The Zoo at the Edge of the World by Eric Kahn Gale Page B

moment. “So it’s true what I heard about you and the jaguar. And now here you are, talking like a regular bird. Very impressive, I say!”
    With that he buried his beak back in his feathers, popped out his wings, and resumed the dance. “Look-it! Look-it! Look-it!”
    â€œKenji isn’t too fond of this bird, Master Marlin!” Kenji said, plugging her ears.
    I approached him, saying, “Tappet, why are you still—”
    â€œBack it up! Back it up!” He fiercely pecked the air to keep me from his circle. “This is my spot!”
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said stepping back. “But can I talk to you for just one minute?”
    He was still.
    â€œWhy do you go on like this?”
    â€œWhy do I dance?” He puffed up his chest and raised his little birdy chin. “I dance for love.”
    â€œHe’s trying to mate with a bird, Master Marlin,” said Kenji. “You know what that is?”
    â€œYes, Kenji, I work in a zoo,” I whispered. “But which bird is he going for? If she’s not interested, maybe we could move her to another cage.”
    â€œWhich bird?” Tappet cried, overhearing me. “Why, you crazy boy. Is your taste so unrefined?”
    â€œI suppose it is,” I said.
    â€œYou are standing before her and still cannot see.” Tappet laughed. “Did the jaguar trade you speech for your sight?”
    I cast my eyes around the cage, but the two female birds of paradise were all the way on the other side. “Tappet, who are you talking about?”
    â€œIt’s her,” Kenji said, pointing at the wall. “But she doesn’t say anything.”
    â€œLook-it! Look-it! Look-it!” Tappet turned away from me and went back to his dance.
    He was chirping at the wall.
    â€œThere’s no bird there,” I said.
    â€œYou don’t see?” Kenji pointed. “The little brown bird in the grass.”
    She was pointing to the mural on the wall. In the mess of painted leaves and grass, there was a small brown figure. A female bird of paradise.
    â€œOh, Kenji,” I said. “That’s just a painting.” I leaned forward and put my hand on the painted bird.
    â€œKeep your hands off her, you knave!” Tappet leaped into the air and thrust his beak at me. I jerked back my hand and retreated with Kenji.
    â€œAnd don’t you come back!” Tappet howled.
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    I told Kenji to wait outside the Arts and Leisure Building.
    â€œBut how can she be so flat like that?” she shrieked. “Kenji has never seen a flat bird!”
    â€œBecause she’s not a bird,” I said for the third or fourth time as I walked into the building.
    â€œLooks like a bird to Kenji.”
    â€œThat’s our problem,” I whispered to myself.
    Jarro was at the front desk, which meant that his mother, Heppa, was teaching a class. That meant I couldn’t sneak in unnoticed and get what I needed.
    â€œYoung Rackham,” Jarro said when he saw me. “Good day to you. Can I do something for you?”
    I nodded and prepared myself to speak, thinking of how I could get my message across in the fewest words possible.
    â€œTa-TA-taaaaahh—kk.” Talk, I managed to say with great effort, and I think Jarro understood me. I decided to skip the connecting words of the phrase and just get to the subject. “HH—Hhhheeee—Hhhhehhh-ehhh. . .”
    â€œTalk to Heppa?” Jarro said for me. “You want to talk to my mother?”
    He put a slight emphasis on the word talk and couldn’t help smiling. The employees’ disrespect was nothing new, but I could never get over the shame.
    He gestured to a mahogany door across the hall, and I shuffled toward it. I cracked it open and peeked through.
    â€œA color is not like a bachelor, eating dinner alone at home,” Heppa said in her heavy Arawak accent. “He has a brother somewhere, a sister,