Milly and Clare had Bitsy in a large plastic crate lined with a towel.
‘I can’t believe how well this little piglet is thriving!’ exclaimed the vet. ‘I really didn’t hold out much hope for her at all.’ Bitsy took a few steps and did a little spin in her crate, almost as if to show off her energy.
Abbey picked her up and hugged her. Her little wet snout sniffed at Abbey’s chin.
‘She’s still tiny but she’s actually not too far behind the rest of her litter now,’ said Mr McPhail.
They all walked over to the stall where Henrietta and her piglets were held. The mother was lying on her side, and as usual, the piglets were clambering all over her.
‘Will she ever be able to go back in with her family?’ said Milly, a little sadly.
‘That’s a tricky one,’ said Dr Brown. ‘We could be a bit lucky here, because Henrietta has fourteen teats, but only twelve piglets currently feeding, so there might be room for Bitsy.’ The girls all looked over at the huge sow. ‘Do you see how the teats up close to her front legs are bigger?’
They all nodded and the vet went on.
‘The strongest piglets tend to claim the fastest-flowing teats, and the smaller piglets are left with the less full, slower-flowing teats. Pigs are luckily very good mothers, and will often be happy to feed piglets that are not their own. Some pig farmers even take smaller piglets from larger litters and give them to a few sows that have just finished raising their own litters, which helps those little guys catch up a bit.’
Henrietta gave a loud grunt and stood up.
‘She’s hoping we might have more slops,’ laughed Mr McPhail, scratching the pig behind her ear.
‘Can I take Bitsy for a minute?’ said Dr Brown. ‘I’d like to try something.’
Abbey passed the squirmy piglet to Dr Brown, who leant into the sty to let the huge sow smell Bitsy. Henrietta sniffed at the piglet, and Bitsy made little frightened squeaks as the sow’s warm breath enveloped her. The vet held her steady until both animals seemed to relax a little.
‘Henrietta’s not showing any aggression towards her,’ she said. ‘We may be able to introduce Bitsy back in, but still feed her extra milk throughout the day to keep her weight up. Whether or not she’ll take the teat, or be bullied by the other piglets, really remains to be seen.’
‘I guess it’s up to you girls if you want to take the risk. Bitsy is alive because of you, so you’ll need to make the decision,’ said Mr McPhail.
Abbey could see that Talika, Milly and Clare were all as nervous about this as she was. It would be nice to see little Bitsy learn to be a pig and run in the yard with her sisters and brothers, but she’s still small and if something happened to her, they would all feel terrible.
‘Would it work to just let her meet the other piglets a few at a time, so it is not too overwhelming?’ said Talika.
‘I think that’s an excellent idea,’ said Dr Brown.
Mr McPhail opened the gate and chose one of the smaller piglets. The animal squealed loudly in protest as he was handed over the fence. Dr Brown quickly passed Bitsy to Clare and took the other piglet from Mr McPhail. He was making a huge racket, and Henrietta pushed her massive face up over the rail to see what was going on. She grunted noisily.
‘Abbey, can you grab a big scoop of pig pellets from the feed room?’ asked Mr McPhail.
Abbey was back with the pellets in no time, and they were poured into the trough. Henrietta looked at the pellets, then back at her squawking babe, but decided that eating the pellets was far more urgent than sorting out his problem.
‘Let’s put them into Bitsy’s crate,’ said the vet, ‘just to see how they react.’
The girls and their teacher gathered around the crate as the larger piglet was placed inside. He continued to make quite a racket.
‘Bitsy’s shaking,’ said Clare.
Dr Brown took Bitsy and gently lowered her into the crate, keeping a hand under the tiny piglet for quick removal if it was needed. The other piglet stopped squealing and stared at Bitsy.
Abbey held her breath.
Bitsy didn’t make a sound, but blinked back at her new companion. The little male piglet took a couple of steps towards the small stranger and their little snouts touched. He slid in beside Bitsy and didn’t seem to give her a second thought, as he went back to calling out for his mother.
They all laughed and Mr McPhail lifted him out and popped him back over the fence of the sty. He ran to his mum, who might have been more concerned had those pig pellets not been quite so tasty.
