Avalanche Alert

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1: WILD WEATHER

  CHAPTER 2: FANG

  CHAPTER 3: ASCENT

  CHAPTER 4: POISON

  CHAPTER 5: SPOTTED

  CHAPTER 6: ON TRACK

  CHAPTER 7: ANTIDOTE

  CHAPTER 8: HIGH GROUND

  CHAPTER 9: UNDER THE WEATHER

  CHAPTER 10: ON THE EDGE

  CHAPTER 11: IN THE BAG

  CHAPTER 12: AVALANCHE!

  CHAPTER 13: SAFE AND SOUND

  CHAPTER 14: WILD VICTORY

  “Here comes the sandstorm!” Ben yelled. “Take cover!”

  Zoe pulled on her goggles and gave her twin brother a thumbs-up. Immediately, they were blasted with stinging sand and hot wind. They turned their backs to the wind and huddled together, pulling their shirts over their faces.

  “Had enough?” yelled Ben.

  Zoe nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “Let’s put an end to this.”

  Her brother pressed a button on the remote control in his hand. The sandstorm stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Zoe brushed herself off. Small vents opened in the wall next to them, quickly sucking the sand away.

  “Uncle Stephen is amazing!” Zoe said. She took the remote and examined all its functions. “This new climate chamber might be his most impressive invention yet.”

  “And it’s really going to help us prepare for our missions,” agreed Ben. “We’ve had missions in a desert, a rainforest, and high atop a mountain.”

  “The thin air up there wasn’t much fun,” Zoe said, referring to their mountaintop adventure. “It made me feel light-headed and dizzy.”

  “What’s new?” teased her brother. He darted out of the way as Zoe tried to give him a friendly punch. “So what else can we do with the climate chamber?”

  Ben and Zoe were spending their winter vacation at the top secret underground headquarters of WILD. Their uncle, Dr. Stephen Fisher, ran the place. It was dedicated to rescuing animals in danger all over the world, and the twins were its youngest recruits. No one except their grandma was in on the secret. Even their parents didn’t know that when Uncle Stephen called, Ben and Zoe dropped everything for one of WILD’s important missions.

  “How about this?” Zoe grinned and pointed to a green button marked MONSOON.

  A shrill buzzer sounded from a loudspeaker, followed by a familiar voice. “Urgent! Ben and Zoe, report to the Control Room immediately!”

  “Uncle Stephen sounds anxious,” Zoe said. “What do you think he wants?”

  Ben chuckled. “He probably just can’t wait to hear what we think of his climate chamber.”

  Ben and Zoe raced down the long hallway, past the labs, the cafeteria, and sleeping quarters. They slapped their hands on the ID pad outside the Control Room.

  “Print ID confirmed,” came the electronic voice. The metal door slid open smoothly, revealing the brightly lit room that was the headquarters of WILD. Workers were tapping away at computers.

  Images of animals were everywhere on the giant monitors lining both sides of the room. At the far end, Uncle Stephen was staring at a display screen on the wall. He wore a labcoat over his shorts, and his hat was pushed back in his messy hair.

  “Your climate chamber’s great!” said Zoe.

  “Yeah!” agreed Ben. “The sandstorm is —” He went silent. Uncle Stephen was staring intently at the screen in front of him, a worried look on his face.

  “What’s the matter?” Zoe asked her uncle.

  “Erika just picked up some alarming intelligence,” said Uncle Stephen gravely. “No more fun in the climate chamber — you’re off on a mission. There’s no time to waste.”

  “Good thing we’re here, then,” said Ben.

  “Are you going to give us a clue to the animal we’ll be rescuing?” asked Zoe. Uncle Stephen usually presented a glass eyeball to the twins so they would have to guess what their mission was.

  Uncle Stephen turned to his assistant, Erika Bohn, a woman sitting nearby. She swung around in her chair to face them. “No time for an eyeball,” she said, tapping a key, “but this might clue you in.”

  A picture of an animal eye flashed up on the screen in front of her.

