The water laps at my mouth, foul tasting and frigid. “Now,” I say to my sister. “Get on my back now. I’m saving you, whether you like it or not.”

Something in my choked voice scares her, I guess, because she leaps right onto my back with a horrified yelp.

I blink back muddy water. A silver presence looms before me.

Still, I’m not entirely sure it’s him until I get a real big ol’ whiff of banana.

“Hey, Bob,” says Ivan.

giant monkey and sea monster

The screeches of terror are earsplitting. And my poor ears have endured plenty by this point.

“Folks!” I cry. “Relax! He’s here to save us!”

“Monkey!” screams the orange cat. “Giant monkey!”

“I beg your pardon,” says Ivan.

The bunny cowers in a corner of her cage. “If King Kong is here to eat us, I’d rather drown!”

“Sea serpent!” screams the beagle.

An arched gray trunk glides past.

“Ruby!” I exclaim. She’s just tall enough to keep her head above the water.

“Ivan! Ruby!” Snickers calls in a delighted voice. “Over here, dears! Long time no see!”

“Hey, Snickers!” Ruby says.

Snickers wags her drenched tail puff. “My, how you’ve grown, sweetie!”

“Excuse me,” says Gray Muzzle, “but maybe the happy reunion could wait till we’re, you know, not underwater?”

Ivan taps his chin. He’s always slow, always deliberate. I like that about the guy.

Except when I’m about to drown.

“We need to get all of you to higher ground,” he says at last. “But the current’s tough to fight, even for Ruby and me.”

“There’s always the roof,” I say. “But it’s damaged.”

Ivan nods. “Seems there’s a tree on it.”

“Look, Uncle Bob!” Ruby says, paddling back and forth. “I’m an ele-mermaid!”

Kid always makes me smile. “Good work, Ruby!”

“I’ve got an idea,” says Ivan. “It’ll take multiple trips, so I’m going to start with the smallest creatures and work from there.”

My sister gazes down at me from her perch on my back. “You actually know this . . . ape?”

“He’s my best pal. Ivan and I go way back.”

A long pause follows.

“Bob,” Boss finally says, “you weren’t kidding. You really have had an interesting life.”

to safety

One thing about being a silverback. That strength-of-eight-men thing can come in handy.

Ivan starts with the bunny and the dachshund, one in each arm, along with the two cats perched on his shoulder and head.

One more trip, this time with the beagle and Snickers, and then Boss and me are on our way. Ruby holds tight to Gray Muzzle’s collar and he manages to paddle alongside her, using Ruby as ballast.

It takes us a while to cross the street—the current’s swift, and the water’s up to Ruby’s neck in places.