It was an early morning in spring, time for fresh starts, baby animals and new leaves on trees.   Jill Winstrom decided to rollerblade to dispel some of the stress that had been building inside of her.  She took a deep breath and hunched over to fasten her skates.  The decision to skate this morning was an excellent idea to clear her head.  Only diehard joggers would be present in case she fell or looked ridiculous.          

Jill was recently hired as the zoo director for the Manitou County Zoo in Annenberg, Wisconsin. The county administrator begged her to take the job, and her family supported the decision to return to Annenberg.  Jill had left the town after high school, and would not return.

During her first two weeks on the job, she’d faced more than enough challenges than normally.  Five orphaned raccoons were brought in, graffiti had been sprayed on several buildings and sidewalks, and yesterday, accountant discovered money was missing at a point in an audit of the financial records.  The accountant figured that the previous director might have embezzled the money, as he never asked for an audit of the accounting system. 

Too many worries.  Hopefully, she could dispel some of her problems and come back to work with a clearer head.  It was no wonder she didn’t see the two bikers coming right at her.

 “Oh. Woops. Sorry.”

            Jill was shaken back into reality.  Not a pleasant one, since she was sitting on the path.  Jill attempted to rise from the ground but her wrist refused to support her.  She glanced up, somewhat dazed, at the two young men who were staring down at her.

            “Hey, are you ok?” one inquired.      

            “Huh? What?”

Jill could not quite see their faces, both were wearing helmets and sunglasses and she was staring into the sun.

            “Hey, are you ok?”

            “Yeah, sure, I am trying-oh-no.  My wrist doesn’t feel right,” Jill attempted to rise a second time.

            “Wait, stay there, and don’t move. Randy, call 911, and ask for the paramedics,” the one wearing the yellow helmet said.

            “No that’s all right. I will just go, ouch, what are you doing? I thought you told me not to move it,” Jill was a bit squeamish.

            “I’m checking to see if it’s broken,” the biker answered.

            “Well, it hurts.  Knock it off.” Jill shoved him away, not sure she could trust them.

            “Randy, how soon will the ambulance get here?” the first biker said to the second.

            “They told me an ambulance has an ETA of five minutes to the park, but since we are on a path and not near the road, it will be harder to find us.”

            “Look, I am not bleeding, I’m breathing and I am sure that my heart is still beating.  I really don’t need an ambulance,” retorted Jill.

She was frustrated that she fell in the first place.  Meanwhile, the yellow-helmeted biker took off his sunglasses and stared at her.

 “Do you think that you drive with one hand?”

            “I don’t think I am going anywhere with the two of you.  You didn’t even give me your names,” Jill glared at the two bikers, “riding along and not paying attention to what was going on around you.”

            “Ok, this is Randy, and my name is Lyle.  Now are you going to listen?”

            “Listen to what? Two strange men?” Jill retorted.

            “No, to reason,” Lyle countered.

            “Why?”

 “Why should you listen to us? We are the only ones around who can help you right now.  Look around, do you see anyone else?”

            Lyle glanced at Randy.  “We were just minding our business, and then you were on the ground.  What do you think Randy?”
            “I don’t know, we rode by, she fell and we turned around to see if she was ok.  That does not seem very wrong to me.  If you were in a car, you would expect us to stop,” replied Randy.

             “So I should accept your help, even though I don’t know who you are?  You could have other things on your mind.”

            “Ok, ok, we will not take advantage of you.  However, I still do not think you should be driving.  Anyway, the ambulance is on the way, and from the sound of the siren, they have almost found us.” Lyle said.

Jill’s world had shattered into more splinters than her wrist. After the accident, her parents sold the family farm and moved into the city.  Her brothers moved to the farm, but did not visit Annenberg after what had happened to their older sister.  The other driver in the accident had not been found after ten years. The family was skeptical since the case had grown cold.

            The regularity of the roller blading rhythm had calmed Jill down and let her sort things out.  However, falling on her buttocks and breaking her wrist was not in the plan.  She had been thinking about all the items that were affecting her job and not where she was or what she was doing.  Now she had to pay the price.

After being at the clinic for three hours, Jill walked into the zoo office with her wrist in a cast, scrapes on her legs, and other bumps and bruises.  She winced as she stumbled through the door. 

Samantha, the assistant zoo director glanced up from her reports and asked, “What happened to you?”

            “I was rollerblading along the lakeside path, and two mountain bikers rode past me.  I sort of tripped and fell.  Next thing I know I am trying to get back on my feet and some guy named Randy is dialing 911.”

            Samantha narrowed her eyes. “Describe the bicyclists...”

“You think you might know these guys?  They were just two random guys riding their bikes along a path.”

            “Jill, remember you are not in the big city anymore.  There are fewer people riding mountain bikes in Annenberg, than in Milwaukee.  By the way, could their names have been Randy and Lyle?” Samantha countered.

            “Maybe”

            “Was one blonde, brown-eyed, goatee, kind of cute and about six feet tall, and took direction?” asked Samantha.

            Jill gazed at the floor.  “Sort of-the other one was a ‘take-charge’ kind of person, knew first aid and figured out what was wrong.”

            “Dark hair, dark eyes, a charming school boy type?”

            “He had dark hair and sunglasses, so I didn’t see his eyes, wait, he did take his sunglasses off.  I remember he said his name was Lyle,” Jill looked at Samantha and continued, “Why, do you know them? It wasn’t until after I had fallen that they noticed what was going on around them.” Jill was exasperated.

