‘Oh no, Harley. I am much faster than Purdy.’
Purdy stopped so quickly that Poppy was worried Harley would fall off and hurt himself. But the little pup slid off the large cat safely and settled by its side.
‘I have told you before, Savannah, I am the fastest. Honestly…’ Purdy walked over to them. ‘This is all getting a bit boring now. I am the fastest, you are a close second. OK?’ Purdy growled.
The cheetahs stood facing each other. Harley sat happily watching the two argue.
‘Pack it in, Purdy. You know I’m faster. Just admit it.’
‘Admit what? That you’re in denial?’
As the two chirped angrily at each other, Poppy walked up to Harley. She noticed the cars had stopped further along the road, the humans now watching a group of cheetahs laze in the sun. Sadly, her family were not amongst them. Poppy decided it was time to leave.
She pushed Harley with her nose, but instead of turning to her, he leapt up and growled, ‘I know!’ He ran over to the arguing cheetahs.
Purdy and Savannah stopped and looked down at their little friend.
‘How about a race?’
The cheetahs looked at each other and smiled.
Poppy looked at the cars queued along the road. She couldn’t see the gates but wanted to find them quickly before they opened and closed again. Anxiously, she wondered if her family was in the next enclosure. She grew impatient, she wanted to find their families before they ran into Cain.
‘Excuse me!’ she barked, interrupting their argument. ‘But we’re looking for our families. Have you seen them?’
Purdy stepped forward. At first she was distracted by Harley. The pup was clearly in no mood for conversation and began rolling on the grass and growling to himself.
‘What do they look like?’ The cheetah purred. ‘Are they white and furry like you or are they humans?’
Poppy’s hopes rose as she described her family.
‘Dad is tall, with a smiley face and dark hair. Mum is shorter and has long hair the same colour as your fur. Jack will be telling everyone all about the animals. He and Evie have the same-coloured hair as Mum and they are always laughing. Evie has round red cheeks and her eyes sparkle…’
Suddenly she stopped. She felt the tug at her heart thinking about her loved ones. She whined. She wanted them back and hoped she would be able to persuade them to forgive her.
Meanwhile, Harley sat watching Purdy and Savannah. Poppy could see the little pup hero-worshipped them and was far too busy gazing at them to join in their conversation.
‘So you are both lost and hungry?’ Savannah purred.
‘We’re starving!’ Harley squeaked.
Purdy stepped forward. ‘I have an idea. How about, if I win the race, I will share my dinner with Harley. And if Savannah wins, she will share hers with Poppy?’
‘Yes! Brilliant!’ Harley howled.
But Poppy wasn’t interested. She didn’t care about food. Even the thought of her favourite treat, strawberry ice cream, didn’t fill her with excitement or send her jowls slobbering with drool. All Poppy wanted was her family back.
But Harley had other ideas. ‘Come on then!’ he growled and ran over to a large rock. Perched on the top, he squeak-barked, ‘On your marks…’
Savannah and Purdy leapt over to the rock, grumbling to each other as they did so.
‘I’m going to beat you, you know.’
‘We’ll see about that.’
‘Oh, please!’
‘Get set!’ Harley squeaked. His blue eyes shone with excitement.
Poppy grumbled under her breath. She flopped down on the grass, determined not to join in with this ridiculous race. She watched the tall, slim cats stand side by side, no longer bickering but staring intently into the distance.
Harley threw his head back and howled, ‘GO!’
The cheetahs were gone in seconds. Poppy had never seen animals move so fast. She couldn’t deny it; she was impressed.
‘Wow! I want to be a cheetah!’ Harley growled, staring after them.
Poppy walked over to the rock and looked up at Harley. He didn’t notice her, he was too busy looking for Purdy and Savannah.
Minutes ticked by. Poppy was running out of patience. Meanwhile, Harley sat very still, his back straight, chin up, chest out; looking, searching and waiting.
Poppy sighed. For all she knew, her family could be travelling further and further away. She stood up and peered into the distance. Nothing. Where were they? Her stomach grumbled. She thought about the prospect of sharing Savannah’s dinner. Yes, she was hungry. She was starving! But right now, all she cared about was finding her family. She groaned, realising they were wasting precious time. It was time to move on.
She walked to the front of the rock and looked up at Harley. ‘Come on,’ she barked.
Harley ignored her.
‘Look, do you want to find your pawrents or not?’
Harley glanced down at her then looked away again. His nose twitched and he growled softly before looking back at her.
‘I know,’ Poppy growled, ‘But you’ll have plenty to eat when you’re back with your pawrents.’
Slowly, he stood up. Poppy could see how reluctant he was, but there was no question of her leaving him behind, no matter how much he liked these big cats. So, she turned and started walking away. She stopped, looked over her shoulder and barked to the pup who was now scampering after her.
‘Come on, the sooner we find your pawrents, the sooner you can eat.’
As they made their way out of the cheetah’s enclosure, Poppy concluded that, for once, the question of when her next meal would be was the least of her concerns.
Chapter 11
Bad Manners
A herd of unusual creatures meandered across the road. Poppy and Harley stopped and watched from a safe distance as these animals gathered around the cars.
