In tonight’s bedtime story for kids, we meet the descendants of famous detective Sherlock Holmes, Darla and Ralphie, who seem to have inherited his detective skills. One day at the zoo, a monkey disappears from its enclosure, and Darla and Ralphie spring into action to crack the case. Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Elisha Ainsley
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Coco Sleep, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:20
Speaker 1: a dream. As you know, I love to start with
00:00:25
Speaker 1: a big hello to all of our new Cocoa Club members,
00:00:28
Speaker 1: So today Cocoa and I are giving a jolly huge
00:00:33
Speaker 1: wave to Liam Findley, Indie and Sachi, Niko, Isaiah, Alexandra
00:00:41
Speaker 1: and her very little real life snuggle partner, her puppy Lemon.
00:00:46
Speaker 1: Sweet dreams all of you. Hopefully, though, before you drop off,
00:00:52
Speaker 1: you'll enjoy getting to know a new pair of twins
00:00:54
Speaker 1: called the homes Kids. Does their surname ring any bells?
00:01:00
Speaker 1: Have you ever heard of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective Well,
00:01:05
Speaker 1: Darla and Ralphie Holmes are his great great great grandchildren,
00:01:10
Speaker 1: and his super sleuthing ways appear to run in the family.
00:01:15
Speaker 1: If you like this first story, then maybe we'll make
00:01:18
Speaker 1: a series out of it. Do writ in and let
00:01:21
Speaker 1: us know what you think about our new detectives. Okay,
00:01:26
Speaker 1: hop into bed if you aren't there already, as we're
00:01:30
Speaker 1: ready to join our you friends on a seemingly normal
00:01:34
Speaker 1: trip to the zoo. But all is not as it seems.
00:01:40
Speaker 1: Very soon they'll need to spring into action to solve
00:01:43
Speaker 1: a mystery and save the day when a cute, small
00:01:47
Speaker 1: monkey goes missing from its enclosure. Close your eyes and
00:01:53
Speaker 1: imagine packing your bag ahead of enjoying a fun day
00:01:56
Speaker 1: out as I begin. The Holmes Kids and the Missing
00:02:01
Speaker 1: Monkey by Alicia Ainslie. Darla and Ralphie Holmes were twins.
00:02:14
Speaker 1: They were both born on the second of July, and
00:02:17
Speaker 1: Darla was born two minutes before Ralphie, making her the
00:02:21
Speaker 1: big sister. Darla and Ralphie both had brown hair and
00:02:26
Speaker 1: deep chestnut eyes, and they both stood at the same height.
00:02:31
Speaker 1: By all accounts, you could tell they were twins, except
00:02:35
Speaker 1: they were different in a lot of ways too. Darla
00:02:39
Speaker 1: was very active and loved to play sports. She was
00:02:43
Speaker 1: a keen artist and could always be found doodling in
00:02:46
Speaker 1: notepads and drawing chalk images on their driveway. She was
00:02:50
Speaker 1: confident and gregarious, but she was also smart and inquisitive. Meanwhile,
00:02:58
Speaker 1: Ralphie loved animals and i enjoyed playing video games. He
00:03:02
Speaker 1: didn't care much for loud, exuberant activities, but much preferred
00:03:07
Speaker 1: to settle down in a peaceful corner with a book.
00:03:12
Speaker 1: Ralphie was quiet, and Darla. But that didn't mean he
00:03:16
Speaker 1: was a wallflower. Ralphie observed everything around him and was
00:03:21
Speaker 1: a very good listener, making him a very good detective.
00:03:26
Speaker 1: See that was where Darla and Ralphie Holmes were very similar.
00:03:32
Speaker 1: Combining their knowledge, astuteness, and varying skills, they made the
00:03:37
Speaker 1: perfect young detective team. It ran in the family too.