            Samantha responded, “I told those guys to watch more carefully for roller bladers when they are on the bike path, but apparently they didn’t heed my advice.  It sounds like you ran into our esteemed colleagues, Lyle and Randy.  They both serve on the zoo’s board of directors as well as teaching at Lake Jerome Community College.  Randy Gilberts teaches wildlife biology and Lyle Thomason works with the vet techs,” continued Samantha. “Oh, yea, one is taking me out to lunch today and the other may walk into the office at any time now.  Lyle is a veterinarian specializing in wildlife, and I contacted him to come over and examine the baby raccoons.  He said he would drop by this morning,” finished Samantha. “It was an accident.”

            Jill inhaled deeply, and gazed out the office window.  No one had driven up the inner zoo road in the past several minutes.  She still had time to evade the veterinarian, but part of her job was to make sure that the zoo animals were healthy.  It might not be something that she could trust to the current zookeeper.  The animals were not growing and Jill wondered if the babies weren’t getting the right nutrients.  She sighed and peeked over at Samantha, who had gone back to her paperwork.

            Jill stared out the window hoping that the vet wouldn’t show up, but was still worried about the baby raccoons.  In the past week, the kits looked hungry all the time.  They should have gained a few ounces by now and moving around, but they weren’t.  Raccoons were tough to raise without their mama, especially ones who were so young.

            Samantha interrupted Jill’s thoughts.  “Don’t you want to be here when Lyle examines the raccoons?”

            “I am a little embarrassed.  Right now, I would like to be as far away from him and that Randy as possible.  I’m not sure I could take his advice.  I am kinda sore.”
            “I wouldn’t worry about it too much.  Lyle is more interested in his teaching than whom he ran over with his bike.   You might want to change your mind about seeing him.”

            “Why is that?” countered Jill.

            “His Jeep just pulled up outside next to your car,” responded Samantha.

            It wasn’t every day that Jill was hurt in a roller blading accident, but she was embarrassed that it was someone from the zoo board who saw her fall. Jill was a very private person and having Randy and Lyle find her lying on the sidewalk was too much.  She really did not want Lyle to remember her as being helpless and needy.  Jill really felt that today was not a good day to make a more professional impact on the vet, which was why she wanted to hide in the bathroom, but it was too late.  He was knocking on the door.

“I told him that I would introduce you to him, so I hope that you are willing to work with him.  He would like to meet you as the zoo director,” Samantha replied.   “Listen, he just wants to meet you as the ‘new zoo director’ and nothing else.  Lyle and Randy are on the board of directors.  They couldn’t be on the interview team; however, they did help sift through the applications and draft interview questions.  Although he is single and looking, he has never been married and has had few serious relationships.  His students seem to love him, sometimes I wonder if the women in his classes sign up just to be near him.”

            “Really, he is that charming,” drawled Jill. She was a little worried about his reaction to her.  She still wasn’t sure she wanted to see him again.

            There was a knock on the door.  Samantha rose to answer it.  Jill was still uncertain as to what to do because of how she had reacted to his helping her.

            “Good morning, Dr. Thomason,” said Samantha as she opened the door.

            Lyle peered over his glasses.  “Samantha, I thought we were over that Dr. Thomason stuff.  Besides, I really don’t like to be called ‘Doctor’”.

            “Ok, come in, Lyle” replied Samantha rather sheepishly. “And remember to my friends, I’m Sam.” She glanced over at Jill.  “This is our esteemed but bruised zoo director, Jill Winstrom.”

            Jill glimpsed and cringed. “Hi”

            Lyle recognized Jill.  “Nice to finally meet...oh, my...”

Jill felt like falling into a deep hole.  He remembers, she thought ‘crap’.

“It seems that we have already met under other circumstances.  How’s the wrist?  I don’t remember all those scrapes and bruises.”

            Jill answered, “The wrist is ok as long as I don’t try to write or lift a coffee cup.  The bruises popped up recently.  Otherwise, I am fine.”

            “Jill, we are truly sorry.  Randy and I were talking and not really paying attention to where we were on the bike path.  Biking is almost like second nature to us,” Lyle apologized.

            “Apology accepted. However, the falling on the ground was more my clumsiness than you hitting me.  Still, watch out for the roller bladers. Next time you might not be as lucky.  So... not to change the subject, but I hear that you might know something about raccoons,” Jill finished.

“Yes, and I heard that you have some baby raccoons that don’t seem to be feeling very well.  I want to take a look at them,” finished Lyle.

            “Let’s go and examine them.” Jill grabbed her jacket and swung it around her shoulders.  

            “I guess you changed your mind, huh?” interrupted Samantha.        

            “Yea, Sam, I have.  You go have lunch.  I see that someone is here to see you.” 

Lyle and Jill left the office with Samantha appearing to be a bit bewildered.

Samantha watched Jill and Lyle.  They appeared to act as business associates.  Randy strolled into the office and stood next to Sam gazing out the window. 

            Randy asked, “Is that the new zoo director?”

            Sam turned to him.  “Yeah, it seems as if you two kind of ran into her recently.”

            “Oh, really?”

            “This could be interesting.  Lyle didn’t say anything when they saw each other,” said Samantha.  “He may have met his match.”

            “You think?” replied Randy.

