by Sarah Lean
Tiger was trying to think of something clever by herself when May Days said, “I think we ought to take Holly to the vet.”
“Why? What’s wrong with her?” said Tiger, holding Holly up to look at her. The cat was as bright-eyed and fluffy-tailed as ever.
“Nothing, I’m sure,” said May Days. “But as she spends more time with us than anyone else, we ought to make sure she has regular check-ups.”
May Days didn’t have a car, but Grumps offered to give them a lift and drop them off. He and Tom needed to go shopping for sandpaper to rub down the old white paint on Spinaway’s hull. There was a DIY store just outside the village and they would pick Tiger and May Days up on the way back.
Miss Popescu, the vet, had met May Days several times since she’d moved to Willowgate House so knew May Days had lots of experience with animals.
“And who is this gorgeous ball of fluff?” said Miss Popescu, smiling warmly when Tiger put the cat on the table.
“This is Holly Days,” said Tiger. “We look after her at Willowgate.”
Holly didn’t mind the vet at all and paraded along the table, waving her tail high in the air.
“How can you tell if Holly is not very well?” said Tiger, keen to learn.
“I’ll show you,” said Miss Popescu.
Tiger learned how to check that Holly’s teeth were strong, her ears clean, her fur glossy and her eyes bright, and she was allowed to listen through the stethoscope to hear Holly’s heart beating steadily. Holly already seemed to know she was healthy and didn’t flinch at the injection she had to have to keep her healthy, while Tiger stroked her to help her stay calm.
“You are very good with animals,” the vet said.
“I learned from May Days,” said Tiger.
Miss Popescu looked very thoughtful. “I have been talking to May Days recently because I’ve had no luck finding a home for another animal,” she said.
This was just the kind of important news that Tiger needed. But was it another cat? A rabbit? A guinea pig? For a moment she wondered if it might even be a tiger! Tom seemed to have had all the luck so far. Would this turn out to be Tiger’s lucky day?
“Willowgate is a very nice home,” said Tiger, feeling lively now. “It has loads of rooms and the garden is huge and Holly loves it there. It’s the perfect home for any animal.”
Miss Popescu twitched her lips from side to side as if she was still deciding.
“What sort of animal is it?” Tiger asked, ready to make plans.
“It’s an otter,” said the vet, and explained that a kind person had brought the otter to her when they had found it injured on the road about six months ago. Tiger thought about her idea for a duck school and thought that otters might need one too, to stay safe. Tiger wondered what otters might need to learn. The thought made her feel warm and fuzzy inside and she linked her arms through her grandmother’s.
“Can the otter come home with us?” said Tiger, looking at May Days pleadingly.
“It’s a wild otter,” said the vet gently. “He was quite young when he was found, but now he’s recovered and fully grown, with the help of some experts. He’s not a pet, though, I’m afraid.”
The otter wouldn’t be at home in anybody’s house and needed to go back to the wild. Tiger had got it all wrong and her shoulders slumped.
“Would it be possible for Tiger to see the otter?” asked May Days. Tiger gasped at this, as she’d never seen an otter in real life before.
In the garden area at the back of the vet’s were pens for injured wild animals, and Miss Popescu said they could have a little peek. Tiger stood on a short stepladder and looked through a letterbox-sized hole in a solid door. From a wooden box of straw, a soft brown face with a pale grey chin poked out. The otter had bright eyes and white twitching whiskers and Tiger adored it instantly.
“What sort of home does he need?” said Tiger.
“Now, that is an excellent question,” said the vet, smiling. “First, we need to find a stretch of river.”
“There’s one at the bottom of May Days’s garden!” said Tiger.
“We’ve only just discovered it,” said May Days, quietly chuckling.
The vet was happy to hear this news, but needed to be sure of many things about the river and what else lived there before the otter could be safely released.
