The Super Sloth Page 4
Sabina let out some more slow squeaks about the tree but Zoe was too impatient to wait for her to finish her sentence. There was so much she wanted to say to the little sloth!
“Don’t worry, we’ll take you back soon. Great-Uncle Horace brought you to see me because I was feeling poorly. This is our living room.” She lifted Sabina up so she could get a better view. “And there’s Meep.” She pointed to the little lemur, who was curled up asleep on a cushion at the other end of the sofa. “We don’t normally sleep here. Normally we sleep in the bedroom. My mum lives here too but she’s at work—”
Sabina suddenly squeaked again, much more loudly.
“Your tree?” Zoe frowned. Sabina certainly loved talking about her tree! “Yes, we’ll take you back there soon.”
Sabina gave another loud squeak but just then there were voices in the hallway and Great-Uncle Horace and Lucy came into the room.
“Aha, the patient is awake!” exclaimed Great-Uncle Horace.
“How are you feeling, love?” asked Lucy.
“Much better, thanks,” replied Zoe, cuddling Sabina to her.
“I told you sleeping like a sloth would do you the world of good,” said Great-Uncle Horace.
Zoe grinned. He was right. She did feel a lot better.
“Would you like to give Sabina a snack?” asked Great-Uncle Horace.
Zoe nodded eagerly.
“I think we could all do with something to eat,” said Lucy with a grin. As she and Great-Uncle Horace went into the kitchen to get some lunch ready, Zoe fetched the box of vegetables and took out a slice of butternut squash. Then she cradled Sabina in one arm and fed her with the other. The little sloth didn’t seem that hungry though and kept squeaking loudly. At the other end of the sofa Meep opened his eyes. When he saw Zoe feeding Sabina he jumped up.
“Why are you having lunch without me?”
Zoe laughed. “Go through to the kitchen and Mum will get you something.”
Once they’d all had lunch Great-Uncle Horace got to his feet.
“I suppose I should be getting Sabina back to the dome,” he said.
“Can I take her?” asked Zoe. “Please! I’m feeling so much better now.”
“OK, love,” nodded Lucy. “Some fresh air would probably do you good. But you have to come straight back home.”
“I will. I promise.”
Zoe put Sabina in the basket and the little sloth went to sleep immediately. Then Zoe set off through the zoo, with Meep running along beside her.
The sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. Zoe was so happy to be outside again and to be feeling better. When she got to the dome she saw the new bunting hanging over the door. All the glass panels were shining brightly. Zoe’s tummy tingled with excitement.
Tomorrow the dome would finally be open to visitors! Using her paw-print pendant, she let herself in. Valeria was watering some of the new plants. “Hello, Zoe. How are you feeling?” she called.
“Much better, thanks.”
“Did you enjoy your visitor?”
Zoe nodded. “Yes, thank you for letting her come and see me.”
“You’re very welcome. Would you like to put her back in her tree?”
“Of course.” Zoe followed the path down to the stream. Lots of new plants had been planted right by Sabina’s palm tree. It looked so bright and colourful.
“Look at the flowers,” Zoe said to Sabina. She took her from the basket and held her up so she could see properly. “Aren’t they beautiful?” But to her surprise, Sabina shook her head. The trumpeter birds flew down from their nest at the top of their tree and honked loudly.
“Hello!” said Zoe. “How’s your chick?”
The trumpeter chick flapped its tiny wings and flew up out of its nest.
“Ah, look!” cried Zoe. “The chick’s learned to fly!”
They watched as the chick flew in a circle, then made its way over to Sabina’s tree and landed on one of the branches that hung over the stream.
“It’s come to say hello!” exclaimed Zoe.
Sabina slowly stretched out her front paw, as if she was pointing at the tree.
“Yes, I know, the chick’s up there,” said Zoe.
Sabina gave a slow squeak but it was drowned out by the mummy trumpeter bird honking.
“That’s great,” replied Zoe. “I’m so pleased your chick likes her nest.”
Sabina squeaked again. It sounded as if she was saying “not”.
“Do you want me to put you up in the tree?” said Zoe. Before Sabina could answer, Zoe placed the little sloth on the same branch as the trumpeter chick.
Sabina let out another slow squeak.
“What did you say?” asked Zoe. But just then, Zoe saw Tammie trundling along the path towards her. She wondered if she needed feeding.
“Hey, Tammie, how are you? Are you hungry?”
Sabina slowly edged her way along the branch and gave another very loud squeak.
Zoe looked at her, puzzled.
Why did she keep saying “not”?
