‘Want to go see what it is?’ she asked.
That put a huge smile on Sarah’s face and Poppy was relieved to see her looking happy – even if it was because she didn’t have to go and hang out with the horses again.
She’d imagined that Sarah would arrive at Starlight, see how gorgeous Crystal and the other ponies were, and change her mind about horses. But she was beginning to realise maybe that wasn’t going to happen. Or at least, not without a plan.
‘What do you think it is?’ Sarah asked, obviously curious.
‘I’ll bet it’s something to do with animals,’ Poppy said. ‘You know, because he’s a vet.’
Sarah leaned into her as they walked off. ‘I wish I liked horses as much as you do. I’m not just trying to be a pain in the butt.’ She sighed. ‘I can’t wait to meet your uncle though and find out about his job. It must be so cool being a vet.’
Poppy hugged her tight. ‘You’ve been an awesome friend. When Dad died and Mum was bad, you were the only person on the planet who knew what was really going on, except for Aunt Sophie. I don’t care if you don’t like horses.’
She was telling the truth – Sarah had been the best friend ever. At home they had a blast hanging out at the park and going to St Kilda beach, so it didn’t matter. Not to mention all the awesome Chinese food Sarah’s mum always made for them. She’d just thought that Sarah would feel differently once she actually did some horsey stuff.
‘So does that mean I can explore the farm on foot when you guys ride?’ Sarah asked, her voice hopeful. ‘Take the dog for a big walk?’
‘No way!’ Poppy answered, shaking her head. ‘You’re riding whether you like it or not. There’s no way Milly would forgive me if I didn’t force you onto a horse.’
Sarah groaned. ‘I thought we’d get here and you’d do stuff with horses and I’d do something else.’
‘Never. I was hoping you’d get here and be desperate to ride!’ Poppy replied, skipping ahead then turning around so she could walk backwards and look at Sarah. ‘Besides, if you don’t ride, you won’t get to go on crazy Milly adventures with us. She always comes up with something fun to do.’
‘Oh yeah, I remember hearing all about those “adventures”. I don’t remember you calling them all fun!’ Sarah mocked.
Poppy giggled. ‘Come on, let’s go hug a baby possum or something else cute. That’ll make you feel way better.’
She grabbed Sarah’s hand again, getting used to having to tow her around the farm. Sarah might not love horses, but Poppy was determined to find something about Starlight Stables that her best friend liked. Poppy had some thinking to do – she wanted to help Sarah fall in love with the farm. She just had to figure out how . . .
‘Hi, girls,’ Uncle Mark said in a low voice when they walked into the garage to find him.
Poppy couldn’t believe the transformation. Last time she’d been in there it had been full of tools and Mark’s vet equipment, but now those things were stacked away in one corner and there was a big fan in the middle of the room, a large high stainless steel table against one wall, and some sort of divider that was hiding one corner.
Mark was crouched down with his back to them. Poppy held out her hand to stop Sarah from moving, knowing that he must be doing something important.
Mark rose slowly and when he turned around Poppy couldn’t stop her grin, especially when Sarah grabbed her hand.
‘Ohmygosh that’s so cute!’ Poppy whispered, stopping herself from rushing forward and forcing herself to move as slowly as she could towards Uncle Mark.
‘This is awesome!’ Sarah whispered.
‘Not bad handy work, huh?’ Mark murmured, his smile impossible to ignore.
Poppy stopped a few feet from him, her eyes glued to the hilarious little joey pouches he was wearing. It took her a while to realise they’d been sewn on to the front of his flannel shirt. They were made from cotton, and she could see tiny furry legs sticking out of one pouch, and a little nose poking out of the other. Her uncle was such a dag when it came to animals.
‘Did you make that?’ Sarah asked. ‘That’s so cool!’
Poppy took another step closer to inspect the baby staring at her. She wasn’t sure straightaway what it was, but it looked cute with its little black nose and huge brown eyes.
‘He’s adorable,’ Sarah whispered, and Poppy grinned when she realised how excited Sarah was.
‘Sophie came up with them after I showed her a photo the wildlife centre gave me,’ Uncle Mark said. ‘I need to keep their body warmth up and they like being in the pouch – it’s how their mothers would have carried them.’
