Fortunately ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper had well and truly blown itself out and the spring weather was sunny and clear. The creek had gradually fallen, the floodwater had mostly drained away, the roads were all open again and the world was getting itself back in order.
But the best thing about the week had been Dexter’s recovery. He’d gone from near death to being a furry bundle of energy in just a few days. He’d quickly graduated to grabbing the bottle with both paws so he could swallow more quickly. He was eating fresh leaf too, though sometimes, looking at the floor of his room, Ashley could swear he was just pulling all the leaves off the branches that she’d cut for him and dropping them for his own amusement.
It was true, what everyone said about the work involved in caring for a joey. As well as all the garden work, every day Ashley had to clean the floor of Dexter’s room and wash all the towels and blankets — often more than once. All the feeding equipment had to be immaculate, so she was now an expert in sterilisation and making sure everything stayed clean during the process of warming up the formula and getting it into Dexter’s mouth. She held him while Micky administered the injections of antibiotics, and she weighed him and kept notes on his progress.
As he improved, Dexter quickly formed a routine of sleeping for much of the day, and playing and eating for most of the night. Ashley loved being in the room when he played, and it meant she wasn’t getting much sleep. But she didn’t care.
Dexter, it turned out, had a really sweet personality. Micky reckoned that koalas were very individual — some could be cranky, some solitary, some clingy. Dexter was affectionate and playful. He loved sitting on Ashley’s lap for a feed and cuddling up with her afterwards. But then he’d jump off, bound up the tree and start throwing leaves around. His climbing was improving every day too — just that morning he’d made his first leap from one branch to another rather than climbing down and up again. He’d wobbled on landing, but once he was secure, he’d sat up and looked at Ashley as if to say, ‘Did you see that?’ It had made her laugh out loud.
It was hard to hold herself back with him. She could have spent most of every night cuddling Dexter and playing with him. She knew he wouldn’t have minded. But Micky had cautioned her. ‘It’s a fine line,’ she’d said. ‘He needs enough company to know he’s not alone, but not so much that he becomes domesticated.’
So Ashley had schooled herself. She didn’t try to cuddle Dexter, except when he clearly wanted to come to her. She let him be the one who made the choice.
It worked well most of the time, but Dexter didn’t seem to know that he wasn’t meant to play with a human. Ashley had put her makeshift bed in the corner of his room so that she could hear when he needed food, and it felt like he spent most of the night trying to wake her up to play. If she came to the climbing frame, he’d scramble onto her arm, crawl up to her shoulder and snuffle in her ear. Then he’d scramble back onto the tree and head for the leaves again. He’d drop a few on her head and scramble over to another branch.
Ashley would get back onto her own mattress and pull up the covers, and Dexter would start calling her. Yip yip yip. Yip yip yip. Sometimes he wasn’t even hungry. Sometimes he just wanted her to come and stand at the foot of the tree while he played.
His favourite thing was being scratched on the back. He’d close his eyes and lean in, shifting around so Ashley could reach the different itchy bits. He loved it, and so did she.
Ashley found herself smiling just thinking about it. It didn’t matter what Micky said: she was attached to Dexter. She loved him.
‘Hey, Ash! Come and have a drink!’
Ashley scrambled to her feet and headed into Toad Hall. Micky had made up some cordial and put out a few biscuits and Ashley realised she was thirsty — and hungry. She took a big bite of biscuit and gulped some cordial.
‘That was your mother on the phone,’ Micky said. ‘She said she’s been leaving you messages on the mobile, but you haven’t answered.’
‘Oh.’ Ashley wiped her mouth. The mobile had been off for a few days. She’d got sick of the flood of messages from Emma. Each one reminded her that she’d have to tell her parents about Puppy. She still didn’t know what to do about it.
‘She’s got some good news. Your dad’s got a job. They’re pretty relieved, by the sound of it. And they want you to come home so you can help celebrate, and hang out with them for the last few days of the holidays.’
‘But — I thought I’d be staying here till the end of the holidays,’ Ashley said, dismayed.
