Playground Pets

by Rebecca Johnson

  Miss Fine doesn’t seem to be listening. ‘I think I’ve just learned the first lesson about teaching science. Don’t leave kids doing science experiments unsupervised. Ever.’

  I make a suggestion. ‘What about Mrs Kuss’s gumboots? She wears them all the time when she’s out in the garden.’

  Chelsea looks mortified. ‘They’ll clash terribly with her dress.’ Miss Fine nods in agreement.

  I’m rolling my eyes at both of them when the door flies open and Josh and Jessie from the recycling team rush in.

  ‘Whoa!’ says Jessie when he sees the red dye and the broken shoe on the floor.

  Miss Fine looks at the boys and her lip starts to quiver again.

  ‘Ah, good, you’re here,’ I say. ‘We need some help. Can you go and find Mr C?’

  ‘Mr C is the man that keeps all the things in the school running,’ Chelsea explains to Miss Fine.

  I pick up the broken shoe and hold it out to Josh. ‘Please tell him that we have an emergency, and ask him if there’s any way he could fix this shoe.’

  ‘I’d hardly call fixing a shoe an emergency,’ sniggers Jessie.

  ‘That just shows how much you don’t know. Could you just do it?’ snaps Chelsea.

  Josh nods quickly and grabs the shoe and they both bolt out the door.

  I open the door and yell after them, ‘And if you see the other boys, send them over here.’

  I turn back to Miss Fine and Chelsea.

  ‘You girls are amazing,’ she says. ‘Have you ever thought about becoming teachers?’

  ‘Oh, no,’ I say. ‘I’m going to be a vet and Chelsea’s going to be a world-famous animal trainer and groomer.’

  ‘Mind you,’ says Chelsea, ‘teaching seems a bit like animal training. . . and I’d get to wear nicer shoes.’

  We all have a giggle. It’s nice to see Miss Fine smiling again.

  Chelsea is holding Mrs Kuss’s rainbow-patterned gumboots up against Miss Fine’s dress to see if they clash when Mason, Connor, Adam, Liam and Joeshym walk in.

  ‘We need your help,’ I say to them. The boys nod straightaway because the mess in the room speaks for itself.

  ‘Remember how Mrs Kuss taught us that lemon juice is a weak acid?’ I ask them. ‘Maybe lemon juice can remove the dye? Mason and Liam, can you get some out of the fridge and start trying to clean it off the floor and table?’

  ‘Sure,’ says Mason, and heads for the fridge.

  ‘Joeshym and Connor, can you fill the water bottles for the next lesson, and Adam, can you sweep some of the water away from the door?’ I ask.

  I’m sure I hear one of them mutter, ‘Yes, boss,’ but I choose to ignore it.

  The boys jump into action. Mrs Kuss always says what a great help they are, and she’s right. I guess they can’t help it if they’re boys.

  ‘Let’s check on Delilah,’ I say to Chelsea. ‘She looked a bit uncomfortable this morning.’

  We stand at the tank and take a look at her.

  ‘See how she keeps putting her head up and arching herself back,’ I say. ‘It looks like she might be going into labour soon to have her babies.’

  ‘Um, do we have to do anything to help with these babies?’ says Miss Fine from behind her desk.

  ‘No, she should be okay,’ I answer. ‘Last year she had seventeen of them without any trouble.’

  Miss Fine slumps down onto her chair. ‘Seventeen more lizards,’ she mutters.

  I take out my Vet Diary and start to write some notes on Delilah. Last time she had her babies overnight, so I’m not sure how she was behaving before she went into labour.

  ‘My mum’s a vet. I’ll check with her tonight if that neck-arching thing is normal,’ I say.

  ‘I thought lizards laid eggs?’ said Miss Fine, still shaking her head and trying to cope with this new information. ‘I like eggs. Eggs don’t crawl on you.’

  ‘Most lizards lay eggs, but blue-tongues are among a small group that give birth to live young,’ I explain.

  Mason comes over to the desk and says, ‘I think the dye is all out now, Miss Fine.’

  ‘Oh, thank you so much,’ she says, smiling. ‘That’s a relief.’

  The bell goes just as the other boys finish up.

  Josh and Jessie come rushing into the room, panting. ‘We found Mr C and he’s going to try to fix the shoe,’ Josh explains. ‘He said it’ll need time to dry though.’

