by Sarah Webb
I pick up her plaits and pile them on top of her head, like Heidi. ‘Sorry, Iris, I’ll take you more from now on.’
She looks at me solemnly. ‘Do you swear?’
‘Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.’
She seems satisfied with this. She takes my hand and pulls hard.
‘Come on, Auntie Jules, you’re such a slow coach.’
‘Thought you were tired, you minx.’
She just giggles.
Arietty has left our names with one of the security guards at the gate, and Iris is delighted with herself.
‘We didn’t even have to pay,’ she says. ‘We’re like celebs. Your friend must be very important.’
‘She is,’ I say, shaking the umbrella and folding it away. The rain has stopped, but the sky is still grey and threatening.
Iris skips up the right-hand slope towards the Kaziranga Forest Trail, against the pedestrian traffic as Arietty suggested, and I follow her. Crowds make Iris nervous. She’s always convinced she’s going to get lost. She did once, in Tesco in Dun Laoghaire when she was just three, and the fear seems to have stayed with her.
We pass the low-slung Reptile House and continue down the path, avoiding the peacocks. I’ve never liked peacocks, they have beady, dead looking eyes, and their sharp wail gives me the heebie-jeebies.
I halt beside the leafy entrance to the trail. ‘Here we go. This is where Arietty works. We’re a little early but we can check out her elephant friends while we wait.’
Iris stares at me. ‘Your friend works with the animals?’
I smile back; her eyes are nearly popping out of their sockets again. ‘Yes. She’s the elephant keeper. Didn’t I say?’
She slaps my arm. ‘No! You said she worked in the zoo. I thought you meant in the office or something.’
I chuckle. ‘I wanted to surprise you. Now are we going in or what?’
Iris runs along the twisting concrete path and I follow her. Every now and then she stops at a bend and checks that I’m behind her. The wind is making the tall bamboo plants swish and there’s a waterfall splashing over some rocks. I close my eyes and try to imagine a forest in deepest India. A little hard with the excited shrieks coming from up ahead.
I turn the corner and there they are, Arietty’s elephants, four of them, two babies and two larger ones, all playing at the edge of the concrete pool. As we watch, the babies duck under the water and use their trunks as snorkels.
Iris giggles, her eyes glued to the scene. ‘Look, Auntie Jules, they’re swimming. They’re so cute.’ I sit down in the stepped visitor’s viewing area and watch Iris. She’s in her element, pupils wide, face lit up, totally absorbed in the elephant babies’ antics, her little body straining against the wooden fence to get as close as she possibly can. She’s so engrossed she doesn’t seem to notice the gaggle of children building up either side of her.
I take out my mobile and text Arietty:
Bit early. Watching the elephants. Jules X
A second later a message beeps back:
Stay there. AX
Minutes later Arietty appears. I almost didn’t recognize her. She’s wearing a green Dublin Zoo sweatshirt, black work boots, green combats, a yellow walkie-talkie and keys hanging off her belt. She looks very official.
‘Hey, Jules.’
I stand up and she hesitates in front of me for a second, as if deciding whether to kiss me or not. She decides not to, instead sits, tucking her hands under her legs. I join her.
‘That your niece?’ she asks, nodding towards the fence.
‘The one practically in the elephant enclosure? That’s Iris all right. She’s mad about animals. Has all kinds of odd pets at home – an ant farm, a wormery, a log covered in woodlice, and a snail collection. Her mum makes her keep her weird menagerie in the shed.’
Arietty laughs, a surprisingly deep, contagious ripple.
‘I was exactly the same at that age. Slightly different mini-beasts though. Stick insects, katydids, and spiders. Used to drive Mum wild.’
‘Stick insects? Where did you grow up exactly?’
‘Port of Spain.’
I look at her blankly. I don’t like to admit I’ve never heard of Port of Spain.
‘Trinidad! It’s the capital.’
‘And how did you end up here?’ I ask, curious.
‘In the zoo or in Ireland?’
‘Both.’