‘Are their mothers dead?’ Sarah asked.
Poppy cringed, knowing what he was going to say before he even said it. There was only one reason Uncle Mark would ever separate a tiny baby from its mum.
‘Yeah,’ he said, glancing at Poppy with that ‘You okay?’ look. She smiled back to reassure him. Everyone was still so weird around her when they talked about death, but she got why. She was getting better at reassuring people with just a smile, but knowing these little animals had lost a parent did make her sad, and it wasn’t just because her own dad had died. It would have made her super sad anyway, even if her dad was still here.
‘Where did you find them?’ Sarah asked.
‘They’re brushtail possums,’ Mark said. ‘Both their mothers died in a bushfire a couple of hours’ drive away, but the local animal hospital and volunteer carer centres were all full, so I offered to take on the overflow. It’s been our worst bushfire season in years, and I might have to take in more animals yet.’
‘Do you put them in there to feed them?’ Poppy asked, glancing sideways and seeing the little bottles of milk and syringes on the table.
‘It’s the easiest way because they’re comfortable and they stay still, plus it keeps them warm,’ he told the girls. ‘Then when I’m done, I just wriggle out of this and hang it over there, so they can stay tucked up.’
Poppy couldn’t take her eyes off the little creatures. She’d never seen a baby possum up close before.
‘Can we feed them?’ Sarah asked, standing close to Poppy, their shoulders jammed tight as they looked at the babies.
‘How about you girls watch me do these little guys? I need to syringe it directly into their mouths, but you can take turns bottle feeding the kangaroo joeys.’
There were baby kangaroos too? Poppy glanced at Sarah and they both nodded eagerly.
‘I’ve got them all hanging in pouches behind there,’ Mark said, indicating with his head for them to look behind him. Poppy realised suddenly what the wall divider was for – a quieter, darker area for the babies to sleep. ‘They’re easy to feed, so long as you hold the bottle tight.’
‘What’s going on . . .?’ Milly burst through the door, her voice booming loud as usual.
‘Shhh,’ Sarah hissed at the same time as Uncle Mark turned around with a warning finger to his lips.
Milly clamped her hand over her mouth, but her eyes were wide as she stared at the pouches.
‘What is this place?’ Katie asked, whispering.
Mark grinned. ‘Welcome back, Katie,’ he said. Then he turned to Milly. ‘Hi there, Noisy.’ Milly put her hands on her hips, but Mark just laughed quietly and shook his head. ‘Keep your voices nice and low in here, girls. We have a lot of young joeys that are easily frightened. And we have a wombat sleeping off an anaesthetic too. I had to do minor surgery on one of his legs.’
Katie and Milly shuffled closer to Mark so they were standing beside Poppy. ‘Did you rescue these babies from those bushfires?’ Katie asked.
Mark was busy doing something to the syringes of milk so Poppy quickly answered for him. ‘He took them in when the other places were full. He’s said we can feed the kangaroo joeys.’
‘Kangaroos!’ Milly said excitedly.
‘Shhh,’ Poppy and Katie both hissed at the same time.
Milly wrapped her arms around herself and let ou
t a dramatic, deep breath. ‘I’m not used to being so quiet.’
‘Yeah, we know!’ Katie whispered back.
They watched as Mark gently fed the possum joeys. Poppy loved seeing him work with animals; he was so kind to them and she’d loved listening to all his stories about looking after every animal – from horses and cattle to cats and wildlife – when she’d been on rounds with him in the past. If she couldn’t be a professional horse rider when she grew up, then she definitely wanted to be a vet so she could help animals. She bet Sarah was super impressed, too.
Poppy crossed the room to the stainless steel table and collected one of the bottles Mark had already made up. ‘Is this what we feed them?’ she asked in a low voice, eager to get closer to the cute animals.
He nodded but didn’t take his eyes off the joeys he was feeding. ‘Give me a sec and I’ll show you what to do. Then maybe you girls can do some of the feeds for me while you’re here.’
Poppy almost burst with excitement. She loved helping out with all the animals, and the idea she might get to feed wild baby ones? She couldn’t stop grinning.
