Forest Fire by J. Burchett Page B

Stephen nodded. “A female may only have two or three babies in her whole lifetime.” He pressed the screen again and a photo of a smiling young Bornean with black hair appeared. “Here’s Mat Ginting. He set up the reservation ten years ago to help preserve the rainforest and its endangered inhabitants.”
    â€œHe must be very brave,” said Zoe. “I read that there are a lot of people who’ll do anything to snatch rainforest land.”
    â€œIndeed, Zoe,” agreed Dr Fisher. “Mat’s one in a million. He’s been running the reservation against all the odds, but money’s becoming increasingly tight so he’s going to start taking paying visitors.”
    â€œApparently there’s a grand opening in a few days,” Erika added, “which is perfect timing for us. Tourists will be able to stay there and see orang-utans in their natural habitat.”
    â€œSo you want us to pose as visitors to the reservation, locate Kawan and bring him back to his home?” asked Ben.
    Dr Fisher nodded. “Of course, Mat Ginting mustn’t know about our organisation. And that’s why you two are perfect for the job. He’s unlikely to suspect a couple of kids.”
    â€œWe’re pretending you’ve won a competition by writing about endangered wildlife,” said Erika.
    â€œErika’s idea.” Uncle Stephen beamed. “And a very good one.”
    â€œWe’ve told Mr Ginting that the prize was a trip to a sanctuary in Brunei,” Erika continued, “but unfortunately the people there had to cancel at the last minute because of illness. We asked if he could take you instead and he was delighted. In fact, you’re going to be his very first guests.”
    â€œSo you need to be on your way,” said Uncle Stephen eagerly.
    â€œWhat about our BUGs?” Ben reminded him.
    â€œOf course!” Their godfather handed over what looked like two games consoles. The Brilliant Undercover Gizmos had a lot of useful functions: working as communicators, scent dispersers, translators and much more.
    â€œI’ve invented a new gadget especially for this mission,” said Dr Fisher, passing over a belt and pair of boots each. “Inside the boots there is the EEL – the Electronic Escape Line – a top-of-the-range bungee cord to prevent an over-speedy descent.”
    â€œIn other words, it will save you if you’re falling from a height!” explained Erika. “And you may be spending a lot of time in the trees in Borneo. All you need to do to activate it is press the silver button on the belt. Now, time to get you out of those wetsuits!”
    â€œHope you get Kawan back,” called Uncle Stephen, diving back under the console.
    â€œYou can count on us!” declared Ben.



CHAPTER
TWO
    Erika drove the hired jeep through a pair of wooden gates and parked in a bare earth courtyard.
    Bright, new wooden buildings joined to form two sides of the square. The whole courtyard was hung with colourful bunting and flags. Trees lined the fourth side and towered over the roofs all around, as if the rainforest was just waiting to take back this little space.
    â€œThe Adilah Reservation,” announced Ben. “We’re here!”
    He and Zoe jumped out of the car and gasped in the humid afternoon heat after the cool of the car’s air-conditioning.
    Insects buzzed overhead and they could hear exotic bird and animal cries from the forest. Two workers were fixing a banner over the entrance of one of the buildings.
    It read: “Grand Opening Today”. Another man came over eagerly to greet them.
    He was carrying a hammer and nails, and a heavy sign. They recognised him from the photo they’d seen.
    â€œHello there! You must be Ben and Zoe!” He put down his tools and sign and shook the children’s hands enthusiastically. “I’m Mat Ginting. Welcome to my