“What we really need is someone to do some nature spotting,” she said. Tiger explained that this was exactly what she had been planning to do! Miss Popescu told Tiger what to look out for either in, on or around the river, and Tiger carefully made lists in her Nature Spotter’s Journal of insects, birds, fish, mammals, water and the environment. If Tiger spotted everything on the list, it would show that the river was healthy and could make a wonderful home for the otter.
Tiger was thrilled at having this important project to do. It was a big responsibility. There were a few things on the list she hadn’t heard of, but May Days would be there to help her.
Grumps came to pick them up and Tiger was excited to tell Tom about the otter, even though he didn’t look quite as pleased as she did. Tom was much happier to talk about the pirate flag he’d made for the boat and his plans to find treasure.
When they arrived back at Willowgate, they all went down to the boathouse.
All the doors were open. May Days helped Tiger make seats for her den from upturned wooden fruit boxes with cushions on top. They glued a big map of the area to one of the boards from the windows and hung it on the wall. They washed the triangle window and polished it clear. Tiger found it easier and more fun to get on with things with May Days there too, and it helped having a proper plan.
Meanwhile, Grumps and Tom rubbed sandpaper along the lines of the wood grain on the boat’s hull. Their faces were white, their clothes were white and Grumps’s hair was whiter than ever. Paint dust rose in the warm air, with the shush-shush, shush-shush of the sandpaper and the lovely smell of wood. Although Grumps was always the opposite of grumpy, he had an extra sparkle in his eyes while he worked on the boat.
Soon they all began to talk about what colour to paint Spinaway.
Tiger suggested orange and black, but it didn’t seem quite right to paint a boat with stripes like a tiger.
“Just black would be more piratey,” said Tom. The two of them had very different ideas again.
“What is your favourite colour, Grumps?” asked May Days, which made the children smile at each other as it was obvious that Grumps was the right person to choose.
Grumps painted Spinaway’s hull summer-sky blue, and the name on the side in white. He sewed the tear in the sail with nimble fingers.
Tiger’s project was beginning to look very promising. So was Tom’s. By tomorrow, Spinaway would be ready to set sail.
“Can I give the otter a name?” said Tiger, who was too excited to fall asleep that night.
“What name did you have in mind?” said May Days.
“Lucky, because he is making everything turn out better than expected.”
All hands were needed to turn Spinaway. The boat wasn’t very heavy, but it was tricky to handle the curved hump of the hull as they rolled it over.
“It reminds me of the time I lifted an elephant out of a swamp,” said May Days.
“By yourself?” said Tiger, eyes wide in surprise that her grandmother was strong enough to do that.
“With a winch, a Land Rover and lots of help,” said May Days, chuckling. It made Tiger feel more determined today than ever to find an opportunity to do something as surprising as her grandmother.
After cleaning the inside of the boat and chasing out woodlice and spiders, Spinaway was ready to launch. They carried it down the slipway to the river’s edge and put up the mast. Grumps climbed in and Tiger felt jittery in case it toppled over, but couldn’t help cheering with Tom when it floated safely on the water. Using the oars, Grumps rowed to the edge of the jetty and tied the bow rope to the post.
“All aboard, me hearties!” Grumps calle
d. Tom was ready to set sail – wearing a lifejacket, black tricorn hat and striped T-shirt. He wore a black eyepatch, but it made him giddy only seeing out of one eye, so he kept it flipped up on his forehead. He kept scratching his face under the itchy fake black beard.
“Anyone can tell you are a pirate even if you don’t wear the beard,” said Tiger.
“Good!” said Tom, taking it off. “Can I steer?” he said to Grumps.
“But it hasn’t got a steering wheel,” said Tiger.
Grumps pointed to a wooden stick called the tiller at the back of the boat, attached to the rudder under the water. Tom would have to push the tiller right to turn left, and left to turn right. “Steering is all back to front in a boat, but you’ll soon learn,” said Grumps.
May Days suddenly remembered she had to go back up to the house as she was expecting a delivery and would have to miss them setting sail.
