As Poppy stepped carefully over the metal grid, she felt a twinge of sadness knowing that she no longer had to look out for her little furriend’s safety.
She saw the zebras waiting for her. The minute she reached them, they crowded around her, shielding her from human eyes.
‘Hello again,’ the zebra honked cheerfully. ‘The kennel is just at the bottom of this hill.’
Poppy quickly recognised him as the zebra she and Harley had met earlier that morning. She smiled, realising that when she and Harley had first met, his family had only ever been on the other side of the fence.
The zebra pulled his lips back and grinned, revealing big pink gums and a huge set of teeth. ‘Come on,’ he honked. ‘Let’s go.’
The herd closed in around Poppy as they walked down the hill. She tried looking around but couldn’t see anything for the zebra’s legs.
When the herd finally stepped aside, Poppy found they were standing in front of a small, familiar piece of woodland.
‘Thank you,’ she barked and wagged her tail.
‘You’re welcome,’ the zebra snorted, twitching his ears and shaking his head.
He galloped back up the hill and the others followed, honking loudly, hooves pounding the ground, their tufted tails swishing behind them.
Poppy walked through the trees, nose to the ground, snuffling through the leaves, dirt and stones. She wagged her tail, picking up the scent of rabbits, squirrels, birds and foxes. She jumped over fallen branches, then stopped and buried her nose inside a rabbit burrow. She snorted loudly, shaking her head and making her jowls flap. But the distraction was short-lived when she heard a familiar bark.
She looked up, then wagged her tail, threw her head back and howled.
Chapter 23
The Wanderer Returns
‘There you are!’ Jake the Dalmatian barked, his tail wagging furiously. ‘Come on. Hurry up!’
Poppy raced through the trees towards him, her tail swinging in circles. She stopped in front of him and, with her tail still wagging, she let him sniff her all over. She was flattered by how happy he was to see her again.
Once he was satisfied she was healthy, happy and unhurt, he turned towards the kennels. ‘Come on, we had better get you back inside. Did you find anything out? Did you find your family?’ Before Poppy could answer, Jake continued, ‘There is something going on. Since you left, some people have been in to see Tony. We couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their tone sounded serious. That’s why I’ve been out here waiting for you. We got worried thinking something had happened.’
Poppy didn’t have time to explain. Jake was already hurrying towards the open doorway. She followed him inside, creeping closely and silently, careful not to disturb the attendant who sat at the desk typing busily on the computer.
When they finally reached her empty room, a familiar bark rang out. ‘Well, well, well. The wanderer returns!’ Rory the Alsatian jumped up. He pushed his nose through the bars and snarled.
Poppy glanced at him as Jake opened the door for her. This time, Rory’s snarling and barking didn’t make her whine and tremble in fear. He seemed less frightening than she remembered, but then compared to snarling wolves, tigers, wild dogs, gigantic rhinoceroses, humungous elephants and of course, white lions, Rory seemed pretty tame.
She could feel his eyes on her as she walked into the room.
‘You didn’t find your family, then? They have probably left without you. I would get used to that little room of yours if I were you.’
Hearing this, Poppy’s stomach tightened. She hoped he was wrong. She thought about what Nami the rhinoceros had said, how she had been certain Poppy’s family would come back. She remembered Cain telling her the same thing. Then she looked across the corridor to see Ruby. She too had told Poppy not to worry, so why was she listening to Rory?
Ruby stood up and wagged her tail. ‘It’s good to see you again, Poppy,’ she whined. ‘With everything going on, we got worried. Are you OK? Did you find anything out about Cain?’
Rory groaned as he scratched his ear, but his eyes never left Poppy. ‘Do you really think Goldie knows anything? She probably didn’t even make it past those trees.’ He curled his lip and snarled.
Poppy walked around her room. She glanced over her shoulder at Rory, then looked away. Being back in the small room made her anxious. Now all she could do was wait and see who was right. Would her family come back for her or not?
Jake stood in front of the bars to her gate, his eyes wide and bright as he looked at her and waited.
‘So, Poppy,’ he growled, ‘I’m guessing, because you’re back, that you didn’t find your family?’
Poppy bowed her head, the knot in her stomach tightening.
‘But did you find anything out about Cain?’
‘Oh yes, I did,’ she growled, feeling a little brighter at the prospect of telling her new friends the news.
Rory threw his head back. ‘Yeah, yeah,’ he said, yawning.
‘Hush up, Rory,’ Ruby barked, and then pressed her nose through the bars. Poppy noticed that, like Jake, she was eager to hear her news. ‘Was I right? Is Cain going to another safari park?’
Rory grumbled, ‘She doesn’t know. We know more than she does. I tell you, either Cain’s killed someone or the park’s got another star attraction and old Cain feels threatened.’
