“Like something illegal.”
“If I was going to break the law, I wouldn’t do it with snakes and lizards. Uck.” She shivered with the thought, her face twisted in disgust. Her look made Hannah start giggling, did she look like that when Harry talked about the lizards? She hoped not, that would be embarrassing.
“Come on, let’s get back and tell Cory about our wild goose chase,” Hannah said as she jumped back on her bike. Jessie followed, albeit a little more reluctantly.
To slow the pace and delay the inevitable return to the slimy and slithery animals, Jessie started talking. Hannah had no choice except to keep pace with her. “Are you going to the bonfire party on the beach?”
Hannah inwardly moaned, was everyone obsessed with the party of the summer? “I don’t know. I was going to go with Harry and I don’t want to go alone now, so I guess not.”
“I was sorry to hear you guys broke up,” Jessie replied, an honesty ringing in her voice. “I hope it wasn’t because of me. I know I was kind of a cow when I first started at the shelter.”
“It wasn’t because of you, we just weren’t what I was hoping for.”
“Harry’s a really nice guy. I know he’s upset about what happened. Even though I don’t know what went on, I think you should give him another shot.”
Hannah wanted to pedal faster to avoid the conversation but she didn’t want to be so obvious. “It was just a summer romance, I’m sure he’ll get over it once school starts again.”
“He said he’d never felt so much for someone before you,” Jessie continued. “If someone said that about me, I would die.”
“Did he put you up to this?” Hannah asked, suddenly suspicious. One minute Harry says he’s going to try to win her back and then Jessie the boyfriend stealer lays on the guilt trip? Surely it couldn’t be a coincidence.
Jessie’s mouth dropped open in shock. “No, of course not. I don’t talk to him about you, I just listen. We’re not all that close.”
“You spend a lot of time together for not being that close.”
“We’re neighbors. And home alone a lot. It’s a convenience thing.”
Hannah didn’t know how much of that to believe. She let the topic drop, she didn’t have any desire to be Jessie’s best friend and share her deepest thoughts with her. They were colleagues, that was all.
In the silence, however, Jessie wasn’t going to give up. “You know, I don’t have anyone to go to the bonfire party with either. Maybe we could go together?”
Why was it so important for her to go to the bonfire party? Hannah wondered what kind of a conspiracy there was against her. She gave Jessie the same answer she had given Veronica: “I’ll think about it.”
Chapter 7
Hannah had been trying to ignore Harry for a good ten minutes and it wasn’t working. She knew she had to say something to him, she had to bring up the note he left in her handbag but didn’t know what to say. How did you start a conversation like that?
Her eyes had been flicking between Harry and Lulu the dog since she got back to the shelter. With only two hours left of her shift, she didn’t have much time left to confront him. And if there was something Hannah disliked, it was confrontation.
She returned Lulu to her cage. It was now or never. “I got your note yesterday.”
Harry didn’t look at her, his eyes remained fixated on the snake cage he was cleaning. “What note?” He asked casually.
“You know the one.” She wasn’t buying it, she knew him too well.
He finally stopped his intense scrubbing and turned to her. “Oh, that note. I meant every word of it.”
“Maybe you should see a doctor if your breath was taken away. Perhaps your asthma is playing up again.”
Harry grinned. “I don’t think it was the asthma.” He pulled an inhaler out of his pocket and waved it around. “I’ve got that covered. It was definitely you that took my breath away.”
She had to fight every urge to just forgive him already and wrap herself in his arms. She knew she couldn’t let him know that. “I think you’ll have to try harder next time. A note isn’t going to cut it.”
He laughed. “The note was stage one. You better prepare yourself for some awesomeness headed your way. It’s going to be epic.”
Hannah rolled her eyes, playfully teasing him. “Sure, whatever.”
They stared at each other for a few electricity charged moments. Hannah could feel her heart pounding in her chest, the way only Harry could make it act.
Finally, Harry broke the silence. “Do you want to help with Monty? I could use another set of hands to move him.”
Her eyes flicked between the boy and the snake. Knowing it had a cute name like Monty didn’t make it any easier. Yet she remembered how much she wanted to be a vet and that would probably involve a snake at some stage in her career. She had to do it, she found herself nodding.
“Great, come here,” Harry replied happily. He held the back part of the snake out of the glass cage. “Slide your hands under here, right where my hands are.”
Every instinct in Hannah’s body told her to run. She ignored the screaming in her head and did as she was told. The snake wasn’t slimy like she thought it would be. Instead, it was smooth and warmer than she expected. If she forgot it was a snake, it wasn’t so bad at all.
“I’m going to get the head and then we’ll lift him up and out. He has to go into that cage over there. Got it?” Harry pointed towards the glass enclosure across the room. It looked a lot further away than it really was. “We can’t drop him. You can do this, Han, I know you can.”
“Let’s just get it over and done with.”
“Okay,” he grinned. “One, two, three.” On the third count they heaved the heavy snake out of the cage and started to shuffle across the room.
