The Injured Fox Cub

by Tina Nolan

  This series is for my riding friend Shelley,

  who cares about all animals.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  The Homeless Foal – Sneak Peek!

  Other books in this series

  Copyright

  “Gordon is a black and white goat,” Karl Harrison typed. “He needs a home with high fences and plenty of grass.”

  “Put ‘gorgeous’ in front of ‘black and white’,” Eva told him. “‘A gorgeous black and white goat’. We have to make people really want to adopt him!”

  “OK,” Karl muttered. “G-o-r-g-e-o-u-s.” He’d already scanned a picture of Gordon into the computer. Now it was up to him and Eva to write a description.

  “What else? Can we say he’s great with ponies and horses?”

  “Good idea. How about, ‘Good company for ponies out at grass’. That should make horsey people look twice.”

  As Eva and Karl worked at the computer in Reception at Animal Magic Rescue Centre, their mum, Heidi, was busy in the surgery next door. She was admitting a young, abandoned terrier called Jasper.

  “Just look at this poor dog’s teeth!” Heidi tutted.

  Joel, the centre’s assistant, peered into the terrier’s mouth.

  “See! There’s a build up of plaque and gum disease like you’d never believe,” Heidi complained. “And Jasper can’t be more than three or four years old.”

  Joel nodded. “I can see. It won’t be long before his teeth begin to drop out.”

  “Not if I have anything to do with it,” Heidi said firmly. “Let’s microchip him and give him his jabs, then get straight to work on some dental hygiene before it’s too late!”

  But the little white and brown dog had other ideas. When they tried to look into his mouth again, he squirmed and wriggled, yelped and barked.

  “Calm down,” Joel said. “We’re trying to help here.”

  “Woof!” Jasper objected. “Woof! Woof!”

  “Hey, do you mind – I can’t hear myself think!” Karl objected. “What else can we say about Gordon?” he asked Eva. “Come on, you’re good at these description thingies.”

  “OK. ‘Gordon is a gorgeous black and white goat’,” she repeated. “‘He’s sleek and silky and very smart!’”

  From the moment their dad had brought Gordon into the rescue centre two days ago, Eva had adored him.

  “The owners can’t handle him any more,” Mark had explained. “They say he eats everything in sight and has escaped from his field more times than Houdini!”

  Heidi had shaken her head and sighed. “He’s going to be a hard one to rehome,” she’d predicted. “People want nice, quiet ponies and donkeys, not noisy goats. Especially a billy goat.”

  But Eva had fallen in love the moment Gordon trotted into the stable. “He’s gorgeous!” she’d sighed, putting her arms around his neck and letting him nuzzle close. “How could anyone not want someone as adorable as you!”

  “Dad, why don’t people want goats?” Eva asked.

  She’d left Karl in Reception, hard at work on the computer. Crossing the yard, she found her dad mucking out the new stables. It was early evening. The sun was setting over the golf course beyond the river behind Animal Magic.

  “Because goats are greedy, noisy and famously bad tempered.” Her dad grinned, and winked at her as he wheeled a barrow out of the stable block.

  “Hush!” Eva looked astonished. “Don’t say that. Gordon can hear you!”

  Her dad laughed. “He doesn’t understand – he’s a goat, remember!”

  “Goats are clever,” Eva protested. “For all we know, Gordon can understand every word you say!”

  “OK, Gordon, I didn’t mean it!” Mark called over his shoulder. “I love you anyway!”

  “You do?” Eva checked.

  He nodded. “Even though he just butted me while I was mucking out his stall.”

  “Really?”

  “Really! Right on my backside – pow!” Gingerly Mark rubbed the spot.

  “Oh – I’m sure he didn’t mean to,” Eva said hastily. Now she wanted to get past her dad to check on Gordon and make sure he hadn’t hurt himself. She sidestepped and slipped into the stables.

  “He meant it all right,” Mark said, as he wheeled the barrow across the yard. “And I have the bruises to prove it!”

