Monkey and Me by David Gilman Page A

done my research on Mark’s computer and when we first thought that Malcolm was grinning and being happy it really meant he was distressed and frightened. Things aren’t always what they seem.
    It wasn’t long before Mark and the others arrived.
    â€œPotato Face and Comb Head were here,” I told them.
    â€œDid they get in?” Mark asked.
    â€œNo. But they might come back.”
    â€œI’ll set some booby traps before we go,” Rocky said.
    â€œYeah, well don’t forget to tell us where!” Skimp told him.
    â€œRemember, we’ve got a girl to worry about now,” Mark said.
    I looked at Tracy – had she heard?
    â€œThey don’t want me in the gang, do they?” she said to me.
    I shook my head. “Did they say anything insulting when they went to get you?” I asked.
    â€œIf they did I didn’t hear them,” she said and then smiled. Told you. Great sense of humour.
    She didn’t seem to care much about Mark and the others, she just looked at the size of the old house and said, “Wow.” Everyone else just stood there. I don’t think that we were used to the idea yet of a girl being with us. “Where is he?” she asked.
    â€œYou have to sit down and be quiet,” Mark told her as I called Malcolm, who hid in the bushes until he felt safe to come out. I could tell everyone was waiting to see just what Tracy was going to do with him.
    Tracy’s eyes widened. Her jaw dropped. She said, “Wow” again. And then she smiled. That’s what Malcolm does to you. He makes you feel good.
    Malcolm wasn’t too sure about the new memberof the gang. And he clung to my legs until I eased his hand free and sat down with him. Then Tracy started talking with her hands. Malcolm looked at me, rubbed his face with his hands and looked again – as if in disbelief that someone else was talking like that.
    â€œHe doesn’t know much,” Tracy said. “Only some very basic stuff.” She used her hands again and this time Malcolm responded. He touched his chest and then his lips and then me.
    â€œHe says he loves you, Beanie.”
    No one said anything, but I could tell that the others were quietly fascinated by Tracy, even though she spoke slowly and with some difficulty. Me? I just felt very special after what Malcolm had said. Tracy kept making gestures.
    â€œHe knows a few things, like when he’s scared or tired and enough to ask for food and to say when something hurts him or when he feels sick,” she said.
    I stroked his head and he wrapped his arms around me and Skimp gave him some chewing gum. Then we all sat around and chewed and blew bubbles. Malcolm was getting quite good at it and had less in his fur this time.
    â€œWhy would they teach him those things?” Skimp asked.
    Mark said, “It must have something to do with that hospital tag on his wrist.”
    I looked at my own plastic bracelet on my wrist that the hospital gave me. It had my name and my date of birth, but Malcolm’s was all worn. Then I thought that as I go into hospital and have treatment, maybe it was the same for him. “What if he was in an animal hospital and escaped?” I said. “What if he’s really sick and needs treatment?”
    â€œMaybe it wasn’t a hospital he escaped from,” said Mark. “What if he ran away from a laboratory where they experiment on animals?”
    I suddenly felt sick. Even sicker than when I go for treatment.
    Tracy used her hands again. But then she shook her head. “He doesn’t understand that question, so he’s only got a very limited vocabulary and response.”
    Then Rocky said something really scary. “There’s a military biological research centre about thirty miles from here. You know, just past the cooling towers – all those buildings there, that’s why they’ve got a private road and guards at the gates. My uncletold