Harry held the snake’s head in front of him so Hannah couldn’t see it. Even though she could feel the snake contract in her hands, she could pretend it was just a rope or something. Still, the sooner she was finished, the better.
He gently lowered the creature into the large tank and continued to hold its head until Hannah had released the back half and stepped away. Only then did he release it and secure the lid.
“Well done,” he congratulated her.
“I touched a snake. I moved a snake.” She stared at her hands, wanting to wash them. “I did it. I did it!” Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck and gave him a squeeze.
He hugged her back, deciding not to care that it was only a spur of the moment thing and it didn’t mean anything.
The moment Hannah realized what she had done, she let him go. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he laughed. “You’re going to make a great vet one day.”
As his words lingered in the air, Harry headed towards the storage room for his next errand. Hannah was left alone, with at least a dozen reptiles for company. She was planted on the spot, not knowing what had just happened.
Hugging Harry didn’t mean she still had feelings for him, right? It just meant she was happy at her accomplishment and that’s all there was to it. She desperately tried to believe her own lies.
The iguana in the tank next to the snake blinked at her with those beady eyes she used to find so repugnant. “Don’t look at me like that,” she warned him. The way he stared was disconcerting. She thought for sure she knew what he was thinking. “Stop judging me. I can’t let him back in. He hurt me. I can’t do it again.”
The iguana blinked again, turning his head elsewhere as something more interesting caught his attention. Hannah shook her head and headed towards the sink to rid herself of snake germs.
Chapter 8
“It’s summer,” Veronica pointed out bluntly, and a little sarcastically. “We are obligated to go to the beach at least once while on summer vacation. It’s a law or something.”
Hannah wasn’t so sure. She didn’t feel comfortable in her swimsuit, even if it was a one piece that covered everything i
t had to. Looking around at all the perfect bodies with not one wobbly bit in sight, she didn’t think she would be able to take off her light cotton wrap.
Veronica obviously didn’t feel the same way as she peeled off her dress and showed the tiniest bikini Hannah had ever seen.
“You’re wearing less than underwear,” she said in a panic. She had to fight the urge to cover her with a towel before anyone saw.
Veronica just shrugged. “I guess it depends what kind of underwear you wear. It’s not smaller than mine.” She looked Hannah up and down pointedly. “Probably smaller than yours.”
“Smaller than half of mine,” Hannah giggled, she would have liked even a tiny fraction of her friend’s confidence. “What are we going to do here?”
Veronica sighed dramatically. “Relax, that’s what we’re going to do. You and I are going to sit here, enjoy the ocean, the seagulls, the sun, and the boys.” She nodded towards a group of boys from school as they kicked a ball around – shirtless.
Hannah tried to relax. She leant back and stretched her legs, feeling the warm sand run through her toes. As she looked out at the sea, all she could think of was the last time she had been there. It was with Harry when they were on their first date. They had been completely saturated by that ocean water and then giggled uncontrollably about it. The thought still made her smile.
No matter how much she tried not to think of him, he always found a way to worm inside her head again. She knew it wasn’t his fault, but she blamed him anyway. If he hadn’t told her he wanted her back, she would have been able to move on. At least, that was her theory anyway.
“Earth to Hannah, come in, hello,” Veronica’s voice forced her way into her daydream. Hannah shook her head and gave her friend her full attention. “Check out the clown.”
“You shouldn’t call people clowns, it’s not very nice.”
“No, seriously, check out the clown.”
She followed her pointed finger and spotted the man dressed as a clown halfway down the beach. His bright orange hair was twice as wide as his shoulders. Even in the hot sand he was wearing oversized red shoes that were bigger than flippers.
“Clowns are creepy,” Hannah said, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight. He was getting closer as he handed flyers out to people.
“I know, right?”
“Whoever came up with them was weird. I wonder how they even thought that a guy dressed like that could entertain people?”
“Freak, right?” Hannah shrugged, agreeing. They continued to watch the clown until he was standing in front of them. Up close, his white face makeup was cracked and dripping in the heat. He looked like a melting wax candle.
“Hey girls,” he greeted them, shoving a flyer in each of their hands. “The Big Top Circus is in town, come along and enjoy the spectacular acrobats, animals, and clowns.” He squeezed his bulbous red nose which honked before leaving.
Hannah scanned the flyer, having no intention of seeing any more clowns. Even in their own habitat with festive music and acrobats, they wouldn’t be any less creepy. Still, she couldn’t help feel sorry for the poor guy, he must have been sweltering in that outfit on the hot sand. She carefully folded the flyer and slipped it into her bag.
After another few hours of spending the obligatory time on the sand, Hannah was ready for home. “Want to grab some lunch?”
“I could eat,” Veronica nodded. They packed up their things and started the walk into the town centre. It was normally only a short trip, but in the heat of the midday sun, it was taking way too long. Hannah tried to stay off the road, taking shelter in the shade of the trees.
“What are you doing? You’re going to get yourself lost,” Veronica warned, obviously not feeling the effects of the sun like her friend.
“I need some shade, I’m going to burn.”
“A tan never hurt anyone.”
