by Ruby Loren
You never know, one of the zookeepers might have killed Jenna, my thoughts tastelessly supplied. I frowned at them. Perhaps I was letting a little jealousy colour me after all.
“Do you think it’s a bad idea?” Tiff said, misreading my expression.
“No, it’s great! I was just thinking. You’re right to play it cool. Have dinner, and have a good time. You both need it. I’m sure that whatever happens, you’ll have a much clearer picture after the night’s over. When are you going out with him?”
“Tomorrow!” Tiff said, buzzing with excitement. “I haven’t felt like this about a guy since I was a teenager. He turned out to be an idiot, but this time, I know it’s different.”
I hid a smile. All of Tiff’s past boyfriends had turned out to be idiots. Auryn was the first one I actually approved of, which was all the more reason to encourage the pair to get to know each other a little better.
“Has Lowell contacted you?” Tiff asked, as gently as she could. I knew she was returning the favour for the support I’d just offered her over her plans with Auryn. Unfortunately, my love life wasn’t nearly so bright and cheery looking as hers was right now.
“No, he hasn’t. I suppose I haven’t contacted him either,” I allowed. “I was the one who suggested we take a break. He never actually replied. I don’t know if we’ve broken up, or if… I just don’t know,” I said, feeling the same old confusion come rushing back in. If Lowell really cared for me, surely he’d have at least tried to talk to me? I hadn’t heard from him since I’d left him at the cottage we’d rented in Cornwall. He was supposed to be moving in with me, and now it had been a full month since we’d even spoken.
I wondered if he’d already forgotten about me.
I wondered if something terrible had happened to him.
“Maybe I should contact him,” I said to Tiff, who looked uncertain.
“I don’t know all the details, and I know there’s probably a really good reason for that, but the thing to remember is ‘does he make you happy?’. If you’re spending more time upset and worried, then he's not the one for you, so it’s better to move on. I saw you chatting with Barnaby the other day. How about adding him to your Christmas list this year?” she said with her trademark sparkle.
I managed a weak smile in return. “He is a very nice man.”
Tiff made a noise of disbelief. “You’d better make your mind up soon, Madi. There’s not long to go until Christmas. I’m sure that would be a better present than socks and underwear.”
I snorted. “You wouldn’t say that if you saw the Harry Potter knickers I’ve put on my Christmas list!”
Tiff laughed. “Oh, Madi… you are such a dweeb.”
8
The Conservatives Hit Their Targets
A few days later, Jenna’s parents made the journey down to Gigglesfield. Everyone at the zoo was briefed that they would be visiting and were accordingly polite. No one would have ever deliberately been disrespectful, but Auryn was well aware about the zoo’s predilection for gossip. Some words in the earshot of the wrong people could be deeply upsetting.
Once again, I found I was proud of Auryn for thinking just the way an owner of a zoo should.
Auryn had been concerned that Jenna’s funeral would come very close to Christmas, and he’d be forced to shut the zoo on one of the busier days. I knew that he would have done it, and without complaint, but it came as a huge relief that the Leary family wanted to have the funeral as soon as possible, as they couldn’t stay down in Sussex for long without help. As a result, the funeral was scheduled for Friday, and the zoo was going to be shut for the morning.
I’d heard on the grapevine that Barnaby had suggested that the Winter Wonderland remain open and that his team could handle all zoo visitors. He’d justified it by pointing out they were the ones running the events and handling all bookings for the zoo during the festive period. Even people who arrived at the zoo not expecting anything more than the usual visit were up-sold on the doorstep by a small army of events staff and newly briefed reception workers. While I normally didn’t approve of pressurised sales, I’d seen how easily they managed to persuade people to upgrade their zoo entry to the wonderland as well. After walking round it myself, I had to admit that it was worth it. Paying the extra got them entry into the attraction, the opportunity to pet a reindeer or a donkey, and a meeting with Father Christmas himself. Sure, it was gimmicky, but the way the events company had done it wasn’t tacky, and what was Christmas, if not the season of excess? I smiled a little ruefully at that thought. Hopefully, for the parents taking their children to the Winter Wonderland, it was also an opportunity to give them a happy memory that they would remember for Christmases to come. That was the important part.
I pulled some more straw loose from one of the bales that were kept in a separate barn from the one where the cats lived. I knew it was more cost effective to buy straw in bales, but pulling them apart so that you had useable straw was not an easy job. The temperature may be in the single figures, but I was already sweating through my zoo uniform. The good thing about getting on with some mindless but tough work was that it gave my mind some time to wander. It was with an almost meditative quality that I was able to look back over the events of the past couple of days.
Tiff and Auryn’s dinner out had gone well. Tiff and I had Facebook messaged each other after she'd arrived home, and I’d been given a blow by blow. Unlike their planning meeting, which had ended in disaster when they’d kissed, this time around, the pair had kept their hands to themselves. In spite of a distinct lack of action, Tiff had thought it had gone really well. She still wasn’t sure if there was anything between them, but it was a step towards finding out, was what she’d said to me.
