Sammi and Dusty

by Jessie Williams

  ‘I do appreciate that, but... Yes, but the point is... No, no. I don’t think—’

  Kerry’s voice rose higher each time she tried to speak, as she grew more frustrated.

  Jack frowned at Asha. ‘Who is it?’ he asked.

  Asha looked close to despair. ‘Derrick Jarvis. From the council.’

  Jack rolled his eyes. Derrick Jarvis was always causing trouble. ‘Not him again,’ he said.

  ‘Jack, I’m worried,’ said Asha. ‘It’s serious this time. Really serious. He was here when I arrived yesterday, and he had all these men with him, and they were talking about building houses on City Farm. He said they’re cutting the funding. Kerry says we might have to close.’

  ‘They can’t do that!’ exclaimed Jack.

  ‘Well, that’s the trouble. I’m really scared. Kerry says they can.’

  Jack suddenly felt very funny, as though his whole world was spinning around him. Memories rushed through his head. He remembered the day they’d told him that his grandad couldn’t manage the farm any more, and that they’d have to move to the city. It had been the saddest day of his life. Well, almost – the day they’d actually left had been even sadder.

  He sat down on an armchair with a bump. He’d lost one life he loved – he couldn’t bear it if he lost his life at City Farm too.

  Kerry finally banged the phone down and came through into the main room.

  ‘That man is so unreasonable!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘What’s happening?’ demanded Jack. ‘Asha says they’re going to shut us down!’

  ‘Not if I can help it,’ said Kerry grimly. ‘We’ll fight it with everything we have. Don’t worry, Jack – it hasn’t happened yet.’

  Jack felt a rush of relief. Of course, Kerry and Rory wouldn’t let it happen. They always made everything work out all right.

  Then Kerry looked at him. ‘Jack, where’s Sammi?’

  ‘Sammi?’ Jack shrugged. ‘He’s out on the farm somewhere.’

  ‘What do you mean, somewhere? I thought you were helping him with the rabbits?’

  Jack felt defensive. ‘He wasn’t interested in them. We fed them and cleaned them out and stuff, but... he just didn’t seem bothered.’

  ‘So you’ve left him on his own? What’s he doing now?’

  Jack suddenly realized what he’d done. He’d abandoned Sammi to look after himself – and Kerry had asked him specially to help him settle in. ‘I don’t know.’ He hardly dared looked at Asha and Kerry’s faces.

  ‘Jack, it’s his first day.’ Kerry’s voice was gentle, but disappointed too.

  ‘I know.’ Jack jumped to his feet. ‘I’ll go right back – I’ll just take these potatoes to the kitchen—’

  Kerry looked at him kindly. ‘I could see that you two have a problem. I suppose it’s something that happened at school, and you haven’t managed to sort it out. That’s all right, Jack. You can’t be friends with everybody. But you should have come to talk to me if you weren’t getting along. It’s very hard for Sammi – he’s lost everything he’s ever known. His whole life. We have to be patient with him, don’t you think?’

  Jack felt wretched. He of all people knew all about losing the life he loved. He hung his head. ‘I’m really sorry, Kerry.’

  ‘OK. We all make mistakes.’ Kerry smiled her lovely warm smile. ‘I know what – we’ll all go together to find him. City Farm is all about finding solutions together, isn’t it?’

  Asha was still looking glum. ‘Derrick Jarvis doesn’t seem to think so,’ she said.

  ‘We’ll show Derrick Jarvis what we’re made of,’ said Kerry. ‘You wait and see.’

  Chapter Four

  When Jack left him standing by the rabbit hutches, Sammi felt quite relieved. It had all been very awkward. He didn’t like the idea of touching little furry animals – they never did it back home. The guinea pigs reminded him of rats, more than anything, and rats were nothing but pests! Jack clearly thought he was rude, boring and a pain, but that was nothing new. Everyone at that stupid school seemed to see him that way.

  Thinking about school made him feel miserable. He wandered off down the path that led back towards the pond, kicking stones as he went. It was quiet there, apart from the ducks quacking and swimming around, and a couple of geese preening their feathers. He squatted down and watched as a dragonfly hovered over one of the big round waterlily leaves that rested on the surface of the water. He sighed. This place was nice, but it was so, so different from Afghanistan. He couldn’t imagine ever feeling at home here.

