Henry was right. Anna had been behind them every step of the way until now and they had still been successful. There was nothing to do except keep moving forward with the Reddimus Society’s mission.
“What’s with the package?” Benny asked. Aunt Jane looked at the wrapped box she had carried up from the lobby.
“Oh, right. After the front desk clerk told me about those two suspicious characters, he remembered that a courier had dropped this off. Imagine my disappointment when I saw it was addressed to the four of you and not to me!” She winked and Benny giggled. “Go on. Let’s see what’s inside.”
Inside the package were four stuffed animals. They were kangaroos, downy and plush with shining glass eyes. They were light brown with dark-colored paws. Two had pouches, and two had no pouches. Violet took one with a pouch and gave it a hug to see how soft it was. It was very soft, but something crinkled when she hugged it. She looked and found a paper note in the stuffed animal’s pouch.
“What have you got there, Violet?” Aunt Jane asked.
“Please visit us at our island home, and we will help you on your way,” Violet read. “Our next clue!”
“Isn’t all of Australia an island?” Benny asked. “And a bunch of littler islands. How will we know where we’re supposed to visit?”
“Good question,” Jessie said.
“When I was in the lobby, I saw some flyers for different sightseeing places in Australia,” said Aunt Jane. “I believe one had kangaroos on it. You might go down and take a look.”
Aunt Jane’s suggestion sounded like a good one, so down to the lobby they went. Near the information desk there was a stand with dozens of flyers advertising all kinds of tourist and sightseeing activities. There were flyers about cruises, outback adventures, and snorkeling trips to the Great Barrier Reef.
“Half of these have pictures of kangaroos on them!” said Benny. “How will we know which one is right?”
“When people think of Australia, I guess they think of kangaroos,” Jessie agreed. “Maybe this is a dead end.”
“Wait, look at this one,” Violet said. She had been studying the advertisement rack, looking at each flyer one at a time. She pulled one out and showed the others. “It’s a place called Kangaroo Island!”
The flyer had a photo of four kangaroos on the front, two with pouches and two without. They looked just like the stuffed animals in the package. They brought the flyer back to their room and Benny arranged the stuffed animals on the bed so they matched the photo on the flyer.
“It says here that Kangaroo Island is a wildlife preserve,” Violet said, reading the flyer while Jessie looked up Kangaroo Island on the Internet. “We can reach it by ferry from a place called Adelaide.”
“It looks like Adelaide is a two-hour flight from here, in South Australia,” Jessie said. “We can make it there tomorrow if we take the Reddimus jet.”
Henry yawned and nodded.
“Then we should get to bed and rest up. Tomorrow we’re going to Kangaroo Island,” he said.
They all had a good sleep. Benny hugged his cozy stuffed kangaroo all night long. In the morning, they had a light breakfast and went to the airport. Aunt Jane was particularly interested in looking inside the Reddimus jet, which she had seen only from the outside. The Aldens reminded her that one of the pilots was an Argent spy.
“Don’t you worry,” Aunt Jane said. “I’m very good at keeping secrets! Maybe that’s what Tricia Silverton meant when she told her grandmother I was perfect for this trip.”
Emilio looked happy to see the Aldens, while Mr. Ganert simply looked relieved that they had returned with the next destination in mind.
“Our next stop is Adelaide,” Henry told the pilots. He didn’t say anything about Kangaroo Island.
“Adelaide!” said Emilio. “Very good. All aboard!”
The flight was a quick one compared with others they had taken. It seemed like hardly the blink of an eye before Mr. Ganert brought the plane down to the Adelaide airport. Aunt Jane suggested that they leave their stuffed kangaroos on the plane so they wouldn’t get lost. When they were ready to go, Mr. Ganert and Emilio stood near the door to see them off.
