The Talkative Tiger Read online

  “What is it?” chattered Meep, climbing on to Zoe’s shoulder. The blur of stripy fur clambered up the rocks then sat still for a moment, looking this way and that.

  “It’s a tiger cub!” cried Zoe.

  Look out for:

  The Lonely Lion Cub

  The Puzzled Penguin

  The Playful Panda

  The Silky Seal Pup

  The Eager Elephant

  The Lucky Snow Leopard

  The Pesky Polar Bear

  The Cuddly Koala

  The Wild Wolf Pup

  The Happy Hippo

  The Sleepy Snowy Owl

  The Scruffy Sea Otter

  The Picky Puffin

  The Giggly Giraffe

  The Curious Kangaroo

  The Super Sloth

  The Little Llama

  The Messy Meerkat

  The Helpful Hedgehog

  The Rowdy Red Panda

  With special thanks to Siobhan Curham

  For John Arthur

  Zoe Parker took a fish from her bucket and threw it into the water. It was breakfast time at the Rescue Zoo where she lived, and Zoe was helping to feed the sea otters. Sasha, one of the youngest sea otters, caught the fish in her front paws and started to eat. Sasha’s brother and sister, Alex and Nina, whistled happily as Zoe threw more fish into the water for them.

  Someone wasn’t excited though.

  “Yuck, yuck, yuck!” said Zoe’s pet mouse lemur, Meep.

  Zoe was able to understand what Meep was saying because Zoe had a special secret. She was able to talk to animals and understand what they were saying. No-one else knew her secret, not even her mum or her Great-Uncle Horace. “What’s wrong?” she asked, crouching down beside Meep.

  “Fish for breakfast!” Meep wrinkled his tiny black nose.

  “Don’t worry,” Zoe smiled. “I have something I know you’ll like.” She took a banana from the pocket of her shorts, peeled it, and handed it to Meep.

  “Yum, yum, yum!” exclaimed Meep, before taking a bite.

  Zoe looked back at the pool. Three sea otters were floating on their backs eating their fish, their wet coats glistening in the summer sunshine.

  “How are you getting on, Zoe?” Jess, the sea otters’ keeper, called as she came into the enclosure.

  “Great!” replied Zoe. “They’re really enjoying their fish.”

  “They certainly seem happy,” said Jess as the sea otters gave a contented cooing sound. “But are you sure you don’t mind working on the first day of your summer holiday?”

  “No, it’s fun!” Zoe wanted to be a zookeeper when she grew up, and she loved helping with the animals whenever she could.

  “It looks as if we’ll be needing your help,” said Jess, nodding to the empty enclosure next door. “I wonder who our new arrival will be.”

  Zoe looked at the enclosure. Her Great-Uncle Horace, who owned the Rescue Zoo, had recently had a beautiful new habitat built. There was a pond in the middle, with rocks and trees all around it. “It must be something that needs a lot of space and likes to climb and swim,” said Zoe. “Maybe it’s a crocodile!”

  “Could be. Or maybe it’s a family of apes,” said Jess, throwing more fish into the water.

  Zoe nodded.

  A cheery BEEP BEEP BEEP rang out around the zoo. Great-Uncle Horace’s convertible car drove through the zoo gates. The car’s top was down and Great-Uncle Horace was wearing a hat to shield his face from the sun. A small trailer was attached to the back of the convertible car, holding a large crate. Zoe’s heart pounded with excitement. It must be the new animal! The elephants in the enclosure nearby began to trumpet cheerily. The monkeys began to shriek with excitement. Meep ran round in circles waving his paws. All of the animals loved Great-Uncle Horace because he’d rescued them and brought them to live in the zoo.

  Zoe put down her bucket and raced from the otters’ enclosure. Meep and Jess followed close behind. Several of the other keepers and Zoe’s mum, Lucy, who was the zoo vet, were also hurrying over.

  “Great-Uncle Horace, it’s so good to see you!” cried Zoe. “Do you have the new animal? Who have you rescued this time?”

  “Good morning, Zoe,” called Great-Uncle Horace, as he got out of the car. There was a flutter of wings and a beautiful bright blue bird flew out and perched on his shoulder. It was Kiki, Great-Uncle Horace’s hyacinth macaw, who went everywhere with him.

