Springtime at Wildacre: the gorgeously uplifting, feel-good romance (Animal Ark Revisited Book 3)

by Lucy Daniels

  Mandy had never examined an elephant before. With Mike Courtney’s guidance, she crossed the trailer. Ganesh’s skin was smoother and firmer than she had expected. His small eyes were sunken and they gazed dully into the distance. He reached out his trunk to her, exploring for a moment. The end of it was dry. Should it be moist like a dog or a cow? Mandy didn’t know.

  He was very still, she thought. After his brief exploration, he didn’t move again. Worst of all, there was a horrible smell, which seemed to linger around his head. On Mike Courtney’s prompting, Ganesh opened his mouth. Though it was too dark to see clearly, the stench rolled over her. There was something very wrong. ‘I think he might have an infected tooth,’ she said after a moment. The big elephant closed his mouth and the awful smell diminished a little. Mandy reached out her hand and stroked Ganesh’s trunk. He didn’t object, but he showed no sign that he enjoyed it either. He really did seem very sorry for himself. With a last glance, Mandy walked back over to Seb and together, they climbed back down and onto the grass. Mike Courtney stayed behind. Mandy glanced back as she climbed down and he had his arms stretched round as if trying to hug his oversized charge.

  ‘So, what do you think?’ Seb asked as soon they were out of earshot.

  ‘I think we need an elephant expert,’ Mandy replied with a frown. She looked across the now empty field thinking as hard as she could.

  ‘Didn’t you say the man with the llama at the show had a friend who ran a safari park?’ Seb asked.

  ‘He did.’ Mandy’s mind went back to the day of the show and Polly Cormac. She surely must know of a vet who was used to treating zoo animals. ‘Give me a minute,’ she said to Seb, ‘I’ll just give Peter a call and see if I can get the number.’

  ‘Tony Simons, elephant expert extraordinaire is on his way,’ she announced to Seb a few minutes later, then she added with a sigh, ‘unfortunately he won’t be here for at least an hour.’

  She half expected Seb to say he couldn’t wait that long, but he just shrugged. ‘Well, it’s not as if I’ve got anything better to do,’ he said with a grin.

  When Mike Courtney heard help was on its way, he seemed more grateful than ever.

  ‘I really do appreciate it,’ he said. ‘Like I said before, Dad left me the circus. He loved his animals, my dad. I did too, but I could see the world was changing. There used to be sea lions and tigers as well as horses and dogs. We’ve rehomed all of them, but I couldn’t find anyone to take Ganesh. He’s lovely and quiet, but he’s a bull elephant. Nobody could find space.’ He sighed, his thoughts obviously filled with memories. ‘I thought he’d see his days out with us, but I hadn’t realised just how long they can live. He’s only twenty-five …’ he trailed off, his face miserable. ‘I’ll pay for the vet’s fees,’ he said a few moments later, ‘but I don’t know what we’ll do afterwards. If I could stay here with him, I would, but we have to go.’

  Mandy felt her sympathy for him grow. She couldn’t take Ganesh either. He could hardly live in the paddock at Hope Meadows. ‘We’ll ask Mr Simons if he can think of anything when he comes,’ she said. She found herself hoping that perhaps Polly Cormac might know of someone, but it was a very long shot.

  Mandy was relieved when the ticket office woman reappeared to say that Tony Simons had arrived. He was a very tall, thin man with a grey beanie hat sitting on top of his black hair. In a procession, they walked back round and climbed up into Ganesh’s trailer. Mandy listened as Tony asked Mike all kinds of questions about how long it had been since Ganesh had begun to go off his food, how much he was drinking and whether his faeces had changed.

  Unlike Mandy, there was no hesitation in his examination. The thermometer seemed tiny against the huge body. He listened to the enormous chest with his stethoscope. Looking round, he pulled the earpieces from his ears and held them out to Mandy. She slipped them into her own ears and stood listening to the slow beat of the elephant’s heart. ‘Good and strong,’ he assured her. Finally, he made his way to Ganesh’s head. He peered into the elephant’s mouth using a head torch. It reminded Mandy of her session with Bill the shire horse when she had examined his teeth in the autumn. ‘We’ll have to sedate him before we can do any proper work,’ Tony said. ‘But he has an impacted molar. It looks infected. No wonder he’s not keen to eat, poor lad.’

