continues tomorrow but if you don’t want to wait,
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****
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Continued from yesterday
*****
The two of them struck the back window with all their might, again and again. First there was a crack, then another and another. They just kept hitting it.
“Hey! Hey!” The man’s voice in the distance didn’t slow them down.
They were nearly there. There was a head-sized hole in the glass with cracks radiating from it. The boys put down their weapons and took hold of sections of glass between the cracks with their hands. They pushed and pulled, working them back and forth until they could be folded all the way down. Now the hole was big enough for Luke to climb in. Adrenaline masked the pain of the cuts on his hands as he tried to lift her. She was weak and limp and too heavy for him.
“Help me!”
Joe climbed in and between them they lifted her to the hole but they couldn’t lift her out because there was no one to hand her to. It was an oven in there.
“Just get her head outside so she can breathe,” said Luke, “then we’ll prob’ly ‘ave to jus’ push ‘er out.”
But before they did the hatchback opened and there stood the policeman. He lifted his dog and carried her a few steps to the cool shade of a large tree where he trickled water from a bottle over her mouth. The boys watched, not even caring how much trouble they were in. The police dog started to lick the water around her lips. Luke and Joe rushed towards her with cupped hands and she lapped up the water the policeman poured into them. They sat in the shade for some time. Eventually the policeman spoke.
“I only left her for a minute. I opened the front windows a little and parked in the shade of this tree, so I thought she’d be ok, just for a minute. But then I got held up by ……”
He paused, realising there was no point in making excuses.
“I just didn’t think I was going to be more than a minute or two. But I should have known I might be delayed; and the sun is constantly moving so the car wouldn’t have been in the shade for long.”
He shook his head, full of regret.
“And it only takes a few minutes for a dog to overheat and die.”
Luke and Joe said nothing. The dog wagged her tail.
“Good girl Sheba,” said the policeman, “you’re my good girl.”
He looked at the boys.
“And you boys are heroes. Thank you.”
****
Nan and Grandad were waiting by the phone for the police to call back with any news. Mum and Dad were frantically searching the park again.
“Marian,” said Dad, “they’re not here. I’m going to walk towards the town.”
“Wait! Look!” said Mum, pointing to the police car she could see pulling up outside Nan and Grandad’s house.
They both ran.
****
When all was explained and forgiven, everyone realised how hungry they were and Nan’s tea went down very well. It was too late to return the putters and Joe’s ball to the Park Keeper but Dad took Luke back to Swanspool the next day so that he could hand them in.
“… so I’m sorry they’re late,” said Luke after explaining the previous day’s events, “but we dint steal ’em.”
“I never thought for a moment that you did,” the Park Keeper said as he put them away.
*****
You can find chapters 1 to 5 of Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er on our ‘stories for age 8 and up’ page, and the first eight chapters are also available in paperback 😀
Continues tomorrow ….
but if you can’t wait ’til tomorrow, read it here now 😉
****************
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Continues tomorrow …..
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continues tomorrow 😀
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The story continues tomorrow 🙂 but if you don’t want to wait you can read the whole book here
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For the story so far click here
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Story continues from yesterday:
******
And so the morning continued. Dad read the paper; Dudley sniffed, peed and eventually laid down; and Luke resentfully picked up other people’s rubbish.
He spotted a set of six-pack rings in the long grass and reached for it. It moved. He reached for it again and it moved again. Luke parted the long grass and found, with one of the rings caught tight around his body, a little hedgehog.
“Oh dear oh dear,” said the vet, “come on fella, let’s get this horrible thing off you.”
She cut it off and then gently cleaned the hedgehog’s wounds.
“I would say, going by the severity of the cuts around his neck and behind his forelimb …”
“His armpit,” Luke clarified in case anyone was unsure to which wound she was referring.
“er, yes, if you like,” the vet went on, “and the fact that he is quite undernourished, that this unfortunate animal …”
“Spiker,” said Luke.
“I’m sorry?”
“That’s his name.”
“Oh, I see. I would say that Spiker has been struggling with this horrible appendage for over a week. It’s very lucky you found him when you did.”
Luke suddenly saw the job of picking up litter in a very different light. It was a very important job and, in conjunction with punishing droppers, was outlaw work.
