Chapter 12

The next morning, As everyone else was just waking up, Diego came bounding back over to where they were. Apparently he had woken up early to scout out the area.

"Great news!" he called as he ran over, "Guess what I found!". "It better not be a shortcut" Manny said. Roshan smiled. "It's not!" Diego sighed, "Just follow me". Over on the pile of sticks, Sid rolled over. "Just 5 more minutes" he said sleepily.

"It's about Junior" Diego called. Sid's eyes popped open and he rushed over to the others. "I'm ready" he said. Diego lead them over to a set of footprints and pointed. There in the snow were the footprints of some humans with those of a young sloth's between them.

"It's the ones who took Junior!" Sid cried. Diego showed them a bent branch on a bush. "It's still green" he said, "so they should be just up ahead". "let's go save Junior!" Sid said. He started marching off, following the footprints. The others followed. "So, think we'll get to see the lecture for running off?" Crash whispered over to Eddie about when they finally found Junior, Ellie immediately sent her two brothers a look that told them to behave.

"When we find them" Roshan said, "I'll translate for you".

Diego stopped and turned to the boy. "That reminds me" he said, 'Since we will be near humans again, maybe you should keep our little secret". "You mean the fact that I can talk to you?" Roshan asked. "Exactly!" Diego said. "Why?" the boy asked. 'Well" Diego said, "You being able to understand and speak to us is great, but I don't want other humans learning it".

"Yeah, I agree" Manny said. "Ok" Roshan said, smiling slightly at their determination on this subject "It's our little secret". "Good" both Manny and Diego said before walking on. Roshan turned to Ellie, but the female mammoth just shrugged, "I don't know why the guys are so adamant about this, I honestly hadn't thought of it. But I guess humans still just don't hold a good reputation in and of themselves" she said gently. Roshan nodded, "Oh...well, yeah, I noticed that...maybe my being able to talk to animals though will change that" the boy then put in optimistically. Ellie smiled, "I hope so".

As the group continued on, following the footprints, they suddenly heard a sound.

"Wolves!" Sid screamed as he scurried behind Manny. "I thought you were the brave, heroic older brother who would stand up to anything to save Junior?" Manny asked. "I never said you couldn't help!" Sid replied.

Diego got in front of Roshan and prepared to face the wolves. Ellie made sure her brothers were secure up on her back. Roshan looked ahead, a bit worried, when suddenly he noticed something! The wolves had come into sight and were charging towards the group.

Roshan stepped out, but Diego pulled him back. "It's ok" Roshan said, "I've got it under control". He stepped out in front of the group and waited as the wolves got closer. Then he clapped his hands together once very fast and shouted, "Heel!", in the language the humans used.

The wolves immediately stopped and sat down, but continued to growl at the group behind the boy. Roshan frowned and snapped his fingers. The wolves reluctantly stopped. Roshan smiled and knelt down, patting the snow next to him a bit.

The female out in front slowly walked up to Roshan. The boy patted her head and then leaned down and whispered to her for a while. The wolf looked up at the boy shocked. Roshan whispered something else to her, and then pointed behind him at Manny and Sid. Diego was hidden behind the rest of the group.

The wolf nodded, then walked over to the rest of the pack and seemed to be talking to them. The other wolves nodded and sat down. "Well, so long as your not in danger" one of the males said. Roshan smiled.

"I'm guessing these wolves are with you?' Manny said. "or else he's a good negotiator" Eddie mumbled. Roshan nodded yes to Manny's question. "I just got through explaining the situation to them. I also told them you were the same group that returned me as a baby".

Ellie smiled, "Well we really can't take credit for...".

"And may I give you a thank you for both then and now" the female told them, "both you and your friends who helped out in this situation" she added, turning to Ellie. The female mammoth smiled and gave a nod of courtesy, "Glad to help, he's a sweet kid" she answered. "and a cool little brother!" Crash whispered, having already all but adopted the boy himself, he just hadn't mentioned this to Roshan yet...but that was only a tiny detail.

"If you're with Roshan's herd" Sid said, "then does that mean they're near here?". "Just up there" the wolf replied, indicating where they had come running from. "So the kid's tribe is the one that kidnapped Junior!" Sid said confused.

"So, that thing's yours!" a male wolf commented, smiling slightly. "No, they didn't kidnap him. The boy and that young sloth simply got--switched". "Oh" Sid said. 'Then let's switch them back" Manny said. "Follow us" the female said.

"I think I'll hang back here" Diego told Sid, Manny and Roshan. All three of them understood and nodded. "Sure you don't want me to try and clear your name?' Roshan offered. "No thanks" Diego said. Roshan sighed, "Ok".

Roshan decided to climb onto Manny's back one last time, Then everyone but Diego started following the wolves.