Some of the children were flicking through their books while others looked out of the window for inspiration. A few had started creating their own imaginary birds, strange beasts with fur, feathers, scales, trunks and horns. Charlie was stumped. He didn’t know what bird he wanted to draw; he didn’t particularly like any of them very much. He thought they were all rather boring. Why can’t we draw a dragon? That would be much more fun.
He gazed out of the window across the playing field toward the bordering woodland, imagining majestic dragons in flight and hoping to see something interesting that might inspire him. A movement drew his attention to the fence at the bottom of the field. He gasped with delight at what he spotted there. Then, quickly and eagerly, he put pencil to paper and began to draw.
Mrs Potts strolled past and glanced down at Charlie’s work.
“Very good, Charlie,” she praised. “But you do know you only needed to draw one bird don’t you?”
“Yes, Mad Mrs Potty Potts, but when I saw them sitting on the fence by the woods, I couldn’t decide which one of them I liked the most. A bit like you with your shoes.” He grinned as he looked down at Mad Mrs Potty Potts’s red and pink footwear. “So I’m drawing both of them.”
Mrs Potts glanced back at Charlie’s sketch book and studied the two birds that he’d drawn. “But these are owls, aren’t they?”
“Yes, Mad Mrs Potty Potts, a brown one and a white one. They’re over there on the fence, look!” Charlie said, pointing out of the window.
Mrs Potts searched the fence-line, but there were no owls to be seen. She gave Charlie a doubting smile and raised one eyebrow. “I think they must have flown back to Hogwarts,” she said.
The children were head down, hard at work, engrossed in creating their feathery masterpieces, when there was a gentle knock on the classroom door.
“Come in,” Mrs Potts called out.
“Sorry to disturb you, Mrs Potts,” Sheena the receptionist squeaked, peeping round the door over lowered spectacles. “There’s a gentleman in the office, he says he needs to speak with you urgently.”
“Oh, okay, I’m on my way,” Mrs Potts replied, then she clapped her hands together to gain the children’s full attention. “Class, I must say you’re all doing fabutastically! Carry on with your wonderful works of art. I’ll be back in a jiffy. If you need any help while I’m gone, please ask Julia and she’ll give you a hand.”
Julia, the classroom assistant, gave Mrs Potts an acknowledging smile. Mrs Potts left the class hard at work and headed to the office to find out what it was that the mystery gentleman required so urgently.
* * *
Approximately fifteen minutes had passed. Charlie wiped condensation from the classroom window with the cuff of his jumper and watched as Mad Mrs Potty Potts, Poppy Paul the football coach and Henrietta Darling marched into the woods. They were accompanied by a man with silvery hair. A man that Charlie hadn’t ever seen before. They disappeared behind the trees and were shortly followed by the two owls. Charlie wiped the glass clear again and stared into the trees wondering, what are they doing? And where are they going?
“So how are you getting on then?” Mrs Potts asked, re-entering the classroom and taking a seat at her desk.
Charlie looked up at his teacher in utter surprise. He looked across the field toward the woodland, then back at his teacher as she tidied her desk. His brow furrowed and his lips pursed a little as he tried to process what had just happened. How come he had been watching Mad Mrs Potty Potts disappearing into the woodland at the very same time that she’d returned to the classroom?
CHAPTER 18
NO ANSWER
“There was no answer at Dalouhen House.
“Mummy and Daddy are away on urgent work business. They shan’t be home until the weekend. Nanny Clara is supposed to be collecting me from school today,” Henrietta said stroppily, with her arms folded.
The spoilt girl continued to whine for some time about how her parents were sure to realise that her clone was an imposter. That they were certain to call the police and report the real her missing; at which point a warrant of arrest would be sent out ordering the capture of her abductors – dead or alive!
Mrs Potts tutted. “Oh Henrietta, do be quiet,” she said, grabbing the girl’s hand and leading her away from the house.
“What do we do now?” Ice asked Zavier.