“Where are you headed next?” Emilio asked while Henry, Jessie, and Benny put their camera cases around their necks. The Reddimus boxes were safe inside the camera cases, and it was easy to keep a close eye on them around the two pilots. Thinking about how to reply to Emilio’s question, Benny and Violet looked at Jessie. “We’re not quite sure yet,” she said. “We hope to find out the next clue here in Adelaide.”
Mr. Ganert frowned. “We’ve flown all the way here, and you don’t even know where you’re going next? Surely you have some idea.”
“When they have an idea, they’ll be certain to tell you,” Aunt Jane said.
“Necessarily,” Mr. Ganert grumped, turning away and going back to the cockpit. “Or else you’ll have to learn to fly this plane yourselves!”
“Don’t worry about Mr. Ganert,” Emilio said. “He’s just eager to return the Reddimus items, I’m sure. Enjoy yourselves in Adelaide and let us know when you hear about the next clue.”
“We will. Thank you, Emilio,” Henry said.
Adelaide was smaller than Sydney but no less exciting. Aunt Jane showed the children how to use the bus map at the station. Even though she hadn’t been to Adelaide, she was good at reading maps, and soon enough they had a plan. They would ride a bus two hours to Cape Jervis, where they could catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island. The buses were well organized and easy to find, so soon enough they were watching the palm trees pass by from their bus seats.
The city faded away as the bus took them into the countryside of South Australia. The bus route went along the coast, where the ocean was so bright and clear they could see the seaweed and white sand below. Benny imagined all the fish and other animals that lived out there.
Cape Jervis was not really a town. It was more of a parking lot with a pier and some docks. The ferry that would take them to Kangaroo Island was parked at one of the docks. The Aldens thanked the bus driver and walked toward the dock. There were many tourists getting ready to board the ferry. Everyone was excited to get to Kangaroo Island.
“No sign of Anna Argent,” Henry said, relieved. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have one adventure without her!”
Aunt Jane chuckled. “But how else would that Anna Argent get a chance to travel the world?” she said. “If she weren’t trying to steal the Reddimus boxes, she might be awfully bored!”
The children laughed. It was funny to imagine Anna Argent bored at home. As long as Anna didn’t get away with stealing the artifacts, maybe it was just fine that she was getting to see all the fun and interesting places the Aldens were seeing.
Aunt Jane bought tickets for the ferry and they boarded. It was a large boat, big enough for all the tourists who were headed to Kangaroo Island. It was so big that it even had a place for some of the tourists’ cars, right on the boat. Benny watched the waves below the ferry as it left Cape Jervis. The breeze coming from the ocean was fresh and cool.
“What do you think, Benny?” Jessie asked. “How does the ferry compare to the other kinds of transportation we’ve taken?”
“I liked the train a lot,” said Benny. “It reminded me of our boxcar. But I also like flying in the plane.”
“What about riding the camels in Egypt?” Violet asked.
Benny shook his head. “They’re all great. I can’t decide.”
“Look, up there,” Henry said, pointing. There was an island in the distance. “That must be it.”
“I can’t wait to see some kangaroos!” Benny said.
A Curious Acrostic
Kangaroo Island wasn’t very large, but there was plenty to see and do. Where the ferry docked, signs advertised several different wildlife sanctuaries, along with shuttles to the hotels and resorts on the island.
“My goodness,” exclaimed Aunt Jane. “I didn’t realize there would be so many pl
aces to visit on one little island. How will you know which place is the right one?”
At first, Jessie wasn’t sure either. The five of them looked around for another clue that might help them on their way. Then Jessie saw a young woman in a tour guide’s outfit wearing a purple bandanna around her neck.
“Excuse me,” Jessie said. “Are you…are you a friend of owls?”
The woman laughed.
“Why, yes I am!” she said. “Hoot, hoot! You must be the Aldens. Jessie, is it? And you must be Henry, Violet, and Benny! I’m Laura. Tricia let me know you were coming.”
“Friend of owls?” Aunt Jane asked.
“It’s kind of an inside joke,” Violet explained.