I assumed she must have downplayed the dinner to avoid making a mistake, like last time. In the days that followed, Tiff and Auryn seemed to be inseparable. Tiff claimed he’d decided they should take a more active role in planning the arts and crafts day, but I thought their motivation for spending time together could be more than just business related.
I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed their newfound closeness, either. Rumours had spread around the zoo about Auryn’s potential relationship with the head of commerce, and a lot of the female staff weren’t thrilled. I’d heard and had put a stop to quite a few malicious comments directed at Tiff.
They made me want to despair. Why was it always the woman’s fault if she managed to snag an attractive man who’d been in demand, but previously unavailable? I had no illusions that if I’d been the one to make a move with Auryn, the exact same bashing would have happened to me. I saw no reason why Tiff should be blamed for managing to forge a friendship, and possibly something more, with Auryn. I told anyone I found saying mean things behind her back my thoughts on the matter.
Part of me wondered if I was overcompensating, trying to cover up my own jealous pangs. I told myself it was silly and that I’d only ever had a little crush on Auryn. Seeing my best friends happy with each other would be the perfect present for me this Christmas.
However, I hoped they wouldn’t get together too soon. The idea of a joint present from them horrified me. I grinned and pulled out more straw. I still had to plan their gifts and decide what I was doing for Christmas Day. I sighed, but refused to let myself be pulled into another moping session. Lucky and I would do just fine on our own, same as I always did. My parents lived on the other side of the planet, in America, and the rest of my extended family were scattered to the winds. Even so, Christmas had never been a lonely time for me. I’d always filled the days around Christmas with events with friends, and I’d never felt like I was missing out on anything.
Not until this year, anyway. I bit my lip and pulled out my phone, pulling up the last text message Lowell had sent me. It had been a throwaway text letting me know he was going to be home late on the night he’d sent it. At the time, I hadn’t realised how important a text it would turn out to be. Lowell’s last text to me.
/> I bit a little harder and then made a decision. What’s the worse that can happen? He ignores you? I typed out my first communication to Lowell since I’d told him we were on a break.
How are you? Is everything okay? Xx
I thought about it for a moment before removing one of the kisses and pressing send. There, the ball was officially in his court now. If he was willing to talk, then perhaps I would be willing to listen. Just so long as he'd changed the record since the last time we’d spoken.
I wondered if Lowell was working on a case right now and where he was. He might not even be in the country! One of his missions had sent him across the channel to stop smugglers. I knew he was mostly involved with internal relations, but he also worked as a private detective for hire, and who knew where he might have been sent? He could be looking for a lost cat in Surrey, or he could be lying in a freezing cell in Scotland, waiting for a psychopath to pull the trigger.
I shivered at my morbid imagination. Thinking about it did no good. With a bit of luck, Lowell would reply. Then I’d know where I stood, one way or another. If he chose to ignore the text, or simply wasn’t able to reply, well… I wasn’t actually sure what I’d do then.
I hoped he'd reply.
I started to pack the loose straw into the large woven sacks in preparation for hauling them around the zoo to the various animals in need of fresh, or extra, winter bedding.
The police hadn’t made as much progress into the investigation as they would have liked. I’d bumped into Officer Miles the other day and had asked him for an update, but he’d been pretty cagey with me. He’d been at the zoo to pull in a few more staff for questioning. I’d been pleased to know that, this time, they were females… most notably the partners of the men who’d been with Jenna not so long ago. One of the women who I’d seen getting into her car around the same time as the rest was Julia, the new fiancée of Harry. I wondered if she knew about her husband-to-be’s less than perfect history, or if she was about to find out. I was willing to bet that either way, Harry was sweating it.
Of course, there was a chance that Julia had already known about what Harry had done… and had decided to do a thing or two about it.
Regardless of who was, or wasn’t, responsible, I had a feeling that the police knew more than they were publicly willing to share. When I’d attempted to quiz the police officer about the type of poison used, he’d closed right up and had even accused me of being nosy. I’d told him that I just wanted to be kept up to date, as Jenna had been my friend (of sorts), but perhaps he was right and it was none of my business. The police would do their work and hopefully a culprit would be found… sooner rather than later. Without a clear motive behind the crime, there was still every chance that the killer might strike again, and it was anyone’s guess as to who might be on their list!
I pulled the handles of the straw bags together and dragged them back towards the staff area of the zoo. Half a year ago, I’d been happy at Avery Zoo. Then Lowell had come in and somehow, my life had been changed into something that was filled with more drama than I’d even thought to add to Monday’s Menagerie. All the same, looking back, I wasn't sure I’d change a thing about my own choices. Obviously, if I could, I would change the terrible events I'd witnessed. I shook my head, even self-reflection was complicated these days.
I guessed that what I was really trying to tell myself was in spite of all of the doom and gloom, that felt like it was hovering right above my head, I had a feeling that things were going to come right soon. Perhaps it was the happiness of my two best friends and being back home at Avery, where my heart still resided, but I had a warm and fuzzy feeling that I decided I would embrace.