  ‘I guess it’s gumboots for me then,’ sighs Miss Fine as her next class lines up at the door.

  ‘At least they have rainbow colours on them,’ I say.

  We come back at lunchtime and find the science room is a lot calmer and Miss Fine seems a lot less frazzled. Chelsea has a bag of scraps from the canteen for the guinea pigs. They squeak like mad when they hear the bag rustle as we enter the room.

  ‘We’re coming, we’re coming,’ says Chelsea as Pudding and Custard peer out from their cage.

  I walk straight over to look at Delilah while Chelsea feeds the guinea pigs.

  Delilah is still pushing her head right back and looks very restless.

  ‘She’s been doing that all morning,’ says Miss Fine as she carries some equipment to the sink.

  ‘It could be normal,’ I say hopefully. ‘But she does look very uncomfortable.’

  The recycling boys have been to collect all the bins and they’ve carried them around to the composting area.

  ‘So what else needs to be done today?’ Miss Fine asks. She looks exhausted.

  ‘That’s about it,’ says Chelsea. ‘We just have to feed the fish and get some fresh leaves for the stick insects and the bush cockroaches. Then spray the insects’ tanks with a bit of water to keep the air moist for them. Mondays are our quiet day.’

  Miss Fine opens her mouth to say something but only a little whimper comes out. She walks over to the sink to make a cup of coffee.

  Chelsea grabs the fish food for the outside fish ponds and I grab some dry gumleaves from the box in the corner for Mort and Teeny.

  There is a loud banging on the door.

  ‘We need Mrs Kuss,’ says a little boy from Year Two as I open the door.

  ‘Mrs Kuss is away,’ I answer.

  ‘There’s a baby bird in the drink trough and it’s all wet.’

  Miss Fine looks at me with wide eyes.

  ‘We’ll come and have a look,’ I say.

  Chelsea, Miss Fine and I are followed by half-a-dozen seven-year-olds as we make our way through the junior school area. There’s a large group of children gathered near the drinking trough below the bubblers. The teacher on duty, Mrs Armstrong, is keeping them well back.

  She looks over at us sadly as we walk up. ‘A baby bird’s fallen into the drinking trough. He’s sopping wet,’ she says, ‘and I don’t know what to do with him.’

  I look down into the trough to find the little damp chick staring up at us and I breathe a sigh of relief.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I tell everyone. ‘This is the best sort of baby bird to find. It’s a noisy miner. He’s probably been out for his first flying lesson and fallen in.’

  ‘Do we need to find his mother?’ asks Mrs Armstrong.

  ‘That’s the amazing thing about these birds,’ I explain. ‘They are communal feeders, so all of the birds in his group take care of him – not just his mum and dad. As soon as we can get him dry enough to squawk, they’ll come from everywhere. You can’t see them, but they’ll be watching us right now. They’re really good parents.’

  All the children and teachers look around to see if they can spot the adult miner birds in the trees, but there’s no sign of them.

  I reach in and gently lift the baby bird out, cupping him in my hands. It’s a hot day, so he won’t take long to dry. I notice Miss Fine take a step back. She really did miss out on the joy of animals when she grew up.

  I pat the chick dry with my school shirt and look around for a low branch.

  The baby bird puffs himself up in my hands and flutters the water off
his little wings.

  ‘Oh, he’s adorable,’ whispers Chelsea.

  ‘Mrs Armstrong, do you think you could reach that branch?’ I ask once I spot the low branch I need.

  ‘I think I could, Juliet,’ she says, and the whole group makes its way over.

  ‘Watch this,’ I say to the growing group of little kids that are now gathered around us.

  Mrs Armstrong gently scoops up the baby bird and places him on the branch.

  ‘Now all we need to do is stand back and wait,’ I tell the crowd.

  The teachers move the kids back and we all wait and watch. Nothing happens for about a minute, then, we hear the sound I’d been hoping for.

  ‘Meep . . . Meep-meep.’ Our little friend starts to call out.

  Noisy miner birds come from everywhere. They’re grey with bright yellow circles around their eyes. Two of them take it in turns to shove insects into the miserable chick’s mouth.