  “I love you, Gordon!” Eva soothed the goat’s hurt feelings. She noted the full hay-net and the bucket of fresh green cabbage leaves in the corner of his stall. “And so does Dad. He’s given you all this yummy food!”

  Gordon nuzzled close to Eva. His dark brown eyes were fringed with lush white lashes. His black face had two beautiful white stripes running down its length.

  “You’re so silky smooth,” Eva said. She stroked his neck, then bent to pick a choice cabbage leaf from the bucket.

  With perfect timing, Gordon lowered his head and gently butted her in the back. Eva pitched forward into the newly laid straw.

  “Hey!” she cried. “I’ve just been sticking up for you and now you go and do that!”

  Picking herself up, she glanced round at Gordon, who stared at her with twinkling eyes. The corners of his mouth were turned up in what Eva could have sworn was a smile.

  “Gordon!” she cried. “You’re wicked!”

  He flicked his long white ears and did a little hop and skip in the straw.

  “But you’re still my favourite!” Eva grinned. “Whatever people say about you, you’re still totally … well, wicked is all I can say!”

  Eva bolted the door of the stable block, then set off across the yard. An owl roosting in the trees beyond the golf course hooted in the twilight.

  “Dad, did you check the side gate?” she called across the yard. There was no answer, so she decided to do it herself. Checking the gate was part of the evening routine at Animal Magic. Often people dumped their unwanted pets there just as it was growing dark.

  Sometimes there would be a note Sellotaped to a cardboard box – ‘Her name is Molly. She’s eight weeks old. Please take care of her.’ And inside the box there would be a frightened puppy.

  But most of the time there was no note, no explanation – nothing except an abandoned cat in a basket, or a shivering pet rabbit, sometimes even a snake, and once, earlier in the summer, a bright red and blue macaw, complete with cage.

  Eva opened the side gate that led out on to a narrow lane. She looked up and down. Tonight there was nothing to see, but as she went to close the gate she heard something – a faint noise carrying on the breeze. Eva went out into the lane and listened hard.

  Perhaps she was wrong. What she’d thought was the cry of an animal in distress had probably been nothing after all. Once more she turned to close the gate.

  Then she heard it again – a high-pitched call. It was definitely an animal, she was sure this time. The sound came from somewhere in the horses’ field at the back of the rescue centre. Very high, very frightened and helpless.

  Without stopping to think, Eva set off down the lane. She climbed the fence into the field where their next-door neighbour, Linda Brooks, kept Guinevere and Merlin the foal. She saw the mare standing alert at the top of the field, staring down the slope.

  “It’s OK, I’m on to it,” Eva muttered to the two horses. She made her way quickly down the hill until a shout came from the Brookses’ garden.

  “Eva, what are you up to?” Linda Brooks called. “It’ll b
e dark in a minute.”

  Trust Linda to have her eagle eye on the field! Eva sighed, then trotted up the hill to explain. “I thought I heard something down by the fence.”

  “What kind of thing? Do you think thieves are trying to steal the horses? Wait here. I’ll fetch Jason.”

  “No, wait!” Eva might have guessed that their nervy neighbour would jump to the wrong conclusion. “It’s nothing like that. The sound I heard was like a small animal in distress – maybe a kitten or a puppy. Who knows, the poor thing might have been dumped outside our gate a while ago. Maybe it’s made its way down towards the river.”

  “Oh, I see, you’re on a rescue mission.” Quickly Linda Brooks relaxed. “But are you sure you should go alone?”

  “It’s OK, honestly.” Eva had no time to lose – the light was fading fast and the poor creature, whatever it was, was still crying out for help. “I’ll be quick.”

  “Oh yes, I hear it!” Linda nodded. “I’ll run and tell your mum and dad.”

  Escaping at last, Eva turned and sprinted down the hill. The noise drew her to the fence, where she stopped and knelt down on her hands and knees.

  “Why does it have to be so dark?” she muttered, pushing through long grass. The cries had stopped, but she could hear movement in some low thorn bushes beyond the fence, on the sloping bank leading to the river. Eva crawled under the fence towards the bushes.

