Bad Day for Badger

by Sarah Hawkins

  Lewis looked at all the kit curiously. “How are you going to get Bramble out?” he asked, staring at a huge circular saw.

  Antonio caught him looking and laughed. “We’re not going to saw the van in two just yet,” he said. “First we’ll see if we can lift it up and get Bramble out that way.”

  “Dad was going to use his car jack, but Ray didn’t want to hurt her,” Lewis told him anxiously.

  “Our lifting bags have much more control than a jack,” Antonio told him. “And we’ll have Ray checking on her welfare the whole way through. I promise your badger will be OK. Now, do you want to give me a hand with this?”

  “Yes please!” Lewis breathed. As long as he knew Bramble would be all right, he could enjoy the adventure, helping out a real-life fireman!

  Antonio gave Lewis some plastic squares to hold, then called over his team, and they all started working together. Lewis watched with interest as they brought lots of things out of the fire engine. There were some tubes, planks of wood and a big long container. What were they going to do?

  Lewis watched as one of the firefighters went over to the van and started piling the wood next to the wheels, while the others quickly started setting everything up.

  “This is just air,” Antonio explained to Lewis, tapping the container. “It’s the same sort of canister that we use if we have to put on breathing apparatus to go into a burning building.”

  “Cool!” Lewis replied.

  Antonio attached the tubes to a valve at the top of the canister and held his hand out for the squares Lewis was holding. Lewis hastily gave them to him, and Antonio attached them to the other end of the tubes.

  Lewis glanced over at the van. All the firefighters except Antonio lay on the floor next to the van’s wheels, with piles of wood next to them.

  “When the van gets lifted up, they’ll put the wood underneath the wheels to make sure it stays steady,” Antonio explained. “Ready, Ray?” Antonio asked the RSPCA inspector.

  “Yep!” Ray lay down and got ready to shuffle under, right next to the wheel where Bramble was hiding. “Just don’t drop the van on me!” he joked.

  “Don’t worry,” Antonio replied. “You’re in safe hands.”

  Antonio placed the lifting bags under the van, and turned the gas canister on. The lifting bags started to inflate like a bouncy castle, getting bigger and bigger.

  Lewis felt a hand on his shoulder as Dad pulled him back. “Dad!” he grumbled.

  “You can see just as well from over here,” Dad told him.

  The bags filled up more and more, and slowly the side of the van started to rise. As it did, the firefighters put more and more planks of wood under the van’s wheels to keep Bramble and Ray safe.

  “OK, here goes,” Ray said, passing Antonio the wire animal carrier.

  Antonio held the door of the carrier open, and Ray crawled under the van. It was easier now there was much more space. Lewis could hear him murmuring to the little badger as he started to gently free her.

  Lewis wished he could see what was going on. How badly was Bramble hurt? What would happen if Ray couldn’t get her out? his thoughts raced.

  Finally, after what felt like ages, there was a shout from under the van. “Got her!” Ray called, his voice muffled.

  “Yes!” Lewis cheered. He and Dad grinned at each other.

  “Coming out!” Ray shouted. He shuffled out, feet first. Lewis bent down so he could watch, looking out for a glimpse of the little cub. Antonio held out the carrier as Ray appeared out from under the van, a little black and white bundle cradled in his arms.

  “There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Ray muttered to Bramble, stroking her reassuringly.

  Lewis grinned as he saw her properly. She was a bit mucky from being under the van, but Lewis could see her grey body and her stripy face. She was only little, about the size of a cat, but she was really strong, and she wriggled and squirmed in Ray’s arms.

  “You were right, Lewis, she is a girl,” Ray smiled. “I’d say she’s about four months old.” Ray shifted her in his arms as he tried to put her in the carrier. But just as he was about to place her inside, Bramble squirmed, and jumped right out of his hands!

  “Stop that badger!” Ray cried.

  Lewis gasped as he watched Bramble limping along as fast as she could. She was running straight towards him!

  As Bramble ran over to him, Lewis stepped in the way, blocking her path. Bramble raced over to the wall at the side of the road and stopped, looking up at Lewis. “It’s OK,” Lewis said softly.