‘My stepdad’s Irish. Me and Mum moved here when I was thirteen. And I ended up in the zoo because I couldn’t hack it as a teacher. The kids were fine but I couldn’t bear the parents. They were all so self-deluded about their little angels. And I wasn’t mad on some of the other teachers either. They weren’t much fun really, very institutionalized. So after a year of it I left, went travelling for a while, ended up working in an elephant sanctuary in Sri Lanka. When I came back to Dublin, I applied to the zoo and I’ve been here ever since.’ She shrugs. ‘My grandaddy, he was a zookeeper in Trinidad – big cats though, not elephants – so I guess it’s in the blood.’
Wow, I think, that’s quite a story. I look at her, dying to hear more, but just then Iris waves up at me.
‘Hi, Auntie Jules. I’m still here.’
‘I see you, Iris, don’t worry.’
Iris notices Arietty and smiles at her shyly.
‘Cute kid,’ Arietty says. ‘Seven?’
‘Eight. Sorry she had to tag along, my sister’s working this weekend and I’m on babysitting duty today.’
‘Where’s her daddy? Does she have one?’
I’m a little startled by the directness of the question.
‘Sorry,’ Arietty says, swatting a wasp away from her face. ‘Was that a bit rude? I tend to just wade in sometimes. You can see why the parents weren’t exactly impressed.’ She puts on a firm teachery voice: ‘No sorry, your Johnny isn’t a genius, in fact I think he may be low-spectrum autistic.’ She sighs. ‘You can imagine how that went down.’
I can feel my eyebrows lift. ‘You actually said that?’
She grins. ‘I was being kind that day.’ She stands up and brushes down her bum. ‘Would Iris like to see behind the scenes? She can feed one of the girls if she likes.’
‘Are you serious? She’d love that. Are you sure it’s OK?’
She gives a click of her tongue.
‘I checked ahead and the other keepers don’t mind, they’re pretty easy-going.’
‘Thanks, Arietty. She’s a good kid and it would mean a lot to her.’ I give her a hug. As soon as my arms are around her, I can feel her body stiffen and I pull away quickly, a little embarrassed.
‘ ’s OK,’ she murmurs, clearly taken aback. ‘This way.’
She jumps down the steps, and takes a sharp left.
‘Iris,’ I call over the heads of the other children.
She looks up and her little face falls.
‘Can’t we stay a bit longer?’ she asks loudly. ‘Please?’
‘Arietty has something to show you.’
Iris slopes towards me reluctantly, shoulders hunched. When she’s beside me I crouch down and whisper in her ear.
‘How would you like to feed one of the elephants?’
Her eyes goggle. ‘Yes! Yes! Yes! This is the best day ever.’
We catch up with Arietty and Iris walks beside her, her little legs practically running to keep up with Arietty’s long strides. I watch her striding on ahead, hoping she’ll tell me more about her background later.
‘What do elephants eat, Arietty?’ Iris asks excitedly, like a little dog yapping at her master’s heels. ‘Can I touch them? How heavy are they? Do they really sleep standing up?’
Arietty turns her head, winks at me and then asks Iris, ‘Which question would you like me to answer first?’
‘Can I touch them?’ Obviously the foremost thing in her mind.
‘We’ll see. If the girls don’t mind, yes, you can touch their trunks.’
Iris squeals. ‘This is the
best day ever in my whole entire life.’
Arietty just laughs. She leads us through a wooden gate that says ‘Staff Only’, and in through a door at the back of the huge elephant house which is the size of an aeroplane hanger. She says hi to two men in zoo uniforms, who both give a friendly smile to me and Iris as we walk past, and then she shows us into a long room with a stainless-steel sink and countertop, like an industrial kitchen. It smells a little musky, like a stable. There’s a large whiteboard against one wall and a large black dustbin sitting underneath it.
‘This is where we prepare the feed,’ Arietty says.
Iris tucks her hand into mine and I smile down at her. She’s looking around, eyes wide as Frisbees, taking everything in. As Arietty grabs a bucket and fills it with carrots and what look like huge pony nuts from the dustbin, I read the board. It lists each elephant’s name, weight and temperature, along with lots of other handwritten messages like ‘We need more shovels!’ and ‘I hate pigeons!’
Iris pulls my arm and says in a low voice, ‘Will you ask her what the glitter’s for?’ There are three pots of different coloured glitter sitting on the draining board of the sink.
Arietty, hearing Iris’s question, turns around.
