"That's not much help," I said. "That just means humans are kind of in-between - still partly wild animals, doing whatever it takes to survive, and partly . . . partly I don't know what.

Maybe something more than the other animals."

"Well, I know one thing. All the animals take care of themselves. But only one animal has the intelligence and the power to help save all the other species."

I nodded. "You're pretty smart sometimes, Jake," I said.

"Just sometimes?"

"You're right. Only one animal can help to save all the other animals. Only humans can do that. Of course, we have to save ourselves first." I sighed. "It's still too complicated." I saw a shadow flash overhead. I looked up and saw Tobias. He dropped down into the trees and reappeared on a branch just up the trail.

"Hi, Tobias," I called up to him.

"Hi, Cassie. Hello everyone. Hello, hello, hello." He was definitely feeling pretty smug about something.

"What's up, Bird-boy?" Marco asked him.

"I've just been checking on our friends at the logging camp. They now have two entire truck-loads of juice. They've made trip after trip for juice. They dug out a big pit in the ground and made a kind of swimming pool filled with the stuff. Visser Three's been in it most of the night and all this morning. Judging by the way everyone is staying back, I'm guessing he still stinks."

"Plus," Tobias added with a slightly evil laugh, "the Visser is now a very lovely, attractive shade of purple."

"Gee, that's too bad," Rachel said. "I feel so sorry for him."

"Soon he may begin to suspect the truth," Ax said.

85 "Think maybe we should have told him the truth? That it's tomato juice, not grape juice that washes away skunk smell?" I asked.

We all looked at each other, and broke up laughing at the same moment.

"Nah, I didn't think so," I said.

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