‘I’ve seen these before,’ Poppy barked softly.
These creatures were tall and, Poppy noticed, very scruffy. Clumps of dark, matted hair hung from them, revealing patches of smooth skin underneath. The tall, dishevelled animals lifted their noses in the air and looked around, each one chomping on grass and straw. Poppy thought how snooty they looked. But what she found most remarkable were the humps on their backs. She recognised these animals from Jack’s books.
‘Those are camels,’ Poppy growled into Harley’s ear.
Then, she saw it. A big green car started to drive slowly away from a camel which stood with its head at the window. It was still eating the safari park’s special animal food from a little hand that was stretched out under its nose. When the camel finally stepped back, Poppy saw her. It was Evie!
‘It’s them!’ Poppy whined. She wagged her tail and pulled her ears back; she had found her family at last!
She turned, about to run to the car, when a large camel stepped out in front of her. It stared down at them through long eyelashes. Lowering its head to their level, it peered down its nose at them.
Poppy and Harley stepped back. The camel was far too close for comfort. Harley wrinkled his nose. Poppy did the same. Both realised this camel didn’t smell too good.
‘What are you doing here?’ the camel groaned. Its words came out in a deep, long moan.
Poppy quickly picked up the irritation in its voice. As she peered around the camel, it stepped aside. Every time she moved, the camel did too, blocking her view.
‘Look, can you get out of the way? I’m trying to get to my family!’ she barked rudely. Her heart raced, fearing she would lose sight of the car again.
The camel deliberately pushed its face into hers. ‘You haven’t answered my question.’
Now Poppy was annoyed. There was no time for this discussion. She jumped back and barked, ‘My family! I just said, my family! They are in that
green car over there.’
Finally, the camel turned around, frustratingly slowly. ‘There’s no green car here,’ it groaned.
Impatiently, Poppy peered around the camel. The car had gone. Poppy’s heart sank. She sighed. With each deep breath, her anger gradually faded. She calmed down, realising that being angry would not bring the car back.
However, just as her anger eased, Harley’s grew. ‘Well there was one there,’ he growled.
Poppy watched him walk up to the camel. He was glaring. His lips trembled and his growls grew louder.
‘If you hadn’t stood in our way we would have caught up with them.’
The camel peered down at Harley then sniffed loudly in his face.
‘Is that so?’ It pressed its thick lips firmly together and glared at him.
Poppy didn’t like this. There was too much tension in the air for her liking. She could see clearly that Harley’s behaviour was provoking the camel. She stepped forward, deciding to try calming them down.
‘We’re sorry,’ Poppy barked, wagging her tail. ‘It’s just that we have both lost our families…’
She would have explained further but the camel interrupted, ‘That’s a bit silly isn’t it?’ Then it began snapping at the flies buzzing around its head.
Harley growled. Poppy nudged him. She hoped it would be enough to calm him down. She looked at the other camels that clustered around the cars, blocking the road. Then she remembered what Savannah the cheetah had said about hearing the camels discussing Cain.
Whining softly, in the hope this would please the now-grumpy camel, she sat down, pulled her ears back and tapped the tip of her tail gently against the ground.
‘I was wondering if you could tell us about Cain?’
‘Why?’ It frowned at her, still unhappy, but Poppy pressed on.
‘I promised some furriends that I would find out what has happened to him. They are worried that it could affect the whole park.’
‘Really?’ The camel stared into Poppy’s eyes, its mouth chomping from side to side.
She swallowed. It was uncomfortable being stared at especially by someone so close. She shuffled backwards on her bottom, trying to keep a comfortable distance between the two of them. The camel looked at Harley and frowned. Then, it lifted its head and peered around the park.
‘Yes, it will affect the park,’ it groaned.
Poppy stared up at the large, shaggy creature. She waited impatiently for what it was about to say.
‘They say Cain has been acting strange. There’s been talk of another one like him. Between you and me, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cain tried to kill it. Cain is very territorial.’
Poppy gulped. Two Cains in the safari park didn’t bear thinking about. If Cain wasn’t a tiger, what sort of animal was he? She thought about the monster, the Fearsome Brutal Brutus in Evie’s story book.
‘So…’ Poppy mulled over everything the other animals had told her about Cain. ‘Cain is really big, fearless, strong and has sharp teeth?’
The camel nodded.
Poppy swallowed nervously. Everything matched the monster in Evie’s book, all except its big yellow eyes and dark brown fur.
‘Are his eyes big and yellow, and is he covered in fur?’
To her horror, the camel nodded. It grunted, ‘So I’ve been told. Cain never comes here. But I’ve been told he has fierce eyes, and yes, he is covered in fur.’
That confirmed everything for Poppy. Evie’s storybook about the Fearsome Brutal Brutus was actually about none other than Cain!
Poppy’s mind raced. She needed to find out as much as she could, realising their lives could depend on it. Her mind was jumbled with questions. What was the best way to avoid him? What should they do if they saw him or the second Cain? Was there a better route to take that would ensure they did not run into these monsters and also give them a better chance of finding their families?
