The Eager Elephant (3 page)

Zoe and the keepers burst out laughing. They hadn’t needed to worry about how they’d persuade Bertie to climb on to the scale. The funny little creature was so eager, he had done it all by himself!

Chapter Five

Wriggly Ringo

When Zoe and Meep left the elephant enclosure, they were both still giggling at Bertie pushing ahead of Oscar. Zoe’s giggles made her cough, and Meep had to pat her on the back with his paw!

“Thanks, Meep,” Zoe said, as soon as she could talk again. “Bertie was
so
funny.”

“He wants to do whatever Oscar does!” Meep agreed.

“He’s a very eager elephant,” Zoe said with a smile. “At least that’s one animal who’s already been weighed today! Come on, let’s find Mum and see if we can help with the others.”

They hurried through the zoo towards the ring-tailed coatis. In every enclosure there was a keeper trying to get the measurements for Weigh Day. There was lots of splashing in the sea lion enclosure. The slippery sea lions were jumping out of their pool and into a special sling, which was attached to some scales. Zoe was surprised at how well they were behaving, until she noticed their keeper was throwing a silvery fish to each sea lion once it had been weighed!

Next door the tiny possums were being placed gently into a set of scales no bigger than a teacup. Just the tips of their ears peeped out over the top as their keeper wrote their weight down on a notepad.

There was a lot of grumbling coming from the next enclosure. Zoe giggled as she spotted Mr Pinch trying to make the baboons line up neatly as they waited their turn to be weighed. He raced around frantically, tripping over his own feet as he tried to shoo them into place. But as soon as he managed to put two baboons next to each other and turned his back on them, they tumbled out of line, rolling playfully on the ground or leaping up into the trees, hooting cheekily.

“Naughty things!” Mr Pinch cried
furiously, his cheeks growing redder and redder. “Now I’ve got to start all over again!”

“Zoe, there you are!” called a voice from across the path. Great-Uncle Horace was with Lucy in the ring-tailed coati
enclosure, looking a bit flustered. The sleeves of his safari jacket were rolled up to his elbows and his safari hat was perched crookedly on his head. In his arms was a very wriggly animal.

“The coatis don’t want to be weighed,” explained Great-Uncle Horace.

The ring-tailed coatis were some of Zoe’s favourite creatures. They had orangey-red coats, pointed snouts, gorgeous dark eyes, and bushy tails that were striped black and white. Their enclosure was covered with tall poles and ropes for them to climb on. Lucy and the coati keeper, Auriol, were holding up tasty snacks to the coatis to try and tempt them down, but it wasn’t working!

“We’ve been chasing them round for ages,” Great-Uncle Horace continued,
“but they just won’t sit still! Could you hold Ringo while we try to round up the others?”

“Of course!” Zoe replied, using her paw-print charm to open the gate. She carefully lifted Ringo out of Great-Uncle Horace’s arms and held him gently. Checking that Great-Uncle Horace, Lucy and Auriol were busy trying to catch the others, she bent down and whispered to him. “It won’t hurt, you know, Ringo! It’s really quick and easy. All you have to do is sit on
that funny box for a second, and then there’ll be a nice tasty treat for you.”

Ringo’s ears pricked up when he heard about the treat, and he squeaked a question. Zoe nodded, smiling. “Yes, all your brothers and sisters can have one too. They have to be weighed first though!”

Ringo squeaked again, loudly this time, and all the other coatis stopped to listen. Auriol’s mouth dropped open in surprise as they scurried towards the scale and lined up neatly, waiting for their turn. Zoe lifted Ringo on to the scale first, then gave him a cuddle once Great-Uncle Horace had marked his weight down on the chart. “Well done, Ringo,” Zoe whispered, grinning as she handed him a juicy strawberry to nibble.

“Good work, Zoe,” Lucy grinned. “I don’t know how you do it!”

