Camouflage by Bindi Irwin Page B

that’s nice,” Terri said. She turned to Dr. Timothy to ask him to begin the tour of the grounds, but Cynthia interrupted once more.
    â€œIt’s for the opening of the park, of course, and there will be a traditional Chinese banquet at my home. A who’s who of the Singaporean social scene will be there. My husband is away on business, but everyone else will be there. And media—there will be tons of media! You will be my guests of honor. I won’t take no for an answer.” Her head swiveled around as she caught sight of a passing employee. “Rupert,” she screeched to him. “Get one of the boys to empty his boat. I need to get back to the mainland pronto!”
    She tottered off toward the ferry with a dismissive wave to Timothy and the Irwins, who felt like they’d just been hit by a mini tornado.

Dr. Timothy turned to his guests. “Ah, I’m afraid I didn’t get a chance to warn you about Mrs. Yeoh,” he said sheepishly. His mobile phone rang. “Excuse me, I need to get this.” He moved away from the others and started speaking quickly in Mandarin.
    Terri tried to be tactful. “Well, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite like her before.”
    â€œMe neither,” piped up Bindi.
    â€œI hope I don’t ever meet anyone like her again,” added Robert.
    â€œRobert, that’s rude,” scolded Terri.
    â€œNo it’s not, Mum, it’s truthful,” replied Bindi on Robert’s behalf. “She was wearing a snakeskin suit!”
    Terri shuddered at the memory. “Yes, it was horrible. But don’t say anything to Timothy about her. Anyway, it sounds like we’ll be having dinner at her place tomorrow night.”
    â€œDo we have to?” Bindi asked.
    â€œYes, for Timothy. We’re here to support him, and that dinner is obviously important.”
    Robert was shuffling his feet in the dirt. “When can we see the reptiles, Mum?”
    â€œLook, why don’t you and Bindi have a look around. I’ll wait here for Timothy to finish his call and follow you.”
    â€œOkay, Mum.”
    The siblings looked at each other excitedly and raced off down the path.
    â€œLet’s go visit Dr. Timothy’s favorite reptile,” Bindi suggested.
    They wandered down a dirt path toward a large enclosure, passing along the way a pair of Philippine sailfin lizards and a beautiful Fijian crested iguana. Next up was a large enclosure, where a regal-looking Komodo dragon was sunning herself on a large rock.
    â€œThere she is. That must be Saffron. Isn’t she fantastic?!”
    The kids knew that Dr. Timothy had been very lucky to get Saffron. Komodo dragons came from Komodo Island, in nearby Indonesia, but they were critically endangered. Dr. Timothy had plans to start a breeding program within the reptile park, and he hoped that in years to come, Saffron would produce offspring to help increase Komodo dragon numbers worldwide. So not only was she gorgeous, she was also vitally important to the success of Dr. Timothy’s long-term plans for the reptile park.
    Bindi looked admiringly at Saffron, who remained oblivious to the attention and raised her neck farther toward the sun. “I don’t think I’ve seen a Komodo who’s come straight from the wild before,” she said. “She’s definitely bigger than any female Komodo that I’ve seen before, don’t you think?”
    â€œDefinitely. Nice long toes too,” added Robert.
    â€œShe’s drop-dead gorgeous,” said Bindi.
    Robert frowned. “I hope you don’t mean her,” he said, pointing farther along the path to where Mrs. Yeoh was having an animated conversation with a construction worker.
    â€œHmm, that’s strange, isn’t it?” said Bindi. “Wasn’t she ordering someone around, telling them she needed to get back to the mainland ‘pronto’?”
    Just then,