The Little Llama Read online

  “Hello!” he called cheerfully. “Who do you have there, Mr Higgins?”

  “Good afternoon, Tony,” said Great-Uncle Horace. “This is Lottie the llama. She’s looking for a herd. Would it be OK if we tried her in with the goats?”

  “Of course,” replied Tony. “I’ve just fed them their dinner, so they should be happy and relaxed!”

  “Thank you. Could you open the gate, please, Zoe?” asked Great-Uncle Horace.

  Zoe felt for the pendant around her neck. It was silver and in the shape of a paw-print. Great-Uncle Horace had given it to her as a special birthday present and it opened all of the zoo enclosures. She pressed the pendant to a panel next to the gate and it swung open. One of the goats came trotting over. Zoe patted her on the head.

  “Hello, Greta, we’ve got a new friend for you,” she said.

  Great-Uncle Horace led Lottie into the enclosure. The other goats came trotting over and the animals gave each other an inquisitive sniff. Lottie was only a little bit bigger than the goats!

  “So far, so good,” said Great-Uncle Horace, letting Lottie off her lead.

  “She’s a beauty,” said Tony, as Lottie started bouncing around the enclosure.

  “She certainly is,” replied Great-Uncle Horace.

  Then Lottie started nudging the goats with her head. But the goats didn’t want to move, and Greta gave a cross grunt.

  “Uh-oh!” chattered Meep, scampering up on to Zoe’s shoulder.

  Lottie butted another of the goats with her head. Greta grunted again, then she butted Lottie back, almost knocking her over.

  “I don’t think the goats like being herded,” said Zoe.

  “I think you’re right,” replied Great-Uncle Horace.

  Lottie made a loud warbling noise and trotted around the goats again, trying to get them to move into the centre of the enclosure. But the goats ran off into their shed, bleating. Lottie stood all alone in the middle of the enclosure looking very sad.

  “Oh dear,” said Great-Uncle Horace, scratching his head. “That didn’t work out quite as I’d hoped. Well, let’s try the pigs next!”

  The Rescue Zoo kunekune pigs were very friendly. They had thick fur, a bit like Lottie’s, and liked to eat grass. Zoe felt sure they would get on well with the little llama!

  “Hello, Percy, hello Polly,” said Zoe as she opened the gate to their enclosure.

  The pigs grunted a greeting as Lottie trotted over to them and hummed happily.

  The pigs continued lying there. They had just had their dinner and were enjoying their nap.

  Lottie hummed louder and nudged each one with her nose. The pigs didn’t move and Lottie came back over to Zoe.

  “Pigs don’t really do much, I’m afraid,” whispered Zoe, patting the little llama on her head.

  Lottie brayed sadly. Zoe knew she was saying that she wanted someone to play with and look after!

  Chapter Three

  Donkey Disaster!

  “Oh dear,” said Great-Uncle Horace thoughtfully, as they walked Lottie out of the pigsty. “She wasn’t very happy there either, was she? Well, perhaps we should sleep on it tonight and try again tomorrow with some other animals.”

  “But where will she stay tonight?” asked Zoe.

  “We’ll ask your mum if she can stay in your garden,” said Great-Uncle Horace. “If she says yes I’ll ask Tony if he can quickly put up a temporary shelter so Lottie will be warm and dry.”

  Zoe smiled. “Can I walk her back home?”

  “Certainly.” Great-Uncle Horace handed her the lead.

  As Great-Uncle Horace called Zoe’s mum on the phone, Zoe went over to Lottie and hugged her close. “Don’t worry,” she whispered into the llama’s long, curved ear. “We’ll find you some animals to live with soon, but until then, Meep and I can be your herd.”

  Meep chattered in agreement and Lottie gave a contented hum.

  As soon as Zoe woke up the next morning, she looked out of her bedroom window into the back garden. Tony had built Lottie a small temporary shelter out of some spare planks of wood, to make sure the little llama would be snug and warm during the night. But Lottie wasn’t in the shelter! She was over by Zoe’s mum’s favourite rose bush, nibbling on the leaves. Zoe gently nudged Meep, who was curled up asleep at the end of her bed.