  ‘Will you be able to do that here?’ Mandy asked. She was trying to imagine laying out the massive body on the grass. There would be no way to restrain Ganesh if he started to thrash about.

  ‘No.’ Tony smiled. ‘I’ll have to give Polly a call to see if she can give us a hand. She has a special enclosure she’ll hopefully let us use. What about afterwards, though? He can’t come back here.’ He looked around as if hoping someone would present him with a solution.

  ‘I’m afraid I don’t have any answers to that,’ Mandy admitted. This was going to be the hardest part, she thought. ‘Do you think Polly might know anyone?’ she asked.

  Tony looked worried. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I can ask, but it isn’t easy to rehome bull elephants.’

  It was a tense wait while Tony was on the phone to Polly Cormac. Mike Courtney seemed particularly edgy, shuffling his feet and clearing his throat so often that Mandy wanted to put her fingers in her ears. Tony returned with a huge smile. ‘Polly’s going to help,’ he told them. ‘Not just with the operation, but she’ll find a place for him as well.’

  It was a wonderful moment. Mandy wished she could call and tell the twins what was happening, but it would have to wait for later.

  ‘Right,’ Tony’s voice brought her back to earth. ‘Polly can’t take him till tomorrow, and I really would like him to eat something before his trip.’ For a horrible moment, Mandy wondered if he was going to suggest they try to force-feed Ganesh, but Tony laughed when she asked. ‘No,’ he explained. ‘I want to give him some pain relief. I’m pretty sure he’ll eat by himself.’

  Mandy watched Tony again as he prepared Ganesh for his injection. With Mike’s encouragement, the big elephant lay down on his side. ‘We inject into the triceps muscle,’ Tony told her, showing her the area on the outside of Ganesh’s front leg. ‘Elephants get abscesses really easily, so we need to clean it thoroughly.’ He gave the area a good scrub, then disinfected it as if for an operation. Ganesh needed several injections. ‘Just as well he’s quiet,’ Tony said. He shook hands with them all once he was finished. ‘Make sure he’s got plenty of fresh food and water overnight,’ he told Mike. He looked round at them all with his wide grin. ‘And I’ll see you all in the morning,’ he said.

  Remembering her promise to the twins, Mandy called them as soon as she was home. Belle answered. ‘I’ll put you on to Abi,’ she said.

  Mandy could hear speaking in the background, then Abi’s voice, sounding breathless. ‘Is the elephant going to be okay?’ she gasped.

  She sounds like a younger me!

  ‘I think he is,’ Mandy replied. She found herself smiling as she spoke. ‘His name is Ganesh. He’s got bad toothache at the moment, but we called an elephant vet and he’s given him some medicine that will help. We’ve also found a new home for him at a safari park. He’s going there tomorrow to have his tooth out.’

  ‘What will happen then? Can he stay there? He won’t have to go back to the circus, will he?’ Abi still sounded worried.

  Mandy wished she could reach through the phone to give her a hug. ‘He can stay there for the rest of his life,’ she said.

  There was a pause on the phone. She could hear voices again: Max’s then Belle’s. Then Abi spoke again. ‘Max wants to know if we can come with you when you move Ganesh tomorrow,’ she said. ‘Can we do that? Please!’

  Mandy wanted to laugh. She and James would have wanted the same thing all those years ago.

  ‘I think we’ll need to check with your mum,’ Mandy replied after a moment. She hoped Belle didn’t feel she was being put on the spot.

  ‘Will you ask her then, please? I’ll put the phone on speaker,’ A
bi said.

  ‘It’s fine as far as I’m concerned,’ Belle said, once Mandy had explained. ‘But actually, they’re with Jimmy tomorrow, so he’ll have to have the final word.’

  ‘Well, in that case,’ Mandy said, ‘I’ll call and ask him.’

  A burst of cheering down the phone. Jimmy would say yes, she thought, and they knew it. Abi and Max had him wrapped around their little fingers. She found herself grinning as she ended the call. For once, it felt wonderful to be on the same side.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The sun had just appeared over the horizon as Jimmy and the twins drove into the parking space at Animal Ark. Jimmy yawned and then apologised. Abi and Max were wide awake. All three of them were dressed in jeans and boots, as was Mandy.

  ‘Will we able to stroke the elephant?’ Max asked as they walked out to her car.

