Brumby Rescue

by Soraya Nicholas

  He thumped his foot. Loudly. She felt it vibrate across the ground to her.

  ‘Back up,’ Poppy muttered just loud enough for the others to hear.

  She pulled on the reins and put her heels to Crystal’s sides, urging her to move backwards. She focused on Crystal, didn’t do anything to aggravate the roo, and kept backing up until she was a good distance away. She didn’t make direct eye contact and lowered her upper body to rest on Crystal’s neck. Then she kept still and waited. If she’d been on foot, she would have made herself small, so he knew she wasn’t a threat. But given that she was on horseback, this was the best she could think of.

  Poppy held her breath, waiting until they could no longer hear the thump of the roo’s feet or the rustle of the bush as he moved away. She wasn’t usually scared of any animal, but a wild animal that felt trapped was a dangerous animal, and that big male kangaroo hadn’t exactly been small.

  ‘Geez,’ Poppy muttered, turning Crystal slightly to look at her friends.

  ‘Glad you were up front,’ Milly said, eyes wide.

  ‘I seriously thought he was going to do something scary,’ Katie said, shaking her head. ‘He was so mad-looking.’

  Poppy looked around nervously. But where were the others? The kangaroo was a big jack, so she was certain that he’d have a mob. Which meant they should have heard or seen others.

  ‘I’m sure he’s a dominant male, but there were no other kangaroos,’ she thought out loud. ‘There should be at least ten of them. There’s no way he’s out here on his own, unless he’s injured, and he looked fine to me.’

  ‘Listen!’ Milly said, holding up her hand.

  Poppy stayed still, frozen in her saddle. She could hear it now – a rustling in the bushes – but she had no idea what it was. ‘You guys saw that big one jump away, right? There’s no way it could be him.’

  Katie nodded and so did Milly. But Poppy recognised the look that was fast appearing on Milly’s face; it was the look that signalled trouble.

  ‘We need to investigate!’ Milly declared.

  Poppy’s stomach twisted, but she knew Milly was right. Something was wrong. Where was his mob?

  ‘We need to be careful. I don’t want to come face to face with a giant, angry roo who wants to have a boxing match with me. Or worse,’ she replied.

  The noise sounded out again, a rustle and . . . Poppy gulped. She was certain it sounded like something struggling. There was something in there, and she seriously hoped it wasn’t a person or . . . she had no idea what else it could be.

  ‘I’m going to see,’ Milly said, dismounting and passing Poppy her reins.

  Poppy shook her head. ‘No way. You are not leaving me here holding your horse.’

  ‘Then give the reins to Katie!’ Milly sounded exasperated.

  ‘Look, you two go and see what it is,’ said Katie. ‘I’ll hold all the horses and stay mounted. I’m happy being lookout.’

  Poppy reluctantly dismounted, feeling strangely like she had when they’d been snooping over at Old Smithy’s place looking for the stolen horses. She knew they probably shouldn’t be investigating, but she was curious now, and besides, Milly wasn’t going to give up until she knew what it was.

  ‘Milly, wait up!’ she hissed. ‘And go slow. If it’s an animal, we don’t want to scare it.’

  Poppy grabbed Milly’s hand and held it tight as they listened. They’d only taken a few steps off the trail and into the bush before Poppy’s heart jumped into her throat. There was a kangaroo lying on the ground. She was thumping one leg out, obviously frustrated, and when she saw them her movements became more frantic.

  ‘Get back,’ Poppy ordered. ‘Now.’

  Milly’s horrified eyes met hers. There was no mistaking the matted, dried blood around the kangaroo’s side. She’d been badly injured, and if they didn’t do something to help her, she could die.

  ‘Poppy,’ Milly whispered. ‘Look. She’s got a joey.’

  Poppy gasped when she bent down and saw that Milly was right. There was a baby in the kangaroo’s pouch. She hoped the poor little thing hadn’t been injured too.

  ‘We need to go back for help,’ she whispered, walking backward a couple of steps before turning and pushing Milly to move faster in front of her.

  ‘That’s why he was here, wasn’t it?’ Milly asked as they burst back out onto the trail.

