by Dianne Bates
‘She might have worms.’ Mum ran a hand over the goat’s back. ‘We should get a vet to take a look at her – just to make sure she’s healthy.’
Dr Power looked like the vet who Luna always watched on TV. She was nearly as old as Mum and had curly red hair and lots of freckles.
‘Let’s see what’s going on with you.’ She gave Jellybean a stick of celery. ‘Well! At least we know her appetite is good.’
The vet filed off the sharp edges of Jellybean’s hoofs. Then she checked her over from head to tail.
After jotting down some notes, she took off her glasses and muttered, almost to herself. ‘This goat is pregnant.’
‘What?’ Mum’s mouth fell open. ‘She can’t be.’
‘Some tests will tell us for sure. But I’ll be surprised if she’s not.’
A week later the test results were back. Dr Power was right. She had more information, too.
‘It looks like there are three baby goats on the way,’ she said.
‘Three!’ Dad ran his hands through his hair.
‘Don’t panic, Todd.’
‘Why shouldn’t I panic, Steph? That’s a lot of goats!’
‘The good news is that they’re all healthy,’ said the vet, ‘and so is their mum.’
Later that morning, the Nguyens came over and sat down at the Hunters’ kitchen table to talk about Jellybean.
Mum started the ball rolling. ‘It might be a bit of a stretch for us to look after more goats.’
‘Three more goats, Steph. That’s almost a herd!’
‘Yes, it’s too much,’ said Mrs Nguyen. ‘Don’t you think, Vinh?’
‘Oh yeah. Right over the top.’
‘No it isn’t, Dad. We can do it. No matter how much work there is.’
‘Onya, T!’
‘I’ll help, too,’ piped up Luna.
‘I know you’ll all try your best, but you have to face the facts.’
‘What facts, Mum?’
‘For one thing our yard’s too small. It wouldn’t be fair to the goats.’
‘We have to think about the neighbours, too.’ Dad tapped a pencil on the table. ‘If the goats all started bleating at once, the noise would be just too much. Think what Mrs Herman would say. And do.’
Rory felt a tear slipping down his cheek.
Dad rang Mr Henry, the goat farmer, and put the phone onto speaker mode so everyone could hear.
‘Well, I am surprised,’ Mr Henry said.
‘Not as much as us.’
‘It’s very rare one for of my goats to get in kid without me knowing about it. It’s only happened once before. I’m really sorry.’
‘That’s okay. But what do we do now? We can’t look after three more goats.’
‘How about this? I’ll buy her back for what you paid me. And I’ll also pay you a good price for the little ones – if they’re healthy. That sound fair enough?’
Dad gazed around the room. ‘Should we?’
Rory and Trang shook their heads. As hard and fast as they could.
Mum grabbed the phone. ‘Oh no. We couldn’t possibly give Jellybean back. She’s one of the family.’
It was decided that the Hunters would keep the kids until they were old enough to be taken away from their mother. Mr Henry said that would be in about three months.
‘After that we’ll find good homes for them. There must be three people out there who want a goat.’
‘Only two homes, Mum. I’ve already found a home for one.’ Rory nudged Trang. ‘You good with that?’
‘Oh yeah!’ Trang punched the air. ‘I want one, all right. Can I, Mum? Dad? Grandma?’
Mr and Mrs Nguyen huddled close and whispered as they made up their minds.
But Grandma decided first. ‘We’ll take the baby goat. For Trang. Thank you.’
‘Hooray! You’re a champion, Grandma!’
Trang gave her a big smoochy kiss, and she didn’t seem to mind a bit.
By the middle of December Jellybean looked fatter than ever.
‘It will be a while yet,’ Dr Power said. ‘Probably early January.’
Two days before Christmas Rory went with Trang and his parents to the swimming pool. The boys checked on Jellybean before they went.
‘You okay, girl?’
Maa.
‘Yep. All good, Let’s go.’
Jellybean was fine when they left, but an hour later, she lay down and began to bleat.
Mum ran into the house. ‘It’s happening, Todd!’
‘Steady on. What’s happening?’
‘The kids are on their way.’
‘But they’re not due for another few weeks.’
‘Todd.’ Mum put her hands on her hips. ‘It’s happening NOW!’
When he rang Dr Power, Dad got a voicemail message. That was when he remembered she’d said she was going on holidays. He rang the only other vet in town.
‘Sure, I can come out,’ he said. ‘But I’m very busy, so it won’t be for at least two hours.’
Two hours would be way too late. Jellybean looked like she was ready to give birth in minutes.
‘Don’t freak out,’ he said as he hung up. ‘We’ll get through this.’
Dad wasn’t talking to the vet or Jellybean, or even to Mum. He was talking to himself.
Mum caught hold of his hand. ‘Try to remember what Dr Power told us to do.’
‘I’ve tried, but I can’t remember a thing. My mind’s a blank.’
‘So’s mine.’ Mum knelt beside Jellybean. ‘Looks like it’s all up to you, sweetie.’
When Rory and Trang came home a few hours later, Mum and Dad were calmly watching TV.