Zavier began to walk away from the empty house. “There isn’t anything that we can do. We can’t wait for them to return. We will have to take the child without her parents. Maybe there will be an extra one or two people that we can collect from Noah’s Ark in place of them,” he said.
“Let’s go and find out,” Ice replied, and the group started the short journey to the Veterinary Practice.
CHAPTER 19
LIFE AND DEATH
“Come on, puppy, you can do it – breathe!” Nurse Cassey willed as she rubbed the puppy’s wet and lifeless body with a warm towel. Then she held the newborn still, observing it for any signs of life, but it remained limp in her hands. She funnelled over its nose and mouth with one hand and blew, administering a rescue breath, before continuing with the stimulating rubbing. Still no sound or movement came from the neonate. She placed her thumb and fingers either side of its chest and checked for a heartbeat. Holding her breath and closing her eyes, she concentrated. The puppy’s tiny heart flickered vigorously within its ribcage, sending beams of hope pulsing through her fingertips.
“Yes, come on!” she pleaded, continuing to rub.
The puppy gasped its first unassisted breath and began to wriggle and squeal for the comfort of its mother.
“Good job, Cassey!” Vet Noah Copper cheered when he heard the reassuring squeaks that the pup was making. Then he continued to close up the mother’s caesarean wound. “What have we got?” he asked.
“Three girls and four boys,” Cassey replied, as she put the last puppy into a heated basket with its litter mates.
Once the mother had finished being stitched and her anaesthetic breathing tube had been removed, Cassey and Flossie carried her to a kennel to recover. The nurses loved their jobs, and they particularly loved assisting with caesareans. They sat on the floor beside the mother’s kennel tending to her every need, and they encouraged the puppies to feed from her. When the nurses were satisfied that mum and pups were settled, they began to clean up. After washing and sterilising the surgical drapes and instruments, they swept and mopped the surgery floor while singing along to the radio.
“Breaking news,” the radio newsreader stated, interrupting the song. “A British man has died in South Africa. The man and three other men were killed at a white lion breeding centre while releasing live animals into one of the enclosures. It is thought that the animals, said to be ponies, were being offered as live feed for the lions. Unfortunately for the men, they also appear to have ended up on the menu. The British man, who is yet to be named, was mauled beyond recognition. The other men were: Johan Jacobs the breeding centre owner, and two of his staff members, Mykel Uzolisa and Lukas Madwe. The lions are also thought to have turned on each other during the frenzied attack, due to the presence of lion remains among the carnage. Some of the ferocious animals are still unaccounted for, having escaped via a poorly maintained fence at the breeding centre. A specialised game capture team have been deployed to search for them, but the team’s efforts have been hampered by an unusually high number of bush fires in the area. We will bring you more news on the situation as we receive it.”
“Flo, did you hear that?” Cassey asked.
“Yeah. Scary, hey?” Flossie replied. “I hope that isn’t anywhere near where Jenn and Claire are volunteering, and I’m glad there weren’t any savage lions on the loose when we were working out there last year. Then again, it would’ve been really exciting if we’d have been sent out with the vet in the helicopter to dart and capture escaped white lions, wouldn’t it?”
“It sure would,” Cassey replied, returning the mop t
o the cupboard. Then she went back into the kennel room to see how the mother and her pups were.
“How are you doing, mummy, huh?” she asked, softly stroking the miniature schnauzer’s head.
Sarra the receptionist appeared in the kennel room doorway.
“Mr and Mrs Evans are here to collect Daisy and her pups,” she said.
“Okay, thanks, Sarra. Can you let Noah know for me? He wants to speak with them first. Flo and I will bring mum and pups down to his room when he’s finished explaining everything to them.”
* * *
Mr Copper had an informative chat with Mr and Mrs Evans. He explained the post-operative care that Daisy required, and he also made sure that they knew how to help her to look after her pups. When he was done, he wrote his notes on the computer and Mr and Mrs Evans were able to leave the Vet Practice with big smiles on their faces, and a bustling-basketful of new life.
