London Zoo was set in Regent’s Park, one of the grandest outdoor spaces in the city. The park was closed at night, so Eric had to climb over the railings. Once inside, he circled the outer fence of the zoo for a while, searching for a way in. Ahead, he spotted a tall tree in the park, the branches of which drooped over into the zoo. Thinking again about how Gertrude would climb it, he scaled the tree trunk, using his hands and feet, just like the gorilla did. From the tree trunk, the boy shimmied across one of the branches on his bottom. But, as he scrambled further away from the trunk the branch thinned, and the inevitable happened.
CRACK!
The branch snapped!
Eric found himself tumbling through the air.
WHOOSH!
“ARGH!”
SPLOSH!
He was underwater!
Not just that, he could sense dozens of creatures swishing around him.
Had he fallen into a pool of piranhas?
Was he going to be gobbled alive?
Eric desperately swam to the surface and took a gasp of air.
GASP!
No. These were much bigger than piranhas. And far friendlier too.
They were PENGUINS!
The boy had plunged into the penguin pool!
It had just been built and was more like a waterpark, with slides and a fountain. Perfect, if you were a penguin. Not so good if you were a boy.
The slippery birds played around Eric, pecking at him. One even perched on his head.
“Get off!” he said affectionately, as he guided the penguin back into the water. Eric swam to the edge of the pool and began clambering up the slide. But it was slippery, and he plunged back in the pool again.
WHOOMPH!
SPLOSH!
“SQUAWK! SQUAWK! SQUAWK!”
This time Eric swam over to the edge, and then he heard a familiar sound.
CLINK! CLANK! CLUNK!
It was Sid.
“What are you doing in there?” the old man called down.
“Taking a swim!” called Eric, trying to make light of the situation.
Sid huffed and shook his head. “Wait there!”
CLINK! CLANK! CLUNK!
There was silence for a moment before the old man returned with a long-handled net. It was the one he used for fishing out penguin poop.
“Hold on to this!”
Eric did as he was told, and Sid hauled him out of the water.
“You’re soaking wet!” said the old man.
“That normally happens when you go for a swim,” replied Eric.
“What are you doing here at the zoo so late? It’s way after closing time!”
“I was worried about Gertrude. She looked so frightened today.”
“She was, but you should be tucked up in bed by now, young man!”
“So should you!” said Eric.
This stopped the old man in his tracks. “I know, but I was sure there was going to be another bombing raid. We’ve had them night after night for weeks. I wanted to be here for all the animals!”
“Me too!” exclaimed the boy.
Sid looked up at the sky. “It’s quiet up there in the clouds right now. You should go home!”
As if on cue, the air-raid siren wailed.
WOOOHOOOO!
“I spoke too soon,” hissed the old man. “Come with me.”
Sid grabbed Eric by the hand and led him through the zoo.
CLINK! CLANK! CLUNK!
The zoo might have been in darkness because of the nightly blackout but it was noisier than ever. The air-raid warning had woken all the animals up.
“Are we the only ones here?” asked Eric as he held his great-uncle’s hand tightly.
“No, there’ll be the nightwatchman, Batter. Or Corporal Batter as he demands to be known! We’ll have to keep an eye out for him. He’s the only one who’s meant to be in the zoo after dark.”
Eric could hear a distant humming sound. Next, a rumbling. Finally, there was a loud drone as the Nazi planes came right over their heads, flying in neat formation as they powered through the night sky.
Then the first bomb whistled through the air.
And the next.
And the next.
Then the explosions began.
Lightning was striking all over London.
Searchlights scoured the sky, before big guns fired at the Nazi planes from the ground.
Fire-engine bells rang.
DING! DING! DING!
Eric could just make out the sounds of people screaming and shouting.
“ARGH!”
“HELP!”
“RUN!”
The boy’s heart raced.
The noise.
The lights.
The debris.
Another bomb exploded, even nearer than the last.
And another!
And another.
The elephants raised their trunks and hooted.
“HOO!”
The camels reared up on their back legs and moaned.
“WUHU!”
The lions leaped from rock to rock and roared.
“ROAR!”
However, the saddest sound of all came from the gorilla’s cage.
Gertrude’s huge hands were covering her big ears as she tried to block out the booms of the bombs.
At every explosion she let out a shriek…
“EEEHHH!”
…and rocked from side to side.
Eric broke away from the old man and hurled himself at the cage.
“EEEHHH!”
“GERTRUDE!” cried the boy, but the gorilla wouldn’t even open her eyes.
“GERTRUDE!”
“RAISINS!” shouted Eric.
“You what?” spluttered Sid. It was clear that of all the things he was expecting the boy to shout at this point, “raisins” was a long way down the list.
“Raisins! They are her favourite! After bananas, of course, but you can’t get bananas these days. A handful of raisins might just calm her nerves.”
“You’re right!” agreed Sid. “Clever boy! We’ll make a zookeeper of you yet!”
The boy beamed. “Maybe one day! But where am I going to get raisins from at this time of night?”
“The snack bar might have some!”
“But I don’t have any money!”
“You won’t need any money. It’s closed!”
“Well, if it’s closed, how am I going to get in?”
“You’ll have to break in!”
Eric gulped. He’d never broken in anywhere, ever, and he was rather hoping to get through his whole life without doing so.
“Climb through the window!” shouted Sid over the noise. “Grab some raisins and run!”
