by Amelia Cobb
The next stop they made was at the parrot enclosure. Zoe unlocked the gate with her paw-print necklace and they slipped inside. Ruby, Cupid and Rio fluttered down from the trees to meet them, and Ruby gave a curious squawk.
Zoe took a deep breath. “The Rescue Zoo is in trouble,” she explained to the parrots. “We’re running out of money, and if we don’t think of a way to make some more, it will have to close down.”
Ruby and her friends stared at Zoe, speechless for once. Then they all started squawking anxiously. “Don’t worry, we won’t let that happen!” Zoe reassured them gently. “But we need everyone to put their thinking caps on if we’re going to raise the money we need. Can you fly around and ask the other animals for their ideas?”
Ruby gave a solemn nod. Then she spread her wings and sailed out of the enclosure door into the night air. Cupid and Rio followed, and the parrots flew over the zoo, screeching Zoe’s message.
As the animals heard the news, there were loud snorts and whinnies of alarm.
Zoe had to call up to the parrots, “Please, tell everyone to keep quiet! If my mum or Great-Uncle Horace hear all the noise, they might come outside to see what’s going on. I’ll be in trouble if they find me out of bed!”
A few minutes later, Cupid fluttered down on to Zoe’s shoulder and squawked eagerly. “The lions want to have a roaring contest with the visitors?” repeated Zoe, hiding a smile. “Hmm…I’m not sure people would pay to enter that. But a competition sounds fun.”
Rio squawked from the top of the fence, and Meep squealed with laughter. “The monkeys think people will pay to have swinging lessons,” the little lemur giggled.
Zoe grinned. “I don’t think Mr Pinch would be very happy if the visitors started climbing the trees!”
Then Ruby came back from the hippo enclosure, chattering excitedly. “Hmmm, visitors won’t want to buy the gloopy mud from their lagoon,” said Zoe, shaking her head. “The hippos might love wallowing in it, but people would rather have a nice clean bath. Keep thinking!”
“I know! What about a show?” Meep suggested, jumping up and down excitedly. “Lots of people already pay to see the penguin feeding show!”
“A show is a great idea, Meep!” Zoe grinned. “But it has to be something really special and different. Something the visitors don’t normally see.”
She paused thoughtfully. Just then, Star wriggled in her arms and gave a tiny, adorable sneeze. Zoe giggled and bent down to rub her cheek against Star’s fluffy head. As she did, there was another sneezing sound. It was exactly the same – but this time it hadn’t come from Star. Cheeky Ruby had copied it perfectly.
The parrots chuckled to themselves. Zoe laughed too – then stopped as she had a brilliant idea. “That’s it, Ruby!” she gasped. “You and your friends could put on a show making the sounds of the other animals! You’re so good at it, and it’s a really unusual talent. I think the visitors would love it!”
Ruby fluffed her feathers proudly. “And we could sell everyone who comes to the show an information sheet, all about Amazon parrots,” Zoe added. “We could put in lots of fun stories about the three of you.”
The parrots all squawked approvingly.
Suddenly Zoe’s mind started whirring. “Wait – I have an even better idea,” she exclaimed. “We could sell information sheets about all the animals at the Rescue Zoo! We can include lots of Great-Uncle Horace’s brilliant animal facts, and explain where every animal comes from, and what they like to eat.”
Meep clapped his tiny hands eagerly. “I want to help, Zoe!” he said, bouncing up and down.
Zoe felt so excited, she wanted to start right away! Suddenly she heard a tiny snoring sound. To her surprise, she saw that Star had fallen asleep, curled up peacefully in her arms.
“I think we’d better take this little one back to her own bed,” she whispered to the parrots. “Thank you for everything.”
The parrots nodded, looking very pleased and proud to have helped.
Zoe and Meep wished the parrots goodnight and started walking back to the seal enclosure, chatting quietly so they didn’t wake Star. Zoe couldn’t keep the smile from her face. They had come up with two brilliant ideas for saving their home. Now it was time to put them both into action!
“We’ll start first thing tomorrow morning, Meep,” Zoe whispered eagerly. “There’s no time to lose!”