  “Wake up, Meep. Lottie’s eating Mum’s rose bush!”

  Meep rubbed his eyes with his paws sleepily. “Why’s she eating the rose bush?”

  “She must be hungry.” Zoe put a jumper on over her pyjamas. “Let’s go and get her some breakfast.”

  “Breakfast!” Meep sprang from the bed, all of his sleepiness suddenly gone. Zoe grinned. Breakfast was one of Meep’s most favourite things in the world … and so were lunch and dinner!

  As Zoe and Meep hurried out on to the landing, Lucy was just coming out of her bedroom, wearing her dressing gown and yawning. “Where are you two going in such a hurry?” she asked.

  “We’re just going to check on Lottie in the garden,” replied Zoe.

  “To stop her eating the garden!” chattered Meep, sliding down the banister.

  Zoe was really glad Lucy couldn’t understand what the little lemur was saying. She didn’t want to get Lottie into trouble!

  “Well, don’t stay out there too long, it’s freezing,” said Lucy, heading into the bathroom.

  “We won’t,” called Zoe as she raced down the stairs.

  Zoe put on her coat and shoes and poured some of the pellets Great-Uncle Horace had left for Lottie into a bowl. Then she and Meep went into the garden. It was freezing cold and the frost-covered grass crunched under her feet. When Lottie saw them, she gave an excited bray and came trotting over. She gently nuzzled Zoe, then bent her head down and gave Meep an extra-gentle nuzzle.

  “Good morning, Lottie. We’ve brought you some breakfast,” said Zoe, placing the bowl down in front of her.

  Lottie hummed contentedly.

  “You’re welcome!” Zoe stroked her soft woolly coat.

  “I’m hungry,” said Meep, watching enviously as Lottie began to eat.

  Zoe grinned. Meep was always hungry! “I’ll get you some breakfast in a minute,” she said.

  “Lottie’s ears look just like bananas,” said Meep. “Delicious, big bananas.” He gave a huge sigh.

  Zoe looked at Lottie. Meep was right. Her ears were curved just like bananas!

  Zoe laughed. “All right, come on, let’s go and get some breakfast. We’ll be back soon, Lottie.”

  Just as they got back to the kitchen there was a knock on the front door.

  “Hello! Is anyone up?” boomed a voice through the letterbox.

  “Great-Uncle Horace!” Zoe ran to open the door.

  “Good morning, Zoe!” Great-Uncle Horace came striding in. He was wearing his long winter coat and a matching stripy bobble hat and scarf. “How’s our little llama friend doing?”

  “Great. I just gave her some breakfast,” replied Zoe.

  “Excellent! And speaking of breakfast…” he grinned. “Who’s for some blueberry pancakes?”

  Meep jumped up and down excitedly.

  Great-Uncle Horace fetched a bowl from the cupboard. “Zoe, I had a call from your teacher last night. She’s very keen that we choose some suitable animals to star in the show.”

  “Great!” smiled Zoe. She knew that once the special wintry animals had been chosen, Miss Hawkins and the rest of the class would be able to plan the rest of the show. There was only a week to go until the end of term, so there was no time to waste!

  Great-Uncle Horace poured some flour into the bowl to make the pancake batter. “Well, perhaps some of your class could come to the zoo this weekend to help us choose which animals should be in the show?”

  “That would be brilliant!” smiled Zoe. “I thought Lottie might be a good choice to star in the show too, as she’s friendly and comes from the cold mountains?”

  “Good idea, Zoe!” replied Great-Uncle Horace, stirring the pancake b
atter.

  Zoe grinned. Now she had lots of things to look forward to. Finding Lottie a herd and choosing more animals for the winter-themed show!

  After school that day, Great-Uncle Horace, Zoe and Meep took Lottie to the donkey enclosure.

  “Hopefully Dora and Danny will be the perfect llama companions,” said Great-Uncle Horace, as Zoe pressed her pendant to the gate and they let Lottie in.

  The two donkeys came trotting over. Zoe took a couple of carrots from her coat pocket.

  “Hello, Dora. Hello, Danny. This is Lottie,” said Zoe, holding the carrots out to them.

  The donkeys gave Lottie a welcoming bray, before nibbling on their carrots.

