“Is this it?” Melanie questioned.

“I guess,” Kevin said. “The building is new to me.”

Kevin switched off the lights and the engine. With the clearing open to the sky the level of illumination was adequate. For a moment no one moved.

“What’s the story?” Kevin asked. “Are we going to check it out or what?”

“Might as well,” Melanie said. “We’ve come this far.” She opened her door and got out. Kevin did the same.

“I think I’ll stay in the car,” Candace said.

Kevin went to the building and tried the door. It was locked. He shrugged. “I can’t imagine what’s in there.” Kevin slapped a mosquito on his forehead.

“How do we get to the island?” Melanie asked.

Kevin pointed to the right. “There’s a track over there. It’s only about fifty yards to the water’s edge.”

Melanie glanced up at the sky. It was a pale lavender. “It’s going to be dark pretty soon. Do you have a flashlight in the car?”

“I think so,” Kevin said. “More important, I have some mosquito spray. We’re going to get eaten alive out here unless we use it.”

They went back to the car. Just as they arrived, Candace climbed out.

“I can’t stay in here by myself,” she said. “It’s too spooky.”

Kevin got the mosquito spray. While the women doused themselves, he searched for the flashlight. He found it in the glove compartment.

After spraying himself, Kevin motioned for the women to follow him. “Stay close,” he said. “The crocodiles and the hippos come out of the water at night.”

“Is he joking?” Candace asked Melanie.

“I don’t think so,” Melanie said.

As soon as they entered the path, the illumination fell considerably although it was still light enough to walk without the flashlight. Kevin led while the two women crowded behind. The closer they got to the water the louder the chorus of insects and frogs became.

“How did I get myself into this?” Candace questioned. “I’m no outdoors person. I can’t even conceive of a crocodile or a hippo outside of a zoo. Hell, any bug bigger than my thumbnail terrifies me, and spiders, forget it.”

All of the sudden, there was a crashing noise off to the left. Candace let out a muffled scream, as she grabbed Melanie who then did likewise. Kevin whimpered and switched on the light. He pointed the beam in the direction of the noise, but it only penetrated a few feet.

“What was that?” Candace demanded when she could find her voice.

“Probably a duiker,” Kevin said. “They’re a small breed of antelope.”

“Antelope or elephant,” Candace said. “It scared me.”

“It scared me, too,” Kevin said. “Maybe we should go back and return in the daytime.”

“We’ve come all this way for crissake,” Melanie said. “We’re there. I can hear the water.”

For a moment no one moved. Sure enough, they could hear water lapping against the shore.

“What happened to all the night creatures?” Candace asked.

“Good question,” Kevin said. “The antelope must have scared them as well.”

“Turn the light off,” Melanie said.

As soon as Kevin did, they all could see the shimmering surface of the water through the vegetation. It looked like liquid silver.

Melanie led the way as the chorus of night creatures recommenced. The path opened up into another clearing at the edge of the river. In the middle of the clearing was a dark object almost the size of the garage back where they’d left the car. Kevin walked up to it. It wasn’t hard to figure out what it was: it was the bridge.

“It’s a telescoping mechanism,” Kevin said. “That’s why Alphonse said that it could grow.”

About thirty feet across the water was Isla Francesca. In the fading light, its dense vegetation appeared midnight-blue. Directly across from the telescoping bridge was a concrete structure that served as the support for the bridge when it was extended. Beyond that was an expansive clearing that extended to the east.

“Try extending the bridge,” Melanie suggested.

Kevin switched on the flashlight. He found the control panel. There were two buttons: one red, the other green. He pushed the red one. When nothing happened, he pushed the green. When there still wasn’t a reaction, he noticed a keyhole with the slot aligned with off.

“You need a key,” he called.

Melanie and Candace had walked over to the water’s edge.

“There’s a bit of current,” Melanie said. Leaves and other debris floated by slowly.

Candace looked up. The top branches of some of the trees that lined either bank almost touched. “Why do the creatures stay on the island?” she asked.

“Apes and monkeys don’t go in the water, particularly deep water,” Melanie explained. “That’s why zoos only need a moat for their primate exhibits.”

“What about crossing in the trees?” Candace asked.

Kevin joined the women at the riverbank. “The bonobos are relatively heavy fellows,” he explained, “particularly ours. Most of them are already over a hundred pounds, and the branches up there aren’t nearly strong enough to support their weight. Back before we put the first animals on the island, there were a couple of questionable places so those trees were cut down. But colobus monkeys still go back and forth.”

“What are all those square objects in the field?” Melanie asked.

Kevin shined the flashlight. Its beam wasn’t strong enough to make much difference at that distance. He turned it off and squinted in the half light. “They look like transport cages from the animal center,” he said.

“I wonder what they are doing out there?” Melanie asked. “There’re so many of them.”

“No idea,” Kevin said.

“How can we get some of the bonobos to appear?” Candace asked.

“By this time they’re probably settling down for the night,” Kevin said. “I doubt if we can.”

“What about the float?” Melanie asked. “The mechanism that pulls it across must be like a clothesline. If it makes noise, they might hear it. It would be like a dinner bell and might bring them around.”

“Guess it’s worth a try,” Kevin said. He glanced up and down the water’s edge. “Trouble is, we don’t have any idea where the float may be.”

“I can’t imagine it would be far,” Melanie said. “You go east, I’ll go west.”

Kevin and Melanie walked in opposite directions. Candace stayed were she was, wishing she were back in her room in the hospital quarters.

“Here it is!” Melanie called out. She’d followed a path in the dense foliage for a short distance before coming to a pulley attached to a thick tree. A heavy rope hung around the pulley. One end disappeared into the water. The other end was tied to a four-foot square float nestled against the shore.

Kevin and Candace joined her. Kevin shined the flashlight across to the island. On the other side a similar pulley was attached to a similar tree.

Kevin handed the flashlight to Melanie and grasped the rope that drooped into the water. When he pulled, he could see the pulley on the other side swing out from the trunk of the tree.

Kevin pulled on the rope hand over hand. The pulleys complained bitterly with high-pitched squeaking noises. The float immediately moved away from the shore on its way to the other side.

“This might work,” Kevin said. While he pulled, Melanie swept the other shore with the flashlight beam. When the float was halfway across, there was a loud splash to their right as a large object dropped into the water from the island.

Melanie shined the light in the direction of the splash. Two glowing slits of light reflected back from the surface of the water. Peering at them was a large crocodile.

“Good lord!” Candace said as she stepped back from the water.

“It’s okay,” Kevin said. He let go of the rope, reached down and picked up a stout stick. He threw the stick at the croc. With another loud splash the crocodile disappeared beneath the water.

“Oh, great!” Candace said. “Now we have no idea where he is.”