  Suddenly, he heard a sound. A kind of strange hissing noise. He looked around and saw a massive white bird coming towards him across the surface of the water. It was enormous! It had a long, snaky neck and a big black bill, and it definitely meant business. Sammi had never seen anything like it before!

  He got to his feet like a shot. The bird had its huge white wings spread wide. It ran over the water at him, and Sammi panicked. He turned around and ran away as fast as he could. He had no idea where he was going, but he had to get out of there!

  He bolted around the garden and up through all the flower beds. There was a woman on one of the pathways with a basket of flowers on her arm, and he accidentally knocked it as he rushed past.

  ‘Hey! Careful! Slow down!’ yelled the woman. ‘No running on the pathways!’

  Sammi glanced back, and saw that he’d spilled half the flowers. The woman was bending over picking them up. Not again, he thought to himself. All he seemed to do was cause trouble! He couldn’t bear it. He raced on until he was out of sight, then dived into one of the sheds. To his relief, there was no one in there. He didn’t want to have to deal with anyone else being cross with him.

  He leaned against some of the sacks, trying to get his breath back. He felt awful. He thought of what his mum had said, just before leaving: I want you to make a good impression. His heart was beating painfully in his chest. He’d let her down. He’d made a terrible impression at school, and now he’d made a terrible impression at City Farm as well. He thought of how he’d been in Afghanistan: all his friends had loved him for being good fun, and the adults loved him because he was happy and helpful, and just a little bit cheeky, but not too much.

  That Sammi had disappeared now. Everything had changed. Life in the UK was a disaster.

  * * *

  He heard footsteps outside the feed room, and held his breath. He didn’t want anyone to find him in here. The person passed by, and Sammi peered outside. There was no one in sight, so he tiptoed out and looked around. Just beyond the sheds, he spotted a couple of small fields. Maybe there’d be something more interesting there? He thought about the sheep he’d heard when he arrived – maybe he could go and look for that. Much better to see some real farm animals, instead of silly pet fluffy things, and hopefully there wouldn’t be any more big white birds to scare the pants off him!

  He walked over to the fields, looking over his shoulder every now and again to check he wasn’t being watched. There were some sheep in the first field – but they were nothing like sheep he’d seen before. They were kind of rounder and shorter, and they had floppy fringes over their eyes.

  ‘Weird,’ he said to himself.

  He moved on to the next field, and saw a black and white pony grazing alongside a big gingery-coloured horse. Sammi watched them for a moment. The pony raised his head and looked at him, then carried on munching grass. Sammi was soon bored, and was about to turn away when he noticed something else, standing in the shade of a big leafy tree. This time it was something very familiar. It was a donkey.

  He hadn’t even thought about it before, but this was the first donkey he’d seen since leaving Afghanistan. Now he realized he’d missed all the donkey carts and donkey noises that had been part of life back home. He remembered the sun slanting through the dust, the rattle of wooden carts, and the clip-clop of
hooves on the dry, narrow streets... all so different to this little green field. But the donkey was just like donkeys everywhere, with his big face and grey coat with the stripe running down the middle of his back, and another stripe running down his shoulder.

  He vaulted over the fence and made his way over.

  ‘Hello,’ he greeted him, in Pashtun.

  The donkey was watching him approach. As he got closer, he raised his head and began to bray noisily, showing all his big yellow teeth. Sammi paused for a moment. He didn’t feel at all afraid, but he wanted the donkey to get a good look at him before he went any closer.

  ‘Ee-yore, eeee-yore!’ bellowed the donkey. He was really loud!

  Sammi grinned, then stepped closer and held out his hand. The donkey stopped braying. His ears pricked forward, and he stretched out his neck. He flared his nostrils and sniffed Sammi’s hand.

  ‘Good boy,’ murmured Sammi. ‘You’re the first donkey I’ve met here, did you know that?’