Chapter Seven
Zoe and Meep Get to Work!
On Sunday, Zoe and Meep ran to Higgins Hall after breakfast. They couldn’t wait to see what the Rescue Zoo’s owner thought of their ideas!
“Great-Uncle Horace?” called Zoe, pushing open the enormous oak front door. “It’s me!”
Higgins Hall was hundreds of years old. It had once been a grand house, with huge paintings on every wall, an enormous library and even a maze in the garden. But when Great-Uncle Horace had started the Rescue Zoo, he’d turned every room into a home for different animals. The great white pelicans lived in the swimming pool, and in every bathroom there was a different type of lizard. Great-Uncle Horace had only kept the cosy attic for himself and Kiki.
“Zoe? I’m in the butterfly room, my dear,” called a cheerful voice.
The butterfly room had once been a beautiful ballroom. Now it was warm and steamy, with trees and tropical flowers growing in huge pots all around. When Zoe and Meep walked in, Great-Uncle Horace was standing in the middle of the room, with colourful butterflies perched along his arms and on his head. Hundreds more fluttered above him. Zoe felt something tickling her cheek as a pretty purple butterfly came to say hello. She held up her hand and the butterfly settled on her finger.
“It’s nice to see you both so early,” said Great-Uncle Horace, beaming at them. “But is everything all right, Zoe? You look rather anxious.”
Zoe suddenly felt like crying. She’d been brave for all the animals, but now she gave a big sob. “I know the zoo is in trouble,” she sniffled. “I listened to the meeting in Mr Pinch’s office yesterday.”
“Oh, Zoe, you don’t need to worry,” Great-Uncle Horace sighed, putting his arm round her shoulders and giving her a comforting hug. “I’d hoped you wouldn’t find out, my dear, because I didn’t want you to get upset. I promise everything will be all right.”
Zoe dried her eyes as she looked at Great-Uncle Horace. His kindly eyes twinkled as he gave her a big smile. “Now, why don’t you come and see my chrysalises…”
Zoe frowned as Great-Uncle Horace wandered across the room, chattering excitedly about the chrysalises.
She looked at the three papery packets hanging from a tree branch, but her mind was full of the money-making ideas the animals had come up with. They had to save the zoo! Turning to Meep, she whispered, “Let’s go and talk to Mum instead.” She said a hurried goodbye to Great-Uncle Horace and slipped back outside.
On their way to find Lucy, they stopped to peer into the seal enclosure. Zoe felt even more worried when she saw Star’s tired face. While the other seals played in the water, Star was lying on a rock sleepily. The little seal explained that she hadn’t felt afraid of the dark when she was in the parrot enclosure, with so much friendly chatter around her. But she’d woken up once she was back in her enclosure, and had felt frightened again. She hadn’t managed to sleep another wink all night.
Zoe felt so sorry for her. “I promise I’ll find a way to help you,” she told the sad little seal. “But first I have to help save the zoo.”
Zoe and Meep found Lucy in Oscar’s enclosure. She was halfway up a ladder, rubbing special cream into one of the elephant’s huge, flapping ears. “Hi, Zoe!” she called. “Poor Oscar scratched his ear on a branch this morning, so I’m making sure it doesn’t get sore.”
Zoe waited for her mum to climb back down the ladder. “Mum,” she said as Lucy reached the bottom, “I know the Rescue Zoo needs money.”
“Oh, Zoe, I didn’t want you to worry about the zoo closing down. We’re going to do everything we can to save it. We’re going
to have a big fundraiser and raise lots of money.”
Zoe felt her heart lift at the thought of a fundraiser. As soon as people saw how brilliant the Rescue Zoo was they were bound to give them lots of money!
“I want to help,” she said bravely. “I’ve already got some money-making ideas!”
She told Lucy about the parrot show and the information sheets. “Brilliant!” Lucy said, smiling. “Why don’t you use my laptop to start writing the sheets? When I get home tonight, I’ll help you add the Rescue Zoo hot-air-balloon logo to each one, so they look really smart.”