‘Actually, none of you are right,’ Poppy growled.
The kennel fell silent except for the click click of Tony typing into his computer. Poppy looked around and noticed they were all watching and waiting for her.
‘Cain is a white lion and the big news is that he’s a dad. He’s got a cub called Harley.’
‘A white lion!’ Jake howled. ‘And a cub, you say? Well the park definitely won’t be closing now. Did you actually see Cain?’
Poppy nodded.
‘Thank goodness you came back in one piece,’ Ruby whined. ‘Did you see the cub too?’
She nodded again. ‘He was lost and, like me, searching for his family. We found Cain in the African wild dog enclosure.’
Jake stood up and stared at her. Ruby whined while Poppy refused to look at Rory knowing that he would surely be glaring at her
‘How did Cain get in with the wild dogs?’ Ruby growled softly, her ears twitching.
Poppy explained about the fight, the hole in the fence and Cain taking her through it into the lion enclosure where she then met the zebras.
No one made a sound. Poppy could see they were busy taking everything in. She felt happy, excited and proud to be able to give them the news. Perhaps her adventure had been more successful than she had first thought.
‘Hold on one minute,’ Rory growled.
Reluctantly, Poppy turned towards him. The Alsatian paced backwards and forwards, his eyes fixed on her.
‘You mean to tell us that you walked out of the wild dog enclosure without a scratch…’
Poppy barked. She heard the doubt in his voice and felt insulted to think he thought she was a liar.
‘Oh, but Cain rescued us!’ she said. ‘He was so grateful that I had found Harley that he helped me find my way back.’
Rory howled, ‘There is no way a pretty Goldie like you would meet up with a lion and live to tell the tale. He’d eat you for dinner, not hold your paw and guide you safely back here!’ The Alsatian roared with laughter.
Poppy saw the sympathetic look in Ruby’s eyes. When she turned to Jake, he looked away. She could see he was struggling to believe her. Meanwhile, Rory’s howls of laughter rang around the kennels.
Poppy sat down and looked at the floor. She refused to look at the others.
‘All right. All right. Keep it down over there,’ Tony shouted.
Rory calmed down. Poppy looked up to see everyone was watching her – except for Rory, of course.
The Alsatian turned his back on her and began gnawing his rubber bone.
Chapter 24
A Fresh Start
A long, awkward silence fell across the kennels. Poppy lay down and sighed, resting her chin on her paws. Her ears twitched to the sound of Rory’s teeth squeaking against his tough rubber bone.
Suddenly the loud shrill of the telephone broke the stillness.
‘Hello, this is Tony.’
Poppy sat up. Her ears twitched and, she noticed, so did everyone else’s.
‘Hi Becki, did you find out what happened?’ There was an edge to Tony’s voice which Poppy picked up on quickly.
After a few suspense-filled seconds, they heard Tony speak again. ‘I’ve never known the whole pack fight before. I wonder what started it? It’s lucky no one was driving through at the time.’
Poppy stared down the corridor towards Tony’s desk.
There was a pause, then Tony said, loudly, ‘A what? A hole in the fence? Did any of them get out?’
Poppy glanced out of the corner of her eye. Rory sat frowning at her. She glanced away.
‘Thank goodness for that. I wonder how long the enclosure will be shut for.’
That explains why there were no cars, Poppy thought, remembering the empty road around the enclosure and how it had seemed so eerily quiet. She noticed everyone was watching her.
‘Well, I never doubted you for a moment,’ Ruby growled. Poppy saw the faint glimpse of a smile.
‘Neither did I,’ Jake barked. ‘I’m going to see if I can find out a bit more.’ He then turned and ran to Tony.
‘But, that still leaves one thing,’ Rory growled as he paced around his room.
Poppy could hear the displeasure in his voice. She looked at him, now finding his attitude tiresome. Why can’t we just be friends? she wondered. Why is he intent on making me feel so uncomfortable?
‘You still stole your dad’s ice cream. Your family still left you behind, and you said yourself how annoyed your dad was. Let’s face it, food is all you care about and your family know it too.’
Poppy sighed. Now she knew why Rory had taken such a dislike to her. It was because she had demanded to have his biscuits. Perhaps if she had been a little more polite they would now be friends. She remembered her encounter with the camel, how her behaviour had ruined any chance they had of receiving help. She winced at the thought of how rude she had been.
‘Well,’ she barked, ‘hopefully they will come back and Dad will forgive me.’ Rory glared at her but still she stepped towards him. ‘I have done things I regret and that I’m very sorry for.’ She stood and waited for a reaction.
Rory growled. His lips twitched, revealing the tips of his teeth.
‘We all make mistakes, Poppy,’ Ruby barked.
Poppy nodded. Taking a deep breath, she stepped even closer to Rory.