            Jill motioned for Lyle. “We put the raccoons in our temporary nursery away from the other babies.”

            Lyle and Jill hiked from the office to the nursery building where the baby raccoons seemed to be fighting for their lives.  The dew was still on the grass; the temperature had not risen to it’s peak.  Visitors were starting to walk through the zoo.  Jill and Lyle moved in tandem, however, one was thinking of many questions, the other was quiet, but calm, cool and collected.

            Lyle broke the silence, “Tell me the history of these critters.”

            Jill answered, “A nest was found after a large raccoon died nearby.  We have been trying different milk replacements but nothing seems to work.  The kits aren’t growing, they act listless, like they might be poisoned or something.”

            “What do you mean or something?” Lyle asked.

            “Maybe not enough nutrients, or enough to eat or I don’t know, that’s why Sam called you,” replied Jill.

            They had reached the nursery building and Lyle swung open the door.

            “Let’s take a look at them,” said Lyle.

            Lyle strode to the raccoon’s cage.  Two kits seemed to be sleeping.  The other three were just lying on their sides.  He picked up each kit, felt its stomach and examined the eyes and noses.  “What are you feeding them?”

            “It’s a mixture of kitten and puppy milk replacement,” answered Jill. “I called an old friend who used to rescue wildlife.  They’re retired now, but they had records on previous rescues.”
            “The kits seem hungry—how often do you feed them?” asked Lyle.

            “The records should be in this notebook.  Yea, here it is—two to three ounces every two hours,” said Jill.

            “Where’s the formula that you’re using?”

            “That’s funny.  It should be right here—Hey, Tammy, where’s the formula you are using?”

            Tammy was in charge of the nursery.  The small blonde woman scurried over to Jill and Lyle.

 “Joe was supposed to mix up a new batch—but he talks so much that maybe he didn’t get to it.  Let me look around, maybe it is in the refrigerator.”

            Jill pulled open the refrigerator door.  “Here it is—but it looks kind of funny.  Lyle, do you want to examine this bottle?”

            Lyle opened the bottle of milk replacer.  “It smells old and sour.  Is this what you are feeding those poor kits?”

            Tammy stared at the bottle.  “You know, this doesn’t look right to me either.  Joe was supposed to mix up a fresh batch for their next feeding.  I can’t believe this is fresh.”

            Lyle smelled the mixture and then put it into his pocket.  “Hey, Jill, I am going to have to take it to a lab to see if there was some sort of poison, would that be okay?”

Jill turned to Tammy. “Would you mind taking over this feeding project?  Call the vet supply store and get fresh milk replacer. By the way, besides you and Joe, who has been working in here?”

            Tammy replied, “Well, no one except that every once in a while, Gilbert wanders in here to talk to Joe.”

            “Gilbert?  Why is he way over here?  He is in charge of the wolves.  He doesn’t belong over here—who is his supervisor?” finished Jill.

            Tammy replied, “He works under Colette.  But she can’t always keep a careful eye on him and he sometimes wanders around instead of doing his job.”

            “This might be a case of Joe being lazy.  This stuff just seems old, but not poisonous.  Let’s make up some fresh formula.  Tammy, sterilize these bottles and see if we have any replacement powder left.”

            Tammy discovered that once again, Joe had not done his job, and there was other milk powder that could be mixed up and fed to the kits.  They ate greedily when Tammy fed them while Jill and Lyle watched.  All three were relieved. Right now, maybe the kits were just hungry and not poisoned. 

Gilbert’s brother had been caught with some spray paint.   There had been several incidents of graffiti previously found on several buildings, but there was no proof that Gary was the person spraying the graffiti.  Jill was not sure what to do.  Joe was somewhat lazy, but he did enjoy his work.  Gilbert and Gary could cause trouble, but nothing had been proven.  For right now, everything would wait.  Something else could still happen.  Jill and Lyle tramped back to the office.  Sam returned from lunch, and Randy had already left.

“How was lunch?”

            Samantha replied, “It was fine. What did you discover?”

            “Joe had not mixed up fresh formula so what we found was kind of sour.  The kits may not be getting enough to eat.  Lyle has decided that they need to take all that they want at feeding time. Tammy is going to be monitoring them closer and maybe feeding them more often. We may have to do some rearranging of schedules.” reminded Jill, “It is also possible that several of our current employees may be causing our problems. We need to keep better control of who is on the grounds and what they are supposed to be doing.  I think a meeting with the senior keepers is imperative.”

            “You aren’t going to like this, but someone has been asking questions about the types of soil and buildings on the property.  They may even want to change the zoning in the area.”

            “It sounds like we may be heading for some more trouble,” answered Jill.

            Meanwhile, Lyle had disappeared out the door, without saying goodbye to either woman.

            “What do you think about our vet?” Samantha suddenly noticed that he was gone.

            “Huh? What are you talking about?”

            “The veterinarian, Lyle.  What do you think of him?”

            “Well, he’s nice looking, smart and knows raccoons and he isn’t a stranger anymore,” answered Jill.

            “Yeah, Randy is nice too.”

            “That remains to be seen.  Anyway, I was so worried about the raccoons that I didn’t think about the vet,” finished Jill.  “I do think that we need to keep a better control over our employees.  I am not sure what they are trying to do, but I intend to find out."