  “Good lad!” Ray called, running over with the carrier. “Just keep her there for one second.”

  Lewis spread his arms out wide, making sure she couldn’t get past him. He couldn’t believe he was seeing her so close. Her grey fur was rough and wiry, a bit like Alfie’s, but the black and white stripes on her face were soft and fluffy, and she had white tufts on her little round ears. She was holding her injured leg out awkwardly, and Lewis could see dried blood matting her fur.

  Bramble shrank back against the wall nervously. One of her paws scraped against the wall, and Lewis could see that the pads underneath were like a little foot, with five toes and strong claws for digging.

  “Careful, Lewis. Don’t get too close. She could bite!” Dad said, sounding alarmed.

  Bramble turned her nose towards Lewis’s leg, but she just sniffed him. “It’s OK,” Lewis said softly as she trembled. He knew she was scared, and that scared animals sometimes bit humans that were trying to help them, but somehow he knew Bramble wouldn’t hurt him.

  “Don’t be frightened, Bramble,” he soothed, trying to make his voice as calm as possible. “We’re trying to help you.”

  Ray arrived and gently grabbed her, picking her up and putting her safely in the carrier. As Ray shut the carrier’s wire door, Lewis let out a deep breath.

  “Well done, Lewis!” Antonio said, clapping him on the back. “We might have had to rescue her all over again if it wasn’t for you.”

  “Phew!” Ray said, mopping his forehead. “Thank goodness you were here, Lewis.”

  Lewis felt his face flush. He just wanted Bramble to be OK. As the firefighters deflated the lifting bags and started packing up their stuff, he went with Ray back over to the RSPCA van.

  Bramble was moving about in the carrier. As Ray put her in the back of the van, she looked up at Lewis sadly.

  “Don’t worry,” he told her softly. “You’re going to a nice place, and they’re going to help your leg get better. Then you can go home, I promise.”

  Bramble wrinkled her nose like she understood. Then she curled up at the very back of the carrier.

  As Ray shut the van, all the firefighters cheered.

  “Thanks for all your help, Lewis.” Ray said. “You’ve got a real way with animals.”

  Lewis grinned with pride.

  “Right, I’d better get her back to the centre to have that leg looked at,” Ray said.

  The firefighters were ready to go as well. One by one, they all came and shook Dad and Ray’s hands, clapped Lewis on the back, then climbed into the fire truck.

  “Bye, Lewis!” Antonio started the engine, then flashed the lights and sirens.

  “Cool!” Lewis grinned.

  Antonio waved and gave him a thumbs up, then switched off the lights and drove off down the lane.

  “Goodbye!” Ray said as he got into the van. “And thanks again. Let me know if you ever want a job!”

  Dad came and put his arm around Lewis’s shoulders as they waved goodbye and watched the RSPCA van drive away. “Well,” Dad said as it disappeared around the corner. “What an adventure!” But Lewis couldn’t stop thinking about the little badger.

  “You know she’s going to the best place, right?” Dad told him, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

 
Lewis nodded sadly.

  “Come on, you did a brilliant thing. You saved her life,” Dad told him. “And it’s an amazing adventure to tell people about. Not everyone gets to help the RSPCA and the fire brigade all in one morning!”

  “I bet Granddad would love to hear about it!” Lewis said, feeling a spark of excitement.

  “I bet he would,” Dad agreed. “Tell you what, we’ll give him a call and see if he wants to have dinner with us tonight, and you can tell him all about it.” Dad looked at his watch. “But before then, we’ve just got time—”

  “For what?” Lewis asked as Dad hurried him to the car.

  “To get that game!” Dad grinned. “Come on!”

  Woof, woof, WOOF!

  “Hi, Alfie!” Lewis called as he saw the blurry shape of Granddad’s dog through the glass door. Granddad arrived after him, then opened the door and his arms wide.

  “Lewis!” he grinned. “Come on in.”

  “Dad’s gone to get fish and chips,” Lewis explained as he followed Granddad back into his sitting room.

