The Little Llama

by Amelia Cobb

  Zoe, Priti and the rest of the class, snug in their wellies, warm coats, hats and gloves, cheered happily.

  Zoe couldn’t believe it. She got to spend the day with all her friends and the zoo animals AND the show would go ahead at the zoo. This was the best school day ever!

  Zoe and her classmates had a very busy day. Not only did they help to tidy and put the chairs in the marquee and decorate it with fairy lights and Christmas decorations, but they spent lots of time with the wintry animals and their keepers. Zoe and the zoo keepers helped teach Zoe’s classmates even more fun facts about the animals they’d been paired with!

  Miss Hawkins had a surprise for Great-Uncle Horace to say thank you for all his help. She gave him a special guest role as a snowman who would welcome the audience and introduce the show! But the BEST news about the amazing snowy rehearsal day was that Great-Uncle Horace received a call about a new llama needing a home, so he was going to go and collect her right away! Soon Lottie would have a herd of her very own.

  Chapter Seven

  Show Time!

  When Zoe woke up on the morning of the show, the first thing she did was look out of the window. She breathed a sigh of relief. There was a blanket of snow on the ground, just enough to make the zoo look magical but not so much that it would have stopped the guests from coming to see the show!

  “Morning, Mum! It’s show day!” she exclaimed as she bounded into the kitchen.

  “Morning, love.” Lucy was looking at her phone. “I’m afraid I have a bit of bad news.”

  Zoe’s heart sank. “What is it?”

  “I’ve just heard from Great-Uncle Horace. Something unexpected has come up with the llama he’s rescuing, so he’s not going to be able to make it back in time for the show.”

  “What’s happened?” Zoe sat down at the table feeling really sad.

  “I’m not sure. He didn’t say in his message,” replied Lucy, giving Zoe a hug.

  Zoe felt really glum. Lottie might not be getting a new friend and there would be no one to play the snowman in the show either.

  After Zoe had finished her breakfast and done her chores, she put Lottie on her lead and set off with Meep to meet her classmates and get ready for the show.

  As she reached the green in the middle of the zoo she stopped to look at the marquee. It looked amazing! Fairy lights twinkled all around it and a big banner that Zoe and her classmates had made saying “WELCOME TO OUR WINTER SHOW!” hung over the entrance.

  Sally from the café had set up a stall beside the marquee, where she was going to be selling hot chocolate and roast chestnuts. But even the delicious smells coming from the stall couldn’t cheer Zoe up. To make matters worse, Mr Pinch was busy sweeping snow from the footpath. He was bound to be in a bad mood.

  “Good morning, Zoe!” he called when he saw her.

  Zoe stared at him in shock. He actually seemed happy! And for once she was the one in the bad mood. “Good morning, Mr Pinch,” she said quietly.

  Mr Pinch stopped sweeping. “Is everything all right, Zoe?”

  Zoe sighed. “Great-Uncle Horace has had a problem with the llama he was supposed to be rescuing so he won’t be back in time for the school show. So we’ve got no one to play the snowman.”

  Meep started bouncing around Mr Pinch’s feet and pulling at the bottom of his trousers.

  “What on earth is that creature doing?” said Mr Pinch with a frown, trying to shake Meep off.

  “Him, him, him!” chattered Meep.

  Zoe’s eyes lit up as she realised what Meep was trying to say. “Er, Mr Pinch, would you mind being the snowman for us? All you have to do is welcome everyone to the show – and, er, wear the snowman costume.” Zoe held her breath. There was probably no way Mr Pinch would agree to dressing up as a snowman – he loved wearing his uniform too much. But, to her surprise, he nodded.

  “All right.”

  “What?” Zoe stared at him in shock.

  “I’ll do it.” Then Mr Pinch started humming a tune.

  “Are you OK, Mr Pinch? You seem very – happy.”

  “Do I?” For a moment Mr Pinch looked confused. “Well, I suppose I am happy. I had a phone call from your teacher this morning. All the tickets for the show have been snapped up, which means we’ll be having lots of visitors today … which means they’ll be spending lots of money in the zoo.”