Micky shook her head. ‘Doesn’t look like it. Your mother’s got you on a flight tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow! But what about Dexter?’
Micky smiled. ‘You’ll have to say goodbye to him soon anyway, Ash. Tomorrow’s as good a time as any.’
‘But what will you do when I’m gone? How will you look after him?’
‘I’ll miss the help, that’s for sure,’ Micky said. ‘But I’ll only have him for another two or three weeks. I’ve been putting the word out through the carers’ network. One of the other carers up in the hills is going to take him. As soon as he’s out of quarantine, he’ll go in with her two joeys. They’re already in the outdoor enclosure, and he’ll join them.’
Ashley stared down at the biscuit that she suddenly didn’t feel like eating.
‘You knew this would happen,’ Micky said.
‘But not so soon!’
‘You’ve got one more night with him,’ Micky said. ‘Enjoy it, eh? And this afternoon, we’ve got a treat. We’re going to head back down the hill and release Jemima. It’ll be tough out there with so many trees gone, but she’s got to take her chances.’
‘Won’t you miss her?’ Ashley asked.
Micky gave a small smile. ‘Not really, Ash. It’s a great feeling to release a koala from care. Makes all the hard work worthwhile. You’ll see.’
Ashley felt her lip wobbling. She couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to leave Dexter.
‘Hey,’ Micky said gently. ‘Cheer up. You’ll be able to say hello to Dexter’s family down there and tell them he’s OK.’
Youngster wakes as the Bright fades. For the first time he’s slept wedged in the fork of the tree instead of in the basket. He reaches a claw over and scratches his back, then uses a hind leg to scratch his belly.
He’s hungry, and he wants to play with her. He raises his head. Yip yip yip.
She always comes when he calls and it’s not long before he hears the sounds of her approach, and then she’s there, making her noises, reaching out to him. He can’t speak to her the way he did to his mother, but she knows when he is hungry and she knows when he wants a scratch. He backs down the tree and climbs onto her.
Then he halts and sniffs. She smells of something different, something familiar, something he’s almost forgotten. It is a trace of home, a trace of the trees where he and his mother lived, and with the scent of leaf his memory comes back.
The Tall, The Hidden, The Dry, The Hungry, The Safe, The Delicious, The Seeing, The Meeting Place. The world he and his mother shared, back then, with the rest of the colony nearby. The only world he knew.
He sniffs and sniffs, hoping, even now, for a trace of his mother. He can smell, faint as a distant memory, the big male and some of the others. But of his mother, nothing.
‘Yip yip yip,’ she calls to him. It sounds nothing like his mother, but he knows it means food and touch.
Yip yip yip, he calls back. He wishes she could climb.
Chapter 24
‘He’s looking pretty good,’ Pete said, pressing the stethoscope to Dexter’s chest. ‘Sounds good too. He needs a faecal test, but other than that, I’d say you’re doing a great job.’
‘It’s mostly Ash,’ Micky said, smiling at her. ‘She’s been doing the hard work.’
Ashley tried to smile back, but she was feeling too sad.
Her bag was packed and sitting outside in the Argo. Her plane was leaving in less than two hours. Micky
had taken the opportunity of a trip to the Gold Coast to bring Dexter for a checkup at the wildlife hospital, and then she was dropping Ashley at the airport.
Ashley wasn’t only sad about leaving Dexter. As soon as they’d pulled up out the front of the hospital, she’d remembered her previous visit, where Dexter’s mother had died. She hoped he wouldn’t remember it too. He seemed to be missing his mother much less, and accepting human comfort instead.
‘What’s a faecal test?’ she asked Pete.
‘Checking his poo to make sure his gut is developing properly,’ he explained. ‘Koalas’ digestive systems are adapted so they can eat eucalyptus, and we have to make sure the joeys are developing the right intestinal flora. They normally get it by eating pap from their mothers.’
‘That’s good he’s doing well. I’m going to shift him to an outdoor enclosure tomorrow,’ Micky said. ‘A carer with two other joeys is ready to take him as soon as he’s clear to come out of quarantine.’