‘Ah, the glitter. Well spotted, Iris. Sometimes we have to test the elephants’ poo to check they’re healthy. So we need to know whose poo is whose, so we put different coloured glitter in their food. That way we can tell which dung belongs to which elephant.’
Iris starts giggling. ‘Glittery poo? That’s really funny.’
Arietty joins in, chuckling away. ‘I know. But it works.’
Iris squeezes my hand. ‘Isn’t it funny, Auntie Jules?’
I squeeze back and nod, smiling. ‘Very.’
Arietty leads us out of the room, past enormous chunky metal cages and left down a dusty roadway.
‘Is this the way to the elephants?’ Iris whispers up at me.
‘I think so,’ I say.
Arietty is striding towards hefty black gates, as high as a double decker bus. She stops at the gates and says loudly, ‘Here, girls. Here, girls,’ and then gives a high pitched ‘Souk, souk, souk, souk.’
Within seconds two enormous elephants are marching towards us, surprisingly gracefully for such bulky creatures. Iris’s mouth falls open as the first one reaches the gate and she tilts her head backwards to take in the full bulk of the animal. They are both massive, and much wilder-looking this close up, with long fluttery eyelashes, hairy backs, and hoary old lady bristles on their trunks. I can hear their loud, horsey breath, smell their musky scent.
‘They’re so big,’ Iris says, stepping back several times and pulling me with her. Then she buries herself in my side.
‘Don’t be nervous,’ Arietty says kindly. ‘They won’t hurt you. Not intentionally anyway. This old girl is Beatrix. She’s the matriarch, which means she rules the roost.’
‘Is the other big one male?’ I ask.
‘No. That’s Beatrix’s little sister, Enid.’ She reaches through the bars and pats the biggest animal’s flank. ‘The cows, the females, all live together with the babies, remember? I told you all this outside the shop, Jules.’
I smart a little at the rebuke but Arietty seems oblivious.
‘The bulls live either alone or in bachelor groups,’ she continues, taking her hand back out and directing her information at Iris, who is paying careful attention. ‘One of the babies is a bull, Kai, but as soon as he reaches puberty he’ll be sent away to another zoo.’
‘Sounds like a good plan,’ I say, only half joking.
Arietty gives a laugh. ‘It certainly works for elephants.’
Beatrix sticks her trunk through the bars and runs the pointed end of it over Arietty’s hand. Arietty strokes the smoother skin of the trunk’s underbelly. She asks, ‘Would you like to stroke her trunk, Iris?’ her focus still firmly fixed on Beatrix.
Iris inches forward nervously, gulping several times.
Arietty takes a carrot from the bucket at her feet and hands it to Iris. ‘Give her this,’ she says. ‘Aim it towards the tip of her trunk.’
Iris gingerly holds it out towards the end of Beatrix’s trunk, which is bright pink with grey splodges, like a pig’s snout. The elephant whips it out of her hand, grasping the carrot between the protruding ‘finger’ and the base of her trunk, and Iris giggles away delightedly.
‘Did you see that?’ she squeals. ‘She took it off me. Can I do it again?’
‘Sure.’ Arietty hands her another carrot and Iris feeds Beatrix again, this time putting her other hand out to touch the top of the trunk.
‘It feels so weird,’ Iris says in wonder. ‘Hard. I thought it would be like leather. But it’s more like stone or something. What’s the stuff that grows under the sea, Auntie Jules? It’s pink and white and fish live in it. I saw it in that programme about the sea in Australia.’ Iris watches a huge amount of nature programmes.
‘Coral?’ I suggest.
She nods. ‘Yes. It’s like coral. All rough and bitty.’
Then Iris feeds the other elephant, Enid, who gives her an ear-blasting trunk hoot for her trouble, sending Iris jumping back in fright, her hands over her ears.
Arietty laughs. ‘She’s saying thank you. Loud, isn’t it? Oh, and here comes trouble.’
Arietty points at the two darker-coloured babies who are running towards us, making excited-sounding hooting and squeaking noises.
‘The one with the small tusks is Kai, he’s five; and the other’s Nina. They love company and Kai’s incredibly nosey, loves getting his trunk into everyone’s business.’
