The Eager Elephant (2 page)

Chapter Three

Baby Bertie

“Meep, I’m home!” called Zoe, bursting through the front door of the cottage. She spotted a furry bundle curled up on the sofa and smiled. “Meep, have you been snoozing all day?”

A tiny head popped up, and Meep blinked sleepily. “I was just resting my eyes, Zoe,” the lemur explained, yawning.
“I wasn’t
really
asleep.”

Zoe grinned. “Come on – I’ll get changed out of my school things and then it’s time to go and see Bertie!”

Zoe had rushed home from school as fast as she could. She’d even decided not to stay late for her Monday-night drawing club, which she normally loved. She’d been desperate to get back to the Rescue Zoo – and all because of a very cute baby elephant!

All weekend, Zoe had tried to talk to Bertie. She always made sure she spoke to new animals when they arrived at the zoo, so that she could try to help if they felt nervous or frightened. They were often very surprised that a little girl could understand them! But yesterday there hadn’t been a single second to speak to
Bertie on his own.

First, David had taken Bertie into his new enclosure so that he could meet Oscar properly. Bertie had been so excited, he’d rushed around in dizzy circles, trumpeting noisily! Then Lucy had popped in to give the little elephant a proper check-up. It had taken a while, because Bertie thought she had come to play chase, and cheekily ran away from her as she hurried after him. After that, Great-Uncle Horace and Kiki had come by to say hello. Zoe waited and waited, but before she knew it, it was time to go home for tea!

“It might not be as busy today though,” she told Meep hopefully as she put on leggings, a red top and a cardigan, and fastened her paw-print-charm necklace
around her neck. “Let’s go!”

They ran along the path, calling hello to their other animal friends as they passed. But as they drew closer to the elephants, Zoe noticed a funny noise in the air. It was a bit like the buzzing she heard whenever she visited the Rescue Zoo bees. “What is that?” she asked, frowning.

The funny buzz grew louder and louder. They reached the next corner, peered round it – and both stared. The noise was the chatter of an enormous crowd outside the elephant enclosure! Zoe had never seen so many people in the zoo before, all talking eagerly about one animal.

“The baby is
so
adorable!” cried a lady with big sunglasses.

“Elephants are my favourite!” called a
boy in a blue jumper, holding his camera up to take a picture.

“Look how many people want to see Bertie!” Zoe whispered in amazement.

“How will we get in, Zoe?” Meep asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry. We’ll use my special necklace!” Zoe replied, reaching for the paw-print charm around her neck.
It was very precious to Zoe, because it had been a present from Great-Uncle Horace. It opened every door and gate in the whole zoo, and meant that Zoe could visit any animal whenever she wanted.

“Excuse me,” said Zoe politely, making her way through the crowd. She dodged past a family taking pictures with their phones, and squeezed through a huge group of girls and boys in Brownie and Scout uniforms who were standing on their tiptoes to see Bertie. “He’s so cute!” one of the Brownies cried. When Zoe reached the fence, she held the charm against a panel on the gate. With a quiet click, it swung open. Zoe and Meep went inside and shut the gate behind them.

“Wow,” a little girl breathed, staring at Zoe. “I wish I could do that!”

The elephants’ home looked just like the real African savannah, with lots of tall acacia and apricot trees. David was holding out a big handful of peanuts for Oscar, who was using his clever trunk to scoop them straight into his mouth, without even taking the shells off. Bertie watched Oscar hopefully.

“He’s just had a bottle of milk,” David told Zoe. “He’ll need to drink around fourteen litres of milk a day, but he’ll be eating more and more solid food as well. I don’t think he’s hungry, he’s just eager to do whatever Oscar is doing!”

Zoe giggled as Bertie watched Oscar eat, his ears waggling with excitement.

Oscar carefully used the tip of his trunk to push a peanut over to the little elephant. Zoe giggled as Bertie dropped
the peanut straight away, chasing after it with his trunk, but Oscar patiently showed Bertie how to pick it back up and pop it in his mouth.

Zoe smiled as Bertie rushed up to her. His tasselled tail was swishing excitedly, like a happy puppy’s. As he trumpeted hello, she was even more desperate to talk to him. But David was right there – and all the visitors were watching!

Suddenly Meep gave a noisy chatter. He hopped off Zoe’s shoulder, ran across the enclosure and leaped on to David’s arm – grabbing a peanut right out of his hand! The crowd started laughing as Meep scampered all the way up Oscar’s trunk and perched on his huge, grey head, where he nibbled cheekily on the peanut.

Zoe grinned. Her funny friend was distracting everyone for her! As the crowd took pictures of the naughty lemur, she bent down and whispered quickly in Bertie’s ear, “Hello, Bertie!”

Bertie’s eyes lit up and he gave an loud squeak. Zoe could tell he was trying his best to be quiet, but he was too excited!

“I’m glad Oscar told you about me,” she replied quietly, smiling. “Oscar is one of my best friends here at the Rescue Zoo. And I hope we’re going to be good friends too. We can’t talk properly with all these people around – but I’ll come back as soon as I can. I promise!”