‘Bring him back in two to three weeks and we’ll do another checkup,’ Pete said. ‘He’ll probably be ready to join the others by then, if all goes well.’
‘Pop him back in his cage, would you, Ash?’ Micky asked. ‘I’ve got a couple of other things to ask Pete about.’
Micky followed Pete out of the examination room. Left alone, Ashley gave Dexter a scratch in his favourite place, behind the neck. He’d grown bigger in the past week — she knew from weighing him, but she could also see how much bigger he looked than when he’d last been in the hospital.
He shut his eyes, wriggled and gave her one of his funny little yips, the one that always made her smile, but she had a lump in her throat at the same time.
‘Will you be OK?’ she whispered.
Dexter blinked and raised a hind leg to scratch another part of his back. Then he shifted around and reached out for her. She picked him up and let him cuddle against her.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head against her. He wanted to go to sleep — he preferred to sleep for most of the day now, and play and eat between eleven pm and four am. But tonight, when he woke up, she’d be gone.
I’ll never see him again, she thought. She’d spent hours the night before playing with him, and now this was goodbye.
She went to stroke him, and then stopped herself. He was already snoozing. In the coming weeks he’d slowly forget about humans and bond with other koalas again, in readiness for the day he’d finally be released. She wouldn’t be helping him by patting him now. It would only be for her.
She swallowed hard, and then lifted Dexter into the cage. He stirred a little and blinked, but he was happy when she put the teddy between his paws. He gripped it and fell asleep again.
‘Bye-bye, little one,’ she whispered, and lowered the lid of the cage.
‘You ready there?’ Micky was at the door.
Ashley nodded.
‘I know it’s hard,’ Micky said. ‘With koalas you’re always saying goodbye one way or another. Can you bring him out?’
Ashley carried the cage out through the clinic. They said goodbye to Pete and headed out the front door to the car. She carefully stowed the cage on the back seat, covered it with a sheet and buckled it down with the seatbelt. Then she got into the front seat and put her own belt on.
The Argo started with its usual roar and they pulled out from the kerb. The airport was only a few minutes away, Ashley knew.
‘Figured out your puppy problem?’ Micky asked.
Ashley shook her head. She felt the same sinking in her belly that came every time she thought about Puppy.
‘Haven’t had a dog for years, not since I started looking after koalas,’ Micky said. ‘Had some great dogs in my life though. They’re the best pets.’
‘I’ve always wanted one,’ Ashley said. ‘But everything that’s happened with Puppy has made it all go weird.’
‘One thing I know about dogs,’ Micky said. ‘The right dog tends to find you, Ash. Your dad’s got a job now, and it sounds like you’ll be able to have your puppy after all. Maybe it was meant to be.’
‘Yeah,’ Ashley said. ‘You’re probably right.’
Micky turned the Argo into the airport and drove to the drop-off zone. ‘You right to get on the plane yourself? I don’t want to keep Dexter in the car longer than necessary.’
‘Sure,’ Ashley said. She felt like she’d grown up a lot in the past nine days. She’d have been a bit scared, before now, of finding her way through an airport and onto a plane. But after her time with Micky, it didn’t worry her at all.
Micky pulled up and they both got out of the car. Micky opened the side door to get Ashley’s bag. On the seat, in his cage, Dexter was sleeping. Ashley put her face close to the side of the cage. She wanted to make the ‘yip yip yip’ noise to him one last time, but she didn’t want to wake him up.
‘Bye, Dex,’ she whispered, and then backed out again.
Micky put the bag down and held out her arms. It was the first time she’d offered a hug. Ashley hesitated for a second and then put her arms around her aunt. It was a nice hug and, to her surprise, it went for quite a long time.
‘You’ve taught me something, Ash,’ Micky said when she let go of her. ‘About not shutting out the world because it’s too painful. You and Dexter, you’ve done me a favour.’
‘Does that mean you’re going to look after joeys again?’ Ashley asked.
Micky threw her hands up. ‘Settle, petal. I wouldn’t go that far. Far too much washing and cleaning. I’m over it. I’ll enjoy him for the next few weeks. After that — we’ll see what happens.’