  ‘Ohhh,’ we all say at the same time. Everyone is really excited and happy. It is always nice to save a life. That’s why I want to be a vet.

  ‘Wow,’ Miss Fine says to Mrs Armstrong. ‘She really is nearly a vet.’

  Chelsea looks over at me and gives me a big smile.

  When we get back to the science room the boys are back from composting and they’ve washed the bins and turned them upside-down to dry. Miss Fine is very impressed. ‘This recycling team is pretty amazing,’ she says. The boys look very pleased with themselves.

  Mr C walks around the corner with Miss Fine’s shoes in his hand. He gives us a big smile.

  ‘Emergency over,’ he says.

  Miss Fine blushes. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she says. ‘It’s been a bit of a disaster today and my shoe breaking just topped it all off. The girls said you might be able to fix it.’

  ‘Well that heel won’t be coming off for a good long time. I used my favourite Gorilla Grip glue.’

  ‘Thank you so much,’ beams Miss Fine, as she and Chelsea admire the newly repaired shoe.

  ‘You can’t even see where it broke!’ gasps Chelsea as Miss Fine struggles out of the gumboots.

  I shake my head and smile at Mr C. ‘Give me gumboots any time,’ I mutter to him under my breath.

  ‘I could not agree with you more, Juliet,’ he says and winks.

  I go back and check on Delilah once more before I go home. Miss Fine is clearing tables of equipment again but she seems much happier.

  ‘She’s still arching her back,’ I say.

  Miss Fine comes over quite close to the tank. I smile – she’s getting braver.

  ‘Are you worried about her?’ she asks.

  ‘I am a bit,’ I answer. ‘Delilah isn’t actually due to have her babies for another week. Mrs Kuss really loves these lizards and I want to make sure they’re all okay when she gets back.’

  ‘How long are they pregnant for?’ Miss Fine asks.

  ‘Around one hundred days. Last year she was almost exactly on time. Don’t worry, Miss Fine. I’m going to talk to Mum about it. She’ll know what to do. She really is a vet.’

  Later that afternoon Mum and I look up lots of information about blue-tongue lizards in labour. We even watch one giving birth on YouTube. Mum already knows a lot about lizards, but she says it can’t hurt to learn about other peoples’ experiences with them, because every lizard is different.

  ‘Most people seem to say the labour is pretty quick,’ I say. ‘But I’m still a bit worried, Mum.’

  ‘Why don’t I come in tomorrow morning and have a look at her? Then hopefully you can stop stressing, Juliet,’ Mum says.

  Before I go to bed that night I ring Chelsea and we talk about Delilah. She’s worried about her too, so we decide we’ll go to school early tomorrow morning to check on her.

  Chelsea’s waiting for me at the car in the morning and Mum drives us both to school. Miss Fine is already there preparing for the day when we arrive at the science room.

  ‘Oh, doesn’t she look beautiful!’ whispers Chelsea, as I peer into the lizard tank.

  ‘Yes, but she’s still very fat,’ I answer, looking at Delilah.

  Chelsea gasps and then realises the confusion. ‘Not Delilah, Juliet. I’m talking about Miss Fine!’

  ‘Oh,’ I say. I look over at Miss Fine talking to Mum. She has a bright floral dress on with matching yellow shoes.

  ‘Hopefully those shoes are double reinforced,’ I snigger.

  Chelsea freezes me with a killer glare. Shoes are something we may never agree on, but that’s okay, best friends are allowed to have different opinions.

  ‘Let’s have a look at this girl of yours,’ says Mum, gently lifting Delilah out of the tank.

  The door opens and some of the recycling boys come in, rowdy as usual.

  ‘Sh!’ I hiss.

  They tiptoe over to the tank. We all watch as Mum takes Delilah out and holds her over the table for a check-up.

  ‘Well,’ says Mum finally. ‘She is enormous and her tummy is very tight. I agree with you Juliet – she seems to be pretty uncomfortable. Is she still eating?’

  I open my Vet Diary to check then say, ‘Yes, she had two snails yesterday afternoon.’

  Mum nods. ‘If she was in a lot of pain she wouldn’t be eating,’ she says. ‘Let’s leave her for today and if there’s still no sign of labour by this afternoon, I’d like to take her back to the surgery and do an ultrasound and see what’s happening in her tummy.’