‘Have a good swim, guys?’
‘It wasn’t really a swim, Mum.’
‘True. Roar’s too scared to swim against me, because I blitz him every time.’
‘Do not.’
‘Do so.’
Dad cut in. ‘But you had fun?’
‘Aw, yeah.’ Rory helped himself to a couple of cream biscuits and passed the packet to Trang. ‘It was all right.’
‘Good.’
‘I’m going over to T’s place – he’s got a video game he wants to show me. That okay?’
‘Sure.’ Rory and Trang headed out the door. ‘Oh, on your way,’ Mum said, ‘will you check on Jellybean for me?’
‘No probs.’
As soon as they opened the garage door, the boys jumped up and down.
‘Babies!’
‘They’re beautiful!’
Jellybean was resting on a bed of straw. Her kids were curled up beside her, sound asleep. Rory and Trang dropped down next to them and gently stroked their warm-as-toast fur.
Then they each took goat selfies.
‘We helped deliver them.’ Mum walked into the garage with Dad. ‘But,’ she added quickly, ‘Jellybean did most of the work herself.’
Two weeks later Rory and Trang set out on their bikes to find new homes for the other two kids. Their first stop was Nan and Pop’s house.
Nan had said they might get a goat once Pop retired. Only a month earlier he’d done just that.
Rory pressed the doorbell. He and Trang crossed their fingers.
They heard the bell ringing inside the house, and then seconds later the door opened.
Before they could speak, Nan kissed Rory on the nose.
‘Hi, Nan.’
‘We’d absolutely love a goat.’
‘But …’ Rory was almost lost for words. ‘How did you know we were going to ask you?’
‘Your mum rang us, love. We thought you’d never get here.’
Pop took over. ‘I’ve been thinking of taking up a hobby since I retired. Looking after a goat ticks all the boxes. Thanks, fellas!’
Dad put an ad in the local paper. No one answered it.
Meanwhile, Trang was having lots of fun with his goat. He checked on it twice, sometimes three times a day.
‘I can hardly wait till I can bring it home, Roar.’
‘Won’t be much longer. Hey, have you thought of a name for it yet?’
‘Yeah. I’m going to call it Popoff.’
‘How come?’
‘Because Mum wouldn’t let me call it Farty.’
‘Right.’
Nan and Pop didn’t spend a lot of time thinking up a name for their goat. It was simply called Billy, because it was a boy – a billy goat.
Rory wanted to give Jellybean’s third goat a name, but Dad talked him out of it.
‘Once you name her, Rory, you’ll want to keep her, and we really can’t have another goat.’
‘But what if no one wants her? Can’t we keep her then?’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Awww.’
‘Cheer up, mate. Sooner or later we’ll find the right person to take her. I’ve got no doubt at all.’
But the weeks stretched on, and still no one wanted the no-name goat.
Rory shot for goal. The ball sailed towards Trang’s waiting arms. As he caught it, he yelled, ‘Jellybean!’
Rory looked behind him. Their goat was scampering along the street. ‘Run!’
They raced after her.
‘What happened?’
‘She must have jumped the fence.’
‘Faster!’
Jellybean darted ahead.
‘Where’d she go?’
‘Dunno.’
A man walked towards them. Trotting along beside him was a dog that was about ten times bigger than Bitsa. It was a black and white Great Dane.
Rory stood in front of him. ‘Did you see a goat go past?’
‘She went that way.’ The man pointed over his shoulder.
They flew around the corner. Up ahead the street was empty, except for a lady who was kneeling beside an overturned bin. Garbage was scattered all around her.
Trang reached her first. ‘Have you seen a goat?’
‘I sure have!’ She nodded towards the garbage. ‘It knocked over my bin.’
Rory gulped. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘We’ve gotta go, Roar.’
‘Okay.’ He started off again, jogging backwards, calling out, ‘Really, really sorry.’
‘I should thank you.’
Rory stopped.
‘Why?’
‘When I was cleaning up the rubbish I found these.’ She held up a pair of glasses. ‘I’ve been searching everywhere for them. I never would have looked in the bin if it wasn’t for your goat.’
‘Cool!’
Now Trang stopped. ‘Did you see which way she went?’
‘Down there.’ The lady pointed to a laneway. ‘I hope you find her.’
The chase was on again.
As they reached the laneway, they met Mum and Dad and Luna, who were on their way home after a walk.
‘Jellybean got out!’ Rory was close to breathless.
‘Her kids, too?’
‘No. Only Jellybean.’
‘We think she came this way.’ Trang looked all around him. ‘But we’re not sure.’
‘This lane leads to the park,’ Mum said. ‘Let’s try there.’
‘Sounds good to me.’ Dad hoisted Luna onto his shoulders. ‘Hang on tight.’
And he and Mum and Luna joined the chase.
They kept running until they reached the steps that led into the park.
‘There she is!’
Jellybean was with a woman and two girls. They looked like they’d been having a picnic in the park.
The chasers scrambled down the steps.
‘Jellybean! Jellybean!’