  Zoe grinned. The one thing that was guaranteed to make Mr Pinch happy was the thought of more money for the zoo! Zoe heard the honk of a horn and turned to see the school minibus pulling up by the marquee – her classmates were here!

  The children went backstage to practise their lines and change into their costumes. An hour later the audience began to take their seats. Then, ten minutes before the show was due to begin, the keepers came backstage with the animals who were starring in the show!

  Zoe knew they were all very excited. Holly, Snowy and Ivy, the snow leopard cubs, were particularly energetic and kept getting their special leads tangled up as they played and explored. Matt certainly had his hands full! Lottie was enjoying being backstage with all the children and trying to keep them all together using her super herding skills.

  Mr Pinch had put on the snowman’s costume and was practising his lines. Zoe felt a nervous fluttering in her tummy.

  She really hoped the show would go well. Finally the audience fell silent – it was show time!

  Mr Pinch walked out on to the stage. “Welcome, everyone, to the Rescue Zoo and the school’s winter performance. I really hope you enjoy the show!”

  One by one, the five different groups of children took to the stage to tell the audience all about special wintry places in the world and some of the amazing animals that lived in those environments. The animals went on stage with the children too, so everyone could see them. The performances went very well, and the guests – who filled the marquee – clapped after each section and cheered quietly so as not to upset the animals. Zoe’s llama group was the last to go on.

  The audience all gasped when they saw Zoe and her friends wearing their home-made llama ears and costumes and leading little Lottie!

  “This is Lottie the llama,” announced Zoe, patting her on the head. Lottie gave a friendly hum.

  “Lottie is the latest animal to find a home at the Rescue Zoo,” said Priti. “Her wild relatives live in South America: in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.”

  “Llamas are specially adapted to life high up in the mountains,” added Zoe. “They have thick fur to protect them from the cold …” Priti stood next to Lottie here, showing off her beautiful coat to the audience. “… and their feet have two toes and leathery soles, to protect them from the sharp rocks.”

  “They belong to the camelid family, who lived in North America forty million years ago!” said Alfie.

  “And a baby llama, like Lottie, is called a cria,” added Charlie.

  “And llamas are great at carrying loads!” finished Zoe, winking at Meep. The tiny lemur stood up on Lottie’s back as she started trotting around the stage. The audience all clapped and cheered as the four children proudly led Lottie and Meep offstage.

  Now that everyone had performed their piece and introduced their animals, it was time for the final group song. The children led all of the animals on to the stage, with the zoo keepers by their sides.

  But before they could start singing there was a loud THUD from outside as a big clump of frozen snow slid off the marquee and hit the floor. Oscar the snowy owl and his mate Shelley screeched loudly, flapped their wings and took to the air in fright. This loud noise and sudden movement made Pip and her two penguin friends scared, and they squawked and waddled to the front of the stage. Piper the puffin tried to hide and tripped keeper Rory over, who in turn knocked Matt over. The big-cat keeper let go of the snow leopards’ leads in the confusion.

  The three snow leopard cubs, Holly, Snowy and Ivy, were very excited by all the commotion and scampered off the stage purring happily, their leads trailing behind th
em.

  “Come back!” cried Zoe. But it was too late. The cubs ran off towards the exit, followed closely by the penguins and puffins! Then Lottie gave a loud bray and trotted off after them. Oscar and Shelley started to swoop around the marquee, hooting loudly.

  “Oh no!” cried Zoe as the little llama trotted over to the stairs, with Meep still on her back. “Now Lottie’s escaping too!”

  “Animal emergency!” Mr Pinch yelled from inside his snowman’s suit, struggling to remove the big round head of the costume.

