The humans' boat sped toward the setting sun. Cora sighed and glanced at the largest occupied slatted crate on the deck. Poor Marty, she thought, I sure wish there was something I could do for him. It's all so wrong! Marty's supposed to be laughing and joking with his friends on Madagascar right now. Cora sniffed, a tear running down her two-toned face, These men…these criminals, should be locked up, not Marty and the other animals! And I should be living at a ranch or a stable, not on a boat with dirty, smelly illegal traders!
It had never been so hard to take before she'd met Marty. The capturing and selling…and the things that happened next…Cora had always been able to distance herself from the animals that her masters trapped. But not this time. Marty was too close, too close to her own kind. Not that her own kind had ever been kind to her, but Marty was different from the horses all those years ago on the ranch. He was different from all the wild animals she'd ever met. He was accepting, good-hearted, he made her laugh and feel good.
And in return for his kindness to me, I got him captured. He and his friends must hate me now. Cora sighed deeply and shook her head, If only I could do it over…if only I had been a better pack horse, the men wouldn't have threatened to throw me overboard at deep sea, and I wouldn't have decided to get back in favor with them by finding them a large animal to sell to the poachers…I wish I'd never met Marty…
But that's not true. He showed me that it doesn't matter what I look like on the outside, it's what's inside that counts. And that's valuable to me. But not worth his life.
Maybe that's what he was trying to tell me about Alex. That even though Alex had bad things inside him, there was something inside him that was stronger. That even though he looks like a lion, he is good inside. I saw today that Alex was willing to risk his life to save Marty. Poor Alex! I can't imagine having my best friend taken from me. Of course, I've never had a best friend. But if I did, I'd want our relationship to be like Alex's and Marty's.
Cora had witnessed the whole sad event of Alex trying desperately to free Marty. She had wanted to do something to help, but she was too afraid of the people. She had done nothing, and now she regretted it.
Maybe I can do something now. It's not much , but I can talk to Marty. He probably hates me. Will he listen to me? She took another deep breath and walked toward Marty's crate. Cora snorted a little at her thoughts, He doesn't have a choice. He can't exactly run away from me.
"Marty?" the girl horse approached the crate. It was rapidly getting dark, so Cora could barely see a striped form lying in the box. She looked through the gap Alex had made when he'd pulled the slat off. Marty didn't turn to look at her.
Cora looked down, disappointed. She heard a soft snore. Marty was asleep! She smiled sadly at the sleeping zebra, "Sleep well. Dream about your friends." Cora saw him stir a little in the crate, "I wish I could let you out of there, but I can't work the latch. I am so sorry about all of this. I'm going to try to help you get back to your friends, Marty. I promise." Cora left, deciding to allow the exhausted Marty to get some rest while she came up with a plan.
"What do you mean, you can't get it started?" Alex demanded of Skipper. Before the penguin could answer, Alex continued, "That is my best friend out there! My best friend in the whole world! And you can't get it started? You have to get it started!"
Skipper glared at Alex, a habit he was developing as the night wore on, "I said we can't get it started tonight. The instruments need to be realigned, the anchor needs to be hoisted, the wheel needs to be repaired, and we need to load supplies for the voyage in case of emergency. We'll depart in the morning."
Alex's eyes were a mixture of frustration, desperation, and concern, "The morning might be too late! That other boat will be miles, miles ahead of us!"
Skipper dismissed Alex with a wave of his flipper, "We'll catch up easily, our boat's faster. Besides, I don't like the way the sea looks."
"The SEA LOOKS PERFECT!" Alex cried, gesturing to the mirror calm ocean.
Skipper nodded, "Too perfect. It's too smooth out there. Ever heard of the 'calm before the storm'? No, you probably haven't. It's a nautical term."
"You're paranoid!" Alex yelled, "There's nothing wrong with the ocean! It's fine! Look, it's fine! See?"
Gloria stepped in. Alex was getting much too worked up, "Alex, everyone's getting tired, including you. The boat can wait until tomorrow."