‘While I was in the safari, I met someone called Nami. She told me that humans are just like other animals, that they make mistakes too. Some people are bad, but others are good and kind. Just because your first family left you, doesn’t mean every human will do the same, and that includes my family and yours.’
Rory’s ears twitched.
‘Ruby said you have been here lots of times before. So your family always come back for you. It sounds to me like your family love you very much.’
To her surprise, she heard Rory whine. He pulled his ears back and nodded. She saw the look in his eyes soften and she sensed his aggression fade.
‘Maybe your family will come back for you,’ he growled softly.
Poppy sighed. ‘If they do, I will show them how sorry I am.’
She walked around her room and saw her upturned empty food bowl. Her stomach grumbled. She was so hungry. What I would do for some strawberry ice cream, she thought. She licked her lips, thinking of the cold, soft, pink scoops of ice cream and imagining taking a bite. With a sigh, she flopped down in the bed.
A noise from outside made her ears twitch. She tilted her head to the sound of tyres crunching over gravel. She heard a car engine, but not just any car. She recognised that sound.
She leapt up at the gate. She heard footsteps walking down the corridor. She heard Tony laughing. Then his kind face appeared, smiling down at her. He was holding her lead in one hand and opening the gate with the other.
As she was led out of her room, she barked at Ruby. ‘It was nice meeting you.’
‘Goodbye, Poppy. I told you there was nothing to worry about, didn’t I?’
She looked at Rory and barked, ‘I’m sorry for trying to steal your biscuits.’
Rory stood up and wagged his tail. ‘You are forgiven, Poppy.’
Tony pulled Poppy’s lead gently and she trotted by his side. She practically skipped down the corridor, knowing who was waiting for her. Jake sat by the desk, back straight, chin up, receiving lots of fuss from… Dad! Poppy howled. Her claws tippy-tapped and slid across the tiled floor as she pulled against her lead.
Dad turned and grinned. ‘Hey, Poppy! There’s my girl.’ He opened his arms and Poppy leapt towards him. She licked his face, his ears and his neck. She whined and howled at the top of her voice.
Dad laughed as Poppy nearly pushed him over, ‘OK. OK. I missed you too! Jack and Evie can’t wait to tell you about all the animals they’ve seen.’
He took Poppy’s lead from Tony and gently pushed her away. She rocked back on her haunches. She was about to jump up again, beside herself with joy, when Dad lifted his hand, palm side facing her. Despite her excitement, she remembered and recognised the signal to stop. She sat down and gazed up at him, drawing her mouth back and whining with delight. Dad was back!
She watched him bury his hand in his pocket. The smell reached her nose before he had even taken his hand out. Biscuits!
She licked her lips as drool started dripping from her jowls. But she didn’t leap up and snatch the treat out of his hand. She didn’t jump up and bark furiously. This time, she sat down and looked up into Dad’s kind face. His smile deepened. She saw the surprise in his eyes.
‘Well, would you look at that,’ Dad said. ‘Being in the kennels has taught you some manners.’ He laughed and lowered the biscuit to her mouth.
Gently and delicately, she took the biscuit from him and then gobbled it up as quickly as she could.
‘Has she been good?’ Dad asked, looking down at her and tickling her chin.
Tony chuckled and gently stroked Poppy’s silky ears. ‘Mr Robinson, Poppy has been as good as gold. In fact, she has been so quiet you wouldn’t have known she was here.’
Dad grinned. ‘I think you deserve a treat, Poppy. How does strawberry ice cream sound?’
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the team at Matador for your help and support in publishing and marketing this – my very first – book.
I’d also like to thank Antonia Prescott, my editor. I’ve really enjoyed working with you and throwing ideas back and forth during our long telephone conversations. I value your help and advice on POPPY and also on my next book… and the next!
Thank you to all my dear friends and family for your encouragement. To Sian, my dearest friend, for your unwavering support not just on this book but for the last eighteen years. Thank you, Jarv, for constantly telling me NEVER to give up. To Chrissie, for kindly reading through the earlier drafts of POPPY; thank you for your help and encouragement.
Thank you to my daughter, Becki, for being my very honest critic, for taking the time to sit and listen to your crazy mum as I read you this story. Your comments have helped develop POPPY into the story it is today.
Thank you to my son, Nathan, who like his mum enjoys art and hopes one day to be a successful graphic designer. Thank you for your patience when my constant taps on your door asking for your opinion on my new drawing must have driven you mad! I really appreciated your
advice.
Thank you to my parents who have believed in my ability to become an author since I was at primary school. Your faith in me is what has fuelled my determination to fulfil my dream – and look, I actually did it!
And most of all, thank you to my husband, Mark. For all the times you have stepped in while I sat in ‘my cave’ as you call it, so I could write. Love you.
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