  “Can some of you help me with this crate?” Great-Uncle Horace asked the keepers.

  Zoe watched as Great-Uncle Horace, Mark, the big cat keeper, and Mr Pinch, the zoo manager, carefully lowered the crate right in front of the new enclosure. Great-Uncle Horace opened the enclosure gate. Then he opened the crate. A blur of orange, white and black stripy fur raced into the enclosure.

  “What is it?” chattered Meep, climbing on to Zoe’s shoulder to get a better view. The blur of stripy fur clambered up the rocks then sat still for a moment, looking this way and that.

  “It’s a tiger cub!” cried Zoe.

  Everyone laughed and cheered as the tiger cub bounced around the enclosure and splashed into the pool. Everyone apart from Mr Pinch.

  “Look at the mess it’s making, splashing water everywhere,” he said with a sigh. Mr Pinch always wanted everything to be neat and tidy.

  “Tigers love to swim, Mr Pinch,” said Mark. “They can swim up to twenty-nine kilometres a day.”

  “Wow!” exclaimed Zoe. “So that’s why he’s got his own pond.”

  “Why on earth would tigers want to do that?” Mr Pinch frowned and shook his head.

  “It sounds like tigers love water just as much as sea otters do,” chuckled Jess.

  The cub got out of the water and scampered up the rocks. He yelped happily as he climbed higher.

  “Looks like tigers love to climb too,” giggled Zoe.

  “And leap.” Mark laughed as the cub jumped from one rock to the next.

  “What’s the tiger saying?” Meep whispered in Zoe’s ear, as the cub continued to yelp.

  “He’s saying he’s really happy to be here,” Zoe whispered back. “Where did you rescue him from, Great-Uncle Horace?”

  “From a place called Bengal in India,” replied Great-Uncle Horace. “Unfortunately, the forest he was born in has been turned into farmland. When his mother died, he had nowhere to live.”

  “That’s really sad,” said Zoe, frowning.

  “It’s OK, love, he’s safe now,” said Lucy, giving her a hug.

  “A hundred years ago there were forty thousand tigers in the forests of Bengal,” continued Great-Uncle Horace. “But now there are only one thousand four hundred.”

  “But why?” asked Zoe.

  “Because people keep taking the land away. And it’s not just happening to tigers.” Great-Uncle Horace stroked Kiki’s bright blue feathers. “Even hyacinth macaws and mouse lemurs are losing their habitats in the wild.”

  “Yikes!” yelped Meep, flinging his paws around Zoe’s neck.

  “That’s terrible,” said Zoe. She hated thinking of animals losing their homes. Surely there was something they could do to help.

  “Don’t worry, Zoe,” said Lucy. “I’m sure the tiger cub will be very happy in his new home.”

  But what about all of the other animals who are losing their homes? Zoe thought. Great-Uncle Horace couldn’t rescue them all.

  “I’ll be back to give him his check-up later, Uncle Horace,” said Lucy. “I just need to give the patients in the zoo hospital their breakfast.”

  “I say we get some enrichment toys for our new arrival,” said Great-Uncle Horace to Mark. “To help him feel more at home.”

  “Can I look after him while you’re gone?” asked Zoe.

  Gre
at-Uncle Horace looked thoughtful for a moment. “As long as he’s OK with it. Tigers can be very territorial, even when they’re cubs. They like their own space.”

  “Of course,” said Zoe. She went over to the enclosure gate and crouched down. As soon as he saw her, the little tiger came racing over. He sniffed at her hand and let out a happy chattering sound.

  “Well, it sounds as if he’d very much like you to take care of him,” chuckled Great-Uncle Horace.

  Zoe beamed with pride as she felt for the paw-shaped pendant around her neck. Great-Uncle Horace had given her the pendant as a birthday present. It opened all of the enclosure gates in the zoo. She pressed the silver charm on to a pad beside the gate and it swung open. The tiger cub nuzzled her leg, chatting excitedly.

  “Hello!” Zoe crouched down to greet the cub. Meep hopped down from her shoulder. “My name’s Zoe and this is Meep. He’s a mouse lemur.”