‘How about this for a plan?’ said Dr Brown. ‘We’ll take this very slowly. Do you have a sturdy metal crate, Graham?’
‘I do,’ said Mr McPhail. He headed off to fetch it.
‘Now, girls,’ said the vet, ‘we’ll put Bitsy inside the crate and place it in the corner of the sty, with a heat lamp over it to make sure she never gets cold. We’ll watch her to see how she goes.’
‘Is this so they all get used to each other?’ said Abbey.
‘Exactly,’ said Dr Brown. ‘We need to know that she’ll be accepted back into the litter by both her mother and her siblings before she’s fully reintroduced. She’ll still need her bottle, of course, but from now on, just feed her through the bars of the crate, and try to handle her less.’
The girls all nodded, but Abbey picked up Bitsy and gave her an especially warm hug.
Mr McPhail came back with a large metal crate and some rope. He passed it over the fence of the sty and tied it firmly into the corner, so that there was no chance Henrietta could knock it over.
The girls put in Bitsy’s blankets and her fluffy hot-water-bottle bag, and made it look cosy. While Mr McPhail hooked up the heat lamp, they each had one last cuddle, then Dr Brown placed Bitsy in the crate.
They all stood back and watched. Henrietta kept eating her pellets and most of the piglets entertained themselves by standing under her, trying to reach up to a teat. None of them really paid little Bitsy any attention. She looked tiny in comparison, and it broke Abbey’s heart to see her shaking again.
Abbey and Talika told Hannah all about what had happened with Bitsy over lunch.
‘Is she all right?’ said Hannah, looking as worried as Abbey felt.
‘Mr McPhail’s going to stay with her until we get back,’ said Abbey. ‘He’ll take her out if she gets too upset or frightened.’
‘Dr Brown says that in the long run, even though this is really hard to do, Bitsy will be far happier and healthier if she is raised by her mother. If we can make that happen, I guess we should. And it’s better to do it when she is still very young,’ said Talika.
The girls all agreed, but none of them felt that hungry when it came to eating their own lunches. Mrs Bristow scowled at them as they emptied their still half-filled plates into the bucket where the scraps for the pigs were tipped.
‘I hope you girls aren’t filling up on junk food,’ she snapped.
After that, they collected a full bottle of milk for Bitsy from Miss Beckett and filled her in on the latest piglet news. She decided to come with them as they headed back down to the sty. She seemed as unsure about the whole idea as the girls were.
As they got closer, Mr McPhail put his finger to his lips and signalled that they should sneak up. Dr Brown’s vehicle had gone, and the teacher was sitting alone beside the pen, keeping a good watch over Bitsy, just as he’d promised.
Henrietta had lain down again, and her very full-looking piglets slept around her.
Whether it had been deliberate or accidental, Abbey and the others would never know, but the sow’s vast back ran alongside the cage that held Bitsy, and when they crept around so that they could see her, the tiny piglet was pressed up to the grille, sleeping against her mother’s back. Abbey put her hand over her mouth and let out a little sigh.
‘Would you look at that?’ whispered Miss Beckett, and Talika slipped her phone out to take a photo.
After the teachers went to have th
eir lunch, the girls sat and watched the pigs snooze.
‘When she wakes up we’ll try her on a bottle through the grille,’ said Abbey, quietly, ‘but in the meantime, we should start planning our routine for Drover.’
‘I’m sure our parents will have no problem with us training him when we call them tonight. So, what can we get him to do?’ said Talika, taking out her notepad and holding her pen ready.
‘Beg,’ said Hannah.
‘Sit and roll over,’ said Abbey.
‘Jump,’ said Hannah.
‘And fetch,’ added Talika.
‘Maybe we could make up an obstacle course where he uses all those tricks?’ said Hannah.
‘That’s a good idea,’ said Talika. The girls sat in silence, thinking.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ said Abbey, ‘but we need to collect some stuff.’ The other girls looked on as she drew a plan in Talika’s notebook.
‘That’s perfect!’ said Talika, when Abbey talked them through her plan. ‘But where on earth are we going to get a tunnel or a seesaw?’
‘Bitsy’s waking up,’ said Hannah. ‘Is the bottle still warm?’