  Lottie trotted around the enclosure, making soft humming sounds. She bounced up to Danny and gave him a nudge with her head. She was much smaller than him, but the nudge still made him drop his carrot. Danny put his ears back and gave Lottie a warning bray. She trotted away, looking sad, and stood by herself with her head hanging down.

  Great-Uncle Horace sighed. “Oh dear. I’m not sure this is going to work!”

  Zoe thought for a moment. “Great-Uncle Horace, would it be OK if Lottie stays in the cottage garden for the time being?”

  “I don’t see why not,” replied Great-Uncle Horace. “To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure what other animals to try next. She really needs some llamas to spend time with.”

  Zoe went back over to Lottie. “Don’t worry, Meep and I are proud to be part of your herd,” she whispered. Lottie snuggled up to Zoe and she gave the little animal a big hug. Meep jumped on Lottie’s back and flung his arms around her neck. Lottie looked a bit happier, but Zoe knew she really wanted some special llama friends.

  Chapter Four

  Stars of the Show

  On Saturday morning Zoe woke up extra early feeling very excited. At school on Friday Miss Hawkins had picked five names out of a hat, so today Jack, Elliot, Priti, Grace and Mark were coming to the zoo to help choose animals for the show!

  As soon as she, Meep and Lottie had had their breakfast Zoe packed her bag with a notepad and pen. Great-Uncle Horace had put her in charge of writing the list of animals she and her friends wanted for the show. Then she sat and watched the clock on the kitchen wall as its hands slowly ticked closer to the time when her friends would arrive. When Lucy came into the kitchen and saw her she started to laugh.

  “Time won’t go any faster if you watch it.”

  “I know!” Zoe sighed. “It seems to go even slower!”

  “Why don’t you go and get Lottie ready?” suggested Lucy.

  “Ready for what?”

  “To take with you. Great-Uncle Horace just called and said she could probably do with some exercise.”

  “Yay!” cheered Zoe, leaping up from her seat. Meep ran around in a circle on the table.

  By the time Zoe had given Lottie something to eat and put on her lead it was time to go and meet her friends. Although it was still early, the zoo was already filling with visitors, wrapped up warm in the winter sunshine. They all smiled when they saw Zoe making her way along the winding footpath with Meep perched on her shoulder and little Lottie on her lead.

  When they got to the zoo gates Priti was already waiting there with her mum.

  “Hey, Zoe,” she cried. “Hello, Meep. Hello, Lottie.” She gave Zoe a hug and patted Lottie and Meep. “You’re so lucky to live at a zoo! It must be so much fun!”

  “It is,” agreed Zoe. Then she had a brilliant idea. “I know, why don’t I ask my mum if you can come for a sleepover one night? Then you can see what it’s like.”

  Priti’s eyes grew wide with excitement. “Oh, yes, please.” She turned to her mum. “Would that be OK, Mum?”

  Priti’s mum nodded and smiled. “Of course! I’ll chat to Zoe’s mum today if you like and see what she says.”

  Both girls nodded and Priti gave Zoe’s hands an excited squeeze.

  Just then Elliot and Jack arrived with their parents, followed by Mark and Grace.

  “Good morning! Good morning!” boomed Great-Uncle Horace, striding over, his long scarf flapping behind him in the breeze. “Welcome to the Rescue Zoo!”

  Once the parents had left, the children all gathered round Lottie and petted her.

  “Great-Uncle Horace said that she can come with us to look at the animals as she needs to get some exercise,” explained Zoe.

  “I have to make some urgent repairs to my hot-air balloon, so Zoe will be your tour guide,” said Great-Uncle Horace. “She can show you all the animals that come from cold climates, and when you’ve agreed your list of animal co-stars I’ll meet you in the café for some hot chocolate and cake. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found that meetings are so much more fun when there’s hot chocolate and cake!”

  The children all giggled and nodded.

  “Farewell for now,” said Great-Uncle Horace, turning to go. “Or, as they say in the Andes, huq ratukama!”

  “Your great-uncle’s so cool!” exclaimed Elliot as they watched him striding off down the path. As he passed by each enclosure the animals chirped, roared and trumpeted excited greetings. If it wasn’t for Great-Uncle Horace, they wouldn’t have such a great home. They all loved him very much.