  The cub snorted happily and rubbed his cheek against hers.

  “He says his name is Teddy,” Zoe said to Meep.

  The cub raced around them in a circle, continuing to snort.

  “He’s making me dizzy!” exclaimed Meep, spinning round and round to try and keep up with Teddy.

  “He’s very excited to be here,” said Zoe. “We’re very excited to have you too.” She stroked the cub’s silky head. A second later he was bounding off again, peering through the fence into the sea otters’ enclosure. He made a soft growling sound and looked at Zoe curiously.

  “That’s the sea otters’ enclosure,” replied Zoe. “Great-Uncle Horace rescued them too. He rescued all of the animals at the zoo.”

  The sea otters raised their heads from the water and cooed hello to Teddy.

  Teddy scampered off up the pile of rocks and looked into the enclosure on the other side, yowling loudly to say hello.

  “That’s where the elephants live,” replied Zoe.

  Bertie the elephant gave a cheery trumpet hello.

  Teddy came bounding back over, still talking.

  “I like his stripy fur,” said Meep.

  Teddy chattered some more.

  “He says that no two tigers have exactly the same stripes. He thinks his are very pretty,” Zoe said. “I think so, too.” She heard the sound of voices. Visitors were starting to come through the zoo gates. “You’re going to see a lot of people now,” she explained to Teddy. She hoped he wouldn’t be scared. But Teddy didn’t seem scared at all. He scampered over to the fence, chattering loudly as a boy and girl came running over.

  “Look! Look! It’s a tiger cub,” the boy exclaimed.

  Teddy yelped at Zoe.

  “He wants to know if they’re brother and sister,” Zoe explained to Meep. “I think they must be,” Zoe whispered to the cub. “They both have the same red hair.”

  “Look, Mum, it’s a tiger cub!” said the girl as a woman came over to join them.

  “Ah, isn’t he sweet,” said the mum.

  Teddy ran round in a circle chasing his tail, chattering louder than ever.

  “I don’t know who their mum’s favourite animal is,” replied Zoe.

  The woman smiled as Teddy rolled on his back on the ground.

  “I think she likes tigers best now she’s seen you!” giggled Zoe.

  Just then Great-Uncle Horace and Mark returned with armfuls of toys. As they came into the enclosure Teddy bounded over to greet them.

  “Well, well, someone looks very happy in his new home,” said Great-Uncle Horace. “Good work, Zoe. Have you come up with a name for him?”

  “Yes. His name is Teddy.” Zoe smiled to herself. If only Great-Uncle Horace knew that she didn’t come up with the animals’ names at all. The animals told them to her!

  Mark placed a barrel on its side on the ground. “Teddy can have fun rolling this,” he explained to Zoe.

  “And he can have fun chewing on this.” Great-Uncle Horace took a thick piece of rope from the box he was holding. “And chasing this.” He took out a large ball.

  But instead of playing with the toys, Teddy leaped inside the box.

  “Looks like he prefers the box,” giggled Zoe.

  More people started gathering outside the enclosure, watching Teddy play.

  “I love his stripes,” called out a little boy.

  “Did you know that no two tigers have exactly the same pattern of stripes?” said Zoe.

  “Wow, that’s really cool,” replied the boy.

  “Where’s he from?” asked a woman.

  “A place called Bengal,” replied Zoe.

  More and more people gathered by the enclosure. And now, instead of looking at Teddy, they were all staring at her. Zoe’s face started to flush.

  “What does he like to eat?” another man asked.

  “Oh – I – um – I’m not sure,” stammered Zoe.

  “How old is he?” another woman called.

  “I don’t know,” Zoe’s face was burning now, she felt so embarrassed.

  Great-Uncle Horace came over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Young Teddy is about four months old,” he told the woman. “So he won’t be this size forever. Tigers are the largest wild cats in the world. They can grow up to three metres long!”

  “Wow, that’s really long!” a boy gasped. “What do they like to eat?”

  “Tigers are carnivores, so they only eat meat.” Great-Uncle Horace turned to Zoe and smiled. “And talking of food, how about we join your mum for lunch in the café while Teddy plays with his new toys?”

  Meep’s long tail sprang up with excitement at the mention of food.

