by Amelia Cobb
Zoe always tried to meet every new animal as early as possible after they arrived at the zoo, and explain that she could understand them. That way, if they were nervous or had any questions about their new home, they would know they could always ask Zoe for help. She just had to make sure she found the right moment to talk to them, when no one else was around!
Zoe walked over to the mud bath and crouched down next to it, with Meep perched on her shoulder. The little hippo sloshed happily straight through the mud towards them and grunted a friendly greeting. Where it wasn’t covered in mud, his grey skin was very smooth and shiny, with pale-pink patches around his cheeks. Zoe thought his little ears looked like tiny shells or flower petals.
“Hi! My name’s Zoe and this is my best friend Meep,” Zoe began. “We live at the Rescue Zoo and we’re excited that you’ve come to live with us! What’s your name?”
The hippo’s eyes lit up and he grunted eagerly. “It’s lovely to meet you, Henry,” Zoe said warmly. “What do you think of your new home?”
Henry answered by snorting happily and then rolling over again in the mud.
Zoe giggled. “I’m glad you like it so much!” she replied with a laugh. “Albert, Rona and Hetty are all really friendly too. But I’m sorry about that grumpy man who was here before. That’s Mr Pinch.”
“He’s always grumbling!” added Meep.
The hippo shook his little head and gave another cheerful grunt. Zoe was surprised that he didn’t seem to mind at all. “Well, that’s good, Henry. I’m glad he didn’t upset you,” she told him.
When Mo came back, carrying the end of a long hose to wash away the mud from the path outside the enclosure, Zoe said, “Can we call the new hippo Henry? I think it really suits him!”
“Henry the hippo. I like it!” replied Mo. “Gosh, he seems to be settling in very well, doesn’t he? Usually it takes new animals a few days to get used to a new home, but Henry seems so happy already!”
Henry had wriggled out of the mud bath and was trotting around the enclosure, exploring and exchanging friendly grunts with the other hippos. While Mo hosed away the mud, Zoe fetched the Wet Floor sign to warn visitors that the path underfoot might be slippery. She found herself humming a cheerful tune and realised she was feeling happy too. The little hippo’s good mood seemed to have rubbed off on her!
When they were done, Mo fetched a crate of chopped-up fruit and vegetables, and Zoe helped him feed the hippos. Henry especially liked the juicy chunks of melon, gobbling them up hungrily.
“That’s reminded me – I should go home for my own lunch!” said Zoe, feeling her tummy rumble. “Can I come back and see Henry again tomorrow, Mo?”
“Of course, Zoe. Come any time you like,” Mo told her, smiling.
When Zoe got home there was a delicious smell drifting from the kitchen. “Mum, are we having sausages for lunch?” Zoe called hopefully. Sausages and mash was one of Zoe’s all-time favourite meals!
Lucy popped her head round the kitchen door. “Yes, we are! It will be ready in fifteen minutes, so go and get changed out of those muddy things. And make sure you wash your hands really well if you’ve been playing with the baby hippo.”
“We’re naming him Henry,” Zoe explained as she went to get changed. “He’s so cute, Mum. And he seems really happy here already!”
A few minutes later Zoe was all cleaned up and ready to eat. As she and her mum ate, Zoe remembered the birds’ advice from this morning, and decided to try asking about the summer holidays again.
“Mum,” she began, “do you think, one day in the holidays, we could go to the big outdoor adventure playground that we’ve driven past a few times? I think it looks brilliant – it’s got a huge tyre swing and a trampoline! And I think it’s free to go there,” she added, suddenly wondering if her mum hadn’t seemed very keen on going to the new water park because the tickets cost a lot of money.
Lucy didn’t say anything for a moment, and Zoe watched as she pushed her food around her plate, a slight frown on her face. Zoe wasn’t sure what she’d done wrong. Usually she and her mum loved chatting about all the fun things they’d be able to do in the school holidays. Of course, they both loved spending time at the zoo more than anything, and Lucy couldn’t leave the animals for very long, so they didn’t often travel abroad. But every year they went on day trips to water parks and museums, and sometimes to the seaside. Zoe could tell there was something bothering her mum, though she couldn’t imagine what it might be.