Zoe and Meep grinned at each other. “Who’s next on the list, Mum?” Zoe asked Lucy.

“Bella the polar bear,” Lucy replied.

“Ooh, good!” Zoe said with a smile. “I want to see how much bigger she’s grown since the last time she was weighed!”

But as they started packing up their things, a grumpy voice snapped from further down the path. “These animals make me so cross! Why can’t they just all behave themselves and sit on the scales properly?”

Zoe and Meep ducked behind Great-Uncle Horace as Mr Pinch marched past the coati enclosure and stomped into his office.

“I hope he stays in there all day,” Zoe whispered to Meep, which made the little lemur snort with laughter.

Suddenly a huge trumpeting noise boomed through the zoo. It was coming from the elephant enclosure – and this time it didn’t sound very happy! “Quick, Meep!” whispered Zoe, scooping up her friend and rushing towards the noise.

“I wonder what Bertie has done now!” Meep chattered.

“That’s not Bertie,” Zoe told Meep in dismay. “It’s Oscar!”

Chapter Six

Oscar's Watery Worry

Zoe and Meep rushed back along the path, past the groups of visitors who were streaming into the zoo. They passed two boys who were racing along on matching silver scooters.

“I wonder what that elephant was trumpeting about!” Zoe heard one of them say as he whizzed past.

“He was really noisy!” the other boy agreed, giggling. Just then, the trumpeting sound floated down the path once more.
What's happening?
Zoe wondered again, dashing through the gate and into the elephant enclosure.

Bertie was racing around, his ears flapping. Oscar was standing alone at the back of the enclosure, trying to make himself as small as possible against the fence. David was next to him, stroking his huge ears.

“Is Oscar all right?” Zoe called, running over to them. “Didn't he want to be weighed?” she asked. Usually Oscar didn't mind Weigh Day because he was always proud to hear that he was the heaviest creature in the whole zoo.

But David shook his head. “No, that
was the easy bit! He stepped on to the scale without any fuss, just like Bertie. I gave them both an orange as a treat for being so good. Then …” David sighed. “I thought it might be fun to get out the paddling pool, so that Bertie could have a splash about. But Oscar saw me going to fetch the hose and got very upset.”

“Oh!” Zoe was beginning to understand what the unhappy trumpeting noise had been. She knew that Oscar looked big and brave but that he was
really
frightened of water. He hated baths, and he even hid under the trees when it was raining heavily!

David sighed. “I've never known an elephant to be scared of water before. Usually, splashing around in water holes with the the herd is one of their favourite
things to do! Your great-uncle and I think something must have happened to him when he was a young elephant, still living in Africa. You know the famous saying about an elephant's memory, don't you?”

“Elephants never forget,” said Zoe, nodding. “Poor Oscar.”

Zoe had talked to Oscar lots of times about why he didn't like water. At least, she'd
tried
to talk to him. The big, gentle creature wouldn't explain where his fear came from. Whenever Zoe asked him, he just shook his head firmly and refused to tell her anything else.

Meep gave a tiny snort. “I think Oscar is right. Getting wet and cold and drippy is horrid!” the little lemur announced with a cheeky chatter. “I like to stay nice and dry.”

David looked at the paddling pool again and scratched his head. “Why don't we fill the paddling pool up for Bertie anyway? If Oscar sees Bertie splashing around—”

“He might realise there's nothing to be worried about!” finished Zoe, grinning. “And I bet Bertie paddling will be the cutest thing ever.”

David unrolled the long rubber hose and attached it to a tap. Then he used it to fill up the paddling pool so the water was just a few centimetres high. Bertie heard the splashing noise and came over to have a look. He stared at the twinkling water, then curiously dipped the end of his trunk in.

