by Tina Nolan
“Huh, you’re funny.” Typical Karl. “First off, Mickey – I’ve decided, I’m going to ask Annie’s mum to have him.”
Karl grunted. “I won’t hold my breath there then. Face it, Eva – Linda’s more likely to adopt Rosie than Mickey.”
“Linda likes Mickey!” Eva protested. “Yesterday I saw her in the field stroking him and giving him a carrot.”
“Who else?” Karl challenged.
“Hugo,” Eva decided. “I bet one of those people who phoned up about him comes in.”
“And?”
“Harry!” she declared. “Mrs Owen’s grandson will want him the minute he sees him.” There was no more time to convince Karl before the first people arrived.
“We’d like a dog,” a middle-aged couple explained to Joel. “We’ve just lost our beloved Sandy. She was fifteen. Now we’re looking for a dog that’s already house trained, and not too lively.”
“How about Benji?” Eva broke in. “And Penny’s very friendly. Would you like to look at them?”
The couple nodded and followed Joel and Eva into the noisy kennels. Within a few minutes they’d fallen in love with Benji and decided he was the dog for them.
“Success!” Eva reported to Karl when she went back into Reception. She spotted a man and a small curly-haired boy reading leaflets in the rack. “Is your name Kyle Owen?” she asked the boy eagerly. “Have you come about a hamster? Follow me!”
The boy and his dad went with Eva into the small animals unit.
“Your granny sent you, didn’t she? I told her all about Harry. He’s right at the end of the row.” Talking ten to the dozen, Eva led the way.
“Wow!” Little Kyle was amazed by each animal he came to. He liked the rabbits and the guinea pigs. “They’re cool. What are they?” he asked, pointing to Honey and Emily. And, “I like this one,” he cried, stopping by Bernie the ferret’s cage.
“Harry’s down here,” Eva insisted.
But Kyle was staring in wonderment at Bernie, who was sitting by the bars, raised up on his haunches, his front paws dangling. “What’s his name?”
“That’s Bernie. He’s a ferret,” Eva said.
“Look how fast he moves,” he said to his dad, as the ferret darted to the back of his cage and burrowed in his straw bed. “Look – his face is peeking out.”
“Do you like him?” Matthew Owen asked with a smile.
Eva frowned. This wasn’t meant to be happening. But then again, it would be great if Bernie found a new home. “Erm, would you like to see Harry before you make up your mind?” she asked quietly.
“I’d like this one, Dad!” Kyle’s eyes were shining. “Can I have him?”
And that was it – love at first sight. Ferret or hamster – it didn’t matter to Kyle. Matthew Owen filled in the forms and he and Kyle took Bernie home.
“Sorry, Harry,” Eva said to her favourite hamster when she returned. “You’re still homeless, but don’t worry – I’m sure it won’t be for long.”
Harry ambled up and sniffed at her hand. Then he went back to his squeaky wheel. I’m not worried, he seemed to say. I’m quite happy here, thank you very much!
“Hugo is really tame and friendly,” Karl was telling a woman called Martha Shaw who had come to Animal Magic with her twin daughters, Leanne and Beth.
He’d carried Hugo’s cage into Reception and put it on the desk. Mrs Shaw lifted each girl to peer inside.
The brown rabbit flicked his long ears. He crept forwards to the bars, wrinkling his nose and twitching his whiskers.
The twins smiled and giggled.
“He’s lovely,” they said. “Can we have him?”
“Yes, if you promise to take it in turns to feed him and clean his hutch,” their mum agreed.
“And give him lots of cuddles,” Eva added. She’d seen how well things were going and was hovering by the computer, ready to take Hugo off the website.
“We promise!” the girls chorused.
So Karl and Eva gave the twins some leaflets about how to care for a rabbit while Joel took the family’s details.
“Izzy-wizzy, let’s get busy!” Eva cried after the Shaws had left with Hugo. She danced around the waiting area pretending to wave a magic wand. It was only three o’clock and they were having a brilliant run of luck. “Who says we can’t find homes for five pets in one day!”
“Hugo, Benji, Bernie,” Karl counted the names on his fingers. “Doh! That’s only three.”