Friends of owls was a secret greeting among the Reddimus Society—or, at least, that’s what the Aldens had been told. Most people thought it was a silly thing to say, but it had helped the Aldens find their Reddimus contacts, so Violet was very glad for it. Aunt Jane chuckled to herself as they followed Laura to her jeep.
“Tricia asked me to take the four of you to the Wildlife Sanctuary here on Kangaroo Island. I work there part-time as a guide when I’m not working here. I’m a naturalist,” Laura explained.
“Does a naturalist’s job have to do with nature?” Violet asked.
“Yes, it does! I study animals in nature to understand their needs and behaviors. Then I use that information to help humans and animals live better together. I’ve been studying the wallabies out here on Kangaroo Island.”
“What’s a wallaby?” Benny asked.
“Oh, it’s like a small kangaroo! They’re very cute. I’m sure we’ll see some when we reach the sanctuary.”
It was a short drive to the sanctuary. When they arrived, Laura parked her jeep and showed them to the visitor center. There were all kinds of maps and informational signs on the walls. There was even a little gift shop with a sign that said the money went to help improve the sanctuary and help it care for the animals.
“I just need to check in, and then we’ll go on the tour,” Laura said. “Give me one moment.”
While Laura went to take care of checking in, the Aldens looked around the visitor center. Jessie walked through the gift shop and looked at the keychains and travel accessories. Benny and Violet took a look at the pictures of the Australian wildlife on the signs. Many of the Australian animals had long names that were hard to read. Violet helped Benny sound out the letters.
“P-L-A-T-Y-P-U-S,” he read. “Platypus! I’ve seen pictures of those in books. They’re from Australia too?”
The platypus in the picture was a funny animal that looked like the cross between a beaver and a duck. It had a furry body and tail, but on its face was a flat beak. It looked almost like a made-up animal, but there was a photograph of a real one next to the picture.
“Australia has many unique animals,” Laura said. She had come back and was holding five visitor badges on lanyards. “There’s a special word for animals that only come from one place. We call them endemic to that place.”
“Endemic,” Violet repeated. “So kangaroos are endemic to Australia?”
“Exactly!”
“Platypuses are endemic to Australia too!” Benny said. He thought about some of the other animals they had seen. “We saw elephants in Thailand, but elephants also live in Africa,” he said. “So they are not endemic because they come from more than one place.”
“You’ve got it, Benny,” Laura said. “Now, here are your tour badges. Let’s go see the wildlife sanctuary!”
They followed Laura through the visitor center and out the rear exit. The area behind the visitor center looked like a park, with open grassy spaces and other areas that were shaded with trees. But the best part about the park were the dozen kangaroos that were hopping and foraging in the sanctuary. Some played with each other and others lounged in the shade.
“They’re so fluffy!” said Jessie. “Look at the little ones!”
“Some of the little ones aren’t kangaroos but wallabies,” Laura said. “You can tell by looking closely at their forearms. A young kangaroo might be the same size as a wallaby, but its forearms are longer. Here, you can feed them!”
Laura gave them each a plastic bag full of food pellets. The kangaroos and wallabies were not frightened of humans. In fact, some of them hopped right up and ate pellets out of Benny’s and Violet’s hands. Aunt Jane fed some of the wallabies too.
“It reminds me of feeding the goats back on the farm,” she said wistfully. “Oh, look at the little one in the pouch!”
One of the kangaroos had a baby in its pouch. The baby kangaroo’s head poked out as he looked around.
“It looks cozy in there,” said Benny.
“It’s also much safer,” Laura said. “Baby kangaroos—we call them joeys—are very, very small when they’re born. They stay safe and grow in their mothers’ pouches. That way the mother can take the baby wherever she goes, and she doesn’t have to worry about predators.”
Jessie listened to Laura and looked down at her camera case, where the coin was. The camera case was good, but she wished she had something even safer. The Argents were still following them, and they might know the code to the box. It seemed like if they let their guard down even once, the artifact might be stolen. What if she accidentally set the camera case down and forgot it, even for a minute? Jessie sighed, thinking how nice it would be to have a pouch like the kangaroo. Then she could keep the artifact with her all the time.