  The audience gasped in shock and ducked in their seats as the owls swooped overhead and the animals raced down the aisle towards the back of the marquee. Lottie was at the back of the group. To Zoe’s astonishment, when Lottie reached the penguins and puffins she gently nudged the little birds with her nose and hummed softly. Pip put his head on one side and then squawked to Pearl and Poppy. The three penguins then turned and waddled back to the stage! Piper and her puffin pals followed closely behind, as Lottie hummed reassuringly to them all and nudged them softly with her nose.

  Next, Lottie bounced after the three snow leopard cubs, managing to get in front of them. Making soft humming sounds and with her ears pricked forward, she trotted in a circle around them, keeping them together and preventing them from getting too close to the exit.

  “She’s trying to herd them!” exclaimed Zoe. But would the cubs let Lottie guide them back to their keeper? Lottie wasn’t much bigger than the cubs and they seemed very overexcited and full of mischief.

  Lottie brayed loudly at the three cubs again and stamped her hoof firmly. Yowling softly, the cubs paused for a moment and then turned round and started running back up the aisle towards Matt, who had untangled himself from the other keepers on the stage. The audience started to cheer. Soon the cubs were back with Matt and enjoying a meaty treat, while Oscar and Shelley were calmly perched on their keeper’s shoulder.

  Zoe gave Lottie a big hug. “Well done,” she whispered in the little llama’s ear. “That was the best herding I’ve ever seen! You may only be little, but you have a very big, brave heart!”

  The little llama hummed proudly and nuzzled Zoe’s hand.

  The children and animals all took their places again to sing the final song. When they’d finished, the audience leapt to their feet and gave an extra-loud cheer. The animals all squawked and chirped and yowled happily and the children bowed. Mr Pinch gave such a big bow he almost toppled over!

  After the animals had been safely taken back to their enclosures, Zoe left the marquee with her friends, holding Lottie on her lead. Christmassy songs were playing from speakers outside the gift shop and people were queuing to buy hot chocolates and chestnuts from Sally on her stall. Zoe smiled. The show had been a huge success – and Lottie had saved the day! She patted the llama on the head. It was such a shame Great-Uncle Horace had missed it.

  But then she heard the musical tune of a car horn and she turned to see Great-Uncle Horace’s car pulling up beside the marquee. The trailer was attached to it – had he managed to bring back another llama?

  “Hello, everybody!” boomed Great-Uncle Horace as he got out of the car. “Zoe, I’m so sorry I missed the show. How did it go?”

  “It was great!” exclaimed Zoe. “And Lottie was the star.” She quickly told him what had happened and how Lottie had come to the rescue, stopping all of the other animals from escaping into the snow!

  “That’s wonderful!” said Great-Uncle Horace. “And I have some more good news.”

  “Have you rescued another llama?” asked Zoe eagerly.

  “No…” he replied.

  Zoe’s heart sank. That would have been the perfect ending to the day.

  “You’d better take a look for yourself,” said Great-Uncle Horace. He opened the door of the trailer … and as Zoe peered in she saw not one but two pairs of dark-brown eyes! One of the llamas was fully grown but the other was a tiny baby!

  “Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Zoe. “We have two new llamas for the zoo?”

  “Yes! It turns out that the llama I was rescuing was pregnant,” explained Great-Uncle Horace. “That’s why I got held up. I had to help deliver this one.” He carefully helped the baby llama down from the trailer. Its woolly coat was extra fluffy and it legs were thin and wobbly. The baby’s mum jumped down and stood next to it.

  Lottie hummed excitedly and went over to nuzzle them.

  The mummy llama hummed back and the baby gave an excited squeak. The three llamas stood together happily, noses touching, the snow glistening around them.

  Zoe couldn’t stop grinning. This really was the best day ever. The show had gone brilliantly and Lottie the little llama finally had friends and a very special herd of her very own!

  Copyright

  First published in the UK in 2018 by Nosy Crow Ltd

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  Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd

  Text copyright © Hothouse Fiction, 2018

  Illustrations © Sophy Williams, 2018

  The right of Hothouse Fiction and Sophy Williams to be identified as the author and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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  ISBN: 978 1 78800 298 1

  eISBN: 978 1 78800 299 8

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