‘Sarah, do you want to go first?’ Mark asked. ‘The clinics that are set up with all the equipment required for major burns and surgeries have all the adult animals, so we have just a few babies that we can easily tend to.’
Poppy was desperate to be the first to hold the bottle. But her friend was way out of her comfort zone coming to spend a weekend with horses, so it was kind of the least she could do, letting her go first.
‘You bet!’ Sarah grinned, stepping forward. She was the only one not wearing jods. Instead, she was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, her jeans scrunched up at the knee where she’d tucked them inside Poppy’s old scuffed riding boots.
Sarah started peppering Mark with questions about the animals and how to look after them. Her face glowed and Poppy couldn’t help noticing she seemed much happier here than in the horse paddock. Poppy smiled. So long as Sarah was happy on the farm, Poppy was happy, even if it wasn’t riding related.
While they were chatting and feeding the possums, Poppy saw Milly sidling quietly away. Poppy followed, curious to take a look.
In the corner that was sectioned off, some wood pieces had been bolted to the garage wall. Two large pouches hung from the wood and a makeshift fence surrounded the area. Poppy could just see gangly legs peeking out of the pouches. It looked like a tight fit!
‘They must be the kangaroos in there,’ Poppy whispered, pointing.
‘I know. Cool, huh?’
A hand closed over Poppy’s shoulder and she turned to see Sarah.
‘You should have mentioned the baby animals,’ her friend whispered. ‘Then I would have come to Starlight Stables sooner!’
Poppy grinned. Maybe she’d have to look out for animals to rescue all the time if it meant Sarah would keep coming back.
‘Just let me toilet these little guys, then I’ll be with you,’ Mark said from the other side of the room.
‘Toilet them?’ Poppy asked.
‘Yuk,’ Milly muttered as they all watched Mark massage first one baby possum, then another.
‘Their mother would have licked them, to get them to go after feeding. So I massage them like this . . .’ Uncle Mark explained. ‘It’s just poop, Milly. Nothing to be disgusted about. Seeing them grow and thrive makes it all worth it.’
Milly didn’t look convinced, but Sarah nodded, totally engrossed in what Mark was saying. Poppy couldn’t have cared less about the poop part, and she was impressed that Sarah didn’t seem to care either. Poppy picked up horse poo all the time, and she’d seen her uncle do way more disgusting things for work, like put his arm inside a cow to yank its baby calf out when it got stuck during birth.
Once he was finished, Mark hung the possums up on the makeshift stand and collected the two remaining bottles. These ones were more like human baby bottles rather than the big plastic syringes with tiny teats on the end he’d been using to feed the possums.
‘Do you know what happened to their mothers?’ Katie asked.
Mark gestured for them to follow and opened the temporary fence he had in place around where the kangaroos were. ‘One of these babies was found on its own, badly burned across his paws and seriously dehydrated. He’s lucky to be alive. The other, he was inside his mum’s pouch. She was dead, but this little guy miraculously survived.’
Poppy watched Mark, took note of how slowly he approached the pouches and the way he held the bottles. She loved the idea of helping him. ‘Poppy, you want to go first?’ he asked.
Poppy couldn’t believe her luck. She took one of the bottles, holding it the same way Mark did.
‘I’ve got them hanging on this wall because there’s a heat pad fitted beneath the blanket. The pouches get the right amount of warmth from it.’
The joeys stuck their heads out, the pouches giving them just enough wriggle room as they peered from their spots. The one Poppy was about to feed hungrily latched on to the teat, and she had to hold it firmly to stop it from being pulled out of her hand! She couldn’t take her eyes off his skinny legs, thick fur, and chocolate-brown eyes – he was gorgeous!
‘It’s pretty special, Pops,’ her uncle said, winking at her as she copied everything he was doing.
‘It’s amazing.’ She smiled down at the beautiful joey as he suckled. ‘Is it special milk?’
‘Yes,’ Mark replied. ‘Special milk for marsupial orphans. We’d do them more harm than good feeding them cow’s milk.’
‘Can I have a turn now?’ Sarah asked eagerly.
Poppy nodded and waited for Sarah’s hand to close over the bottle before she removed hers. They both stood there and watched, hardly breathing. Poppy wished she could stroke it’s beautiful fur but she knew it would frighten him.