Talika took the bottle from its cover and nodded. They bent down along the outside of the crate and Abbey called Bitsy. The little piglet grunted and trotted over. Talika poked the teat through the metal bars and Bitsy slurped at it happily. One of the other little piglets poked his nose through the crate and sniffed the air. Bitsy stopped drinking and walked over to her sibling and they sniffed each other through the bars.
‘They don’t seem to want to hurt her,’ said Hannah.
Mr McPhail wandered down just as she finished her bottle and the girls told him how well she was doing.
‘Perhaps tomorrow we could put her in with the others for a while?’ he said. ‘It’s best if she goes back with Miss Beckett for tonight though.’
‘I really hope the bigger piglets don’t bully her,’ said Abbey.
‘A cattle auction? That sounds great,’ said Abbey. ‘I love cattle auctions.’
‘I’ve never been to one,’ said Talika, ‘but I am always keen to try something new.’
Other girls gathered around the school notice-board in the dining room, where Mr McPhail had posted a sign-up sheet for anyone interested in going to a large cattle auction in Gunnedah.
‘It’s a really long bus trip to get there,’ said Hannah.
‘Well, it’s lucky I’ve saved those picnic snacks then, isn’t it?’ laughed Abbey.
All three girls decided to sign up for the trip.
Mrs Bristow rang the dinner bell and the girls lined up for their meals.
‘Oh, tell me it’s not her meatloaf again?’ groaned Abbey, craning her neck to see what was on the other girls’ plates.
‘It is,’ sighed Talika, as Clare walked past with a chunk of hard, dry-looking meat.
‘She does this to torture me. I know she does,’ whined Abbey. ‘You wouldn’t feed that stuff to a dog.’
‘Or would you?’ said Hannah, with a glint in her eye.
The other girls looked at her, waiting for an explanation for the huge smile on their friend’s face.
‘Drover would probably love Mrs Bristow’s meatloaf,’ explained Hannah. ‘We’ll need lots of treats if we’re going to train him to go through this obstacle course. Maybe we should ask for extras?’
‘Han, you’re brilliant! Dogs love chewy, hard meat. It’ll be perfect,’ said Abbey. ‘Let’s get as much as we can.’
The girls slowly made their way to the front of the queue. They could hear mutterings of disappointment as those before them received their meals. Abbey stepped up to the counter with purpose.
‘Oh meatloaf!’ she said in a loud and enthusiastic voice. ‘Mmmm! My favourite!’
Mrs Bristow eyed her with suspicion.
‘Could I have a double helping, please?’ she went on. ‘Hold the gravy though; I want to get the full flavour in every bite.’
Abbey said things like this with such sweetness and sincerity that even though Mrs Bristow probably suspected she was making fun of her, she could never have been quite sure.
The surly cook glared at Abbey, tongs suspended in midair. She seemed to be weighing up whether the girl was up to mischief or not.
‘I just love your meatloaf,’ Abbey gushed, with a smile so honest even her own mother would have had trouble doubting it. She turned to her friends in the line behind her. ‘Are you girls getting extra too?’ she beamed, licking her lips.
Talika and Hannah stood frozen for a few seconds. Abbey pressed down gently on Hannah’s toe with her own boot to spur her back into action.
‘Oh,’ stumbled Hannah, far less convincingly. ‘Um, I guess so. Yes please, Mrs Bristow.’
She held out her plate as Mrs Bristow piled on the foul-looking meatloaf. Talika’s plate was loaded to the brim as well.
‘You see!’ said Mrs Bristow, her voice booming over the clatter in the dining hall and bringing it to silence. ‘I know you girls turn your noses up at my meatloaf, my mother’s favourite recipe mind you, but in the end you all get a taste for it, just like these girls have. I’ll have to cook it more often, so that you all learn to appreciate good food when you taste it.’
Every eye in the room turned on the three girls standing at the front, their plates piled high with what could only be described as slabs of cracked leather. Everyone glared at them as the girls slunk back to their table. Abbey mouthed the word ‘sorry’ as she passed each table, but the other students were too distracted by Mrs Bristow’s loud booming voice continuing to spruik how proud her mother would be right now.
