“Move down a bit,” Akello instructs. “That way.” She motions with her head. “We want to scoop her out, not push her down.”

Three on one side, three on the other, the elephants reach out for each other’s trunks, creating a kind of cradle.

“Okay, now,” says Akello, “lower carefully!”

Down they go into the muddy water. Ruby nearly loses her footing, so I grab her tail with my teeth.

It doesn’t really help, and she yelps, “Ouch!” but my heart’s in the right place.

Kudzoo thrashes her tiny arms. “Stay calm,” I call. Easy for me to say.

She looks over at me, and I’ll never forget the fear in her dark eyes.

Then she vanishes below the surface.

team elephant

“Hurry!” Ruby cries.

The elephants bend lower, moving like a giant elephant shovel.

“Where is she?” Masika asks.

“Lower,” says Akello. “Lower, sisters!”

“There!” Ruby yells. “No . . . wait! There!”

“Up!” Akello commands, and the interlocked trunks rise from the muddy water to reveal a tiny, trembling baby gorilla, sitting in their makeshift sling.

“Kudzoo,” says Akello, “stay calm, baby. We’re gonna toss you to safety, okay?”

Kudzoo gives a little nod.

“On my count,” says Akello, “start swinging. One, two, three!”

Up and over go the trunks, and up and over goes Kudzoo. She lands with a little plop on the gorilla side of the moat, right next to Masika’s rear legs.

“Good work, everyone!” says Akello. “And good thinking, Ruby!”

“Th-thanks, elephants!” says Kudzoo, wiping mud from her eyes. “That was fun. Can we do it again?”

Akello takes a deep breath. “Maybe later, sweetheart.”

Quickly I make my way back over the moat. “Kudzoo,” I say, “follow me. Let’s go find your ape peeps.”

“Can I go with Bob?” Ruby asks Akello.

Akello touches Ruby’s back with her trunk. “I’d much rather have you stay here, dear. And it’s ‘may I.’”

“But Uncle Ivan!” Ruby pleads.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” I tell Akello.

“I’m going,” Ruby says in her most determined voice. “Maybe I can help. I helped just now.”

Akello hesitates but finally gives a slow nod. Probably she figures there’s no arguing with Ruby.

She’s right on that one.

Ruby crosses the moat and joins Kudzoo and me. “Be careful,” Akello warns. “There’s more of this storm coming.”

“I got her, Akello,” I say.

“You’d better have her,” she warns.

“I think I flew, Bob,” says Kudzoo as we weave our way through the wasteland that was Gorilla World.

“Yeah, me too,” I say. “It’s that kinda day.”

what’s out there

A handful of humans—firefighters and police, mostly—have begun to roam the grounds, checking out the damage. We pass a park employee with a weapon slung over his shoulder and a net in one hand.

“Tranq gun,” he tells a passing police officer. “We don’t know what’s out there.”