  “My favourite!” Granddad said, sitting back in his chair. “Now, how’s my best grandson?”

  “I’m good!” Lewis took his usual seat on Granddad’s footstool, and Alfie flopped down next to him, waiting for a stroke. Lewis petted his soft fur and the greyhound nuzzled into his hand, nudging him with his long nose. Lewis stroked all along his nose and tickled him behind the ears, just the way he liked it, and Alfie’s long tail wagged happily.

  Lewis grinned as he looked around. Granddad’s front room had been the same for as long as he could remember. The wallpaper was old-fashioned and faded and a bit peely in places. Dad had offered to redecorate it a million times, but Granddad always said it was just the way he liked it. The fireplace was covered in photos – black and white ones of Granddad and Grandma on their wedding day, Granddad looking young in his Navy uniform, and a big one in the middle of Lewis grinning in his school uniform.

  Woof! Alfie sat up, his ears pricked up.

  “It’s only Dad with the food.” Lewis gave him a reassuring pat.

  “Go and let him in, Lewis.” Granddad waved towards the door. “Saves my old legs getting up again.”

  “Yeah, right,” Lewis laughed. Granddad was always racing around. He walked miles with Alfie every day and he could still beat Lewis at ping-pong. He only ever acted like an old man when there was something he didn’t want to do!

  Lewis opened the front door and Dad came in, carrying steaming, delicious-smelling takeaway bags.

  “Can you go and set the table, Lewis?” Dad asked him.

  “Don’t bother!” Granddad called. “We’ll have it out of the paper, for a treat. Fish and chips tastes better if you eat it with your fingers,” he said to Lewis with a wink.

  Dad frowned and looked down at his clothes, and Lewis could tell he was worried about getting messy.

  “Come on, Dad,” Lewis told him. “I want to tell Granddad all about the badger.”

  Alfie sat at Granddad’s feet, looking up at the dinner hungrily. As Lewis munched, he explained about finding Bramble, calling the RSPCA, and the fire engine coming.

  “And then she wriggled away from Ray and ran right over to me!” he said proudly. “Ray said if I hadn’t been there they’d never have caught her.”

  “Well, that’s brilliant,” Granddad grinned. “There’s not many people that can say they’ve saved a badger. I used to do lots of badger watching with your grandma before your dad was born. But I haven’t been for years.”

  “Badger watching?” Lewis asked.

  “Yes,” Granddad smiled. “When I was home on leave from the Navy we would go down into Brock Wood at dusk, and wait outside the badgers’ sett. That’s what a badger’s house is called,” Granddad explained. “You’d sit there so quietly, hardly breathing, just looking at this mound with a load of holes in it. You’d wait and wait until it was dark and you were certain there was nothing there, then all of a sudden you’d see these little noses poking out.”

  “Bramble had a really snuffly snout,” Lewis said excitedly. “It was so cute!”

  Granddad nodded knowingly. “Sometimes if you sat in the right place, downwind so they couldn’t smell you, whole families would come out and play right in front of you. And we’d see bats flying overhead and foxes and rabbits. The woods come alive at night. Those were the days,” he added with a grin.

  Lewis smiled. It was so nice thinking about Bramble’s life out in the woods, with all her friends.

  “I asked your dad if he wanted to come dozens of times when he was a boy,” Granddad shook his head, “but he was too busy playing with his computers. You two are very similar, you know.”

  Lewis didn’t think so. It didn’t seem like Dad did either, because he nearly choked on his chips.

  “I wonder how Bramble’s doing at the RSPCA rescue centre?” Lewis thought out loud.

  “Did I ever tell you about how I got Alfie?” Granddad asked him.

  Alfie’s ears pricked up when he heard his name. He had his head on Granddad’s lap, and looked up at him adoringly with his chocolatey-brown eyes. Granddad ruffled Alfie’s ears and he put out his tongue in a doggy grin.

  Lewis slid down to sit next to Alfie and put his arms around him. Granddad had had Alfie for as long as he could remember, but he’d never heard this story before.