Chapter 2

Despite the fact that the lab tests on the raccoon’s formula didn’t show anything poisonous, it was discovered that Joe was falsifying the records and forgetting to feed the raccoons on occasion.  Joe was disciplined and moved out of the nursery.  However, the problems at the zoo did not cease.  There was the day that Blackie the bear almost got shot.  It started like a normal day.

It was peaceful.  There no sounds from the animals, as most were still sleeping.  It was only 6 am and the keepers were not due for feeding and cleaning until almost seven.  The zoo would open at 9 am.  The pink sun was creeping over the horizon.  The lake was calm, the grass was green and in need of cutting.  Several runners and walkers were out for their early morning exercise. 

Jill was strolling through the zoo as she enjoyed watching animals sleep.  She started thinking about Lyle.  Was he just one of those guys who just wanted to be your friend?  Was he someone who was happy to be a colleague?  Alternatively, was he interested in becoming more serious?  She was not sure.  After all, would you think that someone who ran into you with a mountain bike could be someone you could fall in love with?

She heard stirring as animals were starting to move around.  The sun rose higher in the sky and became more yellow.  She heard the rooster crowing in the Children’s Barnyard.  This started the cows mooing and the noise worked its way around the zoo until most of the animals were greeting the new day.  Jill headed toward the office but hadn’t quite gotten there when the peaceful morning stirrings of the animals had altered.  Something was definitely wrong.  There was a new group of odd noises coming from different areas of the zoo. These were not animal noises.  Jill grabbed her cell phone and started sprinting toward the Children’s Barnyard.  She punched the numbers into the phone for the sheriff’s department and spoke to Sandy the dispatcher. 

“Someone is prowling around the zoo and is disturbing the animals.   There’s some sort of music and shouting or something coming from different areas of the park, send a deputy over, please.”

Sandy told her that there were several deputies in the area and one was patrolling near the park.  Jill beeped the different zookeepers and Samantha for assistance.  As zoo personnel called her back, Jill dashed from the Children’s Barnyard.  She asked the staff to report in and help to determine what was causing the uproar.

Jill darted toward the Prairielands exhibit.  Prairie dogs were usually peeping out of their holes-but right now, they had all disappeared.  The rest of the area seemed to be quiet and undisturbed.

Samantha rushed up to her.  “Something is amiss, isn’t it?”

Jill glanced at her, “Yea, but I am not sure where it is or what is happening.”

 Gunshots came from the North Woods exhibit.  Sirens were wailing in the distance.

Jill and Samantha rushed toward the North Woods exhibit.  Jill stopped and punched in the numbers for Lyle’s cell.  He didn’t answer, so Jill left a message.

  “Lyle, please come to the zoo, there have been gunshots fired and there may be an animal who is hurt.”

As Jill and Samantha continued toward the North Woods exhibit, they saw that the wolves were pacing back and forth.  Fortunately it didn’t seem as if they were hurt.  Other animals seemed to be okay- the skunk, cougar, hawks, and even the porcupine, the baby raccoons had not been put out in an exhibit yet.  Most of the animals were acting as if they had heard the noise and were bothered by the commotion.

Jill and Samantha ran into two local sheriff’s deputies, who had come into the park using the perimeter road.  Apparently, someone cut the fence in a corner of the North Woods exhibit area.  The deputies had also heard the gunshots.  One of the inside fences were slashed near the wolf exhibit.  The wolves had not left their area, which was why they were pacing.  The wolves seemed too scared to move much except away from the cut fence.  No human was seen in the area of the wolf exhibit however; there were footprints in the mud.  The deputies followed them over toward another one of the areas in the North Woods exhibit.

One of the keepers responsible for the North Woods exhibit came running up to them, “Jill, Samantha—come with me.”

By this time, Lyle had found them. “What happened?”

Jill turned toward him.

“You know, I am not really sure.  First it was quiet and serene.  Next thing I know I hear music, shouting and other noises. Animals are scared and pacing.  Karen just summoned us to check something out in this area.”

They were coming up to the area where Blackie, the black bear lived.  Blackie loved to get treats from kids.  He would sit, beg, and wave his big paws so kids would throw bear chow at him.”

There were shell casings near Blackie’s enclosure--

“Oh no, they’ve shot Blackie,” sighed Samantha.  Well it’s good that we have a veterinarian with us.”

Tim the deputy came up to them.  “Where’s Blackie? His fence is ripped open—“

Jill and Karen looked at each other—worried.  Blackie was a favorite with kids.  Karen stepped into the bear’s enclosure.  Karen had a good relationship with Blackie.  “Blackie, where are you? Are you okay?”

The bear emerged from the shed where he slept and waddled toward Karen.  “Hey fella, - are you ok?”  Lyle, would you look at him?” 

Lyle checked Blackie over.  “He doesn’t seem to be hurt.  It doesn’t look like the bullets even grazed him.” 

“Oh, thank goodness”, Jill and Samantha breathed a sigh of relief. 

Tim suggested, “You might want to make sure that Blackie goes indoors at night.  Someone may try to harm him to close the zoo.” Tim knelt down to look at the bullet shells.

Another keeper from the Grassland exhibit came up to Jill and Samantha.  “We found that someone broke into the storage area and sprayed the shed.”

 Samantha went with the keeper to look at the damage.

Lyle looked at her.  “Who do you think did this?”