Bertie nodded eagerly and reached up to nuzzle Zoe’s face with his little trunk. It felt very soft and velvety, and Zoe couldn’t help giggling. David looked over and chuckled. “Is Bertie up to mischief again?” he called.

Zoe laughed. “Mum says our new elephant is a little bit naughty.”

“He’s not naughty, he’s just eager to be involved with
everything
!” David said with a smile.

Zoe saw Bertie’s eyes light up. The baby elephant wiggled his tail and lifted his trunk in the air. Then he started stomping his feet on the ground, and rushed around the enclosure excitedly. But he wasn’t
looking where he was going! Zoe held her breath as he crashed straight into one of Oscar’s huge legs, twirled around dizzily … and tumbled over in a heap!

Meep laughed so much he nearly fell off Oscar’s head. Zoe and David rushed over to check Bertie was all right – but Oscar had already wrapped his big, strong trunk around Bertie’s tummy to help him get back on his feet, and then patted his head gently. Zoe giggled as Bertie raced straight off again, already looking for more fun. Rescue Zoo’s newest arrival was a real bundle of energy!

Chapter Four

Weigh Day!

“Walnuts for the parrots?” Lucy asked.

“Check!” Zoe replied, putting them on the table.

“Oranges for the chimps?” said Lucy.

Meep struggled to hold up a whole orange. “Check!” Zoe giggled.

“Then I think we’re ready for Weigh Day!” Lucy smiled.

Weigh Day was one of Zoe’s favourite days in the Recue Zoo calendar. Once a year every creature in the zoo was weighed, so that Lucy and the keepers could make sure that they were all fit and healthy. It was a good way to tell if the tiny marmosets were growing big and strong, or if the greedy pot-bellied pigs were getting a bit too tubby! Lots of the animals didn’t like standing on the special weighing scales, so Zoe always helped out on Weigh Day, rushing from enclosure to enclosure, giving each of her animal friends a treat and whispering encouragement to them.

“Mr Pinch wants to meet with everyone before we start,” Lucy said, pulling a funny face. “He’ll talk for a while, so why don’t you go and visit Bertie before we
begin? I know you’ve been longing to see him.”

“OK!” Zoe happily agreed. “I—” She paused as her nose tickled, then she sneezed, one, two, three times in a row.

“Are you OK?” her mum asked, sounding concerned.

“Yes – I’m fine.” Zoe grinned, blowing her nose. “I can’t wait to find out what Bertie’s been getting up to!”

“I’ll meet you at the ring-tailed coatis,” Lucy told her.

Zoe grabbed her coat and rushed outside with Meep. It was so early that the zoo wasn’t open to visitors yet. A whole week had passed since the little elephant had arrived at the zoo, but Zoe had been working really hard on a special homework project so she hadn’t
had much chance to visit Bertie again. Zoe couldn’t help feeling sad when Great-Uncle Horace had come round and chuckled about Bertie tying his own trunk in a knot, and when Mum told her how Bertie had trumpeted noisily at some ducks flying overhead, making them all quack with surprise!

Zoe turned the corner and skidded to a halt as she heard a familiar voice. “Gather round, everyone!”

Meep froze on the zoo pathway just ahead of Zoe. “Mr Pinch,” Zoe whispered. Meep carefully padded three steps backwards, then turned and leaped quickly on to Zoe’s shoulder.

“Mr Pinch sounds really bossy today,” Meep whispered in her ear. “Let’s hide!”

Zoe sighed. “But we have to go past
him if we want to get to the elephants!” she pointed out.

Meep scampered ahead and peered round the corner, then ran back over to Zoe.

“Mr Pinch is with all the keepers,” he chattered. “Maybe if he’s busy talking, he won’t notice us?”

“OK,” Zoe agreed. “Let’s try to slip past quietly.”

Zoe tiptoed up to the sprawling oak
tree just ahead and peeped round it. Mr Pinch was making an announcement to a group of zookeepers. He was holding a long list of all the animals in the zoo, with an empty box next to each name.

“As you know, today is Weigh Day!” He frowned grumpily, adding, “No doubt the animals will be messing around even more than usual. Any bad behaviour should be reported to me immediately!” He nodded importantly.

As Mr Pinch barked orders at the keepers, Zoe and Meep sneaked past and rushed to the elephant enclosure. When they arrived, Zoe used her necklace to open the gate and they slipped inside.

“Morning, Oscar! Morning, Bertie!” Zoe called as they walked over to the elephants, waving.

Bertie squealed excitedly when he saw Zoe and Meep. His ears flapped and his dark eyes lit up, and when Zoe reached out to stroke his head he ran around her in a ring until he wobbled dizzily. Zoe burst out laughing, and even Oscar gave a deep, booming trumpet of laughter.

“You’re very happy this morning,” Zoe said, smiling at him. “Are you glad to see us?”

Bertie nodded and swung his trunk from
side to side, making a happy squealing sound.

