THE EMERGENCY ZOO
meat and I've been with him on delivery day in theI don't think Sophia—
"Snooty—"
"Hmm, perhaps. Anyway, I don't think Sophia will beworrying about anyone killing her pets. Rich people willhave somewhere to go to in the countryside, and they cantake their pets with them. "
"It's so unfair," said Tilly with a sigh, as they arrivedat the den.
She threw her bike down and rushed into the hut to see
Bonny, who was jumping up and barking wildly, her ears
flying in all directions.
"Oh, my darling Bonny Bonbons," Tilly cried out as
she untied the lead. "I've missed you so much. "
She gathered Bonny into her arms, who started to
lick and lick her face until she thought it would rub out
completely.
"Doof tep. Where can I put Antony?" came a voicefrom the doorway.
It was the seven-year-old girl, She was dressed in acrisp, yellow blouse and pleated skirt, and her hair wastied in two neat pigtails with a very straight parting in
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CHAPTER 7
the middle. In her arms, a snowy white rabbit was strug-
gling to
Tilly laughed.
"You
don't
don't
you
need
choose
to
one
say
of
the
the
password
wooden
name?why What's your now
you're Ln.
I'm Tilly and this is Bonny.
boxes.said the girl and, giving a sniff, she said,
"Mummy says Antony should always sleep in a clean
cage.
"Hmm, well that's all we've got. If you want to save
your rabbit—
"Course 1 do! Antony is my best friend!" cried out Mary.
Tilly left her to it and went out to see what the others
were doing. she spotted Rosy with Tinkerbell lying in her
arms as usual. The cat's lovely golden fur which usually
shone in the sunlight looked quite matted today.
Rosy had wet her handkerchief, and was dabbing it on
Tinkerbell's mouth and smoothing round her eyes, which
remained tightly shut. She looked rather worried, so Tilly
decided to wait until later to talk about their evacuation
and making a plan for the zoo.
The Scudders had arrived and Mary came out of the
hut, clutching her rather fat rabbit in her arms.
"You can stroke him if you like," she said.
77
Tilly reached over and ran her ha over the softfur. She could feel the bony hip under her ha rabbit
started to wriggle and Mary had to struggle to keepin her arms. She'd better sit down before
"Pam, this is Mary," she said. "Why don't You girls sitdown in the grass and make a run for the rabbits andguinea pigs with your legs. They could do with someexercise after being shut up all night in the hut.""Ooh yes, cried out Pam, "and we can daisychains for "'em. Come on.
Mary looked a bit uncertain, but then she followedPam into the den and they brought out the guinea pigsand both rabbits.
"Tilly, help us," called out Pam, her arms full with herrabbit and two of the guinea pigs. "Clover just kickedToffee."
"Sit down over here, then," said Tilly, lifting the guineapig out of Pam's arms. Its fur was rougher than the rab-bit's and it had a musky smell. "Are you Toffee, eh, areyou, little guinea?" she murmured as she stroked alongits hack. Toffee had light brown fur with a white face andblack patches round both eyes.
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CHAPTER 7
They all sat down in the grass and Tilly showed the
girls how to open their legs and allow the guinea pigs to
run around while they held the rabbits. Sidney and the
boy with the bow brought over pieces of wood and some
chicken-wire and helped to build a run.
"Phew," said Mary, wiping her forehead and leaving
a streak of mud, "thank goodness we can let them go.
Antony was getting very upset, wasn't he?"
"So were Toffee and Apple," said Pam, stroking each
of the guinea pigs in turn. "Toffee's the naughtiest —
she eats all the food and Apple's the baby." Apple had
black and white fur, with one brown ear. Toffee was
settled in the grass, chewing away, as Apple hopped
about, stretching her legs. The rabbits were feeding
on a juicy pile of dandelions someone had pulled up
for them.
"But we need carrots for the rabbits, don't we, Tilly?"
said Mary.
Tilly nodded, getting to her feet. "We need lots of
food for our pets and everyone has to help. See if
you can bring a bag of vegetable peelings from home
tomorrow. You can always say it's for the pig bin, like
in school."
79
THE EMERGENCY ZOO
She looked around for Neville and called out, "Could
you go on lookout the other side of the thicket? Make
sure anyone who comes knows the password. "
Neville went off.
"I'll get some chicken-wire and make a safe crate for
that new rabbit, eh Tills?" said Sidney.
Tilly nodded and went off to get water for Bonny.
When she came back from the stream, she spotted a
cardboard box dumped under a tree. There were air holes
punched in the lid and, when she looked inside, she saw a
tortoise with scaly legs poking out from under his shell.
The light seemed to wake him up, and as Tilly watched,
the head appeared, reaching up on its long neck. One eye
opened and closed and opened again as if he was slowly
winking at her.
"Hello, Mr Tortoise," said Tilly, and she picked him
up carefully with both hands. The claws scrabbled a little
against her palms, but she liked the cool, rough feel of
the leathery skin.
"Come on," she said, "let's find your owners."
Tilly stood up and looked round for the two boys
who had brought the box, but there was no sign of
them.
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CHAPTER 7
"Sidney?" she called as Sidney came out of the hut.
"What about this tortoise?"
"Oh," said Sidney, coming over with his hands in his
pockets. "Thing is, Tills, them twins brought 'im cos
they're going away today with their Mum to Wales. I said
we could take 'im." His voice trailed off.
Tilly sighed and called out to Rosy, "What happens if
they just dump their pets on us?"
Rosy was sitting with her back against a tree, offering
a scrap of food to Tinkerbell. Without looking up, she
said, "We look after them like our own."
"There's plenty of room in the hut for another box,"
said the boy with the bow, coming over. "He'll sleep all
winter, anyway.
"You have to have your own pet to be here," called out
Mary, in her prim little voice.
The boy pulled a white rat out from his pocket with
a grin and the girls screamed. "Meet Domin(). My pet's
portable. He goes everywhere with me." Domino snuf-
fled around in the boy's hand, and he pulled out a crumb
from his pocket and offered it. The rat licked it up and
sat up on its haunches, as if asking for moree
" the boy laughed and put the
proper little Oliver Twist,
THE EMERGENCY ZOO
rat back in his pocket. Then he said to Tilly, "I'll get thetortoise settled in the hut if you like."
Tilly handed the new pet over, just as a whistling soundcame from the thicket.
"Who goes there? Password!" she heard Neville call out.
Tilly ran over and pushed her way through the brambles.
A girl of about sixteen stood there with a bored expression
on her face. At her feet was a cage containing a large green
parrot with a red crown and a vicious-looking hooked
beak, over an inch long.
"Oh grow up," said the girl. "You know me, Neville
Scudder, you idiot." Then, seeing Tilly's frown she mut-
tered, "Doof tep, all right?"
Tilly nodded. "You can come in."
"I'm not going in there," said the girl in disgust. "I've
just brought Pirate."
Pirate gave an irritated squawk and glared at Tilly, jab-
bing his beak towards her. Tilly took a step back.
The girl was saying, "We've had him for years, but now
Mum says he has to be put down. Alec Benson said you'd
take him."
With that, she turned and walked off at a fast pace
across the field.
CHAPTER 7
"Wait a minute," called Tilly after her. "You need to
help look after him."
But the girl didn't stop.
so this is our zoo, thought Tilly. People bring their
animals and dump them on us and we have to feed them
and keep them alive and 1 still don't know who will 100k
after them when we're all evacuated.
She was beginning to wonder if the emergency zoo was
such a good idea after all.
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