  “Oh!” she gasped.

  To one side, she saw amber eyes flash in the dark shadows then vanish.

  Eva ignored them as, down below, the high, frightened cry began again.

  She crept on towards the sound, which was almost lost in the rushing water. She was a metre from the river, straining to hear. What tiny creature was it that had found itself in such danger?

  Eva’s foot sank into boggy ground and she almost lost her balance. The water raced by, fast and dangerous.

  “Whoa, nearly!” she muttered, stooping again and parting the long grass by the river’s edge.

  The creature’s cry was frantic. Eva saw another pair of bright eyes. She heard howls of pain.

  Reaching to rescue the small, trembling animal, she found that it was trapped by its leg in a short coil of rusty barbed wire.

  What now? If she tugged at the wire, it would only cut deeper into the flesh. “Hush,” she whispered. “Don’t struggle. I’m here to help.”

  As the creature wriggled between her hands and cried, Eva made out a white flash of fur on its chest. Perhaps it was a puppy, though it was too dark to see clearly.

  “Eva, where are you?” a voice yelled from the horses’ field.

  “Down here!” Eva recognized her mum’s voice. “By the river. I need help!”

  “I’m on my way. Hold on.”

  “We’ll soon get you free,” Eva murmured, stroking the soft fur.

  Then a torch beam raked through the bushes and Heidi appeared. “What have we got?” she asked as she climbed the fence and scrambled down the bank.

  “I think it’s a puppy.” Eva held on as gently as she could. “His leg’s caught in some barbed wire. We need to loosen it without hurting him any more.”

  “I’ll use my fleece jacket,” Heidi decided, quickly pulling the long sleeves over her hands to protect them. “Hold him still and shine the torch with your other hand. I’ve found the end of the wire. Now I’m going to unwind it from round his leg. That’s right, Eva, you’re doing a great job.”

  Eva winced as the creature cried. At last her mum got rid of the tangled wire.

  “Now let’s take a proper look at you, you poor little thing,” Heidi said.

  “Oh, his leg’s bleeding really badly!” Eva cried.

  Her mum examined it quickly. “Looks like he’s already lost a lot of blood. He’s pretty weak.”

  “Quick, let’s get him home!”

  “Wait a minute, Eva. Can you shine the torch on his face?”

  Eva did so. The beam of light picked out a brown face, a white muzzle and big, pointed ears tipped with black.

  “This is no puppy,” Heidi told Eva, studying the young creature.

  “Let me see, Mum.” Eva was torn between taking a close look and getting back to the surgery. She led the way up the bank and into the field.

  “You’ve rescued a fox cub,” her mother said, cradling the creature in her hands.

  “Wow, I’ve never rescued one of those before!” Eva gasped.

  “He’s probably about six weeks old. And I’m sorry to tell you this, but at this moment I’d say his chances of survival are pretty slim.”

  “You mean he might die?” Eva gasped.

  Her mum nodded.

  As they ran up the hill, a pair of piercing bright eyes watched from the undergrowth.

  “Come on, Mum, we have to hurry!” Eva cried. “He mustn’t die. Not now – we can’t let him!”

  “OK, I’ve stopped the bleeding and put five stitches in the leg wound.” Back at the surgery, Heidi worked fast. Joel stood by with the tools she needed.

  “We’ll put him on a fluid drip overnight and check his temperature every hour. That way, we’ll know whether any infection has got into the wound.”

  Eva hovered close by. The fox cub was tiny and weak. He lay on his side with his eyes almost shut, taking shallow breaths.

  “Where will you put him?” she asked Joel, who was setting up the drip.

  “In the kitten unit,” Joel said quietly. “We’ll use a heat lamp on him to keep him warm and cosy.”

  “Poor little thing!” Eva breathed. Her heart went out to the helpless baby. “Can I stay up and keep an eye on him?” she asked her mum.

  Heidi shook her head. “That’s Joel’s job.”

  “But Joel will be too busy to sit with the cub all of the time. What if he suddenly gets worse?”