The vet said that she would take care of Spiker until he was better and then she would call them to pick him up and they could release him where they found him.
“That means,” thought Luke, “I need to make sure the park is safe for him to come back to.”
On the way home, Luke formulated a plan:
➔ First he would clean up all the rubbish;
➔ then he would keep watch and record the names of all the droppers and what they dropped;
➔ then he would teach them a lesson.
All afternoon Luke and Dad picked up litter. They filled three and a half large dustbin bags with bottles and cans, crisp packets and sweet wrappers, fast food containers and carrier bags. Luke also found a £2 coin which Dad said he could keep for being such a good worker.
“Nice to be ‘preciated for a change,” thought Luke and spent 99p of his hard-earned cash, on the way home, on a giant gobstopper.
Part one of his plan was complete. Now, on Sunday, he was carrying out part two.
It was slow going. His eyes glazed as he stared across the empty park.
“There’d be no shame in bringing more than one comic in future,” he decided.
Then, at 10.06, on one side of the park, seven Year 6 boys entered, laughing and pushing and kicking a football between them. At the same time, on the other side of the park, came Simon Butler, Kenny White, Becca Nithercott and Christina Burkiss, all from Class 4 – Luke’s class. Becca and Kenny were carrying large, brightly-coloured kites.
Luke shrank down behind his Beano. The Year 6 boys raced around chasing their ball and shouting insults at each other. The class 4 kids took it in turns to run across the field trying to keep their kites aloft in the windless sky.
Luke kept his eyes on them all as discreetly as he could. No litter was dropped. He was getting awfully tired of sitting still.
Then the football suddenly flew higher and further than intended and landed in one of the back gardens. Luke watched as one of the Year 6 boys vaulted the fence to retrieve it.
“What are you doing here all by yourself?”
Simon Butler! Where did he come from? Luke tried to look nonchalant. With slow deliberation he took the gobstopper out of his mouth.
“Readin’ me comic. What’s it to you?”
“Reading my foot!” Butler scoffed, “you’ve been sitting here with your comic against your chin for the last ten minutes. Are you waiting for someone?”
This was no good. Butler was drawing attention. And he was distracting. Now there were only five Year 6 boys – where did the other two go? Simon Butler climbed onto the bench next to Luke and sat on the back of it, his feet on the seat.
“Who are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?”
This was infuriating. Flamin’ Butler! Luke had to get rid of him and he could only think of one way to do it.
“Is that yours?” he pointed to a £1 coin on the ground.
“er, oh yeah, I must have dropped it just now,” Simon lied as he stooped to pick it up.
He called to his friends.
“Anyone fancy some crisps?”
And he ran off without giving Luke another thought.
“Expensive,” thought Luke, mourning the loss of the last of his money, “but worth it.”
******
Continues tomorrow but if you can’t wait that long you can read the whole chapter here and the first eight chapters are also available in paperback.
Chapter 3: Luke Walker and the Giant Gobstopper
SUNDAY
LITTER: 1 PIZZA BOX AND 1 COKE CAN
DROPPER: UNNOWNE
Luke tutted and looked across the park. At 8.27 there was no one else there but he knew they would come. And when they did, he would be ready.
On one side of the park was the school, on the other, the pony paddock. The top and bottom edges skirted the ends of back gardens. With his binoculars Luke could see it all clearly. He waited.
At 8.49 a dog walker entered the recreation field and walked around twice. Luke pretended to read his comic while secretly watching the person’s every move. No litter was dropped.
At 9.12 and 9.18 two more dog walkers arrived at opposite sides of the park. One threw a ball for his dog, the other kept her dog on a lead. No litter was dropped.
For Luke time was passing extremely slowly. He had read his comic three times and it was losing its appeal. At least his enjoyment of the gobstopper was not waning.
“The solitude of the outlaw life might be too much for some people,” Luke mused, “but I’m used to it now, I can handle it.”
Twenty four hours earlier he had been less philosophical:
“I don’t see why I should have to clean up other people’s mess!” Luke complained to Rusty who was sitting on a cabbage leaf, watching him.
Mrs Tebbut had followed through on her threat to send home a letter after the zoo trip and Luke’s dad had sentenced him to a month of weekends cleaning up litter. Luke was bitterly resentful at the injustice of it all.
