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A smug smile crossed the Skipper’s face as he watched Marlene, with crowbar held high, chase Julien around the zoo. He snickered as Mort wailed and ran at her heels, begging her to stop. Then there was Maurice bringing up the rear, stopping to catch his breath every few paces.
The group raced past the seal pool. Julien slipped on the water at the edge and threw his arms up to catch his balance. He staggered in a circle.
Marlene easily outran Mort and stopped in front of Julien. She dropped the crowbar. She folded her arms across her chest and watched.
Julien fell back on his heels and waved his arms in wild circles. His eyes widened and he shook his head. “No. No. You cannot get the crown wet. Maurice, where are you? I demand that you save your king!”
Marlene bared her teeth, nodded, and pushed him in. She laughed. “You need a bath, your highness,” she teased.
“I’ll save you!” Mort yelled and jumped into the pool.
“Skipper, can lemurs swim?” Private asked at Skipper’s shoulder.
“I doubt it, Private,” Skipper answered placidly.
“Should we help them?”
Skipper caught sight of Rico’s look of awe and admiration in Marlene’s direction. He brought a flipper up to his forehead and sighed. //A penguin with a crush on an otter. It must be a bad case of combat fatigue. I’ll have to get him help.//
“Skipper.”
Kowalski interrupted Skipper’s thoughts from his other side. “What is it, Kowalski?”
“They’re not having much luck, Sir.” Kowalski pointed to Maurice trying to pull Julien out of the water while Mort pushed from underwater. Marlene stood to the side, hugging herself in laughter.
Julien kept slipping back down into the pool. “Maurice, you will get me out of here.”
How Julien could sound so pompous while soaking wet, Skipper would never know.
Maurice pulled on Julien’s hand with all his might but the slick fingers slipped out of his hand. He flew back and landed on his rear. Julien plopped back into the water with a huge splash.
Marlene was laughing so hard she went down on her knees. She started rolling on the ground, pointing at them.
Julien spit water out. He glared at her, the crying Mort, and the group of seals snickering from the other end of the pool. “How dare you laugh at me! Maurice, don’t just sit there!”
Skipper shook his head. “I’ve seen enough. Rico, go ahead and take a closer look if you want. If they’re still there in an hour, let me know and we’ll get them out.”
Rico eagerly saluted and started waddling over to Marlene.
Skipper knew Kowalski and Private were grinning at him. He ignored it. “Let’s go boys. We have more important things to do than watch the lemurs playing in the water.”
The three penguins went back into their underwater lair. “I’d say the zoo’s first Fun Day was a great success,” Private chirped.
Skipper went to stand by the window. He held his flippers behind his back. “The only thing today proved is that I’m not into…fun,” he said stoically.
Kowalski appeared at the Skipper’s right. “I don’t know, Sir. Today we proved ourselves to those sewer rats. You defeated their king. They won’t tangle with us in the future.”
Private was at Skipper’s left. “It was beautiful, Skipper.” He burrowed his head against Skipper’s side. “And Kowalski and I know that you can have fun,” he whispered.
Kowalski rubbed himself against his Skipper. “Permission to have fun, Sir.”
Skipper shut his eyes and ran a flipper down each of their backs. “Let operation fun commence.”