“Silly Bertie, you haven’t been waiting to talk to me for
months
,” said Zoe, grinning. “You’ve only been here for a week!”

Meep squeaked with laughter. Bertie gave another earnest little trumpet.

“It
has
been a very busy week, Bertie,” Zoe agreed kindly. “I hope you’re enjoying being here at the Rescue Zoo?”

Bertie waggled his ears excitedly. He was so eager to tell her how much he loved the zoo that he stumbled over his own feet and almost fell down! Zoe beamed as the baby elephant told her all about his enclosure, his big best friend Oscar and all the kind people who had been to see him. But she hesitated when
Bertie told her that he wanted to see the whole zoo for himself, and visit all the other enclosures.

“I’m not sure about that, Bertie,” she said. “All the other animals at the Rescue Zoo are very friendly, but some of them are quite shy. They might not like an elephant stomping through their homes – even a baby one!”

Bertie looked so sad that Zoe quickly added, “But David sometimes takes Oscar on a walk around the zoo to get some exercise. You can see inside the other enclosures from the path. Maybe we could do that again soon, and you could come too!”

As Zoe mentioned Oscar’s name, Bertie looked round for his big friend. Oscar was standing nearby, curling his trunk up to eat leaves from tall tree. Bertie trotted over to him and tried to copy him, reaching up as high as he could go, trumpeting loudly and twisting around Oscar’s legs. Oscar looked down at him patiently, his mouth full of leaves. Then Oscar slowly walked over to a small tree with low branches, with Bertie trotting after him. Zoe smiled as she realised that the big elephant had
taken Bertie there so he would be able to reach the juicy green leaves by himself. But Bertie took one look at the tree, shook his head stubbornly, and dashed back to the tall tree that Oscar had been eating from. Bertie gazed up at the tree and gave a hopeful trumpet.

“Bertie, it’s lovely that you’re so proud to be friends with Oscar,” Zoe laughed. “But you can’t eat from the same huge trees as him, just because you want to be a big elephant, too! The smaller tree will be much easier for you,” she explained.

But Bertie shook his head stubbornly. So Oscar curled his trunk all the way round a high branch, pulled off a trunkful of leaves and passed them down to Bertie. The little elephant happily took one leaf at a time and put them into his mouth,
then squealed for more.

“Cheeky Bertie!” giggled Zoe. At least Oscar didn’t seem to mind his mischievous friend. The big elephant had a twinkle in his gentle brown eyes as he watched Bertie munch his breakfast.

The enclosure gate swung open and David walked in, smiling. “Morning, Zoe. You’re here nice and early! We’ve come to weigh the elephants. I thought Oscar could go first, then Bertie will see there’s nothing to be worried about.”

Behind him, a big red tractor was rumbling slowly into the enclosure. Zoe could see one of the other zookeepers, Will, sitting in the driver’s seat. The Rescue Zoo symbol was painted on both doors and it was pulling a huge silver weighing scale on a trailer behind it. The zoo needed an extra-specially big scale to weigh Oscar, as well as the rhinos and the hippos, because they were so heavy.

“Could you park over there, Will?” David called, pointing to a spot in the middle of the enclosure. “I’ll just run back
and shut the gate.”

As David jogged back over to the gate, Bertie stared at the digger in amazement. For a moment, Zoe thought he was frightened. But then he gave an excited squeal and rushed towards it as fast as his little legs could carry him. “Bertie, slow down!” Zoe hissed anxiously, chasing after him. “That’s really dangerous!”

Bertie was heading straight for the huge wheels of the digger, trumpeting happily. The baby elephant thought it had come to play with him! “You’re going to get squashed, Bertie!” Zoe called desperately.

But Bertie was too excited to listen.

“Bertie, I’ve thought of a new game!” Zoe shouted, thinking fast. “Chase me instead! I bet you can’t catch me.”

Bertie turned round straightaway,
his ears wiggling happily. Suddenly, Zoe wasn’t sure this was such a good idea. Bertie was an
elephant
, after all – and he was charging straight towards her! She started running away from the digger, so that Bertie moved out of the path of its huge wheels. She was fast, but the elephant reached her in no time.
Thump!
Bertie thudded playfully into her, flinging his trunk around her waist for a big hug.

“You win, Bertie!” Zoe laughed, trying to catch her breath. “But maybe that’s enough for now.” Bertie might be a baby but he was still very strong, and he was already much heavier than her.

At least he didn’t get hurt
, she thought, relieved to see that the digger had stopped. It was slowly lowering the massive scale on to the ground. Bertie looked at it curiously, then poked Zoe’s hand with the tip of his trunk, wanting to know what it was. “It’s to weigh you, so we can see how heavy you are,” Zoe whispered. “Don’t worry, it’s really easy! Look, Oscar’s going to go first.”

Bertie watched as Oscar began lumbering steadily over to the scale. Then the baby elephant gave a sudden trumpet and rushed towards it. Oscar stopped and
stared in surprise as Bertie scampered under his huge feet, hopped on to the scale and squealed proudly.