00:03:42
Speaker 1: Darla and Ralphie's great great great grandfather was the famous
00:03:47
Speaker 1: detective Sherlock Holmes, so a natural detective flair ran in
00:03:52
Speaker 1: the family. Darla and Ralphie Holmes had always enjoyed solving
00:03:58
Speaker 1: puzzles and cracking codes together, and they often teamed up
00:04:02
Speaker 1: to solve mysteries at school and in their neighborhood. Anywhere
00:04:06
Speaker 1: where there was a mystery to be solved, Darla and
00:04:09
Speaker 1: Ralphie Holmes were around to save the day. But to day,
00:04:17
Speaker 1: they were taking the day off from their detective duties
00:04:20
Speaker 1: and enjoying a nice, relaxing day at the zoo with
00:04:23
Speaker 1: their mother. It was the half term holidays and Dahla
00:04:28
Speaker 1: and Ralphie's mom suggested they go to the zoo for
00:04:31
Speaker 1: the day. It had been a long time since the
00:04:35
Speaker 1: twins had been to the zoo, and Ralphie had been
00:04:38
Speaker 1: studying lots of animals recently. He was especially interested in
00:04:44
Speaker 1: seeing polar bears in real life. So they all piled
00:04:49
Speaker 1: into the car and made the journey to the zoo.
00:04:52
Speaker 1: It was a pleasant sunny day, and when they got there,
00:04:56
Speaker 1: it seemed like everyone else had the same idea as them.
00:05:00
Speaker 1: The zoo was very busy and filled with children and
00:05:04
Speaker 1: their parents. The homes twins and their mom bought their
00:05:09
Speaker 1: tickets and ventured into the park. There were so many
00:05:13
Speaker 1: animals to see that they didn't know where to begin.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: The polar bears that Ralphie eagerly wanted to see were
00:05:21
Speaker 1: on the other side of the park by a great lake,
00:05:24
Speaker 1: so they planned out a route to make their way there.
00:05:30
Speaker 1: Along the way, they would pass the elephant sanctuary, the
00:05:33
Speaker 1: hyena pad and the monkeys. As they wandered through the park,
00:05:39
Speaker 1: they stopped at each of the animal attractions to admire
00:05:43
Speaker 1: the majestic creatures. The elephants were even bigger than Dalla
00:05:48
Speaker 1: and Ralphie had imagined. They flapped their ears to keep
00:05:53
Speaker 1: cool in the sun as they chomped on the grass.
00:05:57
Speaker 1: A baby elephant calf frolicked in the world water hole
00:06:01
Speaker 1: and splashed its mother playfully. Darla and Ralphie found it
00:06:06
Speaker 1: very funny, and their mother took a photograph of them
00:06:10
Speaker 1: in front of the elephants on her mobile phone. Next,
00:06:15
Speaker 1: they moved onto the hyena pad and they could hear
00:06:18
Speaker 1: the animals before they could see them. The hyaena's high
00:06:23
Speaker 1: pitched giggles could be heard from many meters away, and
00:06:27
Speaker 1: it made Darla and Ralphie giggle a bit too. The
00:06:31
Speaker 1: hyaena's laughter was infectious. They observed the hyaenas through the
00:06:37
Speaker 1: fence and watched the furry creatures walk and patrol around
00:06:41
Speaker 1: the far edge of their paddock, chuckling away the whole time.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: The hyaenas looked like big spotted puppies with large rounded
00:06:52
Speaker 1: snouts and giant mouse ears. They looked quite peculiar, and
00:06:58
Speaker 1: Ralphie found them fastening. Then they moved on to the
00:07:03
Speaker 1: monkey enclosure. The zoo had several different types of monkeys
00:07:07
Speaker 1: living there. They had small, fuzzy vervet monkeys and big baboons.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: Plus they had apes like long armed gibbons and even
00:07:19
Speaker 1: mighty gorillas. Dahla and Ralphie were in awe as they
00:07:25
Speaker 1: watched all of the different monkeys and apes swing through
00:07:29
Speaker 1: the trees and interact with one another. The gibbons were
00:07:34
Speaker 1: captivating as they swung from branch to branch using their
00:07:39
Speaker 1: mighty long arms and judd The gorilla looked like a
00:07:44
Speaker 1: big softy as he relaxed and ate his food in
00:07:48
Speaker 1: the sun. The baboons were very amusing as they tickled, teased,
00:07:54
Speaker 1: and chased one another, and the Vervet monkeys looked so
00:07:58
Speaker 1: adorable as they groomed each other and chattered in their