‘Will you keep them as pets?’ Katie asked Mark softly.
‘Sadly, no. I’ll do my bit until the animal rescue centre can take them, then they’ll aim to release them into the wild when they can. But there could be more fires if the drought doesn’t break soon.’
Poppy hoped bushfire season would be over soon. The idea of a fire coming close to Starlight Stables terrified her. But if Mark did get more animals, she’d be the first to volunteer to help out. She looked at Sarah’s entranced face and smiled. She was pretty sure Sarah would want to come back if she knew it was to help injured baby animals.
‘You girls should find Sophie. I know she wants to talk to you about the bushfires before your ride,’ said Mark.
Poppy glanced at the others. They looked as concerned as she felt. On weekends Aunt Sophie usually let them choose what riding they wanted to do, but maybe she was going to tell them it was too dangerous to trail ride.
When they’d all taken a turn feeding the babies, they headed towards the stables. Casper came bounding out of nowhere and they all dropped down to greet him. Sarah laughed and hugged him as he licked her face. She was much more comfortable around dogs than horses, Poppy couldn’t help noticing.
‘There you are!’ Aunt Sophie called out, emerging from the stables. She walked quickly towards them, brushing her hands against her jods. Sarah stood up and Aunt Sophie slung an arm around her shoulders. ‘How’s the new recruit?’
Sarah pulled a face. ‘Can I be the new baby animal recruit rather than the riding recruit?’ she said in a jokey way, although Poppy suspected she wasn’t kidding.
Aunt Sophie laughed and shook her head. ‘The girls have been so excited about you coming this weekend. We’ll make a rider out of you yet.’
‘That’s what I hoped you wouldn’t say.’
Aunt Sophie gave Sarah a squeeze, before going all serious, and Poppy knew she was going to give them the lowdown on the fires. Sarah dropped to her knee again, patting Casper as he lay on his back for a tummy tickle, loving the attention.
‘Girls, as I’m sure you’re all aware, there have been some very big bushfires over the past month, and I just want to make sure you understand the s
eriousness of any situation involving fire.’
Aunt Sophie leaned against the post and rail fence, looking at each of them. ‘I don’t want to scare you, but it’s something we need to talk about before you go riding.’
They were all silent and Poppy never took her eyes off her aunt. Fire terrified her, especially when there were animals involved. It was amazing that her uncle was helping out, but she’d seen the news on TV before her mum had switched it off. There were pictures of charred black trees, and the newsreader said many animals hadn’t survived. She’d heard that people died trying to save their homes too. It had been one of the worst-ever seasons for fire.
‘They haven’t been close to here, have they?’ Katie asked, her voice way more timid than usual.
‘Not too close,’ Aunt Sophie replied, ‘and we’re lucky that the weather hasn’t been as hot this past week, but we still need to be vigilant. I’ll take you for a walk after your ride to show you our plans for the horses if we receive any warnings, but I want you all to be careful. It’s very dry and even a tractor working a field and getting too hot could ignite something. So stay safe, don’t ride anywhere without telling me, keep a mobile phone on you at all times, and if you see fire . . .’
Poppy gulped. ‘We get home. Fast.’
Aunt Sophie nodded. ‘Just be sensible, that’s all. Okay?’
Poppy nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘Sure thing, Mrs D,’ Milly said.
Sarah looked worried and Poppy grabbed her hand and squeezed it. ‘It’s just a precaution,’ she assured her.
Sarah smiled back, but Poppy could tell she was freaked out, probably as much from the fire danger as the idea of horse riding. Poppy sighed. Just another reason for Sarah not to come back to Starlight Stables. Things really weren’t going quite to plan.
Milly and Katie were busy chatting now that they’d brought the ponies in, and Poppy was half-listening to them talk about school as she checked Crystal’s girth to make sure it was tight enough. The last thing she wanted was to put her foot in the stirrup to get on and end up with her saddle under her pony’s tummy! It seemed fine, and she quietly let herself out of Crystal’s stable for a moment to check on Sarah. She’d left her alone for a bit while she got Crystal ready.
Starlight Stables: Bush Bolts Page 2