Lucy put her knife and fork down, took a deep breath and turned to Zoe with a cautious smile. “Listen, love. There’s something I’ve been meaning to—”
“Briiing! Briiing!”
Right then the telephone rang, cutting Lucy off in the middle of her sentence. She stood up and went into the hall to answer it.
“Meep, what’s going on?” Zoe whispered. “I think Mum was going to tell me something then, and it seemed like it was serious.”
Meep, who was nibbling a banana for his own lunch, shook his head. “I don’t know!” he chirped. “Maybe she’ll explain when she comes back to the table?”
But when Lucy put the phone down and came back into the kitchen, she didn’t sit down again, but grabbed her jacket and her vet bag. “That was Frankie, the giraffe keeper,” she explained. “Gertie the giraffe is about to have her baby! I need to rush over there straight away, to help with the delivery. These things can take hours, so Great-Uncle Horace is going to come over and spend the rest of the day here, in case I’m not back until late.”
Zoe nodded. She was excited about the baby giraffe – Zoe loved helping out with the newborn animals at the zoo. But she was also a bit disappointed that her mum hadn’t been able to finish telling her whatever she’d been about to say. “Hopefully we’ll find out tomorrow!” she whispered to Meep.
The doorbell rang shortly afterwards. When Zoe ran to open the door, Great-Uncle Horace was standing there with Kiki perched on one shoulder, holding up an ice-cream cone in each hand. “I stopped at the zoo café on the way over here. I thought we could have a treat, as it’s a sunny day!” he announced. “Now, would you like chocolate or strawberry?”
“Chocolate, please!” answered Zoe, grinning.
Lucy left for the giraffe enclosure straight away, promising to ring as soon as there was any news about the baby, and Great-Uncle Horace and Zoe sat on a bench in the little cottage garden, eating their ice creams. After a few bites, Zoe decided to tell Great-Uncle Horace what she was worrying about. Although he could be very forgetful at times, he was also the wisest person Zoe knew. She could always talk to him if she had a problem. “Great-Uncle Horace, do you know if Mum is OK?” she asked. “She’s been acting quite strangely over the last few days, and I don’t know why.”
Great-Uncle Horace paused for a moment before answering. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, my dear. Perhaps she had her mind on the baby giraffe, or one of the poorly animals she’s treating at the moment.” He was trying to reassure her, but Zoe thought he was sounding a bit strange now, too! “I hear the new hippo is settling in well!” he added, changing the subject. “Mo tells me you’ve named him Henry. He’s a cheerful little fellow, isn’t he?”
Zoe nodded. “He’s great,” she said. “I love it when you bring new animals home, Great-Uncle Horace. What do you think you’ll bring with you next?”
“Well, the next place I plan to visit is the Arctic,” explained Great-Uncle Horace. “Actually, I’ll have to set off next week. There’s a special six-week project at an animal research centre there, and I’ve been asked to go and help. So I won’t be able to stay at the Rescue Zoo for very long this time, I’m afraid.”
“Next week?” said Zoe, her heart sinking. Both Mum and Great-Uncle Horace were acting strangely and he was going away again so soon. Zoe’s happy mood from earlier in the day was disappearing fast!
Chapter Four
A Curious Conversation
Great-Uncle Horace smiled at Zoe. “
Cheer up, my dear,” he said. “I know what will put a smile back on your face. I think Mo will be giving the hippos another feed in a little while. Shall we go and visit them?”
“Yes, please!” said Zoe. Great-Uncle Horace was right – the idea of visiting the hippos had her feeling better already. It was hard to feel down when there was a gorgeous baby animal to play with!
The paths were still busy as Zoe and Great-Uncle Horace walked through the zoo, and lots of the visitors were enjoying ice creams or cold drinks. Zoe smiled as they passed the lions and saw Leonard and Rory sprawled out on the grass, basking in the sun.
When they arrived at the hippo enclosure, Zoe couldn’t help chuckling. The path outside, which had been spotlessly clean when she’d left earlier that day, was once again covered in muddy splashes and puddles. “I think Henry really likes playing in the mud bath,” she told Great-Uncle Horace. “But poor Mo is going to end up spending all his time cleaning!”