00:08:02
Speaker 1: own mysterious language. Darla watched the Vervet monkeys with awe
00:08:10
Speaker 1: and declared, I think monkeys are my favorite animal. They're
00:08:15
Speaker 1: so cute and funny. Ralphie agreed that the monkeys were great,
00:08:22
Speaker 1: but he was more excited about seeing the huge polar
00:08:26
Speaker 1: bears that were next on their list. Just as Darla, Ralphie,
00:08:32
Speaker 1: and their mom were about to move on, they saw
00:08:35
Speaker 1: a zoo keeper rush over to another and whisper in
00:08:38
Speaker 1: her ear. The zookeeper, who had received the news, whispered
00:08:44
Speaker 1: back in surprise, what do you mean one of the
00:08:49
Speaker 1: monkeys is missing? Darla and Ralphie's ears pricked with interest,
00:08:56
Speaker 1: and they shuffled closer to listen. In on the two
00:08:59
Speaker 1: dad zookeeper's conversation. They listened closely and overheard a zookeeper
00:09:08
Speaker 1: named Howie informing the zookeeper called Charlotte that one of
00:09:13
Speaker 1: the vervet monkeys had sneaked out of the enclosure. It
00:09:19
Speaker 1: transpired that zookeeper Howie had accidentally left the monkey enclosure
00:09:25
Speaker 1: door open after he'd last been inside. When he realized
00:09:31
Speaker 1: his mistake, he locked the door again and counted up
00:09:34
Speaker 1: the vervet monkeys to make sure that they were all there.
00:09:38
Speaker 1: But they weren't. A monkey called Shiloh was missing, and
00:09:43
Speaker 1: Howie had no idea where she had gone. Darla and
00:09:48
Speaker 1: Ralphie glanced at each other with determination. Tracking down a
00:09:54
Speaker 1: missing monkey sounded like a job for a pair of
00:09:58
Speaker 1: young detectives. The two Holmes twins strode over to the
00:10:04
Speaker 1: zookeepers and introduced themselves. Excuse us, but we couldn't help. Overhearing,
00:10:13
Speaker 1: Darla began putting on her most official detective voice. My
00:10:18
Speaker 1: name is Darla Holmes, and this is my brother and sidekick,
00:10:23
Speaker 1: Ralphie Holmes. We couldn't help, but overhear your problem with
00:10:28
Speaker 1: the missing monkey, and we want to offer you our services.
00:10:33
Speaker 1: Ralphie pulled out a tiny notepad from his pocket and
00:10:37
Speaker 1: a pencil. He lifted his eyebrows and added, we had
00:10:43
Speaker 1: detectives with knots of experience helping people locate missing things.
00:10:50
Speaker 1: Perhaps you've heard of our great great great grandfather Sherlock Holmes,
00:10:56
Speaker 1: Howie and Charlotte. The zookeepers looked both bewildered and impressed
00:11:02
Speaker 1: by Darla and Ralphie's offer of help. It certainly was
00:11:06
Speaker 1: worth a shot. Enlisting the help of the young detectives,
00:11:11
Speaker 1: they would need all the help they could get to
00:11:13
Speaker 1: track down the missing Vervet monkey. Darla and Ralphie jumped
00:11:19
Speaker 1: straight into action. What does the monkey look like? Darla inquired.
00:11:27
Speaker 1: Zookeeper Howie informed them that the missing Vervet monkey was
00:11:32
Speaker 1: called Shiloh and she was a sweet little thing. Shiloh
00:11:37
Speaker 1: was only about sixteen inches tall, with a silvery gray
00:11:42
Speaker 1: furry body and a little black face with two orange eyes.
00:11:48
Speaker 1: Shiloh the monkey had a very long, thin tail with
00:11:53
Speaker 1: a black tip, and she had big hands and feet
00:11:57
Speaker 1: perfect for climbing with. Darla and Ralphie wrote down everything
00:12:04
Speaker 1: that the zookieper said on their tiny notepads. Leave it
00:12:09
Speaker 1: to us, Ralphie replied with an air of authority, we
00:12:14
Speaker 1: will find Shiloh and bring her back home safely. Seeing
00:12:20
Speaker 1: the polar bears would have to wait for now, Darla
00:12:25
Speaker 1: and Ralphie Holmes popped their notepads and pencils back in
00:12:30
Speaker 1: their pockets and turned to their mother. They asked if
00:12:34
Speaker 1: it was all right if they went looking for the monkey,
00:12:38
Speaker 1: and she agreed that it was fine. The two twins
00:12:41
Speaker 1: were always getting wrapped up in solving mysteries. She was
00:12:45
Speaker 1: used to it. She told Darla and Ralphie to meet
00:12:50
Speaker 1: her back here outside the monkey enclosure buy three o'clock.