Zoe was so relieved that her mum thought her ideas might help the Rescue Zoo. She and Meep rushed back to the cottage, determined to get started. They sat at the kitchen table and Zoe switched on the laptop.
“Let’s start with Oscar,” Zoe decided. Great-Uncle Horace had taught her all about African elephants, and she’d learned lots more because she had spent so much time with her biggest animal friend. She opened a fresh page and wrote Oscar’s name at the top. “I’ll say that elephants are the biggest land mammals in the world. Oscar is seven, but he’ll get even bigger until he’s about ten. What else can we tell visitors about him?”
“Write about his trunk!” chirped Meep.
“Good idea, Meep,” said Zoe, typing quickly. “African elephants have very clever trunks, which can suck up water and pick up food.”
“Let’s put what he eats,” suggested Meep, jumping up and down.
Zoe nodded. “Elephants are herbivores, so that means they eat plants, roots and fruits. Oscar’s favourite treats are oranges and bananas.”
“And he likes to be tickled behind his ears!” added Meep.
“Perfect, Meep!” said Zoe, writing the last line. “Now, what about the giraffes?”
The two friends worked hard all day, and only stopped for a quick lunch when Zoe heard Meep’s tummy rumbling.
When they heard Lucy arriving home, Zoe was finishing a sheet about Star. “Mum, come and read what we’ve done!” she called.
Lucy sat at the kitchen table and looked through all the sheets, with Zoe perched on her knee. When she got to the very last one, she read it aloud. “Star the harp seal. Star is the Rescue Zoo’s newest animal. She likes milk and being cuddled, but she’s still very nervous of people. We’re trying hard to show her that the Rescue Zoo is her home now.” Tears sprang into her eyes and she pulled Zoe into a tight hug. “These are wonderful, Zoe. I know that when people read them, they’ll realise just how special the Rescue Zoo really is!”
Chapter Eight
Parrot Practice
As soon as the school bell went on Monday afternoon, Zoe rushed back home to the Rescue Zoo. She and the parrots had a show to practise for!
Zoe and the keepers had spent all of Sunday arranging the fundraiser. They’d put colourful posters all around Zoe’s town to tell people about it, and every keeper was planning their own special event or stall.
Annie, the parrot keeper, had been happy for Zoe to do a show with Ruby, Rio and Cupid, and had even suggested they have it on the patch of grass near the gift shop, where all the visitors could come and see it. Zoe had been careful not to give away too much about what the clever parrots could do. She wanted it to be a surprise!
Zoe ran into the cottage and dumped her bag on the kitchen table. “Meep!” she called. She listened, but there was no scamper of paws as Meep ran to greet her. That’s strange, Zoe thought. Meep was always waiting for her after school.
Zoe wandered out into the zoo. As she got closer to the parrot enclosure she could hear cross squawking.
Meep was standing on a fence on the outside of the enclosure, talking to Ruby and the others.
“There you are, Meep!” Zoe called in relief. Meep bounded off the fence and into her arms for a cuddle.
“I was helping!” he chattered happily.
Ruby gave an indignant squawk and ruffled her feathers.
Zoe laughed. “Ruby says you were being a very bossy lemur!”
“I wasn’t!” Meep protested.
Ruby opened her beak and did a perfect impression of Meep’s bossy chattering.
Zoe stifled a giggle. “Never mind, I’m here now,” she said. “And we’ve got a show to plan!”
Zoe unlocked the parrot enclosure with her paw-print necklace, and she and Meep slipped inside. “I think we should have a flying bit, and then your impressions—”
Zoe stopped talking as a group of visitors came up the side of the enclosure. As they peered in she felt like one of the animals! She picked up the parrots’ food bowl and pretended to be filling it.
Finally the visitors left and Zoe turned to the parrots. “OK, if we start with Ruby—”
Rio gave a warning squawk and Zoe stopped talking just as the door to the enclosure opened.
“Oh, hello, Zoe,” Annie said cheerfully. “I didn’t know you were in here. Are you practising for the show?”
“Er, yes,” Zoe replied awkwardly.
