by Amelia Cobb
“Well, the zoo hospital is pretty quiet at the moment.” Lucy nodded. “OK, love, give her to me.”
Zoe gave a sigh of relief as Lucy took the little red panda. “Thank you. And – er – can you take a long time doing the check-up?” she whispered.
Lucy looked even more puzzled. “What are you up to, Zoe?”
“It’s a secret,” replied Zoe. “I want to do something to surprise Ruby,” she whispered.
“Ah, I see.” Lucy grinned. “OK, one extra-long check-up coming up!”
Lucy headed off to the zoo hospital with Ruby.
Meep bounced up and down chattering away. “What’s the secret? What’s the secret? Please tell me.”
“I think Ruby needs more enrichment,” said Zoe.
“What’s enrichment? Is it something to eat?” chattered Meep.
“No!” laughed Zoe. “Although sometimes it can be.” She picked up the little lemur. “It’s when you give animals fun and interesting things to do – that’s what Great-Uncle Horace taught me. I’m going to see if we can put some things in Ruby’s enclosure to keep her busy. She’s got so much energy, and this way she’ll never be bored again. Come on, we need to find Stephanie!”
Zoe hurried past Willow and Sam, who were still working on their snow animal! She spotted Stephanie coming out of the café holding a hot chocolate and hurried over.
“Hi Stephanie. Ruby’s just gone for her check-up. Could we give her a lovely surprise when she gets back?”
“That sounds exciting.” Stephanie grinned. “Tell me more.”
So Zoe told Stephanie all about her plan to fill Ruby’s enclosure with enrichment activities.
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” said Stephanie. “You’re going to make a great zookeeper one day, Zoe.”
“Thank you.” Zoe blushed.
“Let’s go to the storage shed and see what we can find,” said Stephanie.
Inside the shed they found all kinds of fun things for Ruby. Ladders for her to climb, rope and barrels and a piece of fabric for her to play with, and boxes for her to explore. Zoe and Stephanie piled them all up on the ground outside.
“Uh-oh,” squeaked Meep, who was standing on top of one of the barrels.
“What’s all this mess? What’s going on?” barked Mr Pinch as he marched up the footpath towards them.
“We’re making a lovely surprise for Ruby,” explained Zoe.
“A lovely surprise? It looks more like a nasty shock to me!” snapped Mr Pinch.
“Don’t worry, Mr Pinch,” said Stephanie. “It’s not staying here. We’re taking these things to Ruby’s enclosure for her to play with.”
“It’s called enrichment,” said Zoe.
“It’s called a mess,” said Mr Pinch.
“Maybe you could help us carry it to her enclosure,” suggested Stephanie. “That way we’ll clear it all out of the way a lot faster.” She grinned at Zoe.
“Yes. You’re so good at tidying things,” said Zoe.
“Hmm, that is true. After all, I did just win an award for the tidiest zoo,” replied Mr Pinch.
“I thought it was called the Snowy Paws Award,” said Stephanie.
“Yes, but the judge said the Rescue Zoo won at least partly because it was so tidy.” Mr Pinch picked up one of the ladders. “Come on then, let’s get this cleared up.”
Once they’d moved everything into Ruby’s enclosure, Zoe helped Stephanie put it all into place.
“Shall we put some fruit in the boxes for Ruby to find?” she suggested.
“Great idea,” agreed Stephanie.
Meep seemed very excited about the surprise too, running round in a circle chasing his tail.
Zoe fetched some blueberries from the enclosure shed. She gave a handful to Meep before putting the rest in a couple of the boxes. She filled the rest of the boxes with some of the props that hadn’t been used in the snow animal contest. Then she and Stephanie made a hammock from the rope and piece of fabric and hung it between the trees. Just as they were putting the finishing touches to the enclosure, Meep chattered loudly. Lucy and Ruby were coming back! Zoe hurried out to meet them.
“Hello Ruby, I’ve got a surprise for you.” She took the little red panda from Lucy.
“What have you been up to?” asked Lucy.
“Come and see.”
Zoe took Ruby inside the enclosure and put her down on the ground. As soon as the little red panda saw the ladders and barrels and boxes she began to squeak.
“Go and explore,” said Zoe.
She watched as Ruby scampered up a ladder into a tree. Then she ran back down again and looked inside one of the boxes. A crowd of people started gathering outside the enclosure to see what was happening.