00:12:56
Speaker 1: Then she gave them a couple of pound coins to
00:12:59
Speaker 1: buy snacks with, and sat herself down on a bench
00:13:02
Speaker 1: to read her book while the twins ventured off in
00:13:06
Speaker 1: search of the missing monkey. Now where shall we start?
00:13:13
Speaker 1: Darla posed the question, looking around for signs of where
00:13:18
Speaker 1: the monkey could have gone. Ralphie gazed into the enclosure
00:13:24
Speaker 1: and observed the other vervet monkeys slinking through the trees.
00:13:30
Speaker 1: He suggested they start by doing a little research. Darla
00:13:36
Speaker 1: and Ralphie walked over to a big sign nailed to
00:13:40
Speaker 1: the wall next to the enclosure and read the words
00:13:44
Speaker 1: printed on it. It was an information sign all about
00:13:49
Speaker 1: the vervet monkeys. This would be a perfect place to
00:13:54
Speaker 1: start their research and understand the missing monkey's motivations. They
00:14:01
Speaker 1: read the sign and discovered that vervet monkeys mainly came
00:14:06
Speaker 1: from the mountains of East Africa. Vervet monkeys are used
00:14:12
Speaker 1: to living in groups of up to fifty, but they're
00:14:16
Speaker 1: known for being friendly creatures who like to play with
00:14:20
Speaker 1: other animals too. Vervet monkeys are vegetarians and like to
00:14:26
Speaker 1: eat lots of fruit, flowers and leaves, but on odd
00:14:30
Speaker 1: occasions they eat insects too. A sign was very informative
00:14:37
Speaker 1: and gave Darla and Ralphie a bit of a backstory
00:14:41
Speaker 1: about their missing monkey. The pair of young detectives consulted
00:14:47
Speaker 1: their notes and started to brainstore ideas as to where
00:14:52
Speaker 1: their fuzzy fugitive might have run off to. Darla went first, well, well,
00:15:01
Speaker 1: since fervet monkeys are so friendly, maybe Shiloh has gone
00:15:06
Speaker 1: off to search for some new animals to play with.
00:15:10
Speaker 1: She suggested. There's plenty around the zoo for her to
00:15:14
Speaker 1: choose from. Ralphie added, yes, maybe, or what if Shiloh
00:15:23
Speaker 1: wanted to explore the mountains like her kind do in
00:15:26
Speaker 1: the wild, it might be worth looking for any mountainous
00:15:31
Speaker 1: areas in the zoo. They were both good ideas, so
00:15:37
Speaker 1: they decided to combine the two and see which animals
00:15:41
Speaker 1: in the park lived in an area similar to the
00:15:45
Speaker 1: mountains of East Africa. They consulted a big map of
00:15:49
Speaker 1: the zoo and scanned the cartoon images of each of
00:15:53
Speaker 1: the animals living there. There was an exotic bird sanctuary
00:15:58
Speaker 1: nearby and enclosure for the mighty giraffes. The polar bears
00:16:04
Speaker 1: lived on the big lake nearby, and there was a
00:16:08
Speaker 1: rhino conservation area too. Then their eyes fell on the
00:16:14
Speaker 1: lion enclosure. The cartoon lion was perched on top of
00:16:19
Speaker 1: a rocky mountain verge. That was where they would begin
00:16:24
Speaker 1: their search. Dhala and Ralphie followed the signs and walked
00:16:30
Speaker 1: to the lion's enclosure. It was huge. The lions lived
00:16:37
Speaker 1: in a massive spot with long grass, shady trees, and
00:16:42
Speaker 1: some mountainous rocky areas to replicate the national parks of Africa.
00:16:49
Speaker 1: Dahla and Ralphie joined the crowds to gaze into the
00:16:53
Speaker 1: lion enclosure to see if they could spot the missing
00:16:57
Speaker 1: vervet monkey. There. There certainly were lots of rocks, although
00:17:03
Speaker 1: they didn't tower up quite as high as the mountains.