“Sarra, you can go for lunch now if you like. Cassey, Flo and I will be finished soon. We’ll lock up,” Noah said.
“Ooh, thanks, Noah, if you’re sure?” Sarra replied. “See you later, girls,” she called out to the nurses, as she left the building clutching her designer handbag and flicking her long blonde hair extensions over her shoulder.
* * *
Once everything was done, the vet nurses waited outside the practice for Noah while he set the alarm, slid the grill across and locked the external door. With the practice secure, they began to walk up the curly footpath that led to the car-park, but before they reached the end, their path was blocked. There, standing before them, were two men, a woman and a child.
“Sorry, we’re closed for lunch, so unless it’s a matter of life and death I’m afraid you’ll have to come back later,” an exhausted Noah said as politely as he could, after an exhausting morning’s shift.
“It is indeed a matter of life and death,” Zavier replied as Ice and Francis swooped down from the trees and joined the group, ready to commence cloning the last of the Humans.
CHAPTER 20
ELSIE
The microwave oven ‘pinged’, signalling that the delicious Shepherd’s pie that Meals on Wheels Janice had delivered to Elsie earlier was ready to eat. The old lady grabbed hold of her mobility trolley’s frame and wheeled her way over to collect the hot food. She opened the microwave door and placed her hand inside, but before she could remove the steaming pie, she was disturbed by the musical chiming of her doorbell. Elsie gradually shuffled her way with the aid of her trolley to the front door and opened it a sliver.
“Who is it?” she asked in a frail voice.
“My name is Zavier. Grace sent me.”
“Who?” Elsie questioned.
“It’s okay, Elsie, you can let us in. I’ll explain everything to you over a nice hot cuppa,” Poppy Paul called out over Zavier’s shoulder.
The old lady was reassured by the sound of Paul’s familiar voice. He often popped round to her house for a cup of tea and a natter about the war, especially around Remembrance Day. He would sit for hours listening to her wartime memories, and then use the poignant stories that she told as an aid to encourage everyone in the village to buy a poppy.
Elsie shakily removed the security chain and shuffled back from the doorway, allowing everyone to hurry inside, including Ice and Francis.
* * *
Once Elsie had recovered from the initial shock of what Zavier had told her, she sat very quietly. After a few concerning minutes of complete silence and an uncomfortable stillness, she suddenly spoke.
“Well, I would love to be able to help you, but I’m afraid I won’t be of any use. I’m an old lady, if you hadn’t noticed. I’m almost ninety years old, you know,” she said with a groan. “I wish I wasn’t so useless, but I’m afraid I’m no good to anyone.”
Ice perched on the frame of Elsie’s mobility trolley. “Do you mind if I ask you a question Elsie?” she t’woo’d
“Not at all,” the old woman replied.
“Your body is aged and worn, yes, but what about your mind? How old are you inside?”
Elsie smiled, her false teeth slightly falling away from her gums. “Ooh well, in my mind I’m still sweet sixteen and doing cartwheels, dear.”
“Then that is how old you will feel after I perform the rejuvenation enchantment on you. But Elsie, I must request that you take it easy on the cartwheels. What do you say?”
“Well dear, if you’re going to make me feel sixteen again, then I can hardly say no, can I?” the old lady chuckled.
Thankfully, Ice remembered to clone Elsie before the rejuvenation enchantment began.
Zavier placed a glass of water on the table in front of the delicate old woman, and Ice chanted these words.
“Sip from the well of Afriel, and soon you will no longer tell, that your bones are aching and your body is old.”
Zavier offered Elsie the glass of water, indicating that she should take a sip. Elsie sipped from the glass, then shakily placed it back on the table. The glass began to wobble gently and the water inside began to swirl. A fountain suddenly emerged from within the whirling water, spouting up from the centre of the glass. Cassey, Flo and Mrs Potts gasped in amazement at the spurting water and Ice continued.
“The fountain of youth has come as foretold; now pass through it the riches of gold.”
Zavier glanced down at Elsie’s left hand. He carefully took a hold of it and ran her wedding ring finger through the cascading water, ensuring that the band of gold passed through its flow.
