The Baby Deer Rescue (Animal Adventure Club 1)

by Michelle Sloan

  For Lizzie, Anna and Andrew – M.S.

  For Toby, with all my love – H.G.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  Copyright

  1

  Isla MacLeod drummed her feet on the floor of the Pittendooey Nature Reserve rangers’ lodge. It was nearly four o’clock: time for the Animal Adventure Club meeting. Three afternoons a week, Isla and her friends Buzz and Gracie came to the nature reserve after school to help the rangers and, best of all, look after animals! Buzz was here, but there was no sign of Gracie. Isla couldn’t wait for her to arrive so they could go out on patrol.

  “Can you give me a hand with Spiky?” called Buzz. He was helping Lisa, the head ranger, to take care of a poorly hedgehog. “Lisa asked me to give him his ear drops.”

  “Sure,” said Isla. “We can help Spiky while we wait for Gracie.” Isla jumped up and headed towards Buzz and Spiky at the far end of the room. “Oof!” she said, pinching her nose. “Spiky’s a bit smelly. Maybe we should have called him Stinky.”

  “That’s why we keep him back here!” Buzz laughed, and opened Spiky’s cage. There was a big pile of straw bundled in one corner. Isla put on a pair of thick gloves, then reached in and gently teased the straw away to reveal a large ball of sharp prickles.

  “Hello, wee pal,” said Isla softly, lifting the hedgehog out and placing him on a towel on the table. His prickles bristled.

  “Try stroking his back,” said Buzz. “That should relax him.”

  Sure enough, as Isla stroked him, the ball began to slowly unfurl. A tiny snuffly nose poked out, followed by a paw. Buzz leaned in and had a good look at the little hedgehog’s face.

  “He’s looking much brighter,” he said. Spiky let out a small squeak.

  “Cheeky thing,” said Buzz. He pulled a little bottle out of his pocket and tipped the drops into Spiky’s tiny ears.

  “I don’t know how you manage to find his ears under all those prickles!” laughed Isla. “You’re going to be a brilliant vet one day.”

  Buzz’s face went red, but he smiled. “So, what’s the Animal Adventure Club doing this afternoon?” he asked.

  “Never mind this afternoon — we’ve got enough jobs to last us a month!” said Isla. She grabbed her notebook out of her rucksack and read aloud:

  Help Lisa find good trees for hanging bat boxes, then mark them with chalk so we can find them later.

  Collect bark, leaves, twigs, moss and pine cones for building bug hotels.

  Make fact sheets to teach visitors about the animals in the reserve.

  “Whew!” said Buzz. “Sounds like hard work. Remember we’ve got to fill the bird feeders too. Speaking of feeding, I’m getting hungry and we haven’t even started yet! Do you think we can fit in a biscuit or two before we go?”

  But Isla didn’t have time to answer, because a familiar voice outside shouted, “Buzz! Isla! Where are you?”

  “We’re in the lodge,” Isla called back.

  The door burst open. “Have you seen Lisa?” gasped a sweaty Gracie.

  “She’s fixing some fencing by the boat sheds,” said Buzz, carefully placing Spiky back in his cage. “What’s up?”

  “There’s no time to go and get her then,” said Gracie. “There’s an animal up by Craggy Woods in real danger! Bring Lisa’s cutters, Isla.”

  Isla put them in her rucksack and they set off after Gracie, who led the way around Loch Dooey at a cracking pace. Squabbling black-headed gulls shrieked and swooped overhead. Even though Isla was in a hurry, she noticed some tiny and very fluffy chicks bobbing on the water near the gulls’ nesting area on the loch. She tried not to get distracted.

  “What kind of animal is it?” asked Isla.

  “I think it’s a baby deer,” puffed Gracie.

  “You mean a fawn,” corrected Buzz.

  “Fine, a fawn,” Gracie said impatiently. “I didn’t have time to look properly. I was coming here on my bike when I heard screeches from the woods near the cycle path. I headed straight to the lodge to tell Lisa.”

  They bolted round the loch, over Dooey Burn Bridge and into Craggy Woods. Gracie was a brilliant tracker and knew exactly which of the winding paths to take.