Jill replied.  “I am not sure this time.  I really don’t think it was anyone who works for the zoo.  It might be someone trying to cause trouble to shut the zoo down.  I hope that is not the case.”

Tim got up from where he was kneeling.  There are a few casings—I am not sure where the bullets went.  I’ll bag these-so we know what kind of gun was used and whether there was intent to hurt the bear. Tim walked over to check the rest of the enclosure for bullets.

Samantha returned to the group. “It looks like someone also was after the white-tailed deer.  The shed near the deer has been vandalized.”

“Well, they also targeted the area around Blackie.  Why did they go after the deer?  Why Blackie? What does someone have against me and this zoo?” said Jill.

Jill walked over to where Karen and Lyle were standing.  Karen walked closer to the shed.  “Hey, Tim, There’s a bullet wedged in this corner of the shed.  At least Blackie is ok; he didn’t even realize his enclosure was targeted.”

“Blackie is one of our prized possessions.  He came to us as an orphan.  He knows nothing of the outside world and would probably not even try to leave.  He also knows how to find food here, but would not be able to do much hunting.  Most of our animals are orphaned or brought up in captivity.  They do not know much about the wild world.  Most would probably stay here, as they know no other home.  Blackie is well loved and I doubt the community would be happy if something would happen to him”, finished Jill.

Tim replied, “Just as a precaution, make sure that the animals are inside an enclosure at night.”

“I hope there isn’t a next time,” replied Jill.

Other vandalism was discovered after this incident.  One day, a letter came to the office threatening to shut down the zoo.  Jill took the matter directly to the zoo board meeting.

“Someone is attempting to shut down the zoo. Is there a problem within the community that I don’t know about?” Jill opened the meeting with the threatening letter.

“What has been happening lately is that there is a contractor who is interested in developing the area around the park and the zoo.  He is attempting to do in the name of the college.   He wants to build apartments and a strip mall for the students.  This person also claims that the smells and noise of the animals bother the community.  However, there has been no petition from the park’s neighbors about the animal noise or smell.  The college, lake and park are pretty isolated from the zoo and the town of Annenberg.  This particular contractor just wants the zoo land as he feels it is pretty valuable.  He is also the only one who wants the strip mall and apartments.  No one else around the college is listening to him.  His name is Travis Wilkers.”

“Travis Wilkers? Yea, I have heard about him,” said Jill. “He seems to be involved in different things around town, doesn’t he?  Why does he want the zoo land?  Isn’t there other land that he could use?”
         Randy was at the meeting and knew about Travis piped up. “Mr. Wilkers believes in location, location, location and if you build it, they will come. However, most of the college kids are benefitting from the zoo through their studies so they are not really anxious to have the zoo torn down.”
         Jerry Hoffman, the head of the zoo board, introduced a motion to investigate Travis Wilkers and check with the sheriff’s deputies about what they found the day of the vandalism.  The rest of the board members agreed.  Another member made a motion to check with the county commission to see what Mr. Wilkers could do to shut down the zoo.  All were sure that he would have to ask for some sort of rezoning for his apartments and strip mall.  Currently, the zoo and area around the lake were zoned for parks. 

Jill looked toward Jerry for answers.  “What can we do to make sure that the zoo is not a target for vandals?”

Lyle glanced over at Randy and raised his hand. “It happens that we have some criminal justice majors who are itching to get out and do some surveillance.  We could see if there are some work-study funds available over at the college and they could be security guards for the zoo.  At least until we determine what the problem is.  Maybe they could curb some of the vandalism with their presence.”

Jill thought about this.  The zoo did not have extra funds for security at this time and this seemed to be a good idea.  She gazed at the head of the zoo board.

“Jerry, what do you think about this?  It seems to be a good idea.  After all, we do have many of the college students involved in their studies over at the zoo.  This just seems like just one more area that they could help out.”

Jerry looked over at Lyle and Randy who were the college’s representatives.  “Do you think that the college could help?”

Randy spoke up, “I know the criminal justice teacher and he was just saying the other day, he wished there was a way that he could get his kids out in the community and practice their craft.  It would be perfect for those involved in learning about law enforcement to actually do some.  They could do several shifts and patrol the park and zoo at different intervals during the day and also at night.  It might curb some of the vandalism.  It seems as if we are constantly getting hit at night.  Just the other day, I found graffiti on the sidewalk.  It was just spray paint, there was no message, but it is annoying.  The people doing these pranks may harm some of the animals, like they almost did the other day.”

Jerry addressed the rest of the board, “All in favor of asking the criminal justice college students to patrol the zoo, say ‘aye’.  Opposed same sign.”

It was a unanimous vote.  Jill was hoping that the vandals would be caught.  She was tired of the graffiti and the fence cutting.  Besides the wolf, deer and bear fences that were cut, other areas of the zoo had also been targeted.  Several times Jill and Samantha were afraid to stay in the zoo office late because they were not sure who might be prowling around.  They reminded the keepers to make sure that the animals were inside at night. 

Jill felt a little better after the zoo board meeting.  She looked at the letter that was received. “Close the zoo, no one really wants it anyway,” was one of the lines.  There was no signature, and no return address.  She wasn’t sure who sent the letter.  Attendance was steady as were revenues.  It was time to make the zoo exciting, but she wasn’t sure how this could happen.  She was thinking about new exhibits and grabbed Randy after the meeting.

“Hey, Randy, what do you think about an aquarium for the zoo?”