“Come on, Tiger. Aren’t you getting in?” said Tom.
Tiger didn’t want to go and was too embarrassed to tell Tom about being scared, especially after seeing him jump in the boat so bravely, even when it was rocking from side to side.
“I’d better wait here,” said Tiger. “You might need someone to pull you back if it gets a leak,” she said, so that Tom wouldn’t guess she was afraid.
“You can be our health and safety checker because you think of all the things I forget to worry about,” laughed Tom.
Tiger untied the rope from the post. Grumps pulled in the oars and hoisted the sail. The sail flapped as it rose and the breeze puffed it out like a plump pillow, surging forward and carrying the boat away.
Tiger felt proud of her friend, but within seconds something looked wrong.
“Other way!” Tiger called from the jetty as Tom steered the boat into the trailing branches of a willow tree.
“Other way!” she shouted again as Tom steered back towards the jetty.
“I’m trying, I’m trying!” said Tom, not used to the tiller or the sails. “It’s surprisingly tricky.”
“Backwards!” squealed Tiger, as the boat headed towards her. The bow bumped into the jetty post, knocking one of the oars into the river. Spinaway hadn’t gone anywhere yet …
“We’d better stop a moment,” Grumps said, as the oar bobbed in the water. “Tiger, would you tie the rope to the post again, please?”
“Good job I was still here,” said Tiger.
Glad she was still on dry land, Tiger tied the rope as Grumps and Tom leaned out over the water to reach the oar. The knot Tiger made wasn’t the right kind of knot. The rope unravelled and trailed towards the edge of the jetty. Tiger grabbed the rope before it fell in the water, and pulled as hard as she could to save the boat from floating away.
Spinaway turned with the current and tugged Tiger along the jetty. She held the rope above her head and went around the reeds to the slipway, hoping to pull the boat in to shore. Spinaway’s sail puffed out again with another gust of wind, dragging Tiger into the edge of the river. She was determined not to let go, afraid what might happen to Tom and Grumps, and leaned back as hard as she could. Grumps finally caught the oar and pulled it into the boat and saw what Tiger was doing.
“Let go, Tiger!” he said quickly as Tiger was now up to her knees in the water. “Drop the sail, Tom!”
Grumps scrabbled to the bow and took the rope from Tiger while Tom loosened a rope and the sail collapsed down, stopping the boat from spinning away.
“I thought I had to hold on,” said Tiger.
“You are as strong as your grandmother,” Grumps said. “But some things you hold on to and some things you have to let go.” The current in the river was stronger than it looked and they all had to be careful. Tiger knew she and Tom were both lucky to have Grumps around to teach them what to do, but she felt uncomfortable about making mistakes. She decided instead to think about more important things. An unfortunate otter still needed a home!
The pirates had set off again and their voices faded down the river, when Tiger heard a buzzing sound coming from the front of the house. It sounded like an engine, but not a car. Louder and louder it buzzed as it came closer. May Days appeared, driving a sit-on lawnmower.
“What do you think of my delivery?” she called. She was obviously enjoying herself very much, and went backwards and forwards zipping through the long grass around the boathouse. “Oh! What happened? Your shoes are wet, Tiger.”
Tiger sighed. She hadn’t intended to surprise her grandmother with wet shoes. She would have to think of a better way of surprising her later. But she had found out something useful to tell May Days. “I’m checking the water like Miss Popescu asked.”
“Jolly good,” May Days said, waving as she zipped away. “I’ll be in the garden, if you need me.”
Tiger collected some water and lay on the bank with Holly, inspecting it in the jam jar while her shoes dried in the sunshine. She opened her journal to check what she had to look for. She could tick quite a few boxes already.
What else could she find? The lawnmower was further away now and instead she could hear quieter buzzing, whizzing and humming sounds coming from the riverbank.
“Let’s go looking for insects, Holly,” Tiger said, and off they went.