  ‘What is it? What’s in there?’ Katie asked. ‘You guys look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

  ‘An injured mother kangaroo and a joey,’ Poppy said, hurriedly grabbing her reins, throwing them over Crystal’s neck and mounting. ‘That’s why the big kangaroo was hanging around. He was checking on her, maybe he didn’t want to leave her alone, and that’s why he was looking aggressive.’

  ‘Did you see anything out here?’ Milly asked.

  ‘Yes!’ Katie said, nodding her head. ‘I saw movement, and it looked like at least, I don’t know, maybe eight or ten kangaroos moving through the bush. I was so scared he was going to come back.’

  ‘Let’s go,’ Poppy urged, turning and checking that Milly was back in the saddle, too. They swapped gazes, and she instinctively knew that Milly felt as sad as she did. ‘We need to get to Mark and tell him what we’ve seen. That poor kangaroo and her baby will die if we leave her like that.’

  ‘Canter?’ Milly called out, spinning around in the saddle as she spoke.

  ‘Canter,’ Poppy agreed as she quickly gathered up her reins.

  They burst into a canter with Milly in the lead this time, their horses snorting as they lifted their knees and haunches to clear the log. They had to slow to a trot a couple of times when the track narrowed, but the rest of the time the horses maintained a steady canter through the bush.

  When they emerged from the trees they fanned out to ride side by side, and Crystal extended her neck when Poppy gave her more rein, leaning low over her neck as they cantered fast across the field that led to the stables.

  The wind whipped against Poppy’s cheeks and made her eyes tear, but her arms were warm from the sun, and she loved every minute of being in the saddle even if they were riding back for help. No matter how awesome Storm might be one day, she bet she’d never love riding another horse as much as she loved Crystal. Or trust another horse quite the same way either.

  ‘Slow down!’ she yelled to her friends when they neared the stables.

  Crystal fought her, having too much fun racing with her friends to want to slow down, but she finally obliged and steadied, trotting for a few beats before Poppy asked her to walk. She was blowing hard, and as desperate as Poppy was to get back to Uncle Mark, she knew she had to make sure Crystal had a couple of minutes to cool down.

  ‘How will the kangaroo ever find her way back to her mob?’ Milly blurted out once they’d all caught their breath. ‘I mean, will she be alone forever now?’

  ‘If she doesn’t die, you mean?’ Katie asked.

  ‘Look, Mark will do whatever he can to help her, I know he will.’

  Milly and Katie didn’t look convinced, but Poppy didn’t have time to worry about them. She was annoyed that she hadn’t taken a mobile phone on their ride – she could have called ahead. Aunt Sophie would be furious with her if she found out they’d gone riding without one.

  ‘Uncle Mark!’ she called out. ‘Sophie!’

  Because it was the weekend she didn’t know where they’d be. Sophie’s training schedule wasn’t so rigid on a Saturday, mainly because she had so many lessons to give to pupils over the weekend, but there were no other cars around right now, which meant no kids waiting. And the arena had been empty when they rode in.

  ‘Mark!’ she yelled out, louder this time. She quickly dismounted and passed Milly her reins. ‘I’m going to run up to the house.’

  The house wasn’t that far away, but by the time she landed at the front door she was panting.

  ‘Sophie! Mark!’ she called.

  Casper came flying around the side of the house, tongue lolling o
ut the side of his mouth. He bowled into her legs and almost knocked her over as she pushed the door in.

  ‘Casper!’ she scolded, as he bounced along beside her and pushed into her legs, obviously thinking it was a game.

  ‘Uncle Mark!’ she yelled, getting desperate. Where were they? She ran to the kitchen and saw Mark walking in from the big double doors that opened out onto their deck.

  ‘Hey, Pops!’ he said when he saw her.

  She went to open her mouth and instead burst into tears.

  ‘Hey, what is it?’ he asked, arms going around her to give her a big hug.

  Poppy brushed at her cheeks. ‘We found an injured kangaroo that needs your help,’ she managed to get out, the words choking in her throat a bit and making her all croaky. ‘She was all bloody and she had a baby and there was a big male kangaroo that was trying to protect her and now all her mob have left and . . . and . . .’ she gasped, running out of air.

  ‘Whoa, slow down,’ Mark said, hugging her again before holding her at arm’s length. ‘Poppy, it’s okay.’

  ‘It’s not okay! What if she dies and then her baby dies or . . .’