  ‘His name is Ganesh,’ Abi reminded him. Her tone was so serious that Mandy wanted to laugh. She opened the rear door and Abi scrambled in.

  ‘Well, will we be able to stroke Ganesh then?’ Max looked up at Mandy, his green eyes filled with hope.

  Mandy smiled. ‘I can’t guarantee it, but I’ll see what I can do,’ she said. ‘You’ll have to be very, very quiet, though,’ she went on as Max climbed in. They put their seat belts on as soon as they got in. Mandy climbed into the driver’s seat.

  As she had hoped, they arrived at the circus a few minutes before Polly was due. Mike Courtney was already up and waiting, smartly dressed and wide awake. He strode towards them.

  ‘Morning!’

  ‘Morning, Mr Courtney. How is he doing?’ Mandy asked.

  Mike Courtney looked pleased. ‘Pretty good, actually.’ He crouched down to talk to the twins with a smile. ‘And who are you?’

  ‘I’m Abi and this is my brother Max. We’ve come to see Ganesh,’ Abi replied. ‘Mummy brought us to see your circus yesterday, but we were worried about him,’ she continued.

  Mandy wondered for a moment whether Mr Courtney might be annoyed if he thought they had been the ones to report him, but his smile only widened.

  ‘Well, then I have to say thank you to you both.’ He looked first at Max, then Abi. ‘I couldn’t find a new home for him and now Mandy here,’ he glanced up at her, then back to the twins, ‘she’s found him one.’ With a final grin, he stood up again and reached out a hand to Jimmy. ‘Good to meet you,’ he said. When they had shaken hands, he looked down again at Abi and Max. ‘So, let’s go and see Ganesh!’

  Abi and Max were almost jumping up and down.

  ‘You will remember you need to be really quiet,’ Jimmy cautioned. ‘When the new trailer comes, Ganesh needs to be really calm and he’ll only manage it if you can too.’

  Abi and Max immediately quieted. Mandy glanced at Jimmy, who was smiling down at the twins. Catching her eye, he reached out and squeezed her hand for the briefest moment. His touch warmed her. They followed round to Ganesh’s trailer in silence.

  The double doors in the side of the trailer were open still and the platform that Ganesh would step on when they moved him was in place. Abi and Max climbed up to look in through the bars that spanned the doorway. Mandy was amazed by the change in Ganesh. She had almost been afraid to hope that he would eat, but even as they watched, he pulled some hay from the rack with his trunk, put it in his mouth and began to chew. His eyes had brightened and were no longer sunken. The anxious look was gone.

  ‘He looks much better,’ Max whispered, gazing at Mandy with shining eyes.

  As if he had heard, Ganesh turned from his hay rack, walked over to greet them and reached through the bars with his trunk. Beside Mandy, Max’s eyes were on stalks. Abi gasped with delight as the elephant delicately touched her hair, but then remembering she had to be quiet, she looked up at Mandy with huge eyes. Mandy grinned at her. Reassured, Abi put her hand out to touch the rough grey skin.

  ‘Isn’t he lovely?’ Max whispered as he too reached out a hand. He sighed as if it was almost too wonderful to bear.

  Ganesh turned his attention to Mandy’s hand. The end of his trunk was moist where yesterday it had been dry.

  Even Mike Courtney seemed entranced. ‘He’s just like his old self,’ he said. ‘He’s eaten and drunk plenty. It’s like a miracle.’

  The sound of a lorry approaching heralded Polly’s arrival. To Mandy’s amazement, the extra-wide van came complete with two police cars, one in front and one following.

  The policeman in the front car opened his door and got out. Mandy recognised Dan Jones, Belle’s husband. She wondered for a moment whether it would be awkward when he and Jimmy were together, but the two men greeted one another courteously.

  ‘Good to see you,’ Dan said with a polite nod. ‘Belle said the twins were hoping to come along.’

  Abi and Max rushed over, looking up at Dan with excitement. ‘We got to stroke Ganesh,’ Abi said.

  ‘His trunk’s amazing,’ Max added.

  Dan grinned down at them. ‘I’m glad to hear it,’ he said. He squeezed both Abi and Max on their shoulders, then turned as Polly Cormac came towards them. She was dressed in frayed jeans and a patched sweater, but her blue eyes were filled with warmth. She stopped in front of them, putting her hands on her hips.