The runaway goat had her nose down, eating a sandwich.
Trang dived at her. He got both hands around her middle, but she shook him loose and took off.
‘I couldn’t hold her!’
‘Doesn’t matter.’ Rory slapped him on the back. ‘We’ll get her.’
‘Sorry!’ Dad called to the startled picnickers.
Jellybean sprinted across the park to a road. There were cars flying along it.
‘Oh please, no.’ Mum couldn’t look. ‘Don’t get run over.’
‘JELLYBEAN!’
At full speed Jellybean zipped across the road. Rory and Trang gasped as she weaved around cars. There were two close calls but somehow she made it safely to the other side.
Then she charged away again, leaping in the air at one point as though she was playing. They could see every move, until she ran behind a clump of bushes. Then she was just gone.
The chasers crossed the road. They dashed to the bushes. She wasn’t there.
‘It’s not fair.’ Rory had never felt so sad. ‘It’s just not—’
‘Wait.’ Trang stared ahead. ‘Look.’
At the end of the street there was a house all by itself. An old lady stood at the front gate. She was waving.
They ran to her as fast as they could.
‘Hello,’ she said cheerily. ‘I’m Sally.’
‘Hello.’
Mum stepped forward. ‘We’re looking for our goat. Have you seen her?’
Sally’s face crinkled into a grin.
‘You have seen her?’
‘I have.’
Mum and Rory blurted out the same question: ‘Which way did she go?’
‘She didn’t go anywhere.’
‘What do you mean, Sally?’
‘Well, when I saw her running past, I gave her a whistle – goats are quite intelligent, you know – she trotted over and I opened the gate and let her in.’
‘You’ve got her?’
‘All safe and sound.’
Rory and Trang high-fived. ‘Yes!’
‘I suppose you’d like to take her home, would you?’
‘We sure would.’
‘Then come in.’ She opened the gate. ‘You’re very welcome.’
‘Is she okay?’ Trang walked beside Sally.
‘Couldn’t be better.’
Everyone filed into the backyard. They were shocked at what they saw. Jellybean was eating Sally’s sunflowers!
‘Don’t!’ Rory rushed to pull her away.
‘It’s all right, dear.’ Sally patted his cheek. ‘I’ve always got plenty of sunflowers. But I never have visitors, like I do today.’ She looked around her. ‘It’s so lovely to see you. Who would like a nice cold drink?’
Soon they were sitting on the verandah, sipping Sally’s homemade ginger beer and eating her fruit cake. ‘Do you think you could bring your sweet girl to see me one day?’
‘Me?’ asked Luna.
‘No.’ Mum sat Luna on her knee. ‘I think Sally means the other sweet girl – Jellybean.’
‘But I’d like you to visit, too,’ Sally said. ‘What’s your name, darling?’
‘Luna.’
‘What a special name. Will you come and visit me?’
‘Okay. When can I come?’
‘Anytime at all. I’d love some company. This big old house – it feels so empty these days.’
Dad took a second slice of cake. ‘Are you alone here?’
‘I am now, yes, since my husband died.’
‘Aw. That’s no good. Did it happen very long ago?’
‘No. Only last month.’
‘Forty-one years.’
‘Oh, that’s sad. You must miss him so much.’
‘I do.’ Sally’s voice dropped to little more than a whisper.
Mum held out her arms. ‘Can I give you a hug?’
For a second Sally didn’t know what to say. She squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe to stop a tear getting out.
But then, when she opened them again, she looked happy.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’d like that very much.’
Sometimes Rory felt embarrassed when Mum did weird things, like pulling funny faces in supermarkets to make babies laugh. Hugging a stranger was pretty weird, too, but that was okay. Sally had rescued Jellybean, and besides, she looked like she really needed a hug.
‘You’ll see us again,’ Mum said, ‘I promise. And thank you so much for looking after Jellybean.’
Sally took one of Jellybean’s hoofs and shook it, like she was shaking hands.
‘Goodbye, you sweet thing. Until next time.’
They hadn’t gone far when Trang stopped.
‘Maybe Sally would like a baby goat.’
‘A goat! How exciting!’ Sally cupped her hands around her face. ‘Thank you so much for asking me.’
‘Take your time thinking it over.’ Mum stood next to her at the front gate. ‘We don’t expect you to decide right now.’
‘But if you do go ahead,’ Dad said, ‘we’d give you a hand. Build a pen, that sort of thing. Be no trouble.’
Mum gave Sally a business card. ‘Here’s our number. It would be lovely if you kept in touch, whether you take the goat or not.’
‘And you’ll all come for a visit, I hope?’
Dad rubbed his stomach. ‘I’ll be back for more cake.’
‘Ignore him, Sally.’ Mum gave Dad a push in the back. ‘We’ll visit just to see you.’
‘I’ll bring Jellybean,’ said Rory.
‘And I’ll bring Popoff – Jellybean’s her mum.’
Luna tapped on Sally’s arm.
‘Yes, darling?’
‘I’m coming, too!’
‘Oh good. When you come to see me, you can also see my little kid.’