00:17:06
Speaker 1: The monkeys were probably used to. The lion cubs were
00:17:12
Speaker 1: incredibly cute, and they tumbled and rolled around playing with
00:17:16
Speaker 1: each other. Meanwhile, their big, bulky lion parents were close
00:17:21
Speaker 1: by keeping an eye on them. Darla scrunched up her
00:17:26
Speaker 1: nose and shook her head disappointedly. I don't think that
00:17:31
Speaker 1: a monkey would come here to play, she concluded. The
00:17:36
Speaker 1: lions are far too big, and monkeys are much more
00:17:40
Speaker 1: gentle when they play. Ralphie agreed, and they made their
00:17:45
Speaker 1: way back down the path in search of a different
00:17:48
Speaker 1: area of the park to search. It was a beautiful
00:17:54
Speaker 1: sunny day and the Holmes kids noticed a few people
00:17:59
Speaker 1: walking around with ice lollies and bottles of water. Ralphie
00:18:04
Speaker 1: suggested to Dalla, shall we get an ice cream with
00:18:09
Speaker 1: the money mum gave us. Dahla thought it was a
00:18:13
Speaker 1: great idea. Just because they were carrying out important detective
00:18:18
Speaker 1: duties didn't mean they couldn't enjoy an ice treat as
00:18:22
Speaker 1: they worked. The twins spotted a snack van in the
00:18:27
Speaker 1: distance and made their way towards it, but as they
00:18:32
Speaker 1: got closer they noticed that the owner of the snack
00:18:36
Speaker 1: van was having a bit of trouble. It looked like
00:18:40
Speaker 1: the snack van had been ransacked. The bottles of water
00:18:45
Speaker 1: that had been perched on the side had been knocked
00:18:48
Speaker 1: over and had rolled along the counter and onto the floor.
00:18:53
Speaker 1: The shelves of snacks were all mismatched and messy, and
00:18:57
Speaker 1: the ice cream machine was un uncontrollably spewing out whipped
00:19:02
Speaker 1: vanilla ice cream. The poor snack van attendant was desperately
00:19:09
Speaker 1: trying to stop the flow of the ice cream, and
00:19:13
Speaker 1: a few customers were helping to pick up the bottles
00:19:16
Speaker 1: of water and snacks that had fallen to the ground.
00:19:21
Speaker 1: What happened? Ralphi asked with surprise as he took in
00:19:26
Speaker 1: the scene. The snack van attendant successfully managed to shut
00:19:33
Speaker 1: off the ice cream machine and sighed with relief. He
00:19:38
Speaker 1: wiped his forehead and looked around despairingly at his poor
00:19:43
Speaker 1: snack van. I don't know what happened, he replied, with confusion.
00:19:52
Speaker 1: I turned my back for one second and heard a
00:19:55
Speaker 1: rustling sound coming from the snack shelves. I took a look,
00:20:00
Speaker 1: and all of the snacks had been knocked off or
00:20:03
Speaker 1: moved round then I heard the ice cream machine kicking
00:20:08
Speaker 1: and saw that somebody had pushed down the lever and
00:20:12
Speaker 1: it was spurting vanilla ice cream everywhere. To top it
00:20:17
Speaker 1: all off, as I tried to stop the ice cream machine,
00:20:21
Speaker 1: I heard all of the bottles of water get knocked
00:20:24
Speaker 1: over and they flew everywhere. It was a series of
00:20:28
Speaker 1: unfortunate events. Dahla and Ralphie were amazed by the snack
00:20:35
Speaker 1: van attendant's story and felt sorry for him. Dahla asked
00:20:41
Speaker 1: if he had seen who made all the mess, but
00:20:44
Speaker 1: the man said that he hadn't seen anyone. Whoever it was,
00:20:50
Speaker 1: was behind him the whole time. Dahla and Ralphie frowned
00:20:56
Speaker 1: with suspicion. How perk Julia that he hadn't seen who
00:21:03
Speaker 1: caused all this mischief. The twins help put the bottles
00:21:07
Speaker 1: of water neatly on the counter again and wrote down
00:21:11
Speaker 1: some notes about this strange occurrence. Could it have anything
00:21:17
Speaker 1: to do with the missing monkey they were looking for?
