The Swiss Family RobinZOM (Book 2) by Perrin Briar

too many horror films to believe that was the end. He held the stick out, aimed at the underbrush where the snake had slithered.
    Jack took a few steps back, toward the monkey, which leaned away from him and griped the fur of the adult lying on the ground. Jack poked the adult monkey, but she did not respond. Her skin felt cold.
    “Come on,” Jack said, reaching for the baby capuchin. “I’ll take care of you.”
    Jack took him in his arms. The capuchin kept his eyes on his fallen mother until long after she disappeared from sight. He made a soft maw ing sound, peering around for something that was no longer there.

Chapter Nineteen
     
     
    Jack stood on the edge of the jungle clearing, watching as Fritz and Ernest headed into the treehouse. Jack took off his jacket and wrapped it around the baby capuchin, keeping it warm. He hugged it against his chest.
    Jack waited a moment longer and then stole across the open space. He leaned against the tree, his back to the bark. The capuchin made soft mewling noises and reached up with its tiny hands for Jack’s face.
    “Sh,” Jack said, pressing the monkey’s tiny hands back inside the jacket. “Not now.”
    “Have you seen Jack?” Liz’s voice said from inside the treehouse.
    Jack looked up through a thin crack in the branches. Liz’s back was to him. She was addressing Fritz and Ernest.
    “No,” Fritz said. “Not since dinner.”
    “Ernest?” Liz said.
    “Me neither,” Ernest said.
    “When he comes back make sure to tell me,” Liz said.
    Liz walked to the edge of the landing and stood there a moment, looking out at the jungle. Jack reached up and tugged on Liz’s skirt. She appeared not to have noticed, so he tugged harder. Jack waved his fingers under the landing and waited. Liz’s head popped over the edge.
    “Jack?” she said. “What are you doing? It’s bedtime.”
    Jack beckoned her to join him.
    “I haven’t got time to play games,” Liz said. “Get ready for bed.”
    “Please, come here,” Jack said.
    Liz sighed and shook her head.
    “Fine,” she said, climbing down the ladder. “But don’t for a second think you’re going to stay up late.”
    She joined Jack under the landing.
    “What is it?” she said.
    Jack put his finger to his lips.
    “Sh,” he said.
    “What is it, Jack?” Liz said, not lowering her voice.
    Jack opened his jacket, revealing the baby capuchin. Liz started back.
    “What is that?” she said. “A rat?”
    The baby monkey squirmed in Jack’s arms.
    “Quiet!” Jack said. “You’re scaring him!”
    “ I’m scaring him ?” Liz said. “I nearly had a heart attack!”
    “It’s a baby monkey,” Jack said.
    “Jack, you’ve gone too far this time,” Liz said.
    “I can take care of him,” Jack said.
    “In Switzerland when you misbehaved we put up with it because it’s a part of growing up,” Liz said. “We knew you were never going to get into any real trouble. But we’re on an island now, an island brimming with dangerous creatures. You have to learn to listen to us.”
    “I thought he was you,” Jack said.
    “Thanks,” Liz said. “That makes me feel better. You can’t just take a baby from its family, Jack. What were you thinking? Go take him back.”
    “I didn’t take him from his nest,” Jack said. “He was about to be attacked by a snake.”
    “A snake?” Liz said. “Where did you find him?”
    “In the jungle,” Jack said.
    “The jung-?” Liz shook her head. “So not only did you steal a monkey but you went into the jungle – alone – to do it? Your father isn’t going to be happy about this. Take him back before his mother notices he’s gone.”
    “His mother’s dead,” Jack said with tears in his eyes. “She died trying to protect him. I found him before the snake got him too. I didn’t steal him. If I left him he would be dead. I shouldn’t have just left him, should I?”
    Liz was surprised by Jack’s emotional outburst.
    “No,” she said. “You shouldn’t