  “Where now?” asked Isla.

  “By the fence at the edge of the woods,” said Gracie. They could hear distant cries.

  Isla slowed down as they drew closer, and signalled to the others to be quiet. Gracie pointed to the far end of the fence. There, almost hidden in the long grass, was a tiny golden fawn. Its head was caught in the wires and it was crying pitifully.

  “Look, it’s bleeding,” said Gracie. “Poor thing.”

  “We need to stay quiet so we don’t frighten it any more,” whispered Buzz. “Fawns can be scared of people.”

  The fawn was panicking and struggling because its head was stuck.

  “We have to free it,” Isla said quietly, “before it really hurts itself.”

  “But how?” asked Gracie, her eyes wide.

  Isla took off her rucksack and crept closer. She knelt beside the fawn, wondering what to do. Just stay still, she told herself. Maybe if I stay calm, the fawn will calm down too.

  After what seemed like a long time, something extraordinary happened: the fawn stopped wailing and thrashing, and its breathing became steadier, almost in time with Isla’s.

  “Pass me my rucksack please,” whispered Isla.

  Carefully, Gracie handed it to her, trying not to make a sound.

  Still moving slowly and calmly, Isla took out a pair of gloves and a small pair of cutters. Checking it was safe and that the fawn was calm, she made one swift snip in the wire fence.

  Instantly, the baby deer pulled out its head. For a split second, the animal stared at Isla with its huge dark-brown eyes and blinked with long, feathery eyelashes. Its shiny black nose twitched, and then it turned and bounded into the depths of the forest.

  “Wowza!” said Buzz.

  “Double wowza!” said Gracie.

  Isla watched after the beautiful baby animal, glad it was free.

  “It was bleeding, wasn’t it?” said Gracie.

  “I don’t think there was much blood,” added Buzz. “It should be fine.”

  Gracie nodded. “I hope so.” She turned to Isla and helped her friend up. “Well done, Isla. You were so calm.”

  Isla shrugged and smiled. “Thanks Gracie. It’s just as well you got to the lodge so fast. Any longer and the fawn might have been badly injured.”

  “C’mon,” said Buzz. “Let’s get back and tell Lisa all about it. And we’ve still got to go through all the Animal Adventure Club tasks you have on your list, Isla.”

  “And eat some biscuits, I bet?” she said cheekily, nudging Buzz.

  “Too right!” he said. “There’s a packet of custard creams waiting for us, and I’m starving! Let’s go!”

  2

  “Isla, has your hair seen a brush today? It looks like pixies came in the night and tied it in knots!” called her mum.

  Isla shook her bushy head and rolled her eyes.

  “C’mon,” said her mum. “You can brush it on the way to school, or we’ll be late.”

  Isla grabbed a slice of toast with one hand and her schoolbag with the other, and jumped into the car. The village of Pittendooey was nestled between mountains in the Scottish Highlands. The nearest big town, Strathdooey, was a half-hour drive away. T
hat’s where Isla’s mum worked as a nurse in the big health centre. Isla’s dad lived in Strathdooey too and she spent every second weekend with him.

  “Mum, is it OK if I put some food out in the garden?” Isla asked cautiously.

  “What is it for this time? Or who is it for?” Isla’s mum asked.

  “Sorry, I thought I’d mentioned it,” said Isla, nibbling her toast. “There’s a fox in the garden. I saw paw prints, so I waited and spotted a fox and her cub.”

  Isla’s mum sighed. “I’m not sure,” she said. “I wouldn’t know what to feed them.” She glanced over at Isla. “And stop biting your nails,” she added.

  Isla sat on her fingers. “Foxes eat dog food,” she said. “I’ve looked it up already.”

  “But is it safe to leave food for foxes, Isla?”

  “It has a cub to feed, Mum! And it’s really cute. Look, I’ve drawn a picture of it.” She rummaged around in her bag for her journal. “Well, I tried to. I’m not very good at drawing.”

  “Oh, Isla,” her mum said as they pulled up to the school gate. “It’s just more animals to feed. You’ve already got your pet mice, and the bird feeders, and the bug hotel by the shed!”