“Oh look, she’s got things to play with,” said Jack.
“Cool ladder!” said Elliot.
They all laughed as Ruby pulled a hat from a box and put it on her head. Ruby ran over to the fence and squeaked at the crowd. Everyone cheered, which made Ruby even more excited. As she scampered over to the hammock Zoe gave a sigh of relief. Now Ruby had a safe place to be silly and attract lots of the attention that she loved. Not only that, as a newly arrived animal, loads more visitors would surely come to zoo to meet her – even in the snow! Ruby hopped into the hammock and started swinging back and forth. The crowd cheered even louder.
Zoe picked Meep up and slipped out of the enclosure. The only people who weren’t watching Ruby were Willow and Sam. They were still working on their snow animal! Zoe went over to see how they were doing.
“Hi, Zoe, we’ve made our snow animal,” said Willow.
They stood back and Zoe saw that they had made a pretty little red panda, with three hats balanced on its head.
“It’s brilliant!” said Zoe.
The twins beamed at her.
“It looks a bit silly,” said Sam, pointing at the hats.
“Just like Ruby,” giggled Willow.
“You’re right. It looks exactly like Ruby.” Zoe grinned. “Come on, let’s go and get a hot chocolate with marshmallows.”
“Yay!” cheered the twins.
“I like pink marshmallows best,” said Sam as they made their way over to the café.
“No, white marshmallows are the best,” said Willow.
As the twins started arguing again Zoe couldn’t help grinning. Her cousins were as rowdy as Ruby. But they were just as cute too. She wondered if the next animal Great-Uncle Horace rescued would be just as lively. She couldn’t wait to find out!
Zoe Parker finished her packed lunch and rushed out into the playground.
“Is it snowing yet?” called her friend Priti from behind her.
“No!” sighed Zoe. The weather forecast had been saying it might snow all week but so far there hadn’t been a single flake, despite it being freezing cold. Zoe and her friends were so excited about playing in the snow! Still, Zoe did have something to look forward to. This afternoon her Great-Uncle Horace was coming to give a talk at her school. It was almost time for the school’s big winter show and Great-Uncle Horace had agreed to help them with it this year!
Zoe’s Great-Uncle Horace was a famous explorer and he travelled all over the world rescuing animals who were lost, injured or endangered. He brought the animals back to live at the Rescue Zoo. Zoe lived at the zoo too, with her mum, Lucy, who was the zoo vet.
“It’s so cold!” said Zoe’s friend Jack, coming out to join the girls. “Shall we play chase to warm up?”
“Good idea!” grinned Zoe.
But before they could begin their game she heard the sound of a car horn playing a musical tune. Zoe’s eyes sparkled. There was only one car horn she knew that sounded like that and it belonged to Great-Uncle Horace! She spun round to face the school gates. Sure enough, Great-Uncle Horace’s cherry-red car was pulling up outside.
“It’s my great-uncle!” she cried.
“Cool car!” exclaimed Priti.
Great-Uncle Horace’s car was a conve
rtible, which meant that the roof could come down. But the roof wasn’t down today because it was far too cold. A wooden trailer was attached to the back of the car. Zoe felt butterflies flutter in her tummy. Great-Uncle Horace usually used the trailer to transport animals in. Had he brought an animal with him to school?
“Come on, let’s go and see him!” said Zoe, and she and her friends hurried over to the school gates.
The school caretaker opened the gates and Great-Uncle Horace drove inside and parked next to the playing field.
“Zoe, my dear!” he cried as he got out of the car. “It’s so wonderful to see you. Brrrr, it’s a bit chilly though!”
“It’s so good to see you too!” said Zoe, giving him a big hug. Then she heard a weird humming sound coming from the trailer.
“What’s in the trailer?” she asked.
“A special guest,” replied Great-Uncle Horace with a twinkle in his eyes. “I’ve just collected her, so I thought I’d bring her along to join in the fun!”
“I thought you were the special guest.” Zoe giggled.
“Well, yes, I suppose I am.” Great-Uncle Horace grinned. “But this guest is even more special!”
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2021 by Nosy Crow Ltd
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Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW
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ISBN: 978 1 78800 933 1
eISBN: 978 1 78800 934 8
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Text copyright © Working Partners Ltd, 2021
Illustrations © Sophy Williams, 2021
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