High above she heard a screech. She looked up to see the mummy marmoset monkey scampering through the tall trees with her baby on her back. As she got closer she leapt into the palm tree. There was a loud creaking sound.
Sabina squeaked loudly again.
“Not safe?” said Zoe. “What’s not safe? Oh no!” She stared in horror as the palm tree started to tip forwards.
The trumpeter birds honked in alarm.
“The baby chick! Sabina!” Zoe gasped as the tree began to topple down towards the water.
Chapter Eight
The Super Sloth!
As the palm tree crashed towards the stream, the baby trumpeter chick went sailing through the air.
“Oh no!” gasped Zoe.
The trumpeter mum and dad honked loudly in alarm.
Out of the corner of Zoe’s eye she caught a glimpse of brown fur falling, followed by a loud splash.
“Sabina!” cried Zoe as the little sloth fell into the water. Zoe knew that the stream was very deep in places. What was going to happen to Sabina and the chick?
Zoe ran to the very edge of the stream. Perhaps she could use a branch to fish out the chick and Sabina? The baby trumpeter bird was flapping its wings, trying to stay afloat. Then Zoe saw Sabina swimming towards the chick. Zoe gasped. What was Sabina doing?
“Oh no!” exclaimed Zoe as the trumpeter chick disappeared beneath the water.
Sabina ducked under too, then reappeared a couple of seconds later.
“Look!” Zoe cried to Meep. “She’s saved her!”
The little chick was now perched on Sabina’s back, flapping the water from her wings.
Meep jumped up and down and the trumpeter mum and dad gave relieved hoots. Sabina began swimming back to the bank of the stream. She swam much slower this time, being careful not to drop the chick. When she got to the edge she slowly clambered on to the ground. The trumpeter birds hurried over to get their chick.
“Sabina, you’re a hero!” exclaimed Zoe, picking up the wet sloth.
Sabina looked up at her and smiled.
“Is everything OK?” asked Valeria, running over. “I thought I heard you calling. Oh! What happened to the tree?”
“It crashed down,” explained Zoe. “The trumpeter chick fell into the water. But Sabina saved it. She swam so fast!”
Valeria smiled. “That’s amazing! Sloths are excellent swimmers. It’s the only thing they can do fast.” She bent down and had a look at the fallen tree. “I need to go and tell Mr Pinch what’s happened,” said Valeria. “Can you keep an eye on the animals for me?”
“Of course,” replied Zoe.
When Valeria had gone Zoe gave Sabina a big cuddle. “You were so brave,” she said.
Sabina squeaked.
Zoe waited patiently until she’d finished. “Oh!” she gasped. “You knew that the tree wasn’t safe all along as it was wobbly.”
Sabina nodded and squeaked again.
Just then Tammie came over to see what was happening.
“Is that why I found you asleep on the ground by the bush and Tammie’s tree stump?” remembered Zoe.
Sabina nodded.
The daddy trumpeter honked loudly, making Zoe, Meep and Sabina jump.
“He’s right,” cried Zoe. “Sabina, you’re a superhero for saving their chick.”
“Sabina the super sloth!” chattered Meep.
Tammie, the marmoset monkey and the trumpeter birds all snuffled and hooted and squawked in agreement.
Sabina grinned from ear to ear.
“What’s all this noise about?”
Zoe turned to see Mr Pinch standing behind her.
“Er – the animals are just being happy,” said Zoe quickly.
“Hmm, I don’t see what they’ve got to be happy about.” Mr Pinch frowned. “Not when we’ve got trees falling over the day before the Grand Opening!”
Zoe sighed. After being so nice and helping Zoe with her model, it seemed Mr Pinch was back to his grumpy old self again!
“Don’t worry,” said Valeria, coming over with two of the gardeners. “I’m sure we just need to dig a bigger hole for the tree. We’ll soon fix it.”
As the gardeners got to work replanting the palm tree, Zoe took Sabina to get a special treat.
“Here you go,” said Zoe, feeding Sabina a slice of mango and hugging the sloth to her. “I’m really sorry I didn’t understand you before. I promise I’ll listen properly in future.”
The little sloth squeaked happily and snuggled into Zoe.
The day of the Grand Opening was sunny and bright. Zoe woke up and smiled. Her throat didn’t hurt, her nose wasn’t runny and she hadn’t sneezed all night. Her cold was gone!
“Wake up, Meep,” she said, gently nudging the little lemur. “Today is the Grand Opening of the Rainforest Dome!”
“YAY!” cried Meep, leaping out of bed.
As soon as breakfast was over, Zoe and Meep got ready to set off for the Rainforest Dome. Just as they were about to leave there was a knock on the door.