  He took another step forward so that he could stroke the donkey’s soft muzzle, then his big, fluffy ears. He ran a hand down his neck and felt surprised at how velvety his coat was. Back home, donkeys had to work hard, and they didn’t have much lush grass to eat. He thought of how the donkey boys beat them to make them go faster. This one had a very nice life compared to them.

  ‘You’re a lucky donkey, did you know that?’ he whispered. ‘I’m supposed to feel lucky too, living here in the UK. But I don’t. It’s awful. I just wish I could go home.’

  The donkey stood quietly, then nudged at Sammi’s pockets, looking for treats.

  Sammi laughed. ‘There’s nothing there, silly,’ he said. ‘But never mind. You’re much better than the rabbits. Maybe I’ll bring you a treat next time – if I ever come back.’

  He thought of the woman’s flowers and the way she’d yelled about not running. Then he thought about Jack, and how he’d given up on him so easily. He began to feel very gloomy, and leaned his head against the donkey’s neck.

  The donkey twitched his ears and nudged him again. Sammi straightened up and scratched his neck, just below his mane, working his way right up to his ears. The donkey snorted, clearly enjoying the attention.

  ‘I suppose it wouldn’t be too bad here, if I could spend my time with you,’ Sammi told him.

  But that was the trouble. Kerry had said he should look after the stupid rabbits and guinea pigs. If he came back, he bet she’d make him do that every single weekend, wouldn’t she? And he’d probably be made to apologize to Jack, then that woman with the flowers, and it would all be ten times worse than being at school.

  He’d have to talk to his mum. He wasn’t coming back.

  Suddenly the donkey shifted and pricked his ears, looking at something. Then, just as he’d done when Sammi came into the field, he started to bray.

  ‘Ee-yore! Eeee-yore!’ he screeched.

  Sammi followed the donkey’s gaze. To his dismay, he wasn’t alone any more. There were three people watching him. Kerry, Jack and Asha were all there, leaning over the gate. He felt his heart begin to race. Now he’d be in huge trouble for everything he’d done! He wished there was somewhere to run, but there was nowhere to go.

  For one instant, his dad’s face popped into his mind. He tried to imagine what he’d say: ‘Be brave, son, and face up to them.’

  Then he felt the donkey butting his arm again, and snorted. Sammi looked into his soft brown eyes. It was almost as though he was trying to say, ‘Go on. You can do it!’

  ‘All right, donkey,’ he muttered. ‘I’m going.’

  He gave the soft grey neck one last pat, then slowly turned away and walked towards the gate.

  Chapter Five

  Asha watched as Sammi sauntered towards them. His hands were in his pockets and he looked more grumpy than ever. She felt a little bit sorry for Jack, because she could see exactly how difficult it would be to keep trying to be friendly with someone who looked so cross. No wonder he’d come and found Dusty the donkey – they were as grumpy as each other!

  But then she noticed something else. Dusty had left the shade of the tree. He was following Sammi – and he wasn’t braying! In fact, he looked quite eager, with his ears pricked forward and a little spring in his stride.

  ‘Sammi!’ she called. ‘Look behind you! Dusty’s following you!’

  The boy looked back at the donkey plodding behind him. And now Dusty raised his head and started braying again at the top of his voice.

  ‘EE-yore! EEEE-yore!’

  Asha put her hands over her ears. Dusty was so loud, and when he brayed it was as though he was warning everyone to stay well away from him. But Sammi didn’t seem to mind at all. He turned around and placed his hand on Dusty’s neck. Dusty stopped braying at once, and stood patiently as Sammi patted and stroked him.

  Asha was amazed. ‘How did you do that?’ she asked excitedly.

  She let herself into the field, with Jack and Kerry behind her. Sammi looked wary, and a little hunched, almost as though he was expecting them all to tell him off.

  ‘I not hurt him,’ he said in a defensive voice.

  ‘Of course you’re not hurting him! He likes you!’ laughed Asha.

  Sammi was studying everyone’s faces. He looked puzzled. ‘You are not angry?’ he asked, glancing up at Kerry.

  ‘Angry? No, of course not! It looks like you’ve just made a friend!’ smiled Kerry.