"But what if Marty can't?" Alex demanded darkly.
"He will," Gloria said firmly, "Don't worry so much! He just might get to New York ahead of us is all. Now, you need to calm down. Getting all hysterical won't help Marty."
Alex took a deep breath and collected himself, "You're right. I know. I'm sorry. I just can't shake the feeling that those people…I don't think…they don't seem to…"
Gloria held up her hand, "What's wrong, Alex? Say it."
Alex's sad blue stare reached in and pulled at Gloria's heart. Alex was truly deeply concerned about this, and he was making Gloria feel the same way. She shivered.
Alex didn't blink, "I have the feeling that if we don't find Marty soon, we'll never see him again…alive." The big cat choked the words out.
Gloria was silent for a while. She tried to smile reassuringly at her friend, "Alex, Marty's tough. He will be alright, I just know it." Oh, please let me be right. She thought.
Alex looked down. He had seen the flash of sudden doubt on Gloria's face.
"Hey," Gloria added, "he was the one who went into predator territory alone just to find you." The hippo looked closely at Alex, "Marty will be okay. The question is, will you be?"
Alex stared blankly into the ocean. The moon was just starting to rise on the horizon. It sparkled on the water, seeming bigger tonight than usual. Somewhere under that same moon, a ship with one crane was anchored for the night.
Onboard the boat, the people were asleep in the cabin, snoring as loudly as the ship's engines had rumbled hours before. Most of the animals were asleep as well, but not Cora. It was time to put her plan into action!
She snuck over to three crates containing lemurs.
"Psst!" she hissed. The lemurs woke up "what do you want, lady…"
Cora glanced around, "Shh! Do you want to go home?"
The terrified lemurs nodded.
"Okay, then stand back." Cora kicked one crate lightly a few times. These small crates were the only ones she knew for sure that she could damage. The wood splintered. She kicked a little harder. The crate broke open, freeing one lemur. The lemur looked questioningly at Cora.
Cora whispered, "I have a plan! Undo the latches on all of the cages! Tell everyone else to do the same."
The lemur nodded and set to work, telling each liberated animal to spread the news that Cora had a plan.
In no time at all, the small crates were all empty. Only the largest crate remained.
A cinnamon-furred lemur struggled with the latch on Marty's crate. It was a big latch, and it was partially rusty. "I can't get it!" the lemur moaned.
Cora studied the crate, "I don't know if I can break it, either."
The striped lump in the crate moved, "What's going on?" Marty mumbled sleepily.
Cora looked strained, "We're going to try to take over the boat and go back to Madagascar."
Marty totally woke up, "Really? How can I help?"
"Keep your voice down!" one lemur hissed, "The people are asleep!"
Marty winced at the noise coming from the boat's cabin, "So I hear. It's amazing they don't wake up deaf!"
"Marty," Cora said, "what do you know about opening crates?"
Marty shrugged, "Hey, last time I got out of a crate, it was in the ocean. The crate started filling with water, and broke open in the waves."
Cora frowned, "I guess I could try kicking it." She turned around.
Marty got out of the way of Cora's flying hooves, but he didn't need to. She was barely able to scratch the wood! This crate was built to hold large animals…larger and stronger than Marty and Cora.
Frustrated, Cora kicked the crate one more time. It slid about a foot down the deck.
"Whoa! Watch it!" Marty cried.
Then his crate slid about two feet in the opposite direction.
"Take it easy, Coraaaah!" Marty's crate slid the other way.
Cora's mouth opened, "I'm not…ahh!" she tilted and staggered.
"What's happening?" the lemurs cried.
Lightning lit the sky, illuminating the lemurs' wide eyes and Cora's white spots. Then Cora saw what was happening.
They were in a sea storm.
Marty's crate slid all the way across the deck and slammed into the side rail of the boat. "Ow!" Marty said, "Uh, isn't it really bad to be near water in a lightning storm?"