“Hmm, that might be interesting. What kind of fish were you thinking of exhibiting?”
         “I was thinking about fish from Lake Michigan and maybe some from area lakes.  So the aquarium would have to look like the bottom of a lake.  It would have to have cutaways so that people could actually see the fish in an actual habitat.”

        “Let me think about it,” Randy replied.  “I would have to do some research to see how we could build something that would work, what size it might have to be.”

 “Ok, I just don’t want this contractor to think that I am giving up on this zoo,” finished Jill.

“Good for you, Jill.  We should go down fighting if we go down.  The zoo has not been real profitable lately, but I think we need some new ideas in marketing and maybe a few new exhibits.  How are the baby raccoons doing?” Lyle stopped and added himself to the conversation.

“They are doing better with another keeper.  They just weren’t getting fed as often as the records said they were.  It was more laziness than anything else, but now I wonder, if Joe didn’t have some incentive from this Travis character.”

“Do you think that Travis has anything to do with the acts of vandalism that are occurring?” asked Randy.

“You know, it is quite possible,” Jill replied. “He could be paying someone to cause the trouble so that we give up and close the zoo.  Then the door will be open for him to step in and take over the land, but he is in for a fight if he thinks that we are going to just let him take over that easily.”

Chapter 3?

It had been a hot day. Around 2 pm, the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Manitou County.   Lines of thunderstorms had broken out and were inching their way across the state.  Jill watched the radar online and saw the clouds moving closer.  She took a walk outside to see how the animals were doing. Two hours later a Tornado Watch was issued.  The storms moved closer and it seemed as though Manitou County was in for a major storm.  Time passed slowly, Jill and Samantha toiled on through their piles of paperwork.

At four thirty, the Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for the county. Samantha jumped up from her desk and went to warn the zookeepers who were still there.  The animals had to be protected.   Jill’s first job was to empty the park of visitors.  She flipped the switch for the outdoor speaker system, “Please exit the zoo and park as soon as possible, a severe thunderstorm is headed toward Manitou County”.

After the speaker warning, Jill went outside to work with Samantha and the rest of the staff to secure the zoo.

Zoo visitors scrambled to leave. Jill could hear car wheels screeching as the few visitors that they had were on their way out of the park.  She ran to the nursery building that was the storm shelter and radioed Shelly, one of the other keepers.

“Where are you?”

“Up at the barn-the chickens don’t want to go inside.”

“Roger, I’ll be up there in a minute.”

While Jill was running toward the barnyard, the skies opened up.  The sky had turning menacingly green, it was no typical spring thunderstorm.   The temperature dramatically dropped, winds started to howl, rain and hail gushed. Trees swayed in the wind.  Abruptly the rain stopped, everything was quiet—no birds, no rain, no wind.

            Shelly and Jill grabbed as many chickens they could to get into the barn.  They knew from experience that they had to find shelter, but the barn wasn’t as good as the nursery building.    How much time did they actually have before the funnel hit?  It was possible that Samantha, Terry and Colette would find shelter in the nursery building.

Meanwhile, a sheriff’s deputy stared into the sky near the zoo. He was assigned to sky watching so that a tornado warning could be issued.  He heard the roar before he saw the rolling thread touch the ground. Into his radio he exclaimed, “A funnel cloud is coming down and it’s headed toward the outskirts of Annenberg.  Sound the tornado siren!”

            Sirens filled the air but were soon cut by the lack of power.  The funnel cloud kept moving toward Manitou County Park.  The deputy scrambled into a ditch, as he wasn’t near any buildings. “Not the college”, he prayed, “not the zoo.”

            Debris flew through the air as the dark cloud moved toward the lake.   Almost as quickly as the storm appeared, it moved back into the sky.  Rain assaulted the back of the deputy’s raincoat as he raised his head from the ditch.  From his vantage point, the college appeared to be safe.  There were some trees down, but the buildings were unscathed.  His anguish came when he swung his head to check out the zoo on the other side of the lake.

            Uprooted trees made it hard to tell where the zoo buildings and paths were. The first person into the zoo are would have to discover if the animals were safe and secure.  The deputy spoke again into his radio, “Dispatch, contact the zoo director and members of the zoo staff.  We have a situation.”

            Dispatch replied, “Roger that, what is the problem?” 

            The deputy answered, “The zoo was hit hard.  We have to find the zoo staff and we will need other law enforcement or safety officers as well as paramedics and fire. I don’t know if the animals are safe or even if zoo staff may be trapped somewhere.”

            The dispatcher replied.  “Telephone lines are down, but maybe we can reach people through their cell phones.  We may have lost the cell towers.”

            “Thanks,” replied the deputy.

            A Jeep tore into the park entrance and screeched to a stop next to the deputy’s cruiser.

            “Hey, Steve, I saw the funnel.  How’s the zoo?” asked Lyle.

                        The deputy was thrilled to see Lyle. Steve Hanson, the deputy, welcomed the two men.  Lyle and Randy were only acquaintances, but he knew that he had reinforcements when it came to knowledge of the zoo and the exhibits.  Other law enforcement including paramedics and a fire crew had begun to arrive.

                        Steve looked at Lyle, “We need to evaluate the zoo area.  It could be chaotic in there.  Have you heard from Jill or Samantha?”

                        Jill and Samantha would have been the first people on the scene, if they had been away from the zoo.  Nevertheless, there was a good possibility that Jill, Samantha, Tammy and others were within the zoo proper and trapped in one of the buildings, or in the debris.