“I mean, I could see the logic if I was a litter dropper myself. Makin’ me pick up litter would serve me right. But I’m not a dropper. I’ve never been a dropper. I won’t ever be a dropper – so what kind of lesson is this s’posed to teach me? A lesson I already know, that’s what!”
Rusty, Ash and Scratcher, the only witnesses to this tirade, did not attempt to answer him. They were used to his rhetorical rants and knew it was best to just let him get it off his chest. Sitting with his friends in ‘the damson patch’, as it was now known, letting off steam with the only ones who really understood him, was a kind of therapy for Luke. He always felt better afterwards.
But at the park Luke felt humiliated. It was Saturday morning; scouts were having football practice; skateboarders were zooming up and down their ramps and slopes; little girls were skipping rope and playing hopscotch. Luke felt like everyone was smirking at him picking up litter. It was disgusting. Disgusting people had dropped their disgusting rubbish and he was forced to clean up after them. It made him so cross.
Then he noticed his dad trying to get his attention. Maybe he was going to let him off. Maybe he’d done enough now.
“Luke, look, behind you. Dudley’s done his business. Make sure you pick that up as well.”
Dad went back to reading the paper and Luke seethed. It wasn’t fair!
******
Continues tomorrow, but if you can’t wait you can read the whole chapter here now
and the first eight chapters are also available in paperback
Story continues from yesterday:
****
In a few short minutes Luke and Emma were crossing the meadow side by side, heading for the woods. Luke chatted away non-stop while Emma swished her tail and listened contentedly.
“Truth is Emma,” he explained, “I’d love to take you home with me but I really don’t think me dad’d let me. Honestly, you should ‘ave ‘eard the fuss ‘e made over a couple o’ rabbits.”
On the other side of the wood was another meadow, even more beautiful, with trees here and there and, to Luke’s delight, something else.
“Ooh quick Emma, over here! It looks like a lake or somethin’!”
Luke rushed ahead laughing and calling her to follow. Cautiously, she did. It was such a lovely hot day that Luke couldn’t resist getting into the clear, cool water.
“Come on, it’s ok, it’s not deep,” he called, “come in with me, it’s fun!”
Emma tentatively dipped her trunk into the water and had a good long drink. Luke grinned.
“Yeah, that’s it! Now come all the way in and play with me.”
He laughed and sloshed about and splashed her so that soon she wanted to join in. She reached out her trunk to him and he put his hand out to her and she trod heavily, slowly, down into the lake. She drew up a big trunk full of water and showered it all over herself, and Luke. She splashed and she played and felt free. And so did Luke. It was just the best afternoon.
When they got out of the water Emma laid down on the warm grass to be dried by the sun, and Luke sat with her, leaning against her chest. Eventually, reluctantly, he looked at his watch. 4.32.
“I have to go now,” he told her sadly, “but I will come back if I can.”
He didn’t know when that might be.
“You do like it here don’t you?”
He knew she must and was satisfied his outlawing had paid off again – she’d be much happier here than in that concrete enclosure. She’d have freedom; she’d have space; he only wished she wouldn’t be on her own.
“There’s prob’ly rabbits here,” he told her, “rabbits make good friends. The thing with rabbits is, you ‘ave to be patient. They might seem a bit stand-offish at first but once they get to know you they’re very friendly.”
He stood up and said goodbye, confident she’d understood.
He slipped back in to the zoo and locked the gate so that everything, well, almost everything, was as he’d found it. He decided it would be a good idea to hang on to the keys – he’d need them next time he visited Emma.
It was 4.57 when he arrived at the coach so he was in good time for Mrs Tebbut’s prompt 5pm departure, but for some reason she was crosser than he’d ever seen her.
“Luke Walker! Do you have any idea what you’ve put us through? You have disrupted the day for the whole class! You are a selfish, thoughtless child and I will be sending a letter home to your parents!”
“For what?” thought Luke.
_______________________________________________
Unbeknown to Luke, seven months later, in a national newspaper:
THE DAILY NEWS
Elephant Finds Sanctuary At Last
Seven months after the 24-hour disappearance of the lonely elephant at Dillingsgate Zoo, she has been found a place at The Elephant Sanctuary. ‘Companions for Nelly’ campaign organiser, Joanne Russell said she cannot adequately express her joy at today’s outcome.