  “There’s fur around it,” muttered Zoe. “Is it a wolf?”

  “Not a bad guess,” Erika said. She scrolled out so that a little more of the animal was visible.

  “Its fur is light brown with black markings,” said Ben. “And it looks thick.”

  “So the animal lives somewhere cold,” said Zoe.

  Uncle Stephen nodded. “Extremely cold,” he said.

  “It looks like the eye of a big cat,” said Ben.

  Uncle Stephen nodded. “A very rare one,” he added.

  “A snow leopard!” cried Zoe.

  Their uncle nodded and smiled. “Correct!” he said.

  Ben gave a whistle. “They are extremely endangered,” he said. “And hardly ever seen by people.” He turned to Zoe. “Did you know their tails are as long as their bodies?”

  Zoe laughed. “Thank you, Mr. Encyclopedia!” she said. “But you forgot to mention they can carry up to three times their own weight.” She turned to their uncle. “So what happened to this snow leopard?”

  “We have a computer program set to flag up certain key words on the Internet,” Uncle Stephen explained. “It flagged a blog from a mountaineer in Himachal Pradesh.”

  “I know where that is,” Zoe said before Ben could open his mouth. “The Indian Himalayas.”

  “Precisely, Zoe,” Uncle Stephen said. He brought up a satellite map of India on the screen and pointed toward a line of jagged white peaks running across the top corner.

  “I’ve been checking on the blog for a week now,” Erika said, pointing.

  Erika clicked on a post halfway down the page. “The mountaineer has been staying in a village called Ribek and climbing in the peaks a few miles west from there,” she said. “While he was climbing, he caught a glimpse of a snow leopard sleeping in a rock shelter.”

  “Lucky him!” said Ben. “Hardly anyone gets to see one.”

  “Not just one,” Erika said. “Four! A mother and three cubs.” She clicked a button on the keyboard. “Here’s a photo he put up on his blog.”

  An image of a large leopard and three fuzzy cubs popped up on the screen. The mother leopard slept with her tail wrapped around her three sleeping cubs. Her fur was covered in a beautiful pattern of dark circular spots with lighter fur in the middle.

  “Aw!” Zoe said. “They’re so cute.”

  “I estimate the cubs to be four or five months old,” their uncle said. “The mountaineer called the mother Rani, which means ‘queen’ in Hindi.”

  “Three cubs is good,” said Zoe. “She’s helping to repopulate the species in that region.”

  “If they all survive,” Uncle Stephen interjected. He brought up the mountaineer’s blog on the screen. “His last blog post was was early this morning.”

  As the words appeared on the screen, Ben and Zoe gasped in horror. “Yesterday there was a massive avalanche!” read Ben.

  “Are all the leopards okay?” Zoe asked.

  “It says here that the avalanche came down on the eastern edge of the protected area,” their uncle said. “They could have been caught in it.”

  Ben read quickly. “He posted that he saw Rani again last night, with one cub, but this time far from her territory,” Ben said. “She was close to Ribek, and that’s around twenty miles away from her home. Poor Rani! What happened to the others?”

  “Maybe this is a different leopard,” suggeste
d Zoe.

  “Very unlikely, Zoe,” said Erika. “There are so few leopards left that it has to be Rani.”

  “She probably panicked when the avalanche struck and just ran away,” said Uncle Stephen. “It’s likely that her route back to her territory was blocked.”

  “And only one cub went with her,” said Ben.

  “Indeed,” their uncle said. “With any luck, the other two cubs are safe on the far side of the avalanche. But we can’t be sure.”

  “Will they be all right without their mother?” asked Zoe, eyes wide.

  “Not for long,” said Erika.

  “They barely know how to fend for themselves,” Uncle Stephen added, “so they still need their mother to survive.”

  “Won’t Rani find her own way back?” asked Ben.

  “She might eventually,” said Uncle Stephen, “but we’re running out of time. It’s not only the two cubs that are the problem. Rani has now been seen near the village. Snow leopards don’t usually go near human habitation unless they can’t find food in the wild. She’s probably stealing the village livestock for food.”