  “He used to be a racing greyhound,” Granddad explained. “When he was too old to run any more he was badly treated by his owner. The RSPCA got him back to health and looked after him. He got a second chance, thanks to them,” Granddad said gruffly.

  Woof! Alfie barked like he agreed.

  Lewis looked at the happy dog, and shook his head. He couldn’t believe that anyone could ever have been horrible to him.

  Alfie rolled over on to his back, his legs up in the air. “Funny old dog!” Lewis laughed. Alfie lifted his head and looked at him, as if he was saying, “Me?”

  Lewis sneaked Alfie a chip and the old dog gulped it down happily.

  “So, back to school on Monday?” Granddad asked Lewis, making him jump guiltily. “The summer holidays have gone quickly.”

  “It’s OK,” Lewis replied. “It’ll be good to see all my friends.” Then he remembered something. “Oh, I’ve got a school report to do for Monday.”

  “Lewis!” Dad exclaimed. “You’ve had all summer, why have you left it so late?”

  Lewis shrugged. “I forgot. But maybe that’s good – now I can do it on badgers! Will you help me, Granddad? I’ve got to stand up in front of the class and talk for five minutes. Maddy’s going to do her talk on the new Ice Storm game, but if I tell everyone about meeting Bramble, and the fire brigade, and tell them lots of things about how badgers live, my talk will be the best!”

  Granddad laughed. “Of course I’ll help! Grab a pen and paper and I’ll tell you everything I know.” He sat forward in his chair, Alfie leaning with him. “A boy badger is called a boar…”

  “…and a girl badger is called a sow,” Lewis told his class. “Badgers live in small groups in underground homes called setts. They are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and get up at night-time.” Lewis held up a picture that Dad had printed for him off the Internet. “I didn’t take a picture of my badger,” he told the class, “but she looked like this. And that’s why badgers are the best!”

  Lewis stopped talking, and everyone clapped.

  “Well done, Lewis, that was very good. How is your badger doing now?” Mrs Swan asked, her kind face looking concerned.

  Lewis shuffled his feet. He wished he knew. He couldn’t stop thinking about how Bramble was doing at the centre, wondering if her leg was OK and if she was going back to the wild.

  “I don’t know,” he told her, shaking his head sadly.

  “Well,” Mrs Swan said brightly, “maybe you c
ould get your parents to call the RSPCA and ask for an update. I’m sure the RSPCA would be happy that you’re so interested.”

  Lewis’s face lit up. That was a brilliant idea! “Thanks, Miss,” he said as he went to take his seat next to Maddy.

  “That was great, Lewis!” Maddy told him. “Bramble sounds so cute. I wish I’d seen her.”

  “I wish I could see her again,” Lewis sighed. “I didn’t even get to take a photo of her.”

  “But you’ll always remember her,” Maddy said. “And I bet she’ll remember you!”

  Lewis grinned. Maddy always knew the right thing to say. He had lots of friends at school, but Maddy was his best friend.

  Maddy was short and skinny, with shoulder-length brown hair that was always in a messy ponytail, and freckles all over her face. When Lewis had met her, he and his friend Tom had laughed when she said she liked computer games – until Maddy had beaten them both at their favourite game. Lewis still felt a bit ashamed for judging Maddy on what she looked like. His mum and dad had always said that the colour of people’s skin didn’t matter, or whether they were a boy or a girl – it was what they were like inside that counted. Luckily Maddy had forgiven him and they’d been best friends ever since.

  A loud noise jolted Lewis out of his daydream.

  “Good work, class!” Mrs Swan called as the bell went. “I think because of Lewis’s brilliant talk, our project next week should be a piece on our favourite animals. For homework, I’d like you all to write about their habitat – that’s where they live – and their diet, as well as what they look like…”

  When their teacher finished, Maddy jumped up and grabbed her bag. “Come on, Lewis, last one in the playground is it!”

  Lewis got off the bus and walked down his street, his school bag bumping against the back of his legs. But when he went to unlock the back door, it was already open. Inside, the kitchen table was covered with papers, and there was a delicious smell of cooking.