“We can only thank God for bringing to light Nelly’s lonely existence by causing her to wander off by herself and ignite a media storm. If it hadn’t been for the zoo’s mishap of leaving her gate open, the world might never have been aware of her miserable solitary confinement.”
Seven months ago the alarm was raised at Dillingsgate zoo when keepers discovered that Nelly was missing. She was found the following day in neighbouring woodlands but not before the news was reported in local, national and international media. This put the spotlight on conditions in which Nelly was kept.
“Elephants are very social animals,” said Ms Russell, “and it was heartbreaking to learn that Nelly had been without any companionship of her own kind for almost twenty years.”
Thanks to the overwhelming public support for Ms Russell’s campaign, Nelly has now been found a place at the award winning Elephant Sanctuary where she will be able to live out her days in natural surroundings in the company of her own kind.
*********
You can read the whole of Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er Chapter 2 here.
Chapter 3 coming to this site soon!
Want it now? No problem – just order the paperback from Amazon! (It’s got the first eight chapters) 😀
The story continues from yesterday:
******
It didn’t take long for Luke to work out where he might find what he was looking for.
“Somebody what works here will have keys!”
It never occurred to him that he would need a particular key for the particular lock he wanted to open but, as it happened, that wasn’t going to be a problem. When the zoo was built over thirty years earlier, it boasted the largest number of animal enclosures in the country. It was deemed impractical to have hundreds of different keys so the same three locks were fitted to everything: one for animal enclosures; one for outer gates; and one for buildings. Each key-holder carried the same three keys. That was all anyone needed. It was all Luke needed.
Back in the hubbub of the zoo, Luke kept a low profile. It felt good to be outlawing again. He saw plenty of zoo workers but there was no way of knowing whether they had keys without asking them. Then he heard a familiar jangle.
“I know what that means,” he thought, triumphant, “that man’s got keys on his belt!”
The man was alone. At a grassy, low-fenced enclosure inhabited by small, furry animals Luke didn’t know the name of, he caught up with him. The man seemed engrossed in what he was doing, or perhaps lost in his own thoughts. Luke could see the keys dangling against his hip and crept up so close behind him he could almost reach them through the wire fence. Just as he was about to touch them a loud voice, crackling from the man’s walkie talkie, startled his hand back. The voice sounded impatient.
“Brinley! Can you hear me? I need you to open the Goods Entrance – the delivery’s just arrived.”
“I heard you! I’m on my way.”
The man, and the keys, hurried out of the enclosure. Luke followed him at a discreet distance. He went past a sign which said ‘STAFF ONLY’ and up to a big gate. No one else was around. The walkie talkie shouted at the man again.
“HURRY UP BRINLEY! It’s that bad tempered lorry driver!”
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” said Brinley.
In his rush he left the keys in the gate after unlocking it and rushed up the track. He would probably only be gone for a moment or two. But that was enough.
Luke ran as fast as he could to get back to the elephant. It was easier to go unnoticed than it had been on the way out because there was some kind of commotion on the other side of the zebra enclosure. He overheard something as he passed through which assured him it was nothing to concern him. The elephant was waiting right where he’d left her.
“I got it! I got the key! Sorry it took so long.”
He unlocked the gate and led her out.
“That’s it, out you come,” he encouraged her, “I don’t know your name so if you don’t mind I think I’ll call you ……… Emma.”
Emma seemed as happy as he was about her outing and she trumpeted with joy.
“Shhh shhh,” Luke looked up into her big, dark eyes, “we’ve got to be sneaky, remember?”
He pointed to a gate behind Emma’s enclosure beyond which he could see a wide open space – a meadow bordered with woodlands.
“Let’s go this way,” he suggested, “don’t worry, no one’ll see. They’re too busy lookin’ for a lost little boy. Hope they find ‘im.”
*****
Story concludes tomorrow but if you can’t wait that long you can read the whole thing here 🙂 or buy it in paperback 😉
Continues from yesterday:
*****
But, it was nice weather, and anything was better than being stuck in a classroom. Luke decided he might as well try to make the best of it.
Mrs Tebbut pointed at two big tigers.