Bertie's eyes opened wide and he gave a squeal of excitement. Without a moment's
hesitation, he lifted his legs over the side of the pool and plunged straight in! Zoe and David laughed at the little elephant as he plodded around happily, blowing bubbles with his trunk and splashing water everywhere. Zoe looked over to see if Oscar was watching, but the big elephant was still hiding behind a distant clump of trees, as far away from the water as he could get. Zoe felt sad. She didn't want Oscar to be scared!

Bertie seemed disappointed that his big friend wasn't coming to play with him. He barged out of the paddling pool, sending water sloshing everywhere, and marched over to Oscar.

When Oscar backed away from the soggy little elephant, shaking his head crossly, Bertie's ears drooped sadly and he trotted back over to Zoe.

As David went to comfort Oscar, Zoe gave Bertie a little hug. He blinked and waggled his trunk.

“Oh, Bertie! Oscar does love you,” Zoe replied. “He just doesn't like water that much.”

Bertie trumpeted sadly.

Zoe stroked Bertie's big ears softly. “I promise you'll never be left alone again. Here,
I'll
play in the paddling
pool with you.” She bent down and ran her fingers through the cool water, then splashed some at the little elephant. Bertie brightened up immediately, and sloshed back into the paddling pool happily

Then Bertie sucked some water up with his trunk with a noisy slurping sound. He turned to Zoe and Meep, and pointed his trunk towards them.

Uh oh!
thought Zoe. But before she could say a word, Bertie sprayed the water right at her!

“Ooooh!” squealed Zoe. “I'm soaked!”

Still, she couldn't help laughing. Bertie was just so eager for his new friends to play with him!

Meep, though, was not very pleased. “
I
don't like getting wet!” the tiny lemur grumbled, shaking out the droplets of water from his fur.

But even Meep couldn't stay cross with Bertie for too long. The little elephant was just having so much fun!

Squish! Squelch!

“My shoes are making a funny sound,” laughed Zoe as she and Meep walked back to the cottage later. After they'd emptied the paddling pool Oscar had gone back to being his friendly self. David had told Zoe that he was going to take the elephants for a walk round the zoo
tomorrow, and he'd promised to wait until Zoe was home from school so she could go too.

They'd had a brilliant afternoon playing in the paddling pool with Bertie, but now Zoe's head was aching a bit and she was glad to be home.

As they went inside and through to the kitchen, Zoe suddenly sneezed again and again.

“Bless you!” said Lucy, turning round from where she'd been chopping up some carrots for dinner. “You were sneezing earlier on as well. Are you feeling all right?”

“I don't know. I feel a bit funny, Mum,” said Zoe.

“You look a bit pale, love.” Lucy put her hand against Zoe's forehead. “And
your head feels hot. Let's take your temperature.”

She went to the kitchen cupboard and pulled out a first-aid box, then popped a thermometer in Zoe's mouth. She left it for a couple of minutes and then checked the reading. “Oh dear, you've got a temperature. I think you'd better hop straight into bed and I'll bring you up some medicine.”

Zoe put on her blue dolphin pyjamas and climbed into bed. She normally hated going to bed early, but today she felt too sleepy to complain. Her throat felt sore now, and her nose was tickling even more. Her mum brought her a box of tissues and a bottle of medicine, and Zoe swallowed two sticky spoonfuls. Then her mum tucked Zoe's covers round her and drew
the curtains. “I would have made you a hot water bottle, but you have Meep to keep you toasty!” she said, stroking Zoe's head. “Poor Zoe. Get some sleep now, and I'll be downstairs if you need anything.”

“What about school?” Zoe asked croakily. “And I'm taking Oscar and Bertie for a walk tomorrow. I can't miss that!”

“Let's see how you're feeling in the morning,” said Lucy, switching the light off. “Then we can decide if you're well enough, OK? Night night.”

As Zoe closed her eyes she felt Meep snuggling up next to her, his furry little body very soft and warm. The last thing Zoe heard before she drifted off to sleep
was his tiny voice whispering in her ear. “I'll look after you, Zoe,” Meep promised.

“You'll feel better soon!”