00:21:23
Speaker 1: Darla and Ralphie bought two bottles of water and ate
00:21:27
Speaker 1: an ice lolly each, then turned to go. Just as
00:21:31
Speaker 1: they were walking away from the snack van, they heard
00:21:35
Speaker 1: the attendant cry out oh, somebody has taken some fruit too.
00:21:43
Speaker 1: Darla and Ralphie stopped in their tracks and looked at
00:21:48
Speaker 1: each other with realization. Vervet monkeys loved to eat fruit,
00:21:55
Speaker 1: and only a sneaky, cheeky monkey could be stuck healthy
00:22:00
Speaker 1: enough to cause such a mess and a commotion without
00:22:06
Speaker 1: being caught. Shiloh, the monkey must be nearby. They ran around,
00:22:14
Speaker 1: looking up at the trees and the lamp posts to
00:22:18
Speaker 1: see if the monkey had climbed up high, but they
00:22:21
Speaker 1: couldn't see anything. Then they looked through the crowds and
00:22:27
Speaker 1: checked the ground, but they couldn't spot a furry, small
00:22:31
Speaker 1: body with a long tail anywhere. They sat down on
00:22:37
Speaker 1: a bench to rest and plan their next move. Where
00:22:43
Speaker 1: could the monkey have gone now, Darla sighed, eating her
00:22:49
Speaker 1: black currant flavored ice lolly. Ralphie continued to scan the
00:22:55
Speaker 1: crowds as he took a sip of water, and his
00:22:59
Speaker 1: eyes fell on a discarded banana skin on the ground
00:23:04
Speaker 1: not too far away from the snack bar. Look. He
00:23:09
Speaker 1: whispered to Dalla, pointing at the banana skin. They both
00:23:15
Speaker 1: scuttled over to the left over fruit and inspected the
00:23:20
Speaker 1: yellow skin. Instead of peeling back the skin from the
00:23:25
Speaker 1: soft fruit inside. It appeared that the rubbery exterior had
00:23:32
Speaker 1: been munched through with a set of small teeth. It
00:23:38
Speaker 1: must have been the missing monkey that ate it. Look
00:23:43
Speaker 1: for any more fruit lying around. Darla instructed Ralphie and
00:23:48
Speaker 1: they both began to inspect the floor. They spotted an
00:23:54
Speaker 1: apple core on the ground not too far away from
00:23:57
Speaker 1: the banana. Then they saw a messily peeled orange skin
00:24:03
Speaker 1: a bit further along from that. They continued to follow
00:24:08
Speaker 1: the trail of discarded fruit items along the path until
00:24:14
Speaker 1: they eventually made it to the gates to the Children's
00:24:18
Speaker 1: Zoo play park. Ralphie and Dala observed the large park
00:24:25
Speaker 1: full of wooden climbing frames, metal slides, and rope climbing nets.
00:24:32
Speaker 1: This was the perfect place for an adventurous little monkey
00:24:38
Speaker 1: to venture. Not only was there lots of tall apparatus
00:24:44
Speaker 1: for it to climb, surrounded by woodland trees, but there
00:24:49
Speaker 1: were also plenty of children to play with there. Ralphie
00:24:56
Speaker 1: and Daala decided to split up to search the playpark.
00:25:02
Speaker 1: They should cover a lot more ground that way. Ralphie
00:25:07
Speaker 1: took the left side of the park and began to
00:25:09
Speaker 1: climb the steps to the slide Darla raced over to
00:25:14
Speaker 1: the right hand side of the park and ran up
00:25:17
Speaker 1: the wooden ramp to the rope tunnels and nets. They
00:25:22
Speaker 1: both searched the play park top to bottom, enjoying the apparatus.
00:25:28
Speaker 1: Along the way, they asked the other children if they
00:25:33
Speaker 1: had seen a small silver haired monkey playing anywhere, but
00:25:39
Speaker 1: nobody had. Just as Darla and Ralphie were about to
00:25:45
Speaker 1: give up searching in the play park, Darla noticed a long,
00:25:51
Speaker 1: thin tail with a black tip draping down through one
00:25:56
Speaker 1: of the gaps in the highest net at the top
00:26:00
Speaker 1: of the climbing frame. Darla caught Ralphie's attention and gestured
00:26:07
Speaker 1: to the tail. She placed her finger to her lips,
00:26:12
Speaker 1: urging him to be quiet, and they both diptoed their
00:26:17
Speaker 1: way over to the ladder to climb up to the net.
