“Uncle Bob!” The sound of my name cuts through the gloom like a shaft of sun. Ruby runs to the opposite edge of the water. She’s maybe eight feet away, but I can barely make her out in the torrential rain.

“You stay there,” I yell, trying to be heard over the wind. “I’ll come to you.”

I follow the bank until I come to a spot where several chunks of wall have tumbled into the water. Three careful leaps and I’m across.

Ruby runs to greet me. She wraps her mud-coated trunk around my neck, and boy oh boy, am I happy to see that sweet little elephant.

“You hurt, Ruby?” I ask. “Is everyone all right?”

Ruby sniffles. “Yes, but—come quick.” She dashes off before I can ask anything more.

Five of Ruby’s aunts stand by the elephant side of the moat. Each one has her trunk plunged deep in the dark, muddy water. They look like a bunch of kids trying to find a lost toy in a swimming pool.

It’s almost funny. Until I see what they’re reaching for.

A baby gorilla is in the moat.

The tiny gal keeps grabbing for a trunk to hold on to, then slipping free. Her terrified screeches fill the air.

It’s Kudzoo. Ivan’s favorite.

an idea

“I’m going in,” says Masika, one of the younger aunts.

“Might make things worse,” Akello cautions. “Displace the mud, pull her down toward the bottom.”

“I could go in,” I suggest, the words popping out before I can swallow them.

“It’s more mud than water, Bob.” Akello shakes her head. “You’ll get as stuck as Kudzoo.”

I don’t exactly argue the point.

“I’ve got an idea,” comes a small voice.

All the aunties turn to Ruby, and she looks startled to have their complete attention.

“A couple of us get on the other side of the moat,” Ruby says. “Grab trunks. We’ll make like a, whaddya call it—”

“A sling!” I exclaim. “A hammock, like the gorillas have.”

“I don’t know, Ruby.” Akello sounds doubtful.

Kudzoo grabs for Masika’s trunk with both hands. “Wait,” Masika says. “Think I’ve got her this time.”

Masika lifts her trunk with deliberate slowness, carefully trying to support the baby gorilla, but once again, Kudzoo can’t hold on. She lets out a despairing cry.

Down she goes, lower this time, her nose and eyes just visible.

“Okay,” Akello says, with a nod at Ruby. “Let’s give Ruby’s idea a try. Masika, Laheli, Elodie, cross over to the far side. Zaina, Ruby, and I will take this side.

All three elephants move with surprising quickness to the spot where I crossed. They gallop back until they’re facing us.

It’s strange to see them on the other side of the moat. With the wall destroyed, they’re technically in Ivan and Kinyani’s domain.