  Zoe grinned. “Yes, he’s the best!”

  Holding Lottie tightly on her lead, Zoe led her friends along the path that went around the edge of the zoo. The hippo enclosure was the first they came to. Henry the hippo was splashing happily in the muddy pond at the centre of the enclosure. When he saw Zoe, he threw back his huge head and grunted a greeting.

  “Hello, Henry!” called Zoe.

  “Can we have a hippo in our show?” asked Mark hopefully.

  “I don’t think so,” said Zoe. “Hippos live in Africa, where it’s usually nice and warm.”

  “Plus, if we had a hippo there wouldn’t be room for anyone else on the stage,” grinned Grace.

  The next enclosure belonged to the polar bears. Bella, the oldest polar bear, was climbing one of the wooden frames in the play area outside their huge igloo. Zoe hoped the polar bears would have some snow to play in soon. They were one of the few animals at the zoo who were actually used to the weather being so cold!

  “What about a polar bear?” asked Nicola.

  “It’s a good idea, but I think they might be a bit too big now,” replied Zoe.

  Just then Snowy came out of the igloo and looked around. Zoe smiled as she remembered how small the bear had been when Great-Uncle Horace first brought her to the zoo. She’d been the perfect size for the show back then but now she was almost fully grown. Snowy and her friend Bella lumbered over to the enclosure fence and barked happily.

  “Maybe we need to go and see some of the smaller animals,” said Grace.

  “Good idea.” Zoe led them round the corner to the penguin enclosure. The penguins had all gathered on the huge pale-blue iceberg in the middle of their lagoon. It shimmered like a jewel in the pale winter sunshine. When the penguins saw Zoe and her friends they splashed down into the water and swam over to them.

  “Aw, they’re so cute,” said Priti as one by one the penguins waddled out of the water and across the bank to greet them.

  “Please can we have some penguins in the show?” asked Nicola. “They usually live in cool parts of the world, don’t they?”

  “Good idea!” Zoe knew just which penguin would enjoy the show the most. She took her notepad and pen from her bag and wrote “PIP THE PENGUIN and friends” at the top of the page. “Hello, Pip,” she said as one of the penguins came waddling up to the glass wall.

  Zoe couldn’t help grinning as she remembered back to the time when Pip had first arrived at the zoo. The little chick had been convinced he wasn’t a penguin. At one point he’d even thought he was a flamingo! Zoe and Pip had become very good friends.

  Just then they heard a loud trumpeting sound from the enclosure next door. They turned to see Oscar the elephant waving his trunk in the air. Zoe knew he was saying th
at he wanted to be in the show too! But he’d be much too big … and elephants didn’t live in cold climates!

  Next, the six classmates went to the snow leopard enclosure. Ali came up to the fence to say hello, followed closely by his three little sisters, Holly, Snowy and Ivy. Although the three sisters were no longer tiny cubs they were still quite little and very friendly, and Zoe thought that they would be perfect for the show.

  “They’re adorable!” cried Elliot. “Please can the cubs be in the school show?”

  “That would be great, but we’ll have to check with Matt, the big-cat keeper,” explained Zoe. “The cubs are very friendly, but they have very sharp teeth and we don’t want anyone to get nibbled!” She wrote down “SNOW LEOPARD CUBS?” in her notebook.

  Next, Zoe took her friends to the puffin enclosure. Puffins lived in lots of different places, including the Arctic, where it was freezing cold. When Meep saw Piper coming out of her burrow he started hopping about happily. Zoe grinned. It was funny thinking of how jealous Meep had been when Piper first arrived at the zoo. Now they were great friends, and Piper had five puffin pals too! Just then Rory the puffin keeper came out of the shed beside the enclosure holding a bucket of fish.

  “Morning, Zoe,” he called when he saw her.

  “Morning, Rory,” replied Zoe. “These are some of my friends from school. I was wondering if you could show them how good Piper is at catching fish?”

  “Of course,” replied Rory. He went into the enclosure, took a shiny silver fish from the bucket and threw it high in the air.