                        Randy attempted to call Samantha on her cell phone.  There was no answer. 
            “I can’t believe she isn’t around here, but then again, where else would she be?” 

                        Lyle started walking toward the park entrance.  “Steve, do you have access to a chain saw?  I think we might need one.”

                        Randy interrupted, “Lyle, there’s one in the maintenance shed at the college.  I’ll take your Jeep and pick it up.  I have a key to that shed.”

                        Steve and Lyle picked their way through the debris in an attempt to figure out what was left of any of the zoo buildings.  First, they had to establish where the zoo entrance had been.  The next stop would be the storm shelter where staff might be.

                        Many trees in the zoo were stripped of leaves, if they weren’t uprooted.  As the men picked their way through the debris, there was a cacophony of sounds.  Ducks were quacking, cows mooing, donkeys braying and other animals sounded distressed.  The men scrambled to the place where they thought the zoo office was.  Everything around the office was demolished and some birds were hopping about seemingly lost and confused.

                        “So where’s the shelter?  Where would zoo staff go during the storm and how many animals did they actually secure before the storm hit?” asked Steve.

                        Lyle shook his head.  “If I knew that, I would go straight there because that’s where the staff is.”

                        It was dark.  Jill tried the radio.  All she got was static.  Then she flipped open her cell phone and looked for Samantha’s phone number, oh-wait, it was #1 on her speed dial.   The phone rang several times, but Samantha never picked it up.  Jill wasn’t sure what to do.  Number 2 on the speed dial was Lyle, but she was hesitant to use it.  Oh heck, I am going to try it.

                        “Hello, who is this?”  Lyle didn’t sound as if he knew who was calling. “Jill is that you?”

                        “Lyle, it’s me.”

                        “Where are you?” he sounded worried.

                        “I am in the building that used to be the barn. I think it fell down around me.”

                        “Are you okay?”

                        “Yea, I think so, and I may not need a paramedic, but maybe a chain saw might be helpful.”

                        “Where is everyone?”

            “I don’t know.  Samantha didn’t answer her phone, and the radio is not working.”

            “Yea, Randy already tried.”

            “How did the zoo fare?”

            “Not well, if we get you out, or rather, when, there will be a lot of work to do.  It’s not a pretty site.”

            “Great---“

            “Who else is still on the ground that we will have to find?”

            “Besides Samantha and me, Colette and Tammy should all be around, try the office or nursery.  I was helping Shelly get the barnyard secure.”

            “Where’s Shelly and how many animals do you have with you?”

            “I have a couple of chickens with me.  Shelly should be around here somewhere.  Some of the barnyard animals should be secure, but I don’t know how many.  The storm happened so fast, we barely had enough time to take cover.  Find Samantha and you might find Tammy and Colette.  Is Randy here?”

            “Randy is here, he went to get a chain saw from the college.  Can you get yourself out?” Lyle looked around to see if Randy had returned.  He would go and get Jill by himself if he had to.

            “You mean from under all these boards and stuff?  I can try, but not without losing some of the chickens.  I can’t tell if they’re hurt because I can’t see them.  Shelly should be under here, but I’m not sure exactly where she went after we entered the barn.”

            “Steve, Randy and I are going to get started and come toward you.  Be patient.  Do what you can to find Shelly.”

            “Ok, thanks, Lyle.”

            “For what?”

            “I’ll see you soon.”

            Steve looked at Lyle, “So where is she?”

            “She’s in the barnyard exhibit, under a bunch of debris.  It was the barn; one of the other staff members was there.  She wasn’t sure where Samantha was.”
            “So, what do we do first?” exclaimed Steve.

            “Jill said to find the nursery building; there may be other zoo staff there.  She knows that Colette, Tammy, Samantha and Shelly was still here, for sure, but were not sure how many more. We have at least four more people to find.  It was a little chaotic.”

            Randy pulled up in the Jeep.  Following him were a few other cars.  Some were law enforcement, firefighters and some of the part-time zoo staff.  Randy knew the layout of the exhibits.

            Joe stepped out of his car.  “Oh, my God. How will this place get back on its feet?” He sat down rather quickly as he seemed to be in shock.

            Randy’s phone started ringing.  He looked at it, “It’s Samantha.”

            “Samantha, where are you?     Are you ok?    Who’s with you?” Randy shut his phone and walked back over toward Lyle and Steve.

            Randy took a deep breath.  “Samantha is safe in the nursery building with Tammy.  The raccoon kits are safe.  But she doesn’t know what the rest of the zoo looks like.”

            Lyle looked at the group.

            “Where’s the emergency plan located?  Hey, does anyone know where the emergency plan is?”

            Joe raised his hand, “I know where it is.”

            “Ok, where?” answered Steve.

            “In the office, a big red three ring binder.  There is one in every building; we just have to be able to get to one.”   

            Randy replied, “Ok, then let’s go find one and let’s get started finding the staff. Divide into groups.  Those of you who know where the barnyard exhibit is, go that way, take axes, chainsaws, wear protective gear, there may be broken glass, fencing or whatever.  The other group should find the nursery building; my guess is it may not be damaged.”

            “Do you think we have any loose animals?” someone asked.