A glimmering dragonfly hovered above the reeds before zooming away, and there was much more to see once Tiger looked closely. Lying still on her tummy, a grasshopper bounced right on to her journal page. Holly leapt into the air as a small blue butterfly wafted past.
“Well done, Holly,” Tiger said. “Just what we were looking for.”
Tiger turned a page. “Now we’ll look for birds, but no chasing them, Holly.” She flattened some reeds and made a kind of nest for her and Holly to watch from.
Splash! A duck just like the one she had seen before landed on the river. And then four more came flying in, skiing across the surface before waggling their tails as they folded their wings.
Another bird with a red beak and enormous feet rummaged among the reeds nearby. Tiger didn’t know what it was. She drew it so she could ask May Days later.
Something plopped into the water, but Tiger didn’t see what it was. She crawled to the edge and looked over the side, her head upside down. In the mud bank were holes. Tiger checked the list of river mammals she should look out for. There was one thing that the vet hoped Tiger wouldn’t find in the river – another otter. Otters needed to live alone. Tiger knew that otters dug dens in riverbanks. This was not a good sign. Tiger went back to the slipway and put on her dry shoes.
“May Days!” she called, running up to the house in a panic. If another otter lived there, it would mean the end of her project and no home for Lucky.
Tiger sat at the kitchen table with her grandmother and shared the news.
“Let’s have a think about this,” said May Days. “What size were the holes?”
Tiger made a circle with a finger and thumb, about the size of a ping-pong ball. “This small.”
“What size would you say an otter’s head is?” said May Days.
Tiger made a bigger circle with two hands, about the size of a tennis ball. “This big.”
“Would the otter fit in the hole?”
“No,” Tiger said, with relief. May Days gave her some suggestions as to what it might have been, and Tiger made notes in her journal.
“What kind of bird is this?” said Tiger, showing her grandmother a drawing.
“That’s a very good drawing!” said May Days. “Looks like a moorhen to me.”
Tiger grinned and made another tick on her list.
“What’s left to find?” asked May Days.
“A coot, a heron and a kingfisher,” said Tiger, and turned another page. “Also some fish, and to make sure there are good, strong muddy banks for otters to make a den.”
Tiger would be able to spot the birds from her den or on the riverbank. But everything else was going to be more difficult to find unless she was on the water in a boat …
Tiger was
at the boathouse, upstairs in her nature spotter’s den, and Tom was downstairs in his pirate den. Tiger was drawing on her map. She coloured the reed bed in green along the edge of the bank by the slipway. She drew tiny bees, butterflies and birds where she had seen them. She was also wondering how to solve the problem of finding fish and strong mud banks without going out on the boat.
Downstairs, Tiger could hear Tom talking to himself. She leaned over the balcony and saw he had a piece of rope in his hands. “Make a hole … the rabbit comes out of the hole … goes round the tree … and back down the hole.”
Was Tom doing a wildlife project too? “What are you doing, Tom?”
Tom told her he was practising making a bowline knot. Grumps had taught him a rhyme about a rabbit as a way to remember.
“And that’s going to be my treasure chest,” Tom said, pointing to a see-through plastic box.
“It needs some decoration,” Tiger said.
“I know,” said Tom. “But I’m not very good at that.” He was very interested to see what Tiger was doing too and went up to her den.
“I wish I had one of those,” said Tom, seeing Tiger’s map. “It looks like a pirate treasure map.”
“It is, sort of,” she said, suddenly wondering if the pirate and the nature spotter might be able to join together. And then she had an idea. “I know how we could help each other!”
Tiger would make Tom a treasure map, and Tom would look out for fish and strong muddy banks while he was out sailing. At last they would be a team again.
Later, in the afternoon sunshine, Tom and Grumps set off together in Spinaway with Tom’s plastic treasure chest. May Days joined Tiger on a picnic blanket along the river’s edge where Holly also sprawled, tummy up.