  “The villagers are very poor,” Erika added. “They can’t afford to lose their animals.”

  “So they might kill Rani and her cub for taking their sole source of food for the winter,” said Uncle Stephen.

  “Then our mission is to get Rani and her baby home to the rest of her family,” said Zoe, “and as soon as possible!”

  “That’s the idea,” said Erika. She switched the display back to the satellite map and pointed to Ribek. “Your route will take you west from the village, across the mountains, and into the protected territory.”

  Ben frowned. “The most direct route would be across the avalanche field,” he said, “but I’m guessing it’s too risky.”

  Their uncle nodded.

  “We’ll go above it, then,” said Zoe. “It looks like there’s a ridge there. You ready for some serious mountain climbing, bro?”

  “You know it, sis,” Ben said. “After all, we’re experts on the WILD climbing wall!”

  “This is going to be much harder than the climbing wall,” said Erika. “The terrain is very hostile in the Himalayas. It’s extremely cold, and the loose snow can make the going even more treacherous.”

  “We’ll be able to handle it,” Ben said confidently. “One thing bothers me, though — how do we get the snow leopards to follow us? They’re wild animals. We can’t just put them on a leash.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” said Uncle Stephen. “You’re going to lure them back. I modified your BUGs to fire capsules that burst on impact and release a strong scent of sheep, their favorite food.”

  Uncle Stephen handed Ben and Zoe their BUGs — Brilliant Undercover Gizmos. They were equipped with satellite maps, tracking devices, translators, and many more amazing tools. Ben and Zoe never went on a mission without them.

  “Just pull up that nozzle on the side, press this button, and one of the scent bombs will shoot out,” Uncle Stephen explained. “You can set the distance you want them to travel. They have a range of a few hundred yards, so you can keep your distance. After all, you don’t want to be Rani’s next meal!”

  “And that’s not the only new device your uncle has invented,” Erika said. She pointed at two small cylinders lying on the table next to her keyboard. Next to them was a pair of harnesses.

  “The FANG!” said Uncle Stephen. “Also known as the Fisher Avalanche Nano Gun. It’ll be very useful if you happen to get buried in an avalanche.” Ben and Zoe exchanged worried glances. “The gadget attaches to the back of your climbing helmet,” Uncle Stephen continued. “You pull the emergency cord here on your harness and a line shoots up, making an air hole. When it reaches the surface, a small umbrella opens over the snow.”

  “The umbrella stops the line from slipping back down the hole and from filling up with snow,” said Erika.

  “Then a beacon flashes on top of the umbrella to alert a rescuer!” their uncle finished.

  “Cool!” Ben said.

  Uncle Stephen grinned. “Cool, indeed!” he said. “You could say that your new FANGs are . . . FANG-tastic.”

  Ben groaned at his uncle’s terrible pun.

  “It’s unlikely there’ll be another avalanche, right?” asked Zoe.

  “It could happen,” said Dr. Fisher. “The mountaineer said the snow was hard-packed ice. A heavy snowfall on that kind of surface would be more likely to slide down as an avalanche.”

  “An avalanche movie is on the WILD Jet’s computer,” Erika said. “There’ll be time to watch it during the flight to India.”

  Zoe was reading the blog again. “What about Rani’s other cubs?” she asked. “They need help as well.”

  “That’s where I come in,” said Erika. “The minute you’re packed, we’ll be off to India in the WILD jet. Once I’ve dropped you off, I’m going to fly over the leopards’ home and search for the youngsters using heat-seeking equipment. I’m planning to drop them some food to help them survive until their mother returns.”

  Uncle Stephen led the way to the stockroom. Erika passed Ben and Zoe their backpacks, veterinary kits, snowsuits, thermal gloves, climbing helmets, ice axes, and special boots.

  “The boots have retractable spikes for ice climbing,” said Uncle Stephen.

  “Nice!” said Zoe.

