Trainee knight, Sir Ethan, was enjoying his supper, and thinking about which book he was going to read before bedtime, when he heard shouting from outside the castle dining room. The door burst open, and in rushed the zookeeper.
“Sir Ethan, Sir Ethan, you must help us. All the animals are in the wrong places.”
“What do you mean ‘in the wrong places’?” asked Sir Ethan.
“The giraffe’s in a tunnel, and the crocodile’s up a tree. Oh, it’s terrible. You must come quickly.”
“But I haven’t finished my supper, and I’m not allowed to leave the table until I’ve finished.”
“I don’t think anybody will mind just this once. This is an emergency,” said the zookeeper.
So, Sir Ethan followed the zookeeper out of the castle, and down to the zoo near the middle of town. They went straight over to pets’ corner, where the rabbits had their burrows.
“He’s down there,” said the zookeeper, pointing into one of the tunnels. “The giraffe’s down there.”
Sir Ethan peered into the tunnel, but he couldn’t see anything.
“Have you got a torch?” he asked.
The zookeeper gave him a torch, and he shone it in the entrance.
“Oi, turn that light out. You’re blinding me,” shouted a bad-tempered voice from inside.
“Is that you giraffe?” asked Sir Ethan.
“Of course it’s me. Who are you?” answered the voice.
“I’m Sir Ethan, trainee knight.”
“Well use some of your training, and get me out. It’s very hot and uncomfortable down here, and it smells of rabbits. This is no place for a giraffe.”
“Why are you doing down there anyway?” asked Sir Ethan.
“I didn’t put myself here, you silly trainee knight. I was minding my own business chewing on some leaves. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and suddenly I was here.”
“Very odd,” said Sir Ethan to the zookeeper. “You said something about a crocodile up a tree?”
“Yes, I’ll show you.”
“Where are you going?” shouted the giraffe.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back. I’ll think of some way to get you out of there,” said Sir Ethan.
The disgruntled ‘huh’ from inside the tunnel suggested the giraffe did not have much faith in the trainee knight. But if Sir Ethan thought the giraffe was bad tempered, that was nothing compared to the crocodile. The zookeeper led him to the lions’ enclosure, and there, lying on his back on one of the branches half way up a tree, was the crocodile. The lions were pacing around the base of the trunk, looking up and licking their lips in anticipation of a nice meal.
“Oh, great,” said the crocodile. “I’m lying upside down up a tree, one false move and I’m going to be eaten by lions, and you bring a boy to gawp at me.”
“This is Sir Ethan. He’s a trainee knight, and he saved the jelly baby crop from the Bonkers.”
“I don’t care about jelly babies. I don’t even like jelly babies. I like fish and frogs, and I like lying at the bottom of the lake, not upside down in some rotten tree.”
“What are you doing up there then?” asked Sir Ethan.
“I didn’t put myself up here. I was having a snooze in the shallows, and when I woke up I was lying on the branch above this one. Without thinking I rolled on my side to have a scratch, and fell off. Now I’m stuck upside down. I hate being upside down, and I hate trees, and I hate leaves, and, most of all, I hate being eaten by lions.”
Sir Ethan burst out laughing at the thought of the crocodile falling off one branch and landing upside down on another.
“Oh, I’m glad you find it amusing,” said the crocodile. “When I get out of here I’m going to bite your leg off. See if you find that amusing.”
That made Sir Ethan laugh even more.
“Don’t worry crocodile, I’ll get you out of there. Are there any other animals in the wrong places?” he asked the zookeeper.
“Yes, several. Follow me.”
In the tropical house the penguin was stuck up a banana tree. He was too hot and miserable to even bother about complaining. All he wanted was to be back in his lovely, cool pool. In the middle of the shark pool the gorilla was sitting on a small rock, desperately trying not to fall in. The sharks were circling round him, and, just like the lions, looking forward to a nice meal. The kangaroo was scrunched up inside a glass cage with the stick insects. Even though he knew it must be very uncomfortable for the kangaroo, Sir Ethan had to try hard not to laugh at such an absurd sight. Finally, the ostrich was sat on a perch high in the vultures’ cage. It was a long way to fall for a bird that could not fly.
“The funny thing is, none of them can remember how they got there,” said the zookeeper.
“I think I know what might have happened,” said Sir Ethan. “Let’s go to the zoo shop.”
“The shop? What for?” asked the zookeeper.”
“You’ll see.”
Sir Ethan asked the zoo shopkeeper if she had sold any model zoos that day.
“Why yes. I sold one to a young George this afternoon. It was too big for him to carry home, so we had to deliver it. Here’s his address.”
Sir Ethan and the zookeeper went to George’s house, and asked if they could see his model zoo.
“There you are,” said Sir Ethan. “George has put the animals away in the wrong boxes.”
Sure enough, when he had finished playing with his new toy, George had put everything away, but, unfortunately, not in the right boxes. The giraffe was in the box meant for the rabbits and guinea pigs from pets’ corner. The crocodile was in the lions’ box. The penguin and the ostrich, both flightless birds, were in the box meant for birds that could fly. The kangaroo was in the insect box, and the gorilla was in the box for the whales and sharks.
“All we have to do is put them in the right boxes, and everything should be back to normal,” said Sir Ethan.
“Well done,” said the zookeeper. “I’d never have thought of that. Let’s go back to the zoo, and see if everything is alright now.”
“No thank you,” laughed Sir Ethan. “Crocodile might still want to bite my leg off. And, besides, I still have an unfinished steak pie to eat, which I hope Cook has been keeping warm for me.”