The stony silence that met them when they sat down at their usually chatty table was chilling. Nobody said a word. The girls all just stared at the piles of meat on their plates. Bonnie picked up her fork and stabbed a large piece of meatloaf as if it was an archenemy. Then she stood up, leant over the table and plonked it on top of Abbey’s pile.
‘Okay, so maybe not such a great plan then,’ grimaced Hannah.
Talika had thought ahead and grabbed a big handful of napkins without Chuckles seeing. They spread the paper squares on their laps and gradually slipped each piece of meatloaf off their plates and wrapped it up firmly before sliding it into their pockets.
Elizabeth, Hannah’s older sister, appeared from nowhere and leant over Hannah’s shoulder, scowling at them. ‘I don’t know what you’re up to,’ she whispered, ‘but I fully intend to find out.’
‘Thanks, Sheriff,’ said Abbey, sweetly, as Elizabeth stormed off.
The girls waited until everyone from their table had left, then they snuck out of the dining room, trying to hide their pockets stuffed full of meatloaf. They were jogging up the stairs to their room when they met Clare coming down the other way.
‘Quick,’ she said, ‘the prefects are running a spot room inspection. They’re already in Kate and Amber’s room.’
‘That’s only four rooms down, and our room is a disaster!’ gasped Talika, taking the last few stairs in threes.
‘Oh no!’ panicked Hannah, running into the room. ‘Abbey, you have to get all your clothes and stuffed toys off the floor!’
‘What about the meatloaf?’ said Talika. ‘We stink of it.’
Hannah thrust her head into the hallway. ‘They’re three rooms away,’ she whispered.
They tried to shove everything they could out of sight. Most of Abbey’s clothes were hidden under her cow-print doona. Abbey scooped up all of her stuffed toys that were strewn around the floor. She quickly placed them over the top of each of the bulges in her quilt.
‘Who ever said stuffed toys were useless,’ she grinned.
‘Meatloaf?’ said Hannah, breathing quickly and looking like she was going to have a heart attack.
Abbey glanced down at her bulging pockets. Talika was right – she stank of meat. She had to think quickly. She could hear the voices of the prefects in the next room. Abbey grabbed a plastic bag from under her bed.
; ‘Quick, in here!’ she said.
The other two girls threw their meatloaf parcels into the bag. She rushed to the window and dangled the bag outside. As she looked down she saw there was a small notch at the top of the window latch, and she was able to hook the handles of the bag over it, just as Elizabeth and another prefect, Jenna, came in.
‘This room smells,’ said Elizabeth, pushing her nose in the air and looking around the room suspiciously.
‘We had a big dinner,’ said Abbey, brightly, patting her chest as if to hold back a burp. She casually draped herself across her bed, flattening the piles of dirty clothes under her doona.
Hannah glared at her sister as she opened the drawers of her desk. ‘I don’t think you’re allowed to do that,’ she said.
‘Who are you going to tell?’ Elizabeth sneered.
‘Mum!’ said Hannah.
‘Would you like a samosa?’ said Talika, politely, trying to reduce the tension in the room. ‘My mother had our driver drop them off.’
‘I don’t eat foreign food,’ said Elizabeth, rudely.
‘That’s funny,’ said Abbey. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen you eat pizza and spaghetti. Aren’t they from Italy?’
Elizabeth glared at her. ‘Let’s go, Jenna,’ she snapped, and Jenna obediently trotted out the door after her.
‘How can she be so nice one minute, then whenever she’s doing a captain’s job, turn so nasty?’ said Hannah, flopping down on her bed.
‘Some people just let power go to their heads,’ said Talika.
‘Hi, Abbey,’ said her father when he answered the phone.
Abbey thought that she would miss her parents less as she spent more time away from them, but her father’s voice made her suddenly feel a bit teary again. They talked about school for a while and Abbey filled him in on what they had worked out about the missing cattle.
‘That’s a real concern that it seems to be such a big operation,’ said her father. ‘It almost sounds like a gang is behind it.’
‘That’s what Mr McPhail thinks too,’ she said. ‘Anyway, he’s called the Vickerys just to make sure they found those clues too.’
Saving Itsy Bitsy Page 5