  ‘I thought the babies weren’t due until next week?’ says Miss Fine with a panicked look in her eyes.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ I say. ‘If they come early, we know how to care for them from the last time Delilah had babies.’

  Miss Fine does not look relieved.

  Digby, the male lizard, starts to try and climb the side of the tank. His little stumpy legs are paddling on the smooth surface, but getting him nowhere.

  ‘We’ll take Digby out for a quick walk in the sun,’ whispers Josh. ‘That’ll cheer him up.’

  Miss Fine looks speechless as the boys carry the lizard towards the door.

  ‘Are they allowed to take it outside?’ she whispers.

  I don’t know why we’re all whispering, but it seems the right thing to do when someone is being examined. I nod. ‘We often take the lizards out for a walk in the garden. They are very slow-moving and often just sit in the sun.’

  Mum strokes Delilah lovingly and places her back in her tank.

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ I say, giving her a quick hug.

  She and Miss Fine have a chat and laugh about something, and then Mum leaves.

  I look out the window and watch the boys all standing around Digby in the garden, stretched out in the sun.

  Chelsea stands on a chair so she can change the lizards’ water bowl. ‘Oh!’ she squeaks. ‘There’s a baby lizard! Look, Juliet, right there!’

  I smack myself up against the glass of the tank. She’s right, there is a baby in there.

  ‘Is it all right?’ Miss Fine asks, joining us.

  I gently lift up the baby lizard and it pokes its little blue tongue out at me.

  Compared to the babies that were born last year, this one’s really big. ‘He’s good,’ I say, laughing. ‘He’s huge! No wonder Delilah’s having trouble.’

  Miss Fine smiles at the baby lizard then walks to the door and calls out to the boys, ‘Guys, there’s a baby lizard in here!’ She goes back to her desk.

  The boys bustle like mad to get in the door, then slow down when Chelsea says, ‘Quiet!’

  ‘That’s awesome,’ says Mason, peering down at the baby lizard in my hand.

  ‘It’s so cute,’ coos Liam.

  ‘Are there any more?’ asks Adam.

  ‘We can’t see any,’ I say. ‘Can you?’

  The boys all crowd around the tank looking for more newborns. I can’t help noticing that Delilah is not looking very comfortable, and is still arching her neck right back.

  ‘I think we should give her some privacy,’ I say, and
pop the baby lizard back into the tank.

  ‘I agree,’ says Chelsea. She goes and grabs an old sheet from the cupboard under the sink. ‘Why don’t we put this over her tank?’

  ‘Great idea. Maybe Digby could go in the old tank for the day. We just need to put some mulch in the bottom and some food and water for him. The other heat lamp still works so we can put that in, too,’ I suggest. ‘Where is he?’ I ask Liam.

  ‘Joeshym’s watching him,’ he replies.

  ‘No, I’m not. I’m right here,’ says Joeshym. ‘I thought Adam was?’

  ‘I came in with you guys,’ says Adam. ‘I thought Jesse was doing it.’

  Jesse shakes his head and holds out his hands.

  We all look at each other and then we look out the window. There’s no one out there on Digby duty!

  We all charge out the door to where Digby was last seen.

  ‘Stop!’ I scream. ‘He could have buried himself anywhere and we don’t want to step on him. Only walk on the path.’

  Miss Fine has heard me scream and comes running outside. ‘What is it Juliet?’ she asks.

  ‘Um . . . it’s no problem, Miss Fine. It’s just that we seemed to have, sort of, just for a moment, um . . . lost Digby in the garden.’

  ‘What?’ she squawks, madly looking at the ground around her feet.

  ‘It’ll be okay,’ I say, sounding a lot calmer than I feel. ‘He can’t have gone too far.’

  Other kids are coming into the garden to see what all the fuss is about.

  ‘I think we should rope it off,’ says Josh.

  ‘Good idea,’ I say. He and Mason race off to get some rope from the shed.

  ‘Boys, can you stop everyone coming into the garden until we can get it roped off?’ says Miss Fine.

  They nod and head off to block the three entrance points to the garden.

  ‘He won’t cross the concrete paths because he’ll want to stay hidden,’ says Chelsea, ‘so he’s got to be here somewhere. The problem is, it’s a big garden and he’ll bury himself for sure.’