After they fed the kangaroos, Laura showed them a trail that went through the park. On the other side of some of the trees was another building that had an attached outdoor pen.
“The sanctuary is sort of like a zoo,” Benny said.
“It is, a bit,” Laura agreed. “Wildlife sanctuaries are places where injured or endangered animals can go to be treated for medical conditions. Sometimes animals that are injured are unable to go back into the wild, so they live here where we can help take care of them. Many zoos are like that too.”
Laura showed them into the pen. The trees in the pen were very green and had a wonderful, minty smell.
“What kind of trees are these?” Henry asked. “They smell great.”
“These are eucalyptus trees. Eucalyptus oil is used in many soaps and balms because of that wonderful smell. Eucalyptus is also the food of one of Australia’s most famous animals—” Laura pointed up into the trees where a gray, furry animal was climbing.
“A koala!” Benny exclaimed.
“That’s Sam, our koala,” Laura said. “I’ll try to get him down so you can meet him.”
Sam the koala seemed happy to see Laura, probably because she had an apple slice for him in her pocket. He climbed down from his tree and onto Laura’s arm and shoulder. The Aldens took turns petting him while he ate his apple snack. Aunt Jane even took a photo of him with her phone.
“It looks just like your grandfather when he was a baby,” she explained. “I’ll send him a photo of it later!”
They all laughed at the thought. Laura put Sam back in his tree when her radio chirped.
“This is Laura, over,” she said.
“This is the front gate,” said the voice over the radio. “Are you with the Alden children? We just received some mail for them. Over.”
“Yes, I’m with them. Will you have it sent to the visitor center? We’ll return right away. Over and out!” Laura put her radio back on her belt.
“You weren’t expecting any mail, were you?” asked Aunt Jane.
“Yes and no,” Henry said. “We are waiting for some clues from Tricia, but we didn’t know when they would come.”
“Then let’s get back to the visitor center and see what’s waiting for us!”
Back at the visitor center, the clerk handed Henry the envelope. He read it out loud:
Unique to us, and in this order,
An acrostic to help you find what you need.
He takes care of one of these:
NUMBAT
&n
bsp; ECHIDNA
DINGO
WALLABY
EMU
BILBY
BANDICOOT
“What are all those words?” Benny asked. “Are they names? They’re tricky!”
“Look, one says wallaby,” Violet pointed out. “That’s one of the animals we saw on the tour.”
“Maybe the other words are also animals,” Henry said. “Benny, did you see any of these words while you were looking at the animal pictures here?”
Benny took the note and went to the signs where he had been looking at pictures of animals. He compared the words in the note with the words on the signs.
“Yes, look! Here’s one that says echidna. And this one says emu! It’s a big bird like an ostrich!”
One by one, they were able to find the animal names on the signs.
“At least now we know they are all animals,” Jessie said.
“Unique to us,” Benny repeated, thinking about what it could mean. Then he remembered the word they had learned. “Do you think the part that says unique to us means the same thing as endemic?”
Sure enough, the signs said each animal was endemic to Australia.
“Good thinking, Benny,” Henry said.
“But we still don’t know what the message means,” Violet added. “There’s a word in the riddle I don’t know. What’s an acrostic?”
“An acrostic is a type of puzzle where the first letter of each word spells out a different word,” Aunt Jane said. She had been following along and listening to the children as they worked through the riddle.
Jessie snapped her fingers. “Oh, right! I remember now. In school, we did acrostics of our names. We would write the letters of our names on the left side of a sheet of paper. Then we would use those letters to spell words that described us! I’ll show you. We’ll use Benny’s name.”
Jessie took out her notebook and a pencil. First she wrote Benny’s name on the left. Then they took turns thinking of words that described Benny:
BRILLIANT