Inside the enclosure, Albert and Rona were wallowing in the deep pool, staying nice and cool in the afternoon sunshine, while Hetty and Henry chased each other round the outside of the mud bath, grunting happily. Mo waved when he saw Zoe and Great-Uncle Horace step inside the enclosure. Zoe thought he looked a little tired!
“Henry’s getting along brilliantly with all the other hippos, especially Hetty,” Mo told them, rubbing his forehead with a weary smile. “But four hippos together is a lot of hard work! They’ve made quite a bit of mess. Mr Pinch came along earlier to check that the path had been cleaned properly, and just as he arrived Henry jumped in the mud and splashed him again! Mr Pinch was really cross. He’s complained twice about all the noise they’ve been making, too.”
The enclosure was muddier, messier and noisier than Zoe had ever seen it before. But little Henry was so sweet and funny that it was hard to mind. They all watched and laughed as he ran excitedly around them, hid from Hetty behind tree trunks and rocks, and jumped playfully into muddy puddles, squeaking and grunting eagerly.
Suddenly Great-Uncle Horace’s walkie-talkie crackled and Zoe heard her mum’s voice. “Come in, Uncle Horace! I just wanted to share the good news: Gertie’s baby has just arrived safely! It’s a male, and he’s gorgeous!”
“Come in, Lucy! This is Uncle Horace. That’s wonderful news!” exclaimed Great-Uncle Horace, holding up his own walkie-talkie. “How is Gertie?”
The walkie-talkie crackled again. “She’s fine!” replied Lucy. “She and the calf are sleeping now. I’ll be coming home soon. How is Zoe? She seemed a little down when I left. I was just about to tell her about—”
Great-Uncle Horace quickly interrupted her. “Zoe’s standing right here next to me, as a matter of fact! We’re at the hippo enclosure, visiting cheeky young Henry.” He smiled at Zoe, then took a few steps away and spoke again into the walkie-talkie, though in a hushed voice this time. Zoe couldn’t hear what he and her mum were talking about any more, but now she felt sure that they were keeping something from her. And she was becoming more and more curious to find out what!
A couple of days later, Zoe was walking home from school with her friends Jack and Nicola. Lucy was busy at the zoo, looking after the newborn giraffe, so Nicola’s mum had offered to see Zoe home. Nicola was counting down the days until the summer holidays started.
“We’re going camping in France for two weeks!” she said excitedly. “And we’re setting off as soon as school finishes on Friday, so we can catch the ferry on Friday night! Mum and Dad practised putting our tent up in the back garden yesterday. I’ve even got my own little area to put my sleeping bag in. It’s going to be really cosy!”
“We’re not going away but my auntie and my cousins are coming to visit us from America!” said Jack, sounding thrilled. “We’re going to take them to that new adventure playground, the one with the massive tyre swing and the giant trampoline!”
“Oh, I’d love to go there!” said Zoe. “I asked my mum if she’d take me, but she’s being a bit strange about the holidays. I don’t think we’re going to do anything special.”
“But you already live in the best place in the whole world!” pointed out Nicola, and Jack nodded. “If I lived at the Rescue Zoo I’d never want to go anywhere else. I’d jump out of bed as soon as I woke up, eat my breakfast as quickly as I could, run out of the house and spend all day with the animals!”
“That is what I do!” said Zoe, grinning. “You’re right – I don’t really need to go anywhere else in the holidays. Even if I stayed at the zoo for the entire six weeks, I’d be happy.”
When they reached the Rescue Zoo and Zoe waved goodbye to her friends, she was still feeling cheerful. Meep was waiting for her in his usual spot at the zoo gates, and she smiled as he jumped up on to her shoulder. “Let’s go straight to the hippo enclosure and visit Henry,” she told him.
The zoo paths were busy with visitors that afternoon, and there was an especially big crowd gathered outside the hippo enclosure, where Mo had fixed a sign saying: We have a new member of the hippo family, all the way from Tanzania: please welcome Henry to the Rescue Zoo!
“I loved seeing that gorgeous hippo!” Zoe heard a girl with long red hair telling her little sister. “I wish we could take him home with us.”
Zoe slipped through the crowd and let herself and Meep into the enclosure using her special necklace, making sure the gate was safely closed behind them. She heard the girls gasp, and the younger sister whispered, “Look, that girl is allowed to go inside! She must be a bit like a zoo keeper. She’s so lucky!”