‘I’d better go,’ Ashley said.
‘Yeah, time’s moving on,’ Micky said. ‘Come and see me again, hey? And bring your mother. We haven’t seen enough of each other. We were always too different. But I’ve missed out on seeing you grow up, and that’s a pity.’
Ashley looked at her aunt. Nine days ago, in this very spot, she’d seen an odd-looking woman in colourful clothes, yelling out her name. She’d been embarrassed by Micky. But it was all different now.
She stepped forwards again and gave Micky another hug. ‘Bye.’
‘Bye, Ash,’ Micky said. ‘Good on you.’ She swung around, slid the Argo’s door shut and almost ran around the back of the car to get into it. Ashley watched as she started the engine with a roar and the van pulled out, leaving a puff of exhaust behind it as it roared away. She knew why Micky was racing. She’d seen the tears in her aunt’s eyes.
Ashley turned around and faced the airport. It was crowded and bright, hard and noisy. The opposite of where she’d been for the past week.
But it was time to go home, and time to make a decision about Puppy.
Her mother and father were both waiting when Ashley came through the gate at Sydney Airport. Her dad gave her a huge hug and even tried to pick her up. Her mum came around on the other side and the three of them were in one big squeeze.
‘We missed you so much!’ her mother said.
‘I missed you too,’ Ashley said. It was true, though she hadn’t fully realised it till that moment. ‘I’ve got so much to tell you.’
‘And we want to hear all about it,’ her father said. ‘We’re going to the park for fish and chips and you can tell us everything about your adventure.’
Ashley linked arms with both her parents as they walked down the concourse towards the carpark. Coming back to the city felt weird, but nice too. It was familiar. It was her home.
‘There is something we have to talk about before anything else though,’ her mother said, looking down at her as they walked.
Ashley felt nervous. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s Puppy,’ her mother said. ‘We have a problem.’
Chapter 25
Three weeks later
Scrap’s tail thumped against the floor and he gave a little whine of pleasure as Ashley fondled his head and scratched the soft fur behind his ears. He raised a front paw and scratched the leg of her jeans.
Ashley laughed and stroked his head again. ‘Settle down, boy. I’ve got to finish my homework before we can go and meet Emma.’
He looked up at her, his head cocked to one side. When she didn’t move, he sighed and lay down again.
Ashley slid off her slippers and used her toes to press against his back. He gave a doggy grunt of pleasure.
Downstairs the phone rang and Ashley heard her mother answer it. A long conversation was going on, but she could only hear murmurs.
She shook her head and picked up her pencil again. Homework was nearly done. Then they could get out into the spring afternoon. Dog obedience class was on at midday and she and Scrap both loved it.
She scribbled for a few minutes and solved the maths problem. She clapped her hands and snapped the book shut. Time to go out at last. Scrap woke up and gave an excited bark.
A soft knock came at the door and her mother poked her head around, holding out the phone. ‘It’s Micky.’
Ashley felt a pang of nervousness as she took the phone. Micky had sent the odd email, but she hadn’t called since Ashley had left. ‘Micky?’
‘G’day, Ash.’
Micky’s voice sounded subdued and Ash’s heart sank. ‘Is everything OK?’
Micky sighed. ‘It’s not good to get too attached. I told you that, didn’t I? I’m just a bit upset. I’ll be OK.’
‘What’s happened?’ Ashley asked, hardly daring to breathe.
‘It’s Jemima. I found her this morning, down in the colony. She must have been killed by a dog.’
Ashley didn’t know what to say. ‘I’m sorry, Micky.’
‘Oh, it’s all right. Goes with the territory. Anyway, that’s not why I’m calling. It’s about Dexter.’
‘Yes?’ Ashley’s voice was so tense that Scrap whined and scratched her leg again.
‘I took him back for his vet check yesterday. So far, so good, Pete says. So he’s gone up to Evelyn’s place and she’s putting him in with the other joeys tonight.’
Ashley felt weak with relief. ‘That’s great news.’
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