The School for the Insanely Gifted by Dan Elish

Lots of animals. No people.”
    Harkin was right. The small car had already reached the far edge of the valley. A few hundred feet ahead stood the jagged side of the cliff. Up above was the raging snowstorm.
    Daphna sighed. But then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. At the far edge of the valley, a thin line of smoke was circling up from a copse of trees.
    â€œLast I heard, zebras don’t make fires,” she said.
    The car skimmed the top of a grove of pine and palm trees so thick that Daphna couldn’t see all the way to the ground. Then the forest stopped. One hundred feet down stood a small log home. The line of smoke was coming from its chimney.
    â€œBull’s-eye!” Cynthia said.
    â€œHold on,” Harkin called. “I’m taking this sucker down.”
    With some fancy maneuvering, he soon had the Thunkmobile safely on ground. Daphna was so eager to get out that she climbed over Cynthia and all but rolled out the door. Soon her friends had joined her on the fresh grass. Though they were surrounded on all sides by a raging snowstorm, the valley air was warm.
    â€œCheck out this air,” Cynthia said.
    Daphna breathed deep.
    â€œSure beats mouthfuls of bus exhaust,” Harkin said.
    A firm lump in the pit of Daphna’s stomach grew bigger by the second. Yes, her mother’s map had brought her to this strange place. And yes, there appeared to be a cabin. But how did they know the inhabitant was going to be friendly? Clearly, whoever resided there had chosen to live apart from known civilization. Would he or she appreciate sudden visitors? Probably not.
    On the other hand, if a beautiful valley like this could exist on the side of a mountain that was nearly twenty thousand feet tall, who could say that her mother wasn’t waiting for her inside? In fact, maybe that was why she hadn’t come home? Perhaps she hadn’t been able to scale the sharp cliffs, then hike through the snow to get back to civilization?
    â€œWell.” Daphna tried to keep the eager hope out of her voice. “Should we go in?”
    â€œWe’ve come a bit too far to turn around without saying hello,” Cynthia said.
    Daphna stood on the front step, facing the solid wood door.
    â€œIt’s your party,” Harkin told Daphna. “Go for it.”
    He stepped back, leaving Daphna alone with the door and a bad case of nerves. There were so many things that could go wrong and so few that could go right. Besides, what were the odds that her mother or Billy B. Brilliant actually lived there? Just as her nerve was deserting her altogether, Daphna felt Cynthia’s hand on her shoulder. She drew in a deep, steadying breath. Before she could stop herself, she knocked. For a moment, she was silent, listening for the sound of approaching footsteps. But all she heard was the distant chatter of monkeys on the other side of the trees.
    â€œHow can no one be home?” Daphna said.
    It seemed cruel to travel all that way and have the one human occupant of the valley be out.
    â€œWait a second,” Harkin said. “The door’s gotta be open, right? Why not walk in and get comfortable?”
    Before Daphna could answer, Cynthia was staring toward the woods, mouth agape.
    â€œWhat the . . . ?”
    Daphna and Harkin turned and peered into the thick pines and palms. About one hundred feet away a shape of some sort was moving toward them. At first, Daphna believed it might be a herd of elephants—a frightening thought. When she looked more carefully, she didn’t know whether to laugh or be even more scared. Bounding their way through the forest was a swarm of monkeys—a good forty of them.
    â€œThey eat bananas, not people, right?” Daphna asked.
    â€œLast I heard,” Harkin said.
    The monkeys burst into the yard. Pounding their chests and yelping, they moved in on the children, pinning them against the front door of the