            “Maybe, maybe not.  Some may have been secured in shelters, others, it’s questionable.  Remember find the keepers first.  Fortunately, there are no poisonous snakes or really large animals here,” finished Lyle.  He led one group and moved toward the barnyard.

            Randy’s group moved toward the nursery building.

            Both groups saw a large amount of destruction.  Fences broken, trees down.  They didn’t see too many animals, they did see that the buffalo huddled together.  The ducks and geese were still near their pond, but some of the fencing had disappeared.

            Steve had stayed near the zoo entrance.  He called dispatch and asked for a paramedic squad-they were already on their way.  He was hoping he wouldn’t have to call in the coroner.

            Lyle called several of his students.  They had brought a trailer from the college, which allowed for a mobile hospital.  Their job was to get ready for injured animals.

            Another car suddenly drove up.  Steve thought he recognized it, but he wasn’t sure.  When the driver stepped out, he knew.  It was Travis Wilkers.

            Travis looked around at the devastation around him.  He rubbed his hands together.  “This might be easier than I thought.  Wow.  It looks bad.  Maybe they will give up this time.”

            Steve sauntered over to where Travis was standing.
Can I ask why you are here?”

            “Not really. Yea, I wanted to see how bad the zoo got hit.”

            “Right…” answered the deputy.  “Unless you are here to help, then I suggest that you move along.  We don’t need any one just looking around and getting hurt.  Move along.”

            “Ok, I’ll leave.  See you around, “answered Travis.  “I’ll just come back and talk to the director later.”
            Randy’s group had reached the nursery building, which in spite of everything, had not suffered much damage, but then again, it was made of brick.  There were several trees down around the building, but overall, it was intact.

            He opened the door, “Samantha?  Tammy?”

            “Over here!”

            Randy and his group walked in the direction of the voice.  Samantha was sitting on the floor paging through a red three-ring binder.

            “Wow, you must be ok.  Things look pretty good in here.”

            Samantha gazed at him, “Yea, we’re ok.  Tammy is here and all the animals around here are safe, however, we don’t know what it looks like outside.”

            Joe spoke up, “Bad.”
            Randy chimed in.  “This is the only building standing.  Many of the exhibits are damaged.  It’s going to take a lot of work to get everything back together again.  Is that the emergency plan?”
            “Yea, as soon as we got inside, we found it.  The noise outside was deafening.  This place is built to withstand a hurricane.  Anyway, the phone tree is here, the plans for the different animals are here and all the numbers that we need for insurance and other information is here as well. Not to change the subject, but have you seen Lyle or Jill?”        “I’ve seen Lyle; he’s searching for Jill right now.  Where’s your cell?  I tried calling it and there was no answer.”

            “It’s in my pocket.  With all the noise outside, I wasn’t sure I would hear it.”
       “Here’s a missed call, from Jill, oh and one from you, sorry.”

            Joe interrupted, “So what do we do next?”

            Samantha replied, “We make sure that all the animals are safe, if they cannot be housed on site, then there is a list of places where we can house animals.”

            “Well, what are we waiting for?  Let’s get started!”

            Randy’s group started from the nursery building and checked nearby exhibits.  Several animals had found shelter within their enclosures, most had not ventured outside. 

            Jill tried moving her limbs.  Everything seemed to be fine, nothing broken.  She tried to lift some of the boards off.  There were too many, she could see the sky above her.  She could move around enough to use her cell phone.  She tried calling Shelly, but there was no answer.  The suddenly the phone rang.  It was Samantha.

“Hey, Jill, are you okay?”

“Yea, just buried under the roof of the barn.”

          “Who’s with you?”
“Shelly, I think, but she’s not answering her cell.  The chickens are okay, but since I can’t get out, they are kind of stuck too.”

          “Lyle’s coming; he’s bringing chain saws and help.  Stay still.”

          “Yea, I think I hear them.  Put the plan into effect.”

          “We have it in front of us.  Tammy is okay and the nursery building is secure, I have a group of people here and we will start from our end.”
          Jill could hear voices outside.

          “Gotta go, I’m going to get out of here.”

          “Jill, lift a board up so we can find you,” a male voice asked.

          She tried but everything was too heavy.  She moved her foot.

          Someone else said, “There!”

          Suddenly boards were being moved, the piece of sky was getting bigger, then Lyle’s face.

          “Are you ok?  Where are those chickens?  Where’s Shelly?”

          “I think I am ok.  The chickens should be near me.  There are cages over there somewhere or they can be taken to the nursery building.  Shelly, I’m not sure, try calling her name and watch where you step in case she is underneath some of these boards.”

          The group pulled Jill out of the rubble and Lyle carried her to where the paramedics were stationed.  Joe took charge of getting the chickens out of the rubble and caging them so that they were secure.

          Shelly was badly hurt.  She was only a few feet away from Jill, but had been hit by a piece of flying debris.  The firefighters with Lyle had a stretcher and got Shelly to the paramedics.  Soon an ambulance was heading toward the hospital.

          Jill checked out to be okay.  While Lyle was carrying her through the zoo, she took note of all of the damage she saw.  Many dollars would be spent to put the zoo back on its feet.

          Jill also observed that a large tree had ripped a hole in the roof of the zoo office.  The office had received some water damage from the rain; some of the records might be lost.  Others may have been lost with the wind damage.  In some of the other structures, the damage was not as obvious.  It might take a major miracle and many hours of physical labor to put the zoo back on its feet.