ben.

“It took you forever to get down the well and back,” said Zoe. “And she only woke up when you were almost out. So she should be asleep about the same amount of time again.” Then a thought hit her. “The lioness won’t know we’ve taken her cub, Ben. She might stay at the well!”

“Good point,” said Ben. “We’ll have to leave her a trail to follow.” He reached over the side of the WASP and picked up a handful of stones. “If we rub these against Jossy’s scent glands and drop them as we ride, hopefully she will pick up the scent and come after her cub.”

“But that basically makes us bait,” warned Zoe. “We’d better get a lot of distance between us and her.”

“No problem,” said Ben. He reversed the WASP away from the well.

“You need to head northwest,” said Zoe, pointing. She navigated through her BUG menu. “I’m going to fire a tracking dart into our lioness first. That way, we can keep an eye on her location.”

“Good idea!” Ben said. He circled the WASP around the well as Zoe aimed the BUG at the lioness. As soon as the little dart had been fired, Ben turned the wheel and hit the accelerator, and they zoomed away.

An orange light pulsed next to the well on Zoe’s screen. “Poor lioness,” she murmured. “I’ve made her into a pincushion with all my shots.”

“She’ll be fine,” Ben said. “Just remember, it’s for their own good.”

Zoe smiled warmly at Ben. She nuzzled her finger under the sleepy cub’s chin.

* * *

They traveled onward. Every now and then, Zoe rubbed a stone against Jossy’s cheek and dropped it over the side. She checked the tracking signal. “Mom hasn’t woken up yet,” she said.

“Then I think it’s safe to stop and fix Jossy’s leg,” said Ben. The WASP came to a halt by the thick trunk of a baobab tree. Its fan-like branches cast a small shade in the hot midday sun.

“It’ll be nice to escape the heat for a while,” Zoe said.

Ben mixed Uncle Stephen’s special powdered formula with water and tried to feed it to the cub.

“He should be really hungry, but he’s hardly taking any,” Zoe said.

“Maybe his leg’s hurting him,” said Ben.

Zoe checked the wound. “I’m not a vet,” she said, “but it looks too deep to ignore.”

“Let’s ask Uncle Stephen what to do,” said Ben. “We need to tell him what’s happened so far, anyway.”

Ben took his BUG and hit the call key for WILD HQ.

“Hello!” came their uncle’s voice. “Have you reunited the little cub with his mom yet?”

Ben told him about their mission changing. “Quick thinking, you two,” said Uncle Stephen. “But don’t forget that leaving a scent trail can attract all sorts of predators. You’ll need to keep your eyes peeled at all times. I’ll let Erika know you’ve been delayed. You can contact her when you’re ready for a ride home.”

“Before you go, we need some advice,” Zoe called into the speaker. “We think the cub’s cut needs stitches.”

Ben held the BUG over the deep cut, took a photo, and sent it to Uncle Stephen.

“Looks rather nasty,” said their uncle. “But you can glue that together.”

Ben and Zoe gave each other confused looks. Then Zoe slapped her forehead. “Of course!” she said. “Medical glue for wounds. Mom showed me once on a horse that had a cut on its flank.”

Ben searched through the vet kit and pulled out a small tube of ointment. “Wound-bond,” he read.

“That’s it,” said Uncle Stephen. “Wash the cut, then close the wound with the bonding agent. Then give the little fella a dose of antibiotics. Over and out — oh, and make sure you don’t glue your fingers together. It’s powerful stuff!”

Zoe chuckled. “Bye, Uncle,” she said.

After filling a syringe with water and antiseptic, Ben squirted the wound until he was sure that it was clean. Then he applied the glue. Zoe carefully squeezed the cut’s edges together.

Jossy barely moved.

“That’s amazing!” exclaimed Zoe. “It’s stuck shut already. It’s like super glue.” She scratched the little cub gently between the ears as Ben gave him an antibiotic injection. “You’ll be back on your feet in no time, Jossy.”

Ben looked out over the surrounding desert. “We should get going,” he said. “We don’t want his mom to catch up.”

Zoe nodded. “I’ll keep checking her signal as we go,” she said.

Soon the WASP was bumping along over the rough terrain. The sun was high in the sky now. The dunes stretched away to their right, a brilliant red in the glaring sunlight. Zoe rubbed another pebble on Jossy’s fur and threw it behind them.

Ben wiped his forehead. “It’s so hot. Like being in an oven,” he said, taking a swig from his water bottle.

Zoe peered through her goggles, adjusting the zoom. “It’s so hot there are hardly any animals around,” she said. “There are some giraffes way over there. I see a flock of birds hovering above the trees in the south.”

“I suppose most creatures are waiting for it to cool down a bit,” said Ben.

Zoe gasped suddenly. “Something’s following us,” she said.

Zoe adjusted her goggles to zoom in on the view behind them, focusing on the bare land they’d just traveled over and frowned. “I can’t see it now,” she said, “but I swear there was an animal on our trail.”

Ben grinned as he steered the WASP around a clump of elephant’s trunk plants. “You’re just nervous,” he said. “Or the heat’s playing tricks on your eyes.”

“I hope so,” said Zoe, keeping watch over her shoulder. She peered into the distance. “No, I was right. Something’s definitely tracking us.”

Ben brought the WASP to a halt and turned. The air shimmered with heat, but in the distance he could see the movement of a large animal. The creature was getting steadily nearer.

“Can you tell what it is?” Ben asked.

“It’s all so hazy that’s it’s hard to see,” said Zoe. “Some sort of big cat, I think.” She checked the BUG screen. The orange light pulsed in the same place as before. “It’s not Jossy’s mom — she’s still by the well.”

Zoe refocused her goggles. Her eyes went wide behind the lenses. “I can see a dark mane, Ben,” she said, her voice shaking. “It’s a lion . . . and it’s big.”

Ben let out a low whistle. “He’s big all right,” he said. “And he looks like he’s in rough shape and hasn’t eaten in a while. That only makes him more dangerous.”

“Let’s get moving and hope he doesn’t see us,” said Zoe urgently. “Hopefully our scent dispersers will do their job.”

Ben stiffened. “He’s raised his nose!” he said. “He may not be able to smell us, but I think he’s following Jossy’s scent.” Ben hit the accelerator. “Our little friend here would make a good meal for a hungry lion,” he said. “And we’d be his dessert!”

Zoe looked back anxiously as the WASP accelerated. The lion was bounding toward them, closing the gap with every step. “Will the WASP be fast enough to outrun it?” Zoe asked.

Ben floored the accelerator. “We’re about to find out,” he said.