“Yeah, actually skin cancer kills thousands of people every day,” Hannah shot back. “I think that classifies as hurting people.”
“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes and subtly moved into the shade with her.
They continued walking along the quiet street, the only cars being the occasional beachgoer either coming or going.
As she walked, Hannah thought she heard footsteps. She couldn’t tell where they were coming from exactly, but there was definitely rustling amongst the trees.
All of a sudden, the rustling was punctuated with a high pitched screech, making both the girls jump. “What was that?” Veronica squealed, jumping closer to Hannah.
“I don’t know,” she replied, stopping to look around. She ignored Veronica’s tugging on her arm and headed toward the noise.
They crept along together slowly, all their senses on high alert. Hannah couldn’t even imagine what had made the sound but she would put her money on some kind of animal. Hopefully a species that didn’t hurt humans.
Something moved amongst the trees, making them stand as still as a statue. The figure stopped too, just as scared of them. A little brown creature with huge brown eyes stared at them.
“It’s a monkey,” Hannah said in disbelief.
“What’s a monkey doing in Mapleton?” Veronica asked, standing slightly behind her friend for safety. She wasn’t the one who loved all creatures great and small.
“I don’t know, but he might be hurt.” Hannah took a slow and deliberate step forward, making no sudden movement to scare the poor thing.
The huge eyes watched her every move, not letting her get away with anything. She continued on, trying not to startle him. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. Are you hurt? Are you lost?”
The monkey didn’t have any answers for her. However, as soon as she got in reaching distance, he took off running in the opposite direction.
Hannah ran after him, there was no way she could leave him in the suburban area by himself. Monkeys didn’t just turn up in Mapleton on their own, just like snakes and iguanas didn’t.
“What are you doing?” Veronica called out.
“We can’t let him go!” Hannah yelled back, trying not to lose sight of the little scamp. She ran through the trees, slowly closing the gap between her and the animal. A few times she made a jump for the monkey but each time he eluded her grasp.
In a desperate hope to escape, the monkey hurried up a tree. It clung to the branches, holding on for dear life. Hannah stood at the bottom, trying to remember the last time she had climbed a tree. She wasn’t sure she ever had.
Veronica finally caught up, puffing. “Now what do we do?”
“We get him down, his little hand is injured. Look, it’s bleeding.” She pointed to the monkey’s left front hand. “We have to get it to a vet. It’s probably hungry too. Hold my bag, I’m going up.”
She shoved her beach gear into Veronica’s hands and made sure her sandshoes were secured to her feet before starting the climb. The bark of the tree was loose, the leaves scratchy, and she knew it definitely wasn’t designed for people to climb up.
Still, she pushed herself onwards, not looking down. If there was one thing she hated more than climbing the tree, it was falling from the tree. She gripped a little tighter with the thought.
Finally, with no skin left on her knees and hands, she reached the branch she needed. The monkey was trapped, he couldn’t go down or up. “Hey there, little guy, I’m going to get you some help. You can trust me.”
The big eyes just stared at her, shaking a little with fear. Hannah slowly reached out and grabbed him, cradling the little bundle close to her chest. He didn’t struggle much, which only made her certain he was more injured than he appeared to be.
Sitting on the branch, there was one thing Hannah hadn’t considered – how to actually get down while holding the monkey.
“Vee, can you please empty my beach bag and throw it up? I’ll put him inside,” she called down. Veronica did as instructed and dumped the contents of the bag onto the ground. It took a few throws, but Hannah eventually caught it. C
areful not to hurt him any more than he already was, she gently placed the monkey into the bag and zipped it shut. It was made of cotton and would allow him to breathe for a while yet.
Hannah secured the bag over her back and climbed down. It was a relief to be back on solid ground again. “We need to get him to the shelter, Cory will call the vet.”
Chapter 9
Hannah stood by the stainless steel bench and carefully watched the vet, Brady, as he looked over the monkey. He had already identified it as a Capuchin monkey, definitely not native to the region.
“He appears to be well looked after,” Brady commented. “Besides the busted hand, of course. Hold this.” He handed Hannah the monkey’s arm as he rifled around for some supplies.
“Will his hand heal?” She asked, feeling the warmth of the little creature in her fingers. Now he was sedated, she could get a better look at him. His round little face was neatly clipped, his coat shiny and soft. He looked so cute she had to resist the urge to scoop him up in her arms and cradle him like he was a baby.
Brady found what he was looking for and started to tend to the wound. “It will heal fine and be just like new. He’s lucky he didn’t get hit by a car or something worse. I wonder where he came from? Hold still, he might move when I start putting the antiseptic on the wound.”
Hannah held the hand in the palm of her open one, her other hand stroking his head gently. She wanted to make the animal feel safe and give him comfort. She imagined he must be terrified about being in a strange place with unknown humans.
Brady moved swiftly over the wound, his capable hands applied the cream and then bandaged the monkey’s hand without fuss.
“Cory tells me you want to be a vet when you’re older,” Brady started, making conversation in the otherwise quiet room.
“I really do.”
Hairy Tail Collection Page 16