  ‘Hello there, Ganesh. How’s he doing?’ she asked, looking from Mike to Mandy.

  ‘He’s eaten well,’ Mike said.

  Mandy nodded. ‘He seems much better,’ she said.

  ‘That’s good.’ Polly gave an approving nod of her head. ‘Right then,’ she declared. ‘We’d better get on.’

  Mandy was amazed by the purpose-built truck Polly owned. The interior was temperature controlled and there was a camera inside to monitor how the elephant was doing. Ganesh was used to travelling, but this time he would be going in style. Mike Courtney helped them load the huge animal into the new trailer. Ganesh was very obedient and followed Mike straight in.

  Of course, he’s done this hundreds of times, thought Mandy.

  Though he was obviously pleased for Ganesh, there was sadness in Mike’s eyes as he closed the trailer doors.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Mandy asked him.

  Mike lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. ‘I’ll miss him,’ he admitted with a sigh. ‘He was my old dad’s favourite, but it’s great that he’s going to a better life. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done.’ He wrung Mandy’s hand as well as Polly’s. He rubbed Max’s hair and patted Abi on the shoulder. ‘Maybe you’ll come and see us again, next time we’re in town.’

  The procession set off towards the safari park. Dan’s police car was in the lead, then Ganesh in his truck with Polly driving. The second police car tucked itself in behind the trailer. Last of all came Mandy’s RAV4 with Jimmy, Abi and Max. They had to drive very slowly on the narrow country roads. It took almost double the usual time for them to reach Welford. They passed the oak tree that marked the village boundary, and in a few moments, they passed through the centre of the village. Mandy was amazed to see a few people lining the road. Susan and Jack Collins, Harriet Fallon with her triplets, and Mandy’s own grandparents as well as several others.

  ‘Looks like news has spread!’ said Mandy, waving at them all.

  ‘Who was that with Susan?’ Jimmy asked, once they were past.

  ‘Harriet Fallon,’ Mandy told him. ‘She was the one who told me about Sam Western and all the councillors meeting.’ The Fox and Goose caught her eye as they passed. Mandy felt a shiver run through her, remembering her awful discussion with Sam and all the Animal Ark clients who had been angry.

  Jimmy turned to look out of the window as if wondering what she’d seen, then turned back. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

  Mandy sighed. ‘Mostly,’ she said. ‘It’s great that we found the squirrels, but lots of other people were angry. They wanted the factory to go ahead. They thought I was interfering.’

  Jimmy looked suitably outraged. Mandy caught his expression from the corner of her eye and felt her heart lift. �
��You did the right thing,’ he said. It’ll all be forgotten in a few weeks. They’ll come round.’

  Mandy found herself smiling. It was lovely to have Jimmy there to reassure her.

  ‘Were people angry with you about the squirrels?’ Max’s voice piped up from the back. In the mirror, she could see his earnest eyes looking at her.

  ‘I’m afraid they were,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t really the squirrels they were angry about, though. They were hoping the new factory would bring some jobs to Welford.’

  ‘But it wasn’t your fault there were squirrels where they wanted to build the factory.’ Abi sounded almost as affronted as Jimmy.

  ‘And you saved our squirrel,’ Max said.

  ‘For the second time!’ added Abi. Jimmy looked at Mandy as if wondering whether she would object to this version of events, but Mandy just smiled at him.

  It took quite a while to reach the safari park. They had to drive very slowly, but they finally arrived. Jimmy looked round as they drove past the open entrance gates. ‘Polly told us to follow them,’ Mandy said. ‘We’re going in through a back entrance rather than the way that visitors normally go.’

  ‘Oh. Okay, good.’ Jimmy turned in his seat to face Abi and Max, his face serious. ‘When we get out,’ he warned them, looking at first one, then the other, ‘we’re all going to have to be very quiet. Ganesh is used to travelling, but his old owner isn’t here. I expect he’ll be scared. It’s very important we don’t do anything to upset him. If either of you gets noisy, you’ll have to sit in the car until the unloading’s finished. Understand?’ He gazed at them both in turn and they looked back at him and nodded.

  ‘Yes, Dad,’ Max said.

  ‘Of course.’ Abi agreed.

  Jimmy smiled as if satisfied. ‘Good,’ he said.