Things weren’t as bad as they seemed! Good things were on their way.
Leah skidded around the corner in a panic.
“Madi, you’ve got to come! Everyone else is on their lunch break. There are a group of teenagers in the zoo, and they’ve set their sights on Bernard.”
I threw down the bags of straw and followed her, picking up a pitchfork when I passed one. I’d been short for a long time and knew that I often needed a little extra help to make the desired impression in situations like this one.
We ran through the zoo. I had time to reflect that it had turned out to be a rather active day, before we rounded the corner near Bernard’s new home and Leah swore under her breath.
“They were just throwing things at him to make him angry before! I wouldn’t have left if I thought they’d be stupid enough to go into the enclosure.”
Leah started shouting at the boys, who must have been in their mid-teens. There were five of them and every one of them was taller than me. I was starting to suspect that my pitchfork grab hadn’t been overkill.
“Get out of there right now! You are abusing an animal and will be prosecuted if you do not exit the enclosure and leave the zoo,” Leah threatened.
While I admired her cool-headedness in a situation that was no doubt making her hopping mad, I thought a good prang with a pitchfork might do more good here. Poor Bernard was being chased by two of the boys whilst the other two lounged around on the wrong side of the second fence.
I looked around, but couldn’t see any sign of the emus. Perhaps they’d seen the teenagers coming, and with their greater level of visitor experience, they’d known when it was best to bury their heads in the sand.
I could see that Bernard was itching for an opportunity to turn around and take on his attackers, but three boys was too much for the plucky turkey. I shook my head minutely. I’d never thought I’d be rooting for Bernard in a fight situation.
“Shouldn’t you be at school?” I said, hoping to distract the boys, so Leah could come up with a better plan of action from our side of the fence. If the boys didn’t stop what they were doing, I would go over the fences and make them stop it, but Leah would probably have to throw me in. I sighed. The things I did for animals. Even the ones I wasn’t too fond of.
“School’s rubbish,” one of the lads leaning against the inside of the enclosure said. Or at least, that’s the way I chose to interpret what he really said.
“Call the police, Leah,” I said, preparing myself for rolling over the top of the fences, in order to get after the lads. They’d no doubt laugh at first, but I was the one with the pitchfork. I’d had quite a bit of practice with it from all of the mucking out that came with the zookeeper territory. “They’ll probably be here in two minutes. I think they’ve been in to interview people again today after the horrible murder we had.” I said a silent prayer of apology to Jenna, wherever she may be, for using her death as a distraction.
“Murder?” one of the boys said.
All five of them stopped their various bothersome activities and looked questioningly at me.
Great! I had their full and undivided attention.
It turned out to be unfortunate for the teenagers.
Boris and Thatcher had not been hiding, but were instead stalking their newest batch of victims. Watching as the pair somehow stealthily raced towards Bernard’s botherers was something to behold. I opened my mouth to warn them… and then waited another second.
“Look out!” I said, right after the beaks had made contact with an ear, in one case, and a bottom, in the other.
“Ouch!” The teens shrieked and instinctively dodged away from the birds… which just encouraged them. Boris and Thatcher snapped their beaks and trampled after the three, who ran in front of them, trying to bat away the snapping beaks. I raised my eyebrows. Boris and Thatcher did have a habit of stealing items belonging to the general public, and they had even nipped at a finger or two, but this was a very determined display, even by their standards. I genuinely thought they were sticking up for their new roommate.
Speaking of Bernard, he’d recovered from his own ordeal and was comically chasing around in the wake of the emus, making the loudest gobbling sound I’d ever heard.
The lads still leaning up against the fence were howling with laugh
ter. One of them had even pulled his phone out to film the action. I looked at Leah and she nodded, striding over to the pair and dragging them backwards over the fences by the backs of their collars.
“You and your friends are in a lot of trouble,” she said. I wordlessly handed her the pitchfork and she held it above them, threatening to use it if they moved. I wondered what the HR department would think if they could see her now.
They’d probably all hand in their resignations.
“Aren’t you going to stop our mates from getting killed out there? You can’t have dangerous animals like that in a zoo!” they said, revealing the true depth of their idiocy.
I exchanged a look with Leah.
“And that is why you need to stop skipping school,” I told them.
9
The Missing Links
I was giving more straw to the otters, so they could continue with their noisy nest building, when Auryn walked around the corner. His expression lit up and I realised he’d been looking for me.
“How are you?” I asked with a twinkle in my eye.
A light blush rose in Auryn’s tanned cheeks and I knew he followed my meaning. “I’m good,” he said with a grin.
Something about it made me hesitate for a moment, but I put it down to nerves of finally being close to having a girlfriend. Auryn had never seemed interested in anyone, to my knowledge, apart from when he’d made a move on me. I didn’t doubt he’d been friendly with girls before now, but I wasn’t so sure that he’d ever had a proper girlfriend.