“I think it might be for you,” said Lucy with a mysterious smile on her face.
Zoe wondered who it could be. She opened the door to see Miss Hawkins standing there.
“Miss Hawkins!” she gasped.
“Hello, Zoe,” replied Miss Hawkins. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better, thanks.”
“I’m so glad to hear that,” smiled Miss Hawkins. “Your mum asked me to call by on my way to the Grand Opening. She thought you’d like to show me your school project.”
“Yes, I would!” exclaimed Zoe. She led Miss Hawkins through to the living room. She pointed to the model on the table. “I made a model of the Rainforest Dome.”
“Zoe, that looks great,” exclaimed Miss Hawkins as Zoe carefully lifted up the glass bowl so she could see inside.
Once Zoe had explained what the different plants were and how they were important to the different animals in the Rainforest Dome, Lucy made Miss Hawkins a cup of tea and Zoe and Meep set off for the dome.
The zoo was full of noise. The monkeys were chattering, the elephants were trumpeting and the penguins were squawking. As Zoe walked past the giraffe enclosure she smiled. Jamie and his mum Jewel were trotting around happily, full of energy. All of the animals knew something very exciting was happening at the zoo today!
On the lawn in front of the café, Mr Pinch was talking to the mayor and a journalist from the local paper, and a brass band were getting ready to play. The toot of the trumpets made Zoe think of the trumpeter chick. She still couldn’t believe how brave Sabina had been. She really was a super sloth!
When they got to the dome Zoe saw that Valeria had hung strings of brightly coloured fairy lights around the entrance. It looked magical!
Zoe let herself in with her silver pendant. High above her a flock of parrots squawked a welcome. Zoe looked down to the bank of the stream. The palm tree was now totally upright again and Sabina was curled in one of the branches, fast asleep. Zoe smiled. She must have been very tired from all her swimming yesterday. She hoped Sabina would be awake for the opening ceremony!
After Zoe had helped Valeria feed the animals their breakfast she looked outside. A long queue of people was snaking along the path to the dome. She could see her friends Nicola and Jack at the front of the queue with their parents. Most of the rest of her class were there too – and Miss Hawkins. After missing school for two days Zoe was really happy to see her friends! Zoe went back over to the palm tree and the little sloth sleepily opened one eye.
“Yay, you’re awake!” said Zoe. “It’s almost time for the Grand Opening. Lots of people are here to see the dome.”
Sabina slowly squeaked. This time Zoe made sure she listened carefully until the sloth had finished her sentence.
“That’s a lovely idea,” smiled Zoe. Sabina had come up with a great idea for how to make the opening of the dome even more special.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, monkeys, anteaters, parrots and sloths,” Great-Uncle Horace boomed to the crowds of visitors gathered in front of the dome. “Welcome to the Rescue Zoo Rainforest Dome!”
The band played a trumpet fanfare as the mayor cut the ribbon tied around the entrance to the dome. The crowd cheered and burst into applause as they went into the dome, pointing at all the wonderful birds, animals and plants inside.
“This Rainforest Dome is a careful recreation of the rainforests in Central and South America,” continued Great-Uncle Horace once everyone was inside the dome and gathered by the stream. “In here you will find the birds, animals, plants and trees that you would find in those rainforests.”
Great-Uncle Horace gave the crowd a big smile. “The Rainforest Dome is now home to a very special three-toed sloth from Costa Rica named Sabina.”
He pointed to Sabina, who was hanging from a branch of the palm tree. “Now, most of you here probably know that sloths are very sleepy animals! But what you might not know is that they make excellent swimmers.”
This was the moment Zoe had been waiting for. She nodded to Sabina and the little sloth dived from her branch down into the water. The crowd gasped.
“Oh no, the sloth’s fallen in!” cried Nicola.
Zoe shook her head and grinned. “She’s fine – look!”
Great-Uncle Horace let out a booming laugh as Sabina began swimming through the water. “Well, what perfect timing! She’s giving you a demonstration.”
The crowd gathered closer to the stream to get a better look. There was a loud cheeping sound and everyone gasped again as the trumpeter chick fluttered into the air and landed on Sabina’s back!
“Wow!” exclaimed Jack. “That sloth is so cool!”
Zoe beamed with pride. Jack was right. But Sabina wasn’t just cool – she was a hero. A real super sloth!
Copyright
With special thanks to Siobhan Curham
For Sammie and Edi Venn
First published in the UK in 2018 by Nosy Crow Ltd
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Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Hothouse Fiction, 2018
Illustrations © Sophy Williams, 2018
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