by Helen Peters
But then Biscuit had escaped, of course, and that was a whole different matter. Her parents wouldn’t have been very amused about that. No, on reflection, she was actually quite glad she hadn’t told them.
By the time it started to get dark, Mum still hadn’t mentioned Star’s release, and Jasmine’s anger had been replaced with an overwhelming sadness. She would probably never again in her life get the chance to look after a barn owl, and now she wasn’t even going to be there to say goodbye to him.
She hoovered the final corner of the living room and turned off the vacuum cleaner. She walked into the dining room and lifted the towel on Star’s cage. Star looked at her for a moment before hunkering down in his defensive posture.
Jasmine looked at his bright intelligent eyes in his amazing heart-shaped face. She looked at his pure white chest and his beautiful wing feathers, silver and gold speckled with black-and-white spots. She looked at his hooked beak and his powerful feet with their deadly talons.
“Goodbye, Star,” she said. “It’s been amazing getting to know you. I hope you have a lovely life.”
Star was in full defensive posture now. Jasmine lowered the towel and turned away from the table with tears in her eyes.
Mum was standing in the doorway. She didn’t look angry any more.
“I’m going to take him up to the barn and release him now,” she said.
“OK,” said Jasmine.
“Do you want to come?” asked Mum.
Jasmine stared at her. “Really?”
Mum gave her a little smile. “I’m still really cross with you,” she said. “But I think a week’s worth of housework will probably teach you not to do anything like that again, don’t you?”
“Yes,” muttered Jasmine.
“And I think the incident with Star and Biscuit taught you a lesson, too, about being extremely careful when handling animals with killer instincts.”
“Yes,” said Jasmine.
“And since you and Tom were the ones who rescued Star, I think it’s only fair that you should both be there for his release.”
“Oh, thank you, Mum,” said Jasmine. “Thank you so much.”
Once they had collected Tom, Mum parked the car in the gateway and they set off across the field. It was a beautiful evening, mild and still. A huge full moon hung low in the sky, and a few little stars had already come out.
As they walked past a heap of dead leaves, there was a rustling sound in the centre of it. They glanced at each other, stopped and waited.
More rustling sounds. Then a shiny black nose poked through the leaves, followed by a furry brown snout and a pair of bright black eyes.
A hedgehog!
The hedgehog clambered out of the leaf pile and snuffled about for a minute. Then it took a big handful of leaves in its mouth and pattered off into the hedge with them.
“It’s making a nest to hibernate in,” whispered Mum.
They waited for a couple of minutes but the hedgehog didn’t return.
“Come on,” whispered Mum. “Let’s not disturb it.”
“How lovely to see a hedgehog in the wild,” said Jasmine, as they walked across the field. “I’ve never seen one before.”
“Listen,” said Tom. “Was that an owl?”
From somewhere across the field came an unmistakeable “toowit-toowoo” sound.
“A tawny owl,” said Jasmine. “They’re the only owls that make that sound.”
An answering “toowit-toowoo” came from the wood. “And there’s its friend,” said Tom.
As they drew near to the barn, Jasmine jumped as a black silhouette flitted in front of them.
“A bat,” whispered Tom.
“I expect they roost in the barn,” said Mum. “It’s a perfect place for bats.”
Another black silhouette flitted across the field. Jasmine watched the barn entrance and saw another bat dart out, then another and another.
“They’re going out hunting,” said Mum. “I expect they’re trying to eat as many insects as they can before they start hibernating.”
She set Star’s carrying case down a few metres away from the barn. Jasmine lifted the towel off the cage and crouched down beside it.
“Do you remember this place, Star? This is where we found you.”
“Oh!” said Tom, turning to Nadia. “You did the window.”
Jasmine looked, and saw that the window had been boarded up with a piece of wood.
“I phoned the owner and he said it was fine,” said Nadia, “so I came up this afternoon and nailed it on. I didn’t want to do it with Star here, in case the sound of hammering freaked him out.”
Jasmine gazed at her mum in admiration. She might get a bit angry for no real reason sometimes, but she was quite amazing really, the way she took so much trouble with all the animals in her care.
“Thanks, Mum,” she said.
“No problem,” said Mum. “You two had better say your goodbyes to Star now, I’m afraid.”
Tom crouched down next to Jasmine.
“Goodbye, Star. It’s been amazing to spend time with you. I hope you have a great life in the wild. And try not to eat all the bats.”
“Enjoy your freedom, Star,” said Jasmine. “Maybe we’ll see you again one evening, when you’re out hunting. We’ll look for you every Halloween. And every night when the stars come out, I’ll think of you, flying among them.”
Mum put on her gloves and opened the cage door. Holding his wings firmly against his body, she wrapped her hands around the owl and lifted him out. She set him gently on the ground, facing away from the barn, and stepped back.
They all stood still and silent, watching Star. He stood completely still, too. Only his feathers moved, ruffled by the breeze.
Star turned his head to one side, then the other. Then he dipped his body down close to the ground and lifted his wings. He stretched them out to their full span and took off, skimming horizontally over the long grass. Jasmine watched, awestruck, as Star soared across the field in silent flight, his white-and-silver body ghostly in the moonlight. As he disappeared into a cluster of trees on the other side of the field, an eerie screech was carried back on the breeze.
“Goodbye, Star,” whispered Jasmine. “You’re amazing.”
Mum leaned over and squeezed her shoulder. Then she picked up the cage and they headed back across the field.
For a few minutes, nobody spoke. Then Tom said, “That was the best Halloween ever.”
Mum laughed.
“I mean it,” said Tom. “We got to see a hedgehog, and bats, and watch a real ghost owl fly into the wild. No one else will have had a Halloween like that.”
Nadia gave him an affectionate smile. “You’re right, Tom. That was a unique Halloween.”
“And we both have a black cat to go home to,” said Jasmine.
“The best black cats in the world,” Tom agreed.
“And Dad’s making soup for supper,” said Nadia. “And, thanks to you two and your cancelled party, there are plenty of Halloween cakes to eat. Even Manu can’t have finished them all yet.”
Jasmine felt immensely cheered up all of a sudden. “You’re right, Tom,” she said. “This really is the best Halloween ever.”
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the Barn Owl Trust for their wonderfully informative website, and special thanks to Matthew from the Trust, who generously took the time to answer all my questions.
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2019 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place,
Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW, UK
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Helen Peters, 2019
Cover and illustrations copyright © Ellie Snowdon, 2019
The right of Helen Peters and Ellie Snowdon to be identified as the author and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyr
ight, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved
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