  “Mum, the bug hotel is hardly ‘feeding animals’,” said Isla, folding her arms tightly.

  “Let’s talk about it later,” said her mum. “I’ll pick you up from the reserve this evening.”

  “OK,” said Isla, trying to keep her voice bright. She planted a buttery kiss on her mum’s cheek and clambered out of the car.

  “TGIF!” shouted her mum.

  Isla looked blank.

  “Thank goodnesss it’s Friday!” laughed her mum. “Get it?”

  Isla’s face broke into a beaming smile. “TGIF!” she shouted back. She gave her mum a cheery wave and ambled across the playground towards the P6 lines.

  “Hey Isla!” shouted a voice behind her. It was Buzz, running up and munching an apple. “Your stuff’s about to fall out of your bag,” he said, reaching to pull up the zip.

  “Oops,” said Isla. “Could you grab my journal actually? I want to show you something.”

  Buzz handed it to her and she flicked it open to the picture she’d drawn of the fawn.

  “Hi guys!” Gracie ran up to them and peered at Isla’s journal. “Nice picture, Isla,” she said. “You’re not as bad at drawing as you make out, you know.” She looked Isla in the eye. “And you shouldn’t be shy about your other talent either.”

  “Other talent? What do you mean?” asked Isla.

  “You know, for calming animals, like you did with the fawn yesterday.”

  Isla blushed a little.

  “You’re an animal whisperer, Isla,” said Buzz, his eyes wide.

  The two girls looked at each other for a second before they burst out laughing.

  “She doesn’t have magic powers, Buzz!” snorted Gracie.

  Isla giggled. “I just decided that it was best to keep still and quiet. Anyone could do it.”

  “Well, it really worked,” said Buzz. “And I’m not sure just anyone could do it.”

  Isla stopped laughing and smiled. “Thanks, Buzz.”

  “I wonder how the baby deer is doing now?” asked Buzz.

  “You mean fawn,” corrected Gracie with a cheeky grin and Buzz laughed.

  “Lisa said she’d look out for it, but maybe we should go back through Craggy Woods again this afternoon,” said Isla, flicking through her journal. “We can have a look around and double check the fawn isn’t lying injured somewhere.”

  “I’m in,” said Gracie.

  “Me too,” added Buzz, and they all leaned in for an Animal Adventure Club fist bump.

  “Is that a picture of a rabbit?” said a loud voice behind them. “Not bad, Isla. I like drawing as well, you know. I’ll let you see some of mine sometime.”

  They all swung round to see new girl Lexi Budge. She had only been at the school for a few weeks but was already sticking her nose into everybody’s business.

  “It’s a fawn, actually,” said Isla quietly.

  “Is it?” Lexi laughed. “Try making its legs longer. It looks a bit stumpy.”

  “Well, I think it’s brilliant,” said Gracie, folding her arms.

  “Were you talking about going up to the reserve?” Lexi rambled on. “I go there all the time. My aunt Lisa is a ranger and she knows absolutely everything there is to know about animals. So do I actually,” she added, sticking her nose in the air.

  “We know Lisa too, Lexi,” Gracie said.

  “Oh yeah, your wee club!” Lexi said. “What’s it called again? The Fluffy Bunny Gang?”

  “It’s the Animal Adventure Club,” said Buzz, taking an angry bite out of his apple.

  “Yeah, that’s what I meant. Well, I’ll see you at the reserve later. Lisa says you’d love to have me in your club. I’ll come and help you look for the… What was it? A baby deer?” Lexi babbled. “Aw, they’re so cute and cuddly. Like Bambi! When we find it, I’ll give it a big squeeze!” She hugged herself and squealed.

  Buzz’s mouth opened wide. “Lexi, you can’t cuddle a fawn. It’d be scared,” he explained.

  “And if you want to track one, you need to be very quiet,” said Gracie crossly.

  “No problem! Ssh!” Lexi whispered, raising a finger to her lips. Just then, she saw someone she knew across the playground. She put her thumb and finger into her mouth and let out a deafening whistle. Isla, Buzz and Gracie covered their ears. Lexi winked and ran off. “See you later!”

  “She’s so loud!” groaned Gracie.