  “Are we parachuting in?” Ben asked hopefully.

  “Not quite!” their uncle said, chuckling. “You’re taking the local bus! If anyone asks why you’re on your own, you’ll say you’re joining your aunt, Erika, who’s staying at the nearby monastery.”

  “A bus doesn’t sound very quick,” said Ben.

  “The village and the snow leopard’s terrain are high in the mountains,” explained Erika. “In fact, the road is the only access route. You’ll need to get used to the altitude, and the bus journey is perfect for that. You’d better sleep on the plane, because you’ll be up at night once your mission starts. Don’t forget, that’s when Rani will be most active since Indian snow leopards are nocturnal.”

  “Are you ready?” their uncle asked them.

  “You bet!” Ben and Zoe said together.

  Zoe gripped the handrail tightly as the bus hit another pothole. She bumped into Ben. “Sorry!” she said. “That’s another bruise for the collection.”

  They were crammed between five other people on the bus’s back seat with their backpacks on their laps. Erika had dropped them off at a private airfield in a remote spot in the Himalayan mountains’ foothills.

  Now, the ramshackle old bus was taking them up to Ribek, the village where the climber had reported seeing Rani and her cub.

  Zoe shifted her position on the hard wooden seat. “This is a pretty big change after the comfy plane ride,” she whispered to Ben.

  The bus sputtered and roared as it made its way up the steep road with its many twists and turns. A fierce river rushed past, crashing over rocks and boulders. Then the road took another turn. All around Ben and Zoe, the local people chatted and laughed loudly.

  “Better put in our translators,” whispered Ben. He reached into his backpack and peeled the small plastic earpiece off his BUG. Then he popped it in his ear.

  Zoe did the same. She scrolled as quickly as the jolting bus would allow through the menu on her BUG, searching for the Pahari language. Erika had told her that there were many dialects of it spoken here in Himachal Pradesh, but that the BUG could handle it. Zoe hoped so.

  She peered out of the window. The bus was crawling around a hairpin bend. She got a dizzying glimpse of the sheer drop below. This was the sort of terrain that she and Ben were going to be climbing. For the first time, Zoe realized how difficult this mission was going to be.

  Ben was sitting next to two women. One of them reached into a basket and pulled out something wrapped in a clot
h. She unpeeled the package, producing some smelly cheese and lumps of brown bread.

  The woman handed them to her companion and then nudged Ben. Her lined face broke into a huge grin as she offered him some of their meal.

  Ben took some, nodded his thanks and ate hungrily. The cheese was strong, but the bread was delicious.

  “It’s fried,” Ben told Zoe, handing her a piece.

  The woman smiled and turned back to her companion and continuted to chat. They both seemed concerned that her yogurt might be going bad.

  Just then, Zoe realized she was breathing more quickly than usual. “We must be getting very high up in the mountains now,” she said. “I can feel it.”

  “Well, don’t go stumbling around like you did in the climate chamber,” Ben said with a laugh.

  The bus rounded another bend in the road. For a second, it leaned as if it had tipped onto two wheels. Everyone was flung from one side to the other.

  Ben groaned. “Now who’s feeling funny?” asked Zoe.

  The woman next to Ben dug into her pocket and produced a piece of candy wrapped in paper. She held it out and Ben took it gratefully. He sat there, chewing and holding his head in his hands.

  The men on Zoe’s right were having a conversation about the weather. The older of the two, a gray-haired man with a bushy beard, was shaking his head and looking worried. “I think it will snow again before long,” he said.

  His companion nervously pulled at the fringes of his heavy coat. “That might cause another avalanche,” he said in a worried tone. “And look what the first one brought us!”

  The older man scratched his beard and nodded. “Too true,” he said.

  “The winter will be hard enough without that snow leopard eating all our animals,” said the younger one. “It took one of my goats last night. I heard the cries from the house, but by the time I got out there, it was too out of sight.”

  Zoe tensed and listened. They must be talking about Rani, she thought.