Cora looked around, "It's okay, I think. We're not in the water, and we're not wet."
Rain suddenly poured down from the cloudy black sky. Thunder roared like a lion in the worst way. Marty braced himself as his crate slid back across the deck.
"Ow! Next time, I am gonna demand a seat belt!" the zebra yelped.
Cora didn't know what to do. She held onto a rail for the stairway to the cabin.
Then things suddenly got more complicated.
A man stepped out of the cabin. He noticed the loose lemurs. "What's going on here?" he yelled. He was answered by a bang of thunder.
The man saw Marty's crate crash into the guardrail again. He called back into the cabin, "You lazy idiots! Get out here and secure the zebra crate or you'll have to pay for the damage yourselves!"
A bunch of groggy men emerged from the cabin and stared at the chaos on the deck. The first man yelled at the other men, "Don't just stand there! Get to work! And get those animals back in their cages!" The man who appeared to be the boss was visibly angry.
"Yes, Boss!" the men began chasing lemurs and other small Madagascar animals all around the boat.
Cora saw her plan dissolving in the torrential rain. Lightning flashed again.
In the center of the deck, men tried to catch Marty's crate as it slid by.
"Aahh!" Marty yelled as the crate slammed into the rail. He looked up. The slats warped a little! This gave Marty an idea. When his crate began sliding back the other way, he slammed his weight against the side to speed it up. Crash! A slat broke in two. It worked! He tried again. Slide, slam. Crash! Another slat splintered and cracked. He was getting free! Slide, slam. Stretch. Stretch?
Marty peeked out of the crate. The men had stopped it with ropes!
"No!" Marty cried, "I almost had it!"
The men tied the ropes around the crate, securing the ends to the base of the crane. Then they began helping their fellow humans catch the loose animals.
Cora made her way to Marty's crate, "Marty! Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I think so…look out behind you!" Marty cried.
Cora whirled around and came face to face with the angry human boss. Marty noticed the man toss an empty bottle aside. Alarms went off in his head.
The man glared menacingly at Cora, "You! You're the only one who was awake! You freed those animals, you backstabbing, unappreciative nag!"
Cora flattened herself to Marty's crate. The man approached her.
The man narrowed his eyes, "I feed you, you worthless animal, and this is how you repay me?" He turned to one of his men, "Get my gun! We'll end this now."
Marty gasped, but Cora didn't flinch.
The man nodded, rushed into the cabin, and rushed back out, "Sir! The guns are gone!"
Cora snorted, "Of course they are. I threw them into the ocean!"
"You go, girl!" Marty cheered.
The boss man was furious, "Aggghhh!" he yelled. He charged at Cora, eyes seeming to glow red. She ran, sliding down the deck as the boat rocked. The boat hit a huge wave. It tilted violently, throwing both the enraged drunken man and the frightened horse into the air.
Marty watched in horror as Cora flew over the side of the boat.
"Cora!" Marty yelled. This can't be happening. That couldn't have just happened!
The boss man picked himself up from the deck and yelled at the waves, "Good to be rid of you, nag!"
"Land ho!" a man called from the bow.
The boss man's evil eyes turned to the front of the boat, "Kenya?" he asked hopefully.
The man who had called held up binoculars, "Jungle, sir. Not a town in sight. We've been blown off course! With the anchor down!"
"Well, get us back on course! Full engines and get us away from here! The longer we spend out here in the ocean, the better chance we give the Feds of finding us! Never forget, we're wanted men!" the boss man yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Yes, Boss!" the men answered.
Marty once again started to shake uncontrollably. Now he understood why. It was his instinct telling him that people were dangerous. He desperately wanted to run away…away from men and yelling and boats and bottles and crates…and the fact that no one familiar was with him anymore. He strained to see anything outside his crate that might give him hope. All he could see was darkness, with humans intermittently illuminated by lightning. Cora! Is she okay? Marty gulped.
The boat roared to life beneath him. All around him, animals cried out in fear.
And Marty had never felt so alone.