  “That would be great.” Zoe went over and patted Teddy on the head. “Have fun with your toys,” she whispered. “I’ll be back to see you soon.”

  As she followed Great-Uncle Horace out of the enclosure, she gave a relieved sigh. She loved being with the animals but having to answer so many questions from so many people was a little scary!

  Zoe followed Great-Uncle Horace into the zoo café with Meep perched on her shoulder. Trays of freshly baked cupcakes filled the counter. They smelled so delicious they made Zoe’s mouth water. Meep clapped his front paws, clearly excited by the smell of food too. As they went over to the counter Zoe saw the little boy and girl with the red hair. They were sitting at a table with their mum and dad.

  “Look, Mum, there’s the girl from the tiger enclosure,” cried the boy.

  Zoe’s face flushed again. She really hoped they wouldn’t ask her any more questions while she was trying to eat!

  “Hello, Zoe, hello, Mr Higgins,” Sally, the café manager, called from behind the counter.

  “Hello, Sally.” Great-Uncle Horace gave her a cheery grin. “We’d like a table for lunch please.”

  “Why does he want to eat a table for lunch?” Meep chattered in Zoe’s ear, his big golden eyes wide with shock.

  “He doesn’t want a table to eat!” Zoe whispered, trying not to laugh. “He wants a table to sit at.”

  “Why didn’t he say that then?” chattered Meep.

  “Hello, Meep,” Sally leaned over the counter and stroked the mouse lemur’s soft grey fur. “Would you like some lunch too?”

  “Yes, but tell her I don’t want a table,” Meep muttered to Zoe.

  Zoe bit her lip to stop herself laughing. “Yes please,” she said to Sally.

  They went over to a table in the corner. Meep hopped down from Zoe’s shoulder and perched on the back of a chair.

  “Aha! Here’s your mother,” said Great-Uncle Horace as Lucy came into the café. She was carrying her vet’s bag and a stethoscope hung around her neck.

  “So, how’s the new arrival doing?” Lucy asked as she sat down at the table.

  “He’s doing really well,” said Zoe. “His name’s Teddy.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a lively tiger cub.” Great-Uncle Horace stroked his white beard thoughtfully. “Maybe we should do something special to celebrate his arrival at the zoo.”

  Zoe nodded. “Could we do
something to let people know that tigers are losing their homes? I really want to help them.”

  “Maybe we could have a fundraiser to help protect tigers’ habitats in the wild?” suggested Lucy.

  “That’s a wonderful idea,” said Great-Uncle Horace.

  Zoe looked at Meep, who was gazing hungrily at the food on the counter. “You know, lemurs and other animals are losing their homes too – maybe we could raise money for all of them,” she suggested.

  “Yes, yes!” said Great-Uncle Horace, clapping his hands and smiling. “I’ll ask the keepers to give talks about what’s happening to their animals.”

  “And maybe you could give a talk about how mouse lemurs are losing their homes in the wild too,” Lucy said to Zoe.

  “That’s an excellent idea!” exclaimed Great-Uncle Horace.

  “Oh – uh – I –” stammered Zoe.

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Meep chattered, waving his paws.

  Zoe got butterflies in her tummy at the thought of having to give a talk in front of lots of people. But she didn’t want to let Great-Uncle Horace down. “OK.”

  “Wonderful!” exclaimed Great-Uncle Horace. “Now let’s have lunch!”

  Later that night, Zoe tossed and turned in her bed. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get to sleep. When she was little and couldn’t sleep, her mum had told her to close her eyes and picture sheep jumping over a fence. “If you count the sheep as they jump, you’ll soon fall asleep,” Lucy had said.

  But now, every time Zoe tried to picture a sheep, she imagined it asking her a question instead of jumping. Soon, there was a whole flock of sheep in her head, all baa-ing questions she couldn’t answer. Zoe sat up in bed, her heart pounding. What if she messed up her talk? What if she ran out of things to say? What if she stood there in silence? What if no-one gave any money to help protect the animals’ habitats because her talk was so bad? Zoe sighed loudly.

  “What’s the matter, Zoe?” Meep asked sleepily from where he was curled up at the end of the bed.