00:26:23
Speaker 1: As they emerged at the top, they were delighted to
00:26:28
Speaker 1: see Shiloh, the missing Vervet monkey, lying down and relaxing
00:26:35
Speaker 1: on the gently swaying net. Shiloh looked peaceful, and the
00:26:41
Speaker 1: twins felt a bit guilty for disturbing her quiet time.
00:26:48
Speaker 1: Shiloh the monkey rubbed her belly full of fruit satisfyingly
00:26:54
Speaker 1: and sighed loudly. Now Darla and had to figure out
00:27:02
Speaker 1: how to get Shiloh to come back to her enclosure
00:27:05
Speaker 1: with them. The Holmes twins thought hard. All of a sudden,
00:27:13
Speaker 1: Ralphie had an idea. He told Darla to wait here
00:27:18
Speaker 1: and keep an eye on the snoozing monkey while he
00:27:21
Speaker 1: went to get something. He disappeared for a few minutes
00:27:26
Speaker 1: while Darla guarded Shiloh, and they returned carrying two fresh bananas.
00:27:35
Speaker 1: He whispered, we'll tempt Shiloh back to her home using
00:27:41
Speaker 1: these bananas. Darla wasn't so sure it would work. What
00:27:49
Speaker 1: if Shiloh is already full from all of the fruit
00:27:53
Speaker 1: she ate earlier, Darla whispered back. Ralphie wasn't sure what
00:27:59
Speaker 1: to say say. If it didn't work, then they would
00:28:03
Speaker 1: have to find a plan b. The Holmes twins hatched
00:28:08
Speaker 1: a plan to use one banana to attract Shiloh the
00:28:13
Speaker 1: monkey's attention, and use the other banana as bait. Ralphie
00:28:19
Speaker 1: kept one banana and Darla took the other. Darla unpeeled
00:28:25
Speaker 1: her banana and began to pick off little chunks of
00:28:29
Speaker 1: the fruit, creating a trail along the climbing frame down
00:28:35
Speaker 1: to the bottom and then through the park. Meanwhile, Ralphie
00:28:41
Speaker 1: whistled to capture Shiloh the monkey's attention. Shiloh dozed in
00:28:49
Speaker 1: her sweet cradle and saw Ralphie holding up a banana.
00:28:54
Speaker 1: Shiloh licked her lips and sat upright. She clear couldn't
00:29:00
Speaker 1: resist more fruit. Ralphie carefully clambered down the climbing frame
00:29:07
Speaker 1: with the banana in hand, and Shiloh excitedly followed him,
00:29:14
Speaker 1: to Shiloh's amazement. As she followed Ralphie, she encountered little
00:29:21
Speaker 1: pieces of banana on the floor that she gobbled up
00:29:25
Speaker 1: along the way. A plan was working. Shiloh trailed after
00:29:31
Speaker 1: Alfie through the park and out onto the zoo paths
00:29:36
Speaker 1: while Darla continued to pick apart and place the banana
00:29:42
Speaker 1: down on the ground. They were halfway back to the
00:29:46
Speaker 1: monkey enclosure when Darla ran out of fruit. Luckily, they
00:29:52
Speaker 1: had one more banana left. Thankfully, Ralphie had sought ahead
00:29:58
Speaker 1: and had already begun throwing down pieces of his to
00:30:02
Speaker 1: keep the greedy monkey interested. A monkey enclosure was finally
00:30:09
Speaker 1: within sight, and the Holmes twins were about to successfully
00:30:14
Speaker 1: complete their mission. Everyone around them had found it very
00:30:19
Speaker 1: amusing watching the two kids lure a monkey through the park,
00:30:25
Speaker 1: and it had captured the attention of the zookeepers too.
00:30:30
Speaker 1: Just as Shiloh ate the last piece of banana, she
00:30:35
Speaker 1: heard a whistle and a voice she recognized the little
00:30:41
Speaker 1: fuzzy monkey. Perked up her head enthusiastically and looked around.