“Someone else is coming in to visit the kennels in half an hour,” she reminded him. “Mum said they were interested in a Jack Russell, and we’ve got Mitch.”
“Which will make four, not five,” Karl said stubbornly.
Eva frowned and thought hard. “Wait here!” she said, making a dash outside.
She ran next door and found Annie and her dad sitting in the sunshine. “Hi, Mr Brooks. Hi, Annie. Where’s your mum?”
“Out in the field with the ponies. Why?” Lazily Annie looked up from her book.
“Nothing. Never mind. I just need to see her.” Quickly Eva slipped through the Brookses’ back gate into the pony field where she spotted Linda Brooks busily pulling up weeds by the fence.
“Hi, Gwinnie, hi, Merlin!” Eva said, pausing to stroke the grey mare and her foal. She gave Rosie a quick pat then put her hands to her ears as Mickey gave his ear-splitting greeting. “Ouch, Mickey! Nice to see you, too!”
The noise made Linda look up. “Hello, Eva!” She waved.
Eva jogged to join her.
“I’m digging up ragwort,” Linda explained. “I don’t want to run the risk of Gwinnie and the rest eating it.”
“No way!” Eva was happy to help dig up the poisonous weed. She tugged at the roots and threw the plants into Linda’s bucket. “So how are Guinevere and Merlin today?” she asked casually.
“Fine, thanks.”
“And Rosie?”
“Rosie’s doing fine as well. Have you found anyone who wants a lovely little Shetland pony yet?”
Eva shook her head. “No, but we will soon. And how’s Mickey?”
“Ee-aww!” The donkey kicked up his heels and cantered across the field.
“Fine.” Linda Brooks looked hard at Eva. “What are you up to?” she asked.
“I’m helping you with the ragwort,” she said innocently.
“No, really – I’m getting the strong feeling that you want something.”
Eva took a deep breath then stood up. “OK then, I do. It’s about Mickey. He’s sweet, isn’t he?”
“‘Sweet’ is not quite the word I’d use.”
“But you like him?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘like’ exactly either.”
“He makes you laugh?” Eva persisted. “He’s funny. He’s – interesting, clever...”
Just then, Mickey reared up as a black and white shape came hurtling across the field towards him. “Ee-aww! Ee-aww!”
“And noisy!” Linda sighed. “And no, Eva, before you ask – I won’t adopt Mickey!”
Eva’s shoulders sagged.
“But it was worth a try,” Linda Brooks said with a smile.
In any case, Eva had recognized the black and white creature racing through the long grass. “Bonnie!” she called.
The runaway dog barked and swerved away from Mickey, then bounded towards Eva.
“Sit!” Eva said sternly.
Bonnie obeyed.
“You’re a bad girl,” Eva said, wagging her finger. “You’ve run away from home, haven’t you?”
Bonnie gazed up with her big, dark eyes and an expression that said, Please don’t tell me off!
“And now I’m going to have to take you back.” Eva tried not to smile at Bonnie’s crestfallen look. “Heel!” she told her, setting off up the field.
Good as gold, Bonnie trotted along at Eva’s side.
“I’m taking you back to Ash Tree Manor,” Eva told the runaway. “And I’m going to tell them to keep an eye on you.” She talked quietly
as they reached the road and turned right. “This is a busy road. You could’ve been run over. I bet it’s Katie’s fault,” she grumbled. “She probably left the gate open. Sit, Bonnie. Wait for this car. OK, now we can cross. Heel! Good girl – we’re almost there!”
Eva took Bonnie up to the front door of the old, ivy-covered house and rang the bell. “Hello, is anyone at home?”
There was no answer so she walked round the side. “Hello?” she called again, hopefully. She was anxious to drop off Bonnie and get back to Animal Magic.
It was Bonnie who decided what to do next. She trotted towards the utility room and pushed at the half-open door.
“Good girl,” Eva muttered. Honestly, the dogs had more brains than the humans who lived here! She followed Bonnie inside and went to fill up a dish with fresh water as Bonnie padded into the kitchen, looking for Clyde.