Zoe smiled. Just like her friends had said, she really was lucky!
Rona and Albert were snoozing in the sunshine, but Henry and Hetty were awake and playing in the deep pool in the centre of the enclosure. Zoe walked over to the pool and watched them, giggling. Hetty was showing Henry that she could dive right to the bottom of the water, touching the rocks below with her snout, before surfacing again. Henry was squealing and snorting excitedly, and trying to copy the older hippo, paddling his wrinkled little legs as hard as he could. Even though he was very young and small, Henry was still an excellent swimmer.
Zoe crouched down next to the pool and both hippos paddled towards her. “You look like you’re having a lot of fun!” Zoe said, smiling. “I’ve got an idea! Wait there.”
She ran to the little store cupboard at the edge of the enclosure, where Mo kept all his equipment. Inside was a bright-green bouncy ball. Zoe took it back to the pond and held it up. “I’ll throw the ball into the water,” she said. “The first hippo to reach it wins a point!”
Henry and Hetty grunted eagerly as Zoe threw the ball in. Hetty got to it the first time, but Henry was very quick and managed to dart through the water and nudge it with his snout the second time.
“That’s a point each so far!” Zoe told them with a laugh – but she stopped talking quickly when Meep gave a warning squeak. Someone was coming!
“Ah, there you are, Zoe!” said a voice behind her.
Zoe turned to see Great-Uncle Horace stepping inside the enclosure. He was laden with several bags and a suitcase. “I had a feeling I might find you here. I’ve come to say goodbye, my dear.”
Zoe put the bouncy ball on the ground, feeling her heart sink. “Are you leaving right now?” she asked.
Great-Uncle Horace nodded. “I’m afraid so. I have to catch a plane to the Arctic research project this evening. I’ve packed all my warmest clothes, because it’s going to be very cold when I get there! And plenty of my favourite custard cream biscuits,” he added. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to buy them in the Arctic, so I put as many packets in my suitcase as I could.”
Zoe smiled as she imagined Great-Uncle Horace’s battered old case stuffed with woolly jumpers and packets of biscuits. “I’m really going to miss you!” she told him.
Great-Uncle Horace held his arms out and Zoe ran into them for a hug. “I’ll miss you too, Zoe,” he told her. “But I’ll send you lots of postcards, and I’ll be home in six weeks
.”
Six weeks is ages, Zoe thought sadly. But she managed a brave nod, and waved as he walked back down the path, Kiki perched on his shoulder. As Great-Uncle Horace turned the corner and disappeared out of sight, she sighed, and Meep jumped into her arms for a cuddle. “Let’s keep playing the ball game with Hetty and Henry,” the little lemur suggested. “It might cheer you up!”
“Good idea, Meep,” replied Zoe, and threw the ball for a third time to the excited hippos. But her heart wasn’t in it any more – especially when she heard a loud, grumpy voice coming from the other side of the fence.
“Excuse me, excuse me! Zoo manager coming through!” Mr Pinch snapped, pushing through the crowd of visitors and marching into the hippo enclosure. He frowned when he saw Zoe. “I should have known you’d be here again, Miss Parker!” he told her. “Encouraging the hippos to make even more mess, I’ll bet!” he added, nodding at the ball.
“We’re just playing, Mr Pinch,” Zoe told him, doing her best to be polite.
“That’s the whole problem!” Mr Pinch snapped. “Ever since that new one arrived, these hippos have done nothing but play and swim and splash and roll around in the mud! It’s causing absolute chaos! Every time I walk past there are nasty, muddy puddles on the path outside. It’s a health and safety nightmare. What if one of our customers slipped and fell? Three hippos were bad enough, but four is just too many.”
Zoe stared at him, her heart sinking. Just then she saw her mum appear at the entrance to the enclosure.
“Is everything all right, Mr Pinch?” Lucy asked.
Mr Pinch shook his head crossly. “No, everything is not all right! This enclosure is a disgrace. It is far too muddy and messy and noisy, and dangerous too! Those hippos had better start behaving themselves because I will not allow this in my zoo!” Mr Pinch scowled and stomped off down the path.