She opened her mouth, about to begin firing her questions, when she noticed Harley stalking the camel. He didn’t take his eyes off the tall shaggy creature. Poppy had a bad feeling. She could tell by the glint in his eyes that he wasn’t afraid despite the camel’s size.
‘Your humps look funny,’ Harley bark-squeaked.
The camel lifted his head and bellowed, ‘Well I’d like to see YOU survive in the desert without them. I’ll have you know, little one, that these humps store fat which provides us with energy. This energy allows us to go for long periods without food and water.’ It lifted its nose in the air and smiled.
However, Harley wasn’t impressed.
‘But this isn’t the desert, and you have lots of food and water,’ the pup growled, glancing at the other camels being fed by the humans.
The camel turned its head sharply. Poppy noticed it draw its leg back. She jumped forward before it had a chance to kick out at him. It stepped back and groaned as a chunk of shaggy brown hair slid from one of its humps and fell to the ground.
Harley’s lip twitched. The camel noticed. It cleared its throat before saying, in a deep moan, ‘We bactrian camels shed our heavy coats in the summer. But then I guess you were not aware of this detail. Do your pawrents teach you anything?’
Harley curled his lip and growled. ‘My pawrents have taught me a lot, and if they were here now they would teach you a thing or two.’
The camel paused. Poppy tilted her head, watching it look around before turning its attention back to them.
‘Interesting,’ it groaned slowly.
‘What do you mean?’ Poppy jumped to her feet and barked. She tilted her head from one side to the other.
The camel ignored her. It turned its back on her and began to walk away.
Poppy felt her hopes plummet. She had missed her chance to learn as much as she could from the camel.
‘Please,’ Poppy barked, desperate for more information. The thought of not one but two Brutal Brutuses roaming around the park terrified her. ‘What do you mean by interesting? Can you tell us anything else about Cain?’
The camel turned around. It lifted its chin and glared at the pup. Eventually it turned back to Poppy.
‘He needs to get back to his pawrents.’
‘Yes, I know. But can you help us?’
‘No. But you had best be careful.’
Poppy’s lips quivered, yet she fought the temptation to snap at the unhelpful camel. She glanced at Harley. He looked furious. If she lost her temper too, it would only make matters worse.
Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the camel and tried to smile. Then she barked, in the friendliest way she could, ‘Can you please tell us more about Cain?’
The camel stopped and looked at her. For a second Poppy thought they were going to find out more. Then, it looked at Harley. Poppy closed her eyes, fighting the urge to groan as the pup growled and snarled.
‘I dare say you will find out yourself, soon enough.’ It sniffed and glared at the little pup before turning its back on them and walking away.
Poppy watched it join the others. She wanted to run after it, to find out more, but the cars were too close. She turned back and saw Harley watching her.
The camel was right, Harley did need to go back to his pawrents. His argument with the camel could have ended very differently. Harley could have been nursing a nasty bruise from the camel’s sharp kick had she not been there.
She lifted her head and growled. ‘You need to show some respect, Harley.’
‘That camel was rude. He deserved it.’
‘That’s true, he wasn’t very friendly, but then we could have been a lot nicer.’ She groaned, wishing she had been more patient and less snappy. Had she been more polite in the first place, she guessed the camel would have told her more.
‘Stupid camel. If he hadn’t stood in the way you could have been with your family by now,’ Harley gr
umbled in his squeaky voice.
Poppy noticed he was saying just what she had thought when the camel first crossed their path. The pup’s behaviour was just the same as hers. She wondered if Harley was copying the way she behaved.
‘That may be so, Harley,’ she howled softly, ‘but this is his home. And two wrongs do not make a right.’
Harley stared at her. She hoped her words had undone the damage she had caused. Grumbling under her breath, she vowed to remember her manners and bear in mind what impression her behaviour had on the young puppy.
Poppy sighed. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
They ran along the edge of the enclosure towards an open gate with a metal grid on the ground.
‘Look, Poppy,’ Harley growled. ‘Those gates are open.’
Poppy barked with relief, hiding the urgency she felt, knowing she had to make sure the little pup found his pawrents before landing himself in trouble.
Chapter 12
Unexpected Friends
‘Steady now,’ Poppy barked as they stepped over the metal grid, one bar at a time.
‘Yes, Mum,’ Harley teased.
Poppy growled, realising she was sounding more and more like his pawrent.
‘Remember to mind your manners this time. We don’t want to be upsetting anyone else,’ she grumbled, still unhappy about their encounter with the camel.
‘You too,’ Harley barked, his eyes sparkling mischievously.
There was nothing she could say to that. Harley was right. She growled irritably, annoyed with herself, believing she was to blame for their disastrous meeting with the camel.
Finally, they made it across the grid and were once again on solid ground. Poppy sighed with relief. At least they had made it through to the next enclosure unseen, she thought.
Just then, a voice called, ‘Hello there!’
They turned to see a grey, furless, heavy-set animal running towards them. To Poppy’s surprise, Harley didn’t charge fearlessly up to the creature. Instead, he stepped back and hid behind her. Meanwhile, Poppy stood still, despite her hammering heart.
Poppy on Safari Page 5