Just as Eva finished, she spotted Katie Platt through the open door, running up the drive.
“Have you seen Bonnie?” Katie gasped. “We were taking her and Clyde on a walk by the river, but she ran away!”
Eva stared. Katie had obviously sprinted all the way home. Her fair hair was sticking to her forehead and her face was pink. “Bonnie’s here,” she answered quietly. “I brought her back.”
“I told Dad not to let her off the lead,” Katie panted. “We were near the golf course and she ran off to chase a ball. She wouldn’t come back when we called.”
Eva nodded. “I caught her in the Brookses’ field.”
Katie pushed her hair back from her face. Then she ran to check on Bonnie. “Thank goodness!” she cried, peering round the kitchen door. “Here, Bonnie!”
Bonnie bounded out and jumped up at Katie, licking at her face and leaving dirty paw marks on her T-shirt.
“Sit!” Katie pleaded. But as usual the excited dog ignored her.
“Make her do it,” Eva said, annoyed that all her good training was wasted on Katie. “But do the arm movement at the same time. Like this. ‘Sit!’”
This time, Bonnie obeyed Eva’s command.
“You do it,” Eva told Katie.
But Katie shook her head and headed out of the utility room. She began to trail back down the drive.
“Hey, stop!” Eva called. She closed the door on Bonnie and ran after Katie. “It’s easy. And Bonnie’s a fast learner.”
“I don’t want to do it,” Katie insisted. “If you’re so clever, why don’t you take them both – Bonnie and Clyde – and let them live with you at Animal Magic!”
The words stopped Eva in her tracks. Then she grew angry. “That’s right – send them to the rescue centre. At least this time, you’re not just dumping them like you dumped Harry!”
Katie had reached the gates, but now she stopped too. She turned to face Eva. “What are you talking about?” she asked slowly.
“I said, at least this time you’re not dumping them in a rubbish bin and leaving them to die!”
“What? Who’s Harry?” Katie insisted.
Eva felt as if she was about to burst, she was so mad. “You know who Harry is. And don’t think I can’t see why you want to send Bonnie and Clyde to Animal Magic. It’s because you can’t handle them and you’re jealous of Karl and me because we can!”
“No I’m not!” Katie’s face had changed from flushed pink to deadly white. She clenched her hands into fists.
Suddenly, Eva noticed the tears that had sprung to Katie’s eyes. Her own anger fizzled out and she stood puzzled in the middle of the driveway.
“OK,” Katie admitted. “I haven’t been any good with Bonnie and Clyde. They jump up all the time and pull when they’re on the lead. I never knew training them would be so hard. Mum and Dad haven’t had any time to help me and I felt stupid when Mum asked you and Karl. And besides, you wouldn’t talk to me at school, and I didn’t know why not…”
“Stop!” Eva begged. “Are you seriously saying that you don’t know what you did wrong to make me not want to be your friend?”
Miserably Katie shrugged. “I thought it was ’cos I was new and Mum says I’m too shy.”
“The reason I wouldn’t be your friend isn’t because you’re new or shy – whatever! It’s because of what you did to Harry,” said Eva, her anger growing.
“Who’s Harry?” Katie cried again.
“Harry is the hamster you dumped in my grandad’s rubbish bin!” Eva said loud and clear. She stormed back to the utility room and pointed to the empty cage. “That’s his cage, as if you didn’t know!”
Katie followed the direction of Eva’s finger. “That’s not Harry’s!”
“Of course it is – stop pretending!”
“It’s not,” Katie insisted. “That cage belonged to Daisy.”
It was Eva’s turn to look shocked. “W-w-who’s Daisy?”
Katie blinked. “Daisy was my silver grey hamster. She was only six months old. But she died just before we moved house. I buried her in the garden.”
Eva left Ash Tree Manor in a daze. She walked next door into her grandad’s garden centre.
“Hello, Eva!” Jimmy came out from his office, took one look at her face and took her inside. “Tell me,” he invited.
“Grandad, I’ve done something awful!” She felt the tears well up and did nothing to try and stop them.
“Is this to do with Katie Platt and Harry?” he asked gently.