  “Eva, you can’t do any more than you’ve already done,” Heidi insisted. “And you need your sleep. Come on. Let’s go over to the house.”

  “But Mum!” Eva protested. The cub’s high-pitched cries for help still rang in her ears. How could she possibly sleep, not knowing if he was going to pull through?

  “Don’t worry, Eva. I promise I’ll look after him.” Carefully Joel picked up the cub and carried him into the cattery. The door swung closed behind him.

  “Let’s go,” Heidi said again.

  Silently, her head hanging, Eva followed her mum across the yard and into the house.

  “I’m going to call him Rusty,” Eva told Joel. She’d been up with the lark and out in the cattery, still in her pyjamas, before anyone else was awake. Now she gazed anxiously at the tiny fox cub.

  “Rusty suits him,” Joel agreed.

  The cub seemed to be breathing better and was fast asleep.

  “How is he?” Eva held her breath and waited for Joel’s answer. It was as if she’d held it all night, hardly sleeping, wondering how the fox cub was doing.

  “He’s holding his own,” Joel said. “His temperature’s normal. The wound is clean.”

  “So he’s going to be OK?”

  Joel let a few seconds go by before he replied. “Wait and see.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning – wait and see!” Joel smiled kindly. “Rusty is a fighter, I will say that.”

  As if to prove it, the little cub slowly opened his eyes and tried to raise his head. Weak as he was, he looked around him then pulled at the tube attaching him to his drip.

  “OK, little fella, we can take this away now if it’s annoying you.” Swiftly Joel disconnected the tube.

  “Well done, Rusty!” Eva breathed, bending over the unit. “You made it through the night!”

  The cub looked up at her with his big, light brown eyes. They were flecked with sparks of gold.

  “You’re beautiful!” Eva whispered. “Your name is Rusty and you’re going to be fine!”

  “Hey, Eva, why are you still in your pyjamas?” Annie Brooks asked. She’d come straight to the house at nine o’clock, looking for Eva. Karl h
ad told her to try the cattery.

  “Why, what time is it?” Happily bottle-feeding a tabby kitten, Eva glanced up at her friend.

  “Time you were dressed,” Annie grinned. “Mum mentioned that she’d seen you in the field last night. She said you were on a rescue mission. What happened?”

  Eva gently put Rosa the kitten back into her cosy unit. Rosa snuggled up to her brothers and sisters. “I’ll show you,” Eva said, her brown eyes sparkling as she led the way to Rusty. “This is what happened!”

  “A baby fox!” Annie exclaimed, her own face lighting up with delight.

  Rusty lay curled up, blinking sleepily. His little pink tongue peeped out of his mouth and he licked his lips.

  “What’s wrong with him? Where did you find him? Oh, he hurt his leg!” Words tumbled out of Annie’s mouth.

  “Ssshhh!” Eva warned. “Don’t scare him.”

  Annie crouched level with Rusty and gazed at him through the clear sides of the unit. “I’ve never seen a fox this close before,” she murmured. “He’s amazing.”

  “And he’s hungry,” Joel interrupted, presenting Eva with a syringe filled with warm milk. “Here’s a seat for you. Have a go at feeding him,” he invited.

  Nodding eagerly, Eva lifted Rusty on to her lap. He felt warm and soft. His pointy tail with its white tip brushed against her hand. “Do I give it to him the same way I do with the kittens?” she asked Joel.

  “Yes, don’t be scared. Just slide the dropper into his mouth and let the liquid trickle in.”

  Nervously Eva gave Rusty the milk, relaxing as the cub tasted the first drops then swallowed eagerly.

  “Aah!” Annie sighed. “He’s cute!”

  Rusty gulped greedily until the syringe was empty.

  “Phew!” Eva was relieved. “He can’t be that ill,” she grinned.

  “No, there’s nothing wrong with his appetite,” Joel agreed. “Let’s check his temperature and pulse.”

  The girls watched as Joel carried out the checks and then put Rusty back in the unit.