Several of them had sidled up to Molly, clearly eyeing the two ice cream cones she held. She realized it, and stepped back to hide under a tree, then scowled at Elliott. "How come they don't wantyourice cream?"
"Probably because I'm much bigger than you are and only have one ice cream." And because he could shift into a huge, dangerous predator who thought the lemurs were just the right size for playing ping-pong with. "Oh, look up! Monkeys!"
Molly twisted, looking up in time to see a small white-masked and yellow-armed monkey reaching for her ice cream cone. She shrieked with laughter and pulled it away. "Hey! No way! My ice cream!"
Another monkey, looking entirely as if it was working in cahoots with the first, reached down and snatched the other ice cream from Molly's other hand. Even half-eaten, the ice cream was nearly as long as the monkey (not including the tail), and the little animal had quite a juggling act to get the comparatively huge treat up the tree with it. Molly screamed in outrage as every other monkey in the tree chattered gleefully and rushed up to join the thieving one, their long-fingered orange hands dipping into the soft ice cream with enthusiasm.
"And," Aoife was saying blandly, "the squirrel monkeys willabsolutelysteal your food if they can get within reach of it. Like the lemurs, these monkeys are accustomed to human interaction, and recognize a good snack when they see it. Of course, the wildlife park strongly discourages people from feeding them, but sometimes, the monkeys are quicker than we larger primates."
Molly was still screaming, tears rolling down her face. Her mother looked up from her tablet, a line of irritation drawn between her eyebrows. "Who is upsetting my daughter?"
"The monkeys, ma'am," Graham mumbled.
Ms. Collins turned an expectant gaze on him. "Then do something about it."
Sheer bewilderment crossed Graham's thin face. He looked up at the ice-cream-eating monkeys, a dozen feet above them in the tree, and looked back at Ms. Collins as if wondering what exactly she imagined he was going to do.
The bohemian woman, Kanvas, who had been watching the whole thieving incident with an ill-hidden grin, turned to Aoife. "Should we take our food back from the monkeys if they steal it?"
"Oh, goodness, no," Aoife replied very sincerely indeed. "First, that would probably make them aggressive, and while they're very small, they are certainly capable of defending themselves. But even more than that, who wants to eat food monkey fingers have been in?"
"B-buh-but myice cream," Molly wailed.
"You still have one," Aoife pointed out. "You're fine, and it was pretty clever of them, wasn't it? Do you think one distracted you so the other could take the second ice cream?"
"They shouldn't be allowed to dooooooo thaaaaaaaaat!"
"Oh!" Aoife smiled. "You mean, there are boundaries they shouldn't cross?"
"Y-yu-yuh-y—" Molly's response suddenly cut off as she realized what Aoife was doing. Her tears turned to a furious glare. "That'sdifferent!"
"You're right," Aoife said rather gently. "They're only monkeys with brains the size of a walnut. You're a bright young woman with an entire complex human brain to rely on. You're capable of a great deal more thought and compassion than they are, and I know this is an incident that will help you to remember that."
She will begoodwith cubs,the lion said admiringly. Elliott could only nod, although Molly looked furious, not mollified.
"I think I've seen quite enough," Cindy Collins said icily. "Come, Molly. We're leaving now."
Molly, who could apparently turn from one outrage to another on a dime, shrieked, "But I want to see the lion! The African lion!"
A sinking feeling went through Elliott's belly, although the other adults were mostly looking at Molly with faint, incredulous embarrassment. Elliott had a sister not much older than Molly, but she'd outgrown the kind of tantrums the little girl was displayingyearsago. He guessed that was a result of Molly having been hopelessly spoiled. For a moment he actually felt sorry for the kid.
Then he went back to wondering how he was going to return to the enclosure so Molly could see the African lion, because he had no doubt her mother would agree. It amazed him that she could be so hard-nosed with her business and so soft with her kid, but he supposed parents came in all sorts, just like everybody else did.
"Fine," Collins said impatiently. "Where is this lion enclosure? Is it on the way back to the front gates?"
"We passed it earlier," Aoife said with a politely apologetic note in her voice. "I'm afraid the lion wasn't out right then."
She didn't quite look at Elliott, who was not quite looking at her, either. The lion had, of course, been out. Entirely out. Out of the enclosure entirely, wheedling a sulky tween along with the rest of the tour.
Cindy Collins actually said, "Ugh," like a tv character might. Elliott had never heard anyone say it quite so theatrically before. He guessed Molly was coming by her dramatics naturally, although Ms. Collins had the advantage of age, and so presumably threw fewer actual tantrums. The CEO said, "Fine," again. "Someone fetch a golf cart. I'm certainly not walking all the way around this place again."
Doug began to say, "It's not that far," but cut himself off at a warning look from Graham.
"Tell you what," Aoife said brightly, "why don't you go get a golf cart, Elliott? The rest of us can wait here for it."
She cocked her hip out. His gaze followed the line of it appreciatively, but he didn't have any idea why she was doing that until she also nudged her elbow against the small radio attached to her hip pocket. "Oh!" he said, much too loudly. "Oh, sure, yeah, I'll go tell them we need a golf cart!"
It was a good thing he wasn't an actor. That had been the worst delivery of a line since performance had been invented. But Aoife nodded encouragingly and Elliott, his heart racing, loped off to return to his enclosure.