  ‘Poppy, look at me,’ he said firmly, still holding her arms. ‘You did the right thing and I promise I’ll do anything I can to help.’

  ‘Really?’ she whispered.

  ‘Really,’ he said, letting go of her and turning around to grab his phone. ‘Sophie is down with Prince. You get her for me while I call in some assistance from the local wildlife rescue team, and then meet me by the stables.’

  ‘Okay,’ she told him, liking that he already had a plan. ‘We’ll be waiting.’

  ‘You did good, kiddo. Don’t forget it.’

  Poppy nodded, feeling numb as she turned to go. It wasn’t just the kangaroo making her upset. It was Storm. Seeing the big kangaroo today, staring them down and looking so fierce, it reminded Poppy of what her brumby had come from, the terror he must have experienced at being separated from his mob. He had gone from living in a big family with a stallion to look after him, to having no one, to being alone and in pain and sad. She sucked in a big breath as she started to run back down to the stables to alert the others. She knew what it was like to lose one of the people you loved most in the entire world, and Storm had lost that, too. Everything Sophie had told her about wild horses made sense now. No matter what, she was going to do everything she could for Storm, to make him feel like he had a family again. He was her horse and she loved him.

  ‘I don’t understand why we can’t go straight back there and try to help,’ Milly muttered as she led Joe into his stable.

  ‘Mark doesn’t want to stress the animal out any more than he has to,’ Aunt Sophie explained, swapping glances with Poppy and giving her a smile. ‘She’s best there on her own for now, and when the wildlife team gets here you can all show us where she is.’

  ‘Even if she’s in pain?’ Milly asked. ‘You still think she’s better alone?’

  ‘She’s not someone’s pet dog,’ Sophie said, helping Poppy to groom Crystal down. She had dry sweat where her saddle blanket had been and under her girth, but they didn’t have time to hose her down. ‘Wild animals aren’t used to human contact, so having us near will only make her panic more.’

  Sophie passed Poppy the firm dandy brush and let herself out of the stable. ‘Anyone else need a hand?’ she asked.

  ‘No thanks, Mrs D,’ Katie replied.

  ‘Nope,’ Milly said.

  ‘I think I heard Mark. You girls come out and meet me once you’re finished.’

  The minute she was gone, Milly was out of Joe’s stable and hanging over Crystal’s door.

  ‘I bet they could do something for the poor kangaroo before the rest of the team got here,’ Milly said.

  Poppy groaned. Trust Milly to think she knew better than anyone else. ‘You’re wrong,’ she told her. ‘Sophie knows what she’s talking about, and she’s right.’

  ‘Says the girl who thought it was a good idea to buy a wild horse,’ Milly said, one of her eyebrows perfectly arched.

  Poppy glared at her. ‘You think I would have taken him out of the wild myself? I would never ever do that to an animal!’

  ‘Hey!’ Katie squealed. ‘Stop arguing. You guys are being stupid.’

  ‘She is,’ Poppy said, folding her arms and staring at Milly.

  Milly just threw her hands up in the air. ‘I’m sorry, but it seems like the same thing to me. Why can’t we just take the kangaroo in, care for her and keep her here with her baby? Would it really be that big a deal?’

  Poppy sighed. Milly always had her heart in the right place. She just didn’t go about everything the best way. ‘You can’t keep a kangaroo in captivity, Mils. Uncle Mark will try to help her, but she has to be released again one day. So does the joey. It has to be done right.’

  ‘It’s a stupid rule.’

  ‘I know. And I hated seeing her lying there and bleeding too, you know,’ she told her. ‘But we’ll go back and see what they can do for her.’

  Milly leaned toward Poppy and they hugged. ‘I’m sorry,’ Milly murmured.

  ‘I know.’

  ‘No, I’m really sorry,’ Milly said as she stood back, her cheeks flushed bright pink. ‘It’s not your fault that Storm was taken out of the wild.’

  ‘I’d release him back if I could,’ Poppy said honestly. ‘Even though I spent all my money, if I could find his mob and he wanted to go with them, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I just don’t know if he’d ever be accepted back now.’

  ‘When do you think you’ll get to ride him for the first time?’ Katie asked.