  Asha saw relief spread over Sammi’s face. So he had thought they were annoyed with him! But why? He hadn’t done anything wrong. She suddenly felt sorry for him, and realized how hard it must be when there was so much that you didn’t understand.

  She still wasn’t quite sure that she wanted to get close to Dusty though. She stood a couple of paces away while Sammi continued to stroke him. ‘Dusty never stands quietly for me. He just scares me with his big yellow teeth and all the noise he makes! He’s so grumpy.’

  Sammi frowned. ‘He is what?’ he asked quietly. ‘What this word?’

  ‘Grumpy! Um, it means...’ Asha looked round to Kerry for help.

  Kerry pulled a long, cross face, and made a growly, bad-tempered sound. ‘This is grumpy,’ she explained.

  Asha copied her, and tried to make a grumpy donkey sound too. ‘Grumpy means... not happy,’ she explained. ‘He doesn’t like other people. He’s always in a bad mood!’

  Understanding slowly spread across Sammi’s face. He looked from Asha to Kerry, and repeated the word slowly, trying to get the sound right. ‘Groompy. Graampy. No. Grumpy. Grumpy. Is a good word.’ He smiled slightly. ‘But this donkey is not grumpy. He is trying to say hello.’

  He placed his head close to Dusty’s, then imitated his braying sound. ‘Hel-lo... Hel-lo...!’

  Asha giggled. Sammi could really be quite funny, when he started to relax.

  ‘Donkeys not speak English either,’ Sammi said. ‘I think this donkey like to have friends.’

  ‘Oh! I wish you’d arrived here sooner,’ said Asha, laughing. ‘Just think – all this time, Dusty was just trying to be friendly, and we didn’t know what he was saying!’

  Sammi met her gaze. He looked sad, and she realized that maybe the same thing was true for him too. She smiled at him warmly. ‘Let’s take him into the yard,’ she said. ‘I’ll show you where we keep all the grooming things. You can brush him down – he’ll love that.’

  But now the bad-tempered look was back on Sammi’s face. He glanced at Kerry. ‘My job is not donkey,’ he said. ‘I think rabbits.’

  ‘No, no, that’s all right, Sammi,’ said Kerry. ‘Don’t worry about the rabbits. It’s more important for you to work with an animal that really interests you.’

  Sammi looked shocked, as though he hadn’t quite got what she said. But then he worked it out, and his face split into a real smile for the first time. He stared at Dusty in dis
belief. ‘I can... um... look after the donkey?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, you look after Dusty,’ said Kerry. ‘Dusty’s just as happy as you are! Aren’t you, Dusty?’

  Dusty raised his head and brayed again.

  ‘I think he say yes,’ smiled Sammi.

  * * *

  Asha fetched a head collar from the storerooms, and, feeling a little bit nervous, she helped Sammi put it over Dusty’s big ears. She half expected Dusty to snap at her with his big teeth, but with Sammi soothing him, he stayed calm and gentle. As they led him through to the yard, Dusty ‘eeee-yored’ once, but he soon stopped when Sammi made a fuss of him. Asha grinned as she realized that the donkey just wanted people to notice him a bit more!

  It had been so nice to see Sammi and Dusty getting along so well that she’d almost forgotten about Derrick Jarvis. Now she decided not to think about his horrible threats, and focus on helping Sammi instead. She fetched the box with all the grooming kit in it.

  ‘This is a body brush,’ she explained, fishing one out. ‘We use this to brush the horses all over. They really like it. You can use it on Dusty too.’

  Sammy frowned, and took the brush without a word. For a moment, Asha thought he’d gone back to being silent again. But then she realized that he’d just been trying to follow what she said, and he was frowning because he was concentrating.

  She took another body brush from the box and showed him what to do. ‘We use big, strong strokes – like this,’ she told him, brushing Dusty’s neck.

  Sammi nodded, and copied her actions. Soon he was hard at work, brushing Dusty from top to toe.

  ‘He’s not noisy now,’ he said, after a while. ‘He much happy, I think!’

  Asha laughed. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘And I think maybe you’re happier too, Sammi?’

  Sammi smiled at her. ‘Yes, it true,’ he agreed. ‘Dusty make me feel like home.’