“You should use hazelnuts,” Annie suggested. “Rio will do anything for them.” She pulled one out of her pocket and held it up. With a flutter of wings, the cockatoo landed on her arm and picked the nut out of her fingers with his clever feet.
Annie started sweeping the enclosure, and Zoe turned to Meep. “It’ll be difficult to have our rehearsals while Annie is here. I can’t talk to the parrots in front of her,” she whispered to Meep. “We can’t start practising while all the visitors are wandering around either…” Zoe looked round the enclosure as she wondered what to do. Then, as she glanced over to the seal enclosure, she thought of Star and had an idea. “Of course! Let’s practise at night, once the zoo’s empty!”
That night, Zoe and Meep crept out of the cottage again. First they stopped at the seal enclosure, to check on Star. The little seal was awake and whimpering, her eyes shining in the darkness. Zoe scooped her up for a cuddle. “We’re going back to see the parrots. You’re going to see the very first rehearsal for their show,” she told her. Star cheered up straight away, squeaking happily.
Once they’d slipped inside the parrot enclosure, Zoe explained her ideas for the show. The parrots listened eagerly, their heads cocked to one side. “I’ll pick an animal, then you can make the sound,” Zoe suggested. “Let’s start with…a wolf, like Luna and her cubs!”
Ruby let out a loud, deep howl. It sounded so real, Zoe almost believed one of the wolves was standing next to her! “Warthog,” she said. Rio oinked noisily. Meep fell off his log laughing, and Zoe was delighted to see Star giggling shyly.
“When we do the real show, I’ll ask the audience to think of some animals too,” Zoe explained. “After that, I thought you could do some special tricks! Why don’t you start by flying in a pattern?”
Ruby bobbed her head up and down excitedly. Then she squawked to her friends, and the parrots sailed into the air. They flew along in a perfect line, then around in three neat circles. It was going really well until Ruby and Rio tried to land on the same branch and almost crashed into each other!
One by one, they perched on the branch, gripped the bark with their strong claws and swung upside down, which made Star gasp. Finally they flew down and landed in a row on Zoe’s arm.
Zoe pulled out a bag of hazelnuts from her pocket and offered the clever birds one each. “That was brilliant!” she told them as they munched the nuts happily. “With a few more rehearsals it’s going to be perfect! I didn’t know how talented you were. I can’t wait for the visitors see you in action.”
As the parrots chatted about more tricks, Zoe grinned. She was sure the visitors were going to love the show. Clever Ruby and her friends might just save the Rescue Zoo!
Chapter Nine
The Big Day
For the next few days everyone at the Rescue Zoo rushed around getting ready. The paths were swept, the fences were painted and lines of cheerful bunting were hung between the trees. Zoe raced home from school every day to help and every night she crept into the zo
o, collected Star, then helped the parrots rehearse.
Mr Pinch had been bossier than ever. He marched around with his clipboard, snapping orders. But he couldn’t find a thing to complain about, because as well as the zoo staff working extra hard, the animals were being especially tidy. The keepers noticed it too. “The orangutans swept up all the empty peanut shells in their enclosure today,” commented Stephanie, the large-mammal keeper. “It’s almost as if they know about the fundraiser, and want the zoo to look its best!”
Zoe and Meep winked at each. Of course, the animals did want to do everything they could to save their home!
When Zoe woke up on Saturday, the delicious smell of baking was drifting through the zoo. “Yum!” chirped Meep, poking his little nose above the covers. “What’s that?”
“I think Great-Uncle Horace has been making carrot cake!” said Zoe. She hopped out of bed and looked outside. It was a sunny morning, and Zoe thought the Rescue Zoo looked even more beautiful than usual.
Great-Uncle Horace had set up a table in front of Higgins Hall, and was piling it high with tasty-looking cakes and biscuits to sell to hungry visitors. Outside the penguin enclosure, Will was organising a lucky dip. Frankie had stuck up a life-size drawing of a giraffe, and was going to colour in his long neck as the day went on, to show how much money had been raised. Next to the lake, Annie was putting out chairs for Zoe’s parrot show.