“At this stage you should choose an age.”
Ice and Elsie both looked at each other: “Sixteen,” Elsie said, beaming.
“Swallow what’s left, let it run through your veins.”
Elsie picked up the glass and snorted a little as the water bubbled up her nose, but she still managed to drink the glass dry.
“Now you will start to feel the change.”
A strange tingling sensation started on the tip of Elsie’s tongue. She felt as if her hair had been rubbed with a balloon and was now statically standing on end. The strange feeling spread rapidly through the inside of her head, and before she knew it, it had reached down to the very tips of her toes. She sprang from her chair and rushed out of the back door into the garden.
“Here goes!” she cheered, before cartwheeling the length of the lawn.
Ice flapped after her in a panic. “Elsie, what did I tell you? Take it easy on the cartwheels,” she objected.
* * *
Zavier, Francis, Ice and the newly collected Humans left Elsie’s clone sitting in the lounge watching TV, with DD, her pet rabbit, snuggled on her lap. They quickly made their way through Witern Wood. Mrs Potts, Poppy Paul, Henrietta, Noah, Cassey and Flo all tried their best to keep up with Zavier and Elsie. But what with Zavier having transformed into his powerful Shire horse form, and the old lady being freshly energised, they had very little hope.
*Liberty Realm*
CHAPTER 21
SAFE TRANSPORT
The gate opened, allowing Elsie, Mrs Potts, Poppy Paul, Henrietta, Noah, Cassey and Flo to take their first steps into the realm of Liberty. Aaron, Ezekiel and Tobias were there as arranged, waiting to carry the Humans back to Serenity Sunrise Beach. Zavier suggested that Aaron, being the strongest, should carry Poppy Paul and Noah. Ezekiel was to take Cassey and Flo. Tobias was to carry Elsie, and Zavier himself was to transport Mrs Potts and Henrietta.
“Okay, so how am I supposed to get on?” Poppy Paul asked, with his hands placed nervously on top of his shaven head. He wasn’t the type of fella you’d have thought would be scared of horses, but he’d always felt nervy around the huge animals. Particularly after being shoved around by the ones that the mounted police used at the many football matches he’d attended.
“Grab a hold of my mane with your left hand,” Aaron explained.
Poppy Paul clutched Aaron’s dense black hair in his left palm and tried not to let on how intimidated he was by the massive stallion.
/>
“Okay, what now?” he asked, trying to sound confident.
“Place your right hand on my back. Take a couple of big bounces, then throw your right leg up and over.”
“Just like that?” Poppy Paul said doubtfully
“Yep, just like that,” Aaron stated.
Poppy Paul’s tattoo-covered biceps bulged as he took a couple of big bounces and pulled on Aaron’s mane, but he didn’t manage to lift his leg anywhere near high enough to cover the stallion’s back.
“Easy, big fella!” Aaron scowled with discomfort at having his hair tugged so forcefully.
“I don’t think I can do it,” Poppy Paul stated. “I’m too heavy.”
“Now, I can relate to that,” Aaron chuckled. “Here, stand on this tree,” he said, moving beside a fallen birch.
Poppy Paul stood on the tree-trunk and tried again. This time he was successful.
Noah didn’t have any problems climbing upon Aaron. He was a slim man and much more agile. He mounted with ease and sat behind Paul.
Cassey and Flo were both horse owners and they expertly boarded Ezekiel from the ground.
Zavier moved himself beside the fallen birch, so that both Mrs Potts and Henrietta could climb on him. Mrs Potts sat upfront and Henrietta positioned herself behind her. “Hold onto me as tightly as you can please, Henrietta,” the teacher demanded. Henri shuffled closer to Mrs Potts, placed her arms as far around her waist as she could and grimaced in disgust at having to be so close to another person.
The last person to mount their steed was Elsie. She stood far back from the group, watching as the horses shuffled around on the wooded trail, getting used to the weight of their loads.
An Army of Good Page 8