Arietty lets Iris feed the whole family, until all the carrots and nuts are gone. ‘We have to say goodbye now, girls,’ Arietty tells the adult elephants, showing them the empty bucket, and giving Beatrix’s ear a quick rub through the bars.
‘Ready to go, pet?’ I look over at Iris. Her little lips are pressed together, her eyes are glistening and I can tell she’s trying not to cry.
‘What is it?’ I crouch down and hold her head between my hands.
‘This is the best day ever, ever, ever and I don’t want it to end. What if I forget what Beatrix and Enid and Nina and Kai look like?’
I stand up and take out my phone. ‘If it’s OK with Arietty, I’ll take some photos of you and the elephants. And we can come back and visit. Soon, I promise. And maybe they’ll have a toy elephant in the gift shop. If they do, would you like one?’
She beams at me.
‘Yes, please! Thanks, Auntie Jules. You’re the best.’
‘Iris looks wiped out,’ Arietty says at lunchtime. We’re sitting outside one of the restaurants, eating chips. Iris has finished eating, not that she had much, and is now resting her head on her folded arms and watching the peacocks, which are thankfully keeping their distance. Her new fluffy toy elephant is standing on the table beside her. She’s already named it Beatrix.
I stroke Iris’s head. ‘Too much excitement for one day, eh, pet? Thanks for arranging feeding the elephants and everything, Arietty, it was incredible. You officially have the best job in the world.’
Arietty picks up a chip and studies it for a second before deciding not to eat it and putting it back in the carton.
‘Not the most glamorous though,’ she says. ‘Plus I always come home stinking of elephant. It gets right into my pores. Just as well I’m single.’ She snorts and stares at one of the peacocks who has whipped his tail out like a Spanish lady flicking open her fan, and is strutting around, parading all his glory to the world. ‘Most people think it’s a pretty weird job for a girl, but I love it,’ she continues. ‘Elephants are far less complicated than people. More forgiving too. Take Beatrix for example. She was in a zoo in Russia before she came here, and was very badly treated from what we can make out. But she’s still able to trust people. But enough about work, what about finding willing victims to share our dress then? Have you had any ideas?’ She smiles at me brightly, obviously keen t
o change the subject.
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘I thought we could put an ad on Gumtree and eBay, and also create a blog, in case people wanted to see more photos of the dress and ask questions before they commit to anything. I’d stick a notice up in Shoestring, but Pandora might not like it.’ I don’t add, ‘Or might nip our plan in the bud.’
Arietty’s nose wrinkles. ‘Pandora? Who’s that? Weird name.’
I try not to laugh. Arietty isn’t exactly common. ‘My sister. She runs the shop. You met her actually, yesterday. The tall woman with the dark bob. She can be a bit difficult sometimes. You have sisters?’
She nods. ‘Half-sisters. Twins. Lucie and Amanda. They’re OK. A bit spoilt though. Still in school.’
Iris interrupts. ‘Can I go over there, Auntie Jules? I want to show Beatrix the sheep.’ She points at the City Farm.
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘But stay where I can see you.’
Arietty chuckles away to herself.
‘What?’ I ask, intrigued.
‘Worst section in the zoo. No one ever wants to work there.’
‘Why?’
She gawks at me. ‘Are you serious? Looking after domestic farm animals, when you could be hanging out with Beatrix and Enid, or the rhinos, or the big cats?’
I laugh. ‘I see your point. So back to the dress. Tell me about this school reunion. They can’t all be complete bitches.’
‘Yes, they can, and they are. When I emailed the organizer to tell her I was going – stupid cow called Sasha Davenport – her reply was she’d heard I was working in the zoo and asked if I was shovelling animal shit.’
I wince. ‘Nice. But you do muck out the elephant enclosure, Arietty. And that’s some pretty big poo. I saw it, remember. Glittering footballs of the stuff. Surprisingly unsmelly however.’
She laughs and slaps my arm, a little harder than necessary.
‘Ow!’ I rub my skin.
She looks completely unrepentant. She tosses her head and says, ‘We don’t call it mucking out, we call it round-ups. And elephants are veggies which helps with the smell. The big cats, now their poo yangs. You know something Jules, for a human, you’re kind of OK.’
I flick a chip at her. ‘From you, I take that as a compliment.’