“Do you have his number, Mum?” said Ben.
“Yes, it’s on the fridge. . .”
Ben dashed back to the kitchen and scanned the front of the fridge. It was covered in bills, receipts and family photos, held up by embarrassing magnets from holidays they’d been on years ago – but he couldn’t see Mr Green’s number anywhere.
Just as he was losing hope, he lifted up a bank statement to see if anything was underneath it. And there it was – a scrap of paper with “Mr Green” scrawled on it, peeping out from under a pineapple-shaped magnet. He snatched it up and ran back to give it to Mum.
“Brilliant, Ben,” said Mum. She picked up the phone and dialled quickly. Ben and Kate watched her anxiously, waiting for Mr Green to pick up. But Mum just frowned and looked at the receiver.
“There’s no dial tone,” she said. “The phone lines must be down.”
She grabbed her mobile from the kitchen table and dialled the number again. Ben held his breath.
“No reception!” she cried.
“Don’t worry, Mum – let me try,” said Kate, taking her mobile out of her pocket. “I always get reception at the bottom of the garden.”
Kate grabbed the scrap of paper, pulled her soaking wet raincoat and wellies on again, and ran to the back door. Jess scampered after her, barking, thrilled at having another opportunity to chase someone.
“Hold Jess! Don’t let her come after me,” called Kate as she banged the back door shut and walked out into the garden, hunching against the rain.
Ben watched through the kitchen window as Kate stood by the garden fence and dialled Mr Green’s number. She was getting wetter by the second. “Still ringing,” she mouthed.
“Why isn’t he picking up?” asked Ben. But then Kate made a thumbs-up sign, and started chatting animatedly on the phone.
“At last!” said Mum, squeezing Ben’s shoulder. Ben gave a sigh of relief – but when he looked back at Kate, she seemed worried again.
“Now what?” asked Ben as Kate ran back to the house.
“It’s no good – he can’t come,” said Kate. “He’s stuck at the farm – a tree has fallen down and there’s no way he can get across the road. We’re going to have to think of some other way to get those sheep out of there.”
No one said anything for a minute.
“Do you think we could get them out?” asked Ben. “I’ve watched Mr Green herd his sheep. . .”
“But we aren’t trained herders,” said Mum. “It would be dangerous to try moving them when we don’t know what we’re doing – we might end up scaring them into even deeper water.”
They were silent again. This is so silly, thought Ben. If I was stuck at the bottom of the field and couldn’t get out, Mum would call an ambulance, or maybe the fire brigade. There should be something like that for animals.
And then he realized there was. “Why don’t we call the RSPCA?” said Ben.
“Of course! Yes!” said Kate. “Brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Because I’m cleverer than you,” said Ben, making a face. Kate made one back – but then she gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Ben wiped it off with his sleeve.
Mum nodded. “That’s a great idea, Ben,” she said. “Let’s give them a call. I think they have a twenty-four-hour number for emergencies. Let’s hope they’re not too tied up with all the other flooding in the area.”
Kate jumped up. “The internet’s working on my phone – I’ll get the number. Keep your fingers crossed!”
She loaded the RSPCA website on her phone and ran back to the bottom of the garden to dial the number. Ben pulled on his wellies and raincoat and followed Kate. As she waited for the RSPCA to answer, he stood on tiptoes and peered over the garden fence at the sheep in the field below. The hill where the sheep were standing was almost covered in water now. Ben felt helpless – he was so close to them, but there was nothing he could do. “Please let the RSPCA get here soon,” Ben whispered to himself. . .
Lamb All Alone is available in all good bookshops and online.
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2013
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd, 2014
Text copyright © RSPCA, 2013
Illustration copyright © RSPCA, 2013
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The Abandoned Kitten Page 6