00:30:48
Speaker 1: She spotted her beloved zookeeper Howie ahead of her, and
00:30:53
Speaker 1: dashed towards him. The sprightly little Vervet monkey climbed up
00:30:59
Speaker 1: his body and onto his shoulder, where she nuzzled and
00:31:03
Speaker 1: cuddled his face. Zookeeper how He laughed and sighed all
00:31:09
Speaker 1: at once as he said, Now, where did you go to, Shiloh?
00:31:15
Speaker 1: We've been looking for you. Darla and Ralphie strode forward
00:31:22
Speaker 1: proudly and informed him that they had found Shiloh relaxing
00:31:28
Speaker 1: in one of the nets at the top of the
00:31:31
Speaker 1: children's playpark, that is, after she had caused a little
00:31:36
Speaker 1: bit of mischief along the way for the man in
00:31:39
Speaker 1: the snack van. How He tickled Shiloh under her chin
00:31:45
Speaker 1: affectionately and chuckled, that sounds like Shiloh, he shortled, she
00:31:53
Speaker 1: really is a cheeky monkey. How He returned Shiloh to
00:31:59
Speaker 1: her in and took extra care to make sure he
00:32:03
Speaker 1: didn't leave the door open this time. The Holmes twins
00:32:08
Speaker 1: watched as Shiloh ran across the grass and shot up
00:32:13
Speaker 1: one of the trees to greet her monkey friends. They
00:32:17
Speaker 1: all greeted her with open arms and animated chatter, and
00:32:23
Speaker 1: one of the monkeys even gave her a hug to
00:32:27
Speaker 1: welcome her back. Ralphie and Dahla smiled contentedly as they
00:32:34
Speaker 1: watched Shiloh find a big branch in the tree to
00:32:38
Speaker 1: lie down on. The adventurous monkey settled down and placed
00:32:44
Speaker 1: her long arms behind her head As she reclined, her
00:32:49
Speaker 1: long tail hung down from the branch, swaying from side
00:32:55
Speaker 1: to side cheerfully. They were glad to see her safely
00:33:01
Speaker 1: home and relaxing once more. Zookeeper Howie joined their side
00:33:09
Speaker 1: and observed the precious monkey back in her safe enclosure.
00:33:15
Speaker 1: Well done, you two, you congratulated them. You really save
00:33:21
Speaker 1: the day with your super sleuth skills. Darla and Ralphie
00:33:27
Speaker 1: smiled and shrugged their shoulders. It was all in a
00:33:31
Speaker 1: day's work for them. After all investigating and solving mysteries
00:33:38
Speaker 1: ran in the family. Howie and the rest of the
00:33:43
Speaker 1: zookeepers were very grateful to the Holmes twins for helping
00:33:48
Speaker 1: save the day and bringing Shiloh back. They wanted to
00:33:52
Speaker 1: do something, but didn't know how to repay them. Is
00:33:58
Speaker 1: there anything we can do to thank you for your help,
00:34:03
Speaker 1: Howie asked. The twins. Darla and Ralphie scrunched up their
00:34:09
Speaker 1: faces and thought, but they couldn't think of anything. They
00:34:15
Speaker 1: were only happy to have helped. But then Howie suggested
00:34:20
Speaker 1: a great idea. He offered them the opportunity to shadow
00:34:25
Speaker 1: his job for the rest of the afternoon. They could
00:34:29
Speaker 1: see what it was like to be a zookeeper and
00:34:32
Speaker 1: help him with his animal duties, always wanting to learn more.
00:34:38
Speaker 1: That certainly piqued the twins' interest, so the two young
00:34:44
Speaker 1: detectives shadowed Howie for the rest of the day with
00:34:48
Speaker 1: their mother by their side. They fed the penguins and
00:34:53
Speaker 1: played with the baby elephants. They helped clean the bird sanctuary,
00:34:59
Speaker 1: and Eve got to hold a parrot on their arms.
00:35:03
Speaker 1: Most importantly, Ralphie finally got to see his beloved polar bears,
00:35:11
Speaker 1: and they were worth the weight. The twins had a
00:35:16
Speaker 1: delightful afternoon and learned so much about the animals and
00:35:22
Speaker 1: how to keep them happy. But the main thing that
00:35:26
Speaker 1: Dahla and Ralphie took away from their experience as trainee
00:35:31
Speaker 1: zookeepers was to always always remember to close the doors
00:35:40
Speaker 1: properly behind them