  “And she doesn’t know anything about animals,” muttered Buzz. “She’s not joining!”

  “Remember our club code?” said Isla. “We will always welcome new members.”

  Buzz and Gracie sighed.

  “OK, let’s give her a chance,” said Gracie.

  “I suppose her whistling might come in handy,” said Buzz.

  “Yeah, if we need to round up some lost sheep!” laughed Isla.

  3

  “Isla, do you have your torch?” Buzz asked his friend later that afternoon at the rangers’ lodge.

  “Check,” said Isla, feeling for it in her jacket pocket.

  “Map?”

  “Check,” said Isla.

  “I’ve got mine too. And what are you bringing, Buzz?” Gracie said playfully.

  “My torch and map… and biscuits of course!” said Buzz with a smile. “Check!” he added, whipping out a packet of chocolate digestives from his rucksack.

  “I wonder what happened to Lexi?” asked Isla. Although she had reminded her friends about welcoming new members, part of Isla hoped Lexi had changed her mind about coming.

  “Hmm,” said Buzz. “Maybe she couldn’t make it after all.”

  Just then, the door opened and in came Lisa, the head ranger. “Good afternoon, Animal Adventure Club!” she called.

  “Hi Lisa,” they all chanted back.

  Bouncing in behind her came Lexi, munching on a bag of sweets. “Hi guys!” she bellowed. “I bet you were worried I wasn’t coming! I totally forgot.” She shrugged. “But Lisa came to pick me up and then I didn’t have time to change.”

  Isla noticed Lexi was wearing a denim jacket and thin sparkly trainers. The other club members were wearing waterproof jackets and sturdy walking boots. It was meant to rain later. Lexi’s going to get wet feet, she thought.

  “There’s a spare anorak hanging over there, Lexi,” said Lisa. “It might be a bit big, but it’ll do. And there are a lot of muddy paths on the reserve. I don’t have any waterproof boots you can borrow, but we’ll get you a pair for next time.”

  Buzz and Gracie were looking annoyed, so Isla decided to try to make Lexi feel welcome. “You’re just in time, Lexi,” she said. “We’re heading off to check on the fawn.”

  “The what?” mumbled Lexi, her mouth full of pink gunge.

  “The baby deer, remember?” said Gracie. “The cute, cuddly Bambi?”

 
“Oh yeah!” said Lexi, grabbing the anorak. “I forgot about that too!”

  Isla spotted Gracie rolling her eyes behind Lexi’s back.

  “Let me know how you get on tracking it,” said Lisa. “There was no sign of it when I was up there earlier. From your description, I would say it was a roe deer fawn. You did an amazing job rescuing it yesterday, but don’t get too close again. Just keep an eye out and report back to me. The doe will be close by. Fawns hide while their mums forage for food.”

  Isla, Buzz and Gracie nodded, and the trio headed for the door, with Lexi trailing behind.

  “Enjoy your patrol, Animal Adventure Club!” called Lisa. “While you’re out, I’m going to check on Spiky. I hope those nasty ear mites are all gone.”

  “I think he’s feeling better,” said Buzz. “His food bowl was nearly empty.”

  “You can refill it when you get back,” Lisa said, smiling. “I’ll see you later!”

  4

  The Animal Adventure Club stepped outside the rangers’ lodge and set off towards Loch Dooey.

  “Wait a second,” said Gracie, signalling for them to be quiet. “Listen to this, Lexi. The blue tit chicks are cheeping again. They’re in the nesting box on the wall.”

  Sure enough, they could hear the faint sounds of hungry birds.

  “And look, there’s the mum!” said Buzz. A blue tit with a fat caterpillar in her beak was watching from the branches of a nearby tree. She cocked her head to one side.

  “I think we’re making her nervous. She wants us to move on so she can feed her babies,” whispered Isla. They swiftly moved away from the box and the mum swooped in and popped through the tiny hole. The chicks’ cheeping became frantic as their mum gave them their dinner.

  “Remember we need to top up the bird feeders when we get back, so they’ve got plenty of food,” said Buzz.

  Lexi had her hands clamped over her ears. “What a racket!” she shouted, walking away.