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

76

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.

78

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.

83