Eva nodded. “I’ve made her really upset and it was totally my fault.”
And she told him about the dreadful mistake she’d made, and how she’d shouted and made Katie cry. “It turns out it wasn’t Katie after all,” she sobbed. “It was someone else who dumped Harry!”
Her grandfather put his arm around her shoulder. “Ah, I see!”
“I’m so horrible, Grandad. Katie had to bury Daisy in a grave at her old house, and she misses her so much!”
“Yes,” he said. “You were hasty, Eva. That’s the way you’re made. Did you say sorry?”
Eva nodded. “But ‘sorry’ isn’t enough.”
“But in another way you’ve helped Katie,” her grandad pointed out. “You and Karl have spent a lot of time training her dogs. They’re much better than they used to be.”
Eva nodded. “And we could carry on doing that – if Katie wants us to. Or wants me to. Karl could carry on no problem – he hasn’t done anything to upset her.”
Jimmy let her sit for a while. “You just jumped to the wrong conclusion, Eva, and now you’ve tried to put it right. From now on things will be different between you and Katie.”
“I hope…” Eva sniffed and stood up. “You’re right!” she said more firmly. “Things will be different. Thanks, Grandad, I’ve got to go.”
“Four!” Karl reported when Eva returned to Animal Magic. “A man called Tony Watson came and offered Mitch a home. He’s already got two Jack Russells and Mitch has gone to live with them.”
“Four,” Eva sighed wearily. She went and sat behind the reception desk.
Karl stared at her. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” For a while Eva fidgeted and pretended to tidy up the stacks of leaflets. Then she jumped down from her stool and shot off into the small animals unit.
“Hi, Harry,” she murmured when she reached his cage.
For a while Harry kept out of sight behind a mound of wood shavings. Then he crept out and Eva spotted his sweet brown face. He peered at her with his button-bright eyes.
“So we’ll never know who dumped you, Harry,” Eva began in a gentle, serious voice. “And to be honest, I wish I’d never tried to find out. I mean, what does it really matter as long as we find you a lovely new home?”
Little Harry cocked his head to one side. That’s right – what does it matter?
“Someone will love you,” Eva promised, putting her face right up to the bars of his cage. “Sooner or later we’ll find you the perfect owner!”
“Where’s Mum? I need to give her a message!” Eva had made up her mind and dashed back out into Rec
eption.
“What message?” Karl asked.
“Here, let me write it down.” Eva scribbled a note and pushed it towards him. “No time to explain. Just make sure Mum gets this and does what it asks. I’m in a hurry. I have to spring-clean Harry’s cage!”
It was five o’clock – time for Animal Magic to close its doors – when Julia Platt arrived with Katie.
Heidi was chatting with Karl and Joel in Reception. “Ah Julia, I’m glad you got my message,” she said with a mysterious smile. “Eva’s in the small animals unit waiting for Katie.”
Julia whispered in Katie’s ear and ushered her inside.
Katie looked nervous. She glanced at the two harlequin rabbits, and Lulu and Lucy. Then she moved on down the row.
“Hi, Katie,” Eva said quietly. She was standing beside Harry’s cage.
Katie relaxed when she saw Harry. “Hi!” she replied, getting as close to Harry as she could. “You’re so pretty.”
“Would you like to hold him?” Eva offered.
Shyly Katie opened the cage and lifted Harry out. “Soft and silky,” she murmured. “He’s gorgeous!”
Little Harry twitched his nose and looked up at Katie.
“Mum thinks he’s probably only about three months old,” Eva said. “But he’s really tame and nice to handle.”
“Yes.” Katie’s face was all smiles.
“So I was wondering, since you already know how to look after hamsters, and considering my mum has rung your mum to ask if it would be OK – I was wondering if you’d like to give Harry a home?”
“She said yes!” Eva carried Harry’s cage and led Katie back to Reception.
Joel was already filling out the form. “Harry,” he wrote in the space requesting the adopted pet’s first name. “Platt” he wrote in the space asking for the surname.
“What’s Harry’s favourite treat?” an excited Katie asked Eva.
“Apples, but not too much. And if he’s sleeping, don’t try to pick him up.”