  Poppy felt a familiar prickle of nerves run through her body. ‘I don’t know, but I can’t wait.’

  She’d been so nervous, then excited, then crazy-scared, then excited again, and now she just wanted to get all the scary stuff over.

  ‘Let’s go, girls!’

  At Uncle Mark’s call Poppy spun around and forgot everything else but the kangaroo. Her heart started to pound, excited about helping Mark with the rescue.

  ‘Since it’s not bushfire season I was able to call in help fairly easily,’ Mark told them as they walked to his pick-up truck. ‘I’m going to attend the scene with your assistance, and the wildlife rescue team will be here to take over soon. I’ll message them our exact location as soon as we’re there.’

  ‘Our assistance?’ Milly asked, sounding like she was choking.

  Poppy laughed. ‘Well, maybe not your assistance.’ She nudged Milly in the side and squeezed past her to get in the back row of seats. Aunt Sophie came running from nowhere and launched into the front seat, and they were off.

  ‘I thought we’d be riding back,’ Milly admitted.

  Katie giggled. ‘What, and hog-tying the kangaroo so we could drag her back?’

  Poppy laughed but clamped her hand over her mouth as soon as Milly gave her a fierce look.

  ‘I meant that we would ride back to the kangaroo and Mark would meet us there, doofus,’ Milly said, rolling her eyes.

  Poppy grinned to herself. Milly was harebrained sometimes and Katie often told her exactly that to her face, but she loved them both. If Milly hadn’t been so brave, they might not have even found the injured kangaroo.

  ‘Girls, this could get ugly,’ Aunt Sophie said, interrupting their joking. ‘Mark, you told them this already, right?’

  Uncle Mark met Poppy’s gaze in the rear-view mirror and winked at her. He was so funny sometimes, acting like he was one of the kids. Poppy grinned at him and knew he’d be smiling back.

  ‘Mark?’

  ‘Uh-huh, yep, well . . .’ Mark cleared his throat and Poppy stifled a laugh. ‘Look, girls, we don’t know what state the kangaroo is in yet, so there could be a struggle to contain her and the injury could easily get worse in the process.’

  ‘But we’re helping her, and that’s what matters,’ Aunt Sophie added, turning around so she was looking straight at them. ‘You girls all up for this?’

>   ‘Yep,’ Poppy said, nodding.

  ‘Yeah, of course,’ Milly said.

  ‘Definitely,’ Katie agreed.

  ‘Okay then. See Sophie? The girls knew what they were in for already,’ said Mark.

  Poppy swapped smiles with her friends. Mark always made them laugh.

  ‘Mr D, what will happen to the kangaroo after this? And her baby?’ Katie asked.

  Poppy noticed that her friend was chewing on her lower lip now, a sure sign she was worried.

  ‘The team will arrive and transport them to the wildlife facility,’ Mark said, glancing at them in the rear-view mirror again. He slowed down and Sophie jumped out to open a gate. ‘There’s a place that rehabilitates kangaroos, which means the joey won’t be parted from his mum unless she doesn’t make it. Then they’ll be left to recover and be re-released when they’re ready.’

  ‘So they don’t ever keep them?’ Milly asked. ‘I don’t get it.’

  ‘They’re not pets, Mils,’ Mark said as he drove through the gate then waited for Sophie to get back in. ‘We need to respect that they’re wild animals.’

  The vehicle went silent then and Poppy stared out at the trees they were passing, bumping along over the paddocks and heading toward the dense cluster of trees where they’d seen the roo.

  ‘Poppy, was it near the end of the trail?’ Mark asked. ‘Up there?’

  ‘Yup. When we were riding it was past all the logs in the track, so near the end before the clearing.’

  Mark kept driving across the paddock, going faster than usual across the uneven ground. They were all quiet until they neared the spot.

  ‘Look,’ said Mark, slowing down.

  ‘That’s him,’ Poppy said, craning her neck forward to get a better look. ‘That’s the big roo we came across, I’m sure of it.’

  He was standing up on his big back legs, staring at them from afar, but she was certain it was him. There were only a couple of other kangaroos near him, but at the rumble of their vehicle’s engine, more kangaroos rose up out of the bush, seeming to appear from nowhere.

  They started to move off, slowly at first, and then in huge leaps, and Mark sighed.