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while many preferred the shade of the trees. The only humans Papina could see were two bald monks dressed in orange robes who seemed to be carrying out some kind of strange ritual at the statue’s feet.
    “Well, what do you think of the big fella?” Twitcher asked casually, fully aware of how overawed they were.
    “What is it?” exclaimed Papina.
    “It’s a monkey god—conveniently for us,” Twitcher smiled. “Apparently, the humans know him as Lord Hanuman, but to me he’s just a stroke of luck.”
    “You mean humans worship monkeys?” asked Willow, struggling to take it all in.
    “Took me a while to get used to the idea,” Twitcher chuckled, “but looking back, becoming a god was the best thing I ever did.”
    “That’s a statue to
you
?” Rowna didn’t even try to conceal her incredulity.
    “Well, not just me. All of us monkeys. But it’s important to get into the spirit of the thing,” he said, leading them into the park. “Now, where do you fancy pitching camp?”
    Willow scampered after him. “No! This isn’t right—”
    “Relax!” Twitcher gave her one of his disarming smiles. “You’ll be safe here.”
    “But we’re not gods! We’re just monkeys! They’ll find us out!”
    “Not necessarily,” replied Twitcher. “You see, we know we’re not gods, and the humans know we’re not gods. But they think he’s a god.” Twitcher gestured to the statue. “And he looks after
all
monkeys. So if the humans harm us, the big fella harms them.” He looked up at the giant stone Hanuman. “And no one fancies their chances there.”
    Willow and the others glanced from Twitcher to the giant statue, wondering if this was all some kind of elaborate joke, but there was a multitude of rhesus monkeys here, and they all seemed happy and relaxed.
    Papina put her hand up. “Now that we’re gods, do we have to behave…differently?”
    “Well, let’s see….Don’t harass the holy men,” Twitcher said, pointing to the monks. “They keep everything clean. Don’t screech at night—it upsets the neighbors. Oh, and try to keep your fingers out of your bum. Doesn’t look very godlike.”
    He said it with such aplomb, Fig burst into a fit of the giggles. That started Papina off, and soon they were all laughing.
    —
    By the time the sun was setting, Willow’s troop had found a nice spot in some shrubs near the foot of the statue. Being so close to Hanuman, it stayed in the shade for most of the day, which explained why the other monkeys hadn’t already taken the spot. But Willow and the others felt that the closer to the monkey god they were, the safer they’d be.
    Having explored Temple Gardens, as they were called, Papina returned carrying an armful of food to share.
    “Well?” Rowna looked at her expectantly.
    “The monkeys here all seem very friendly,” said Papina. “There’s plenty of food and plenty of room.”
    “Seems Twitcher was telling the truth,” said Rowna.
    Willow nodded skeptically. “Maybe.”
    But Papina was impatient with her mother. “Of course he was! Why would he lie to us?”
    Willow gave a rueful smile—her daughter had a lot to learn.
    —
    As the light faded, so did all optimism, and by the time the moon was up, the monkeys’ thoughts had turned inward as they remembered everything they had lost.
    Papina huddled closer to her mother to try and find some comfort. “It’s going to be all right, isn’t it?” she whispered, hoping for reassurance. But none came.
    “Why did your father have to go back?” Willow said, her sorrow tinged with bitterness. “He could have been here with us….” Her words trailed off. She was frightened that if she said any more she would break down, so she remained silent and just clung to her daughter.

T he mango hit the stone baby on the nose and exploded in an orange stain all over its innocent face.
    Breri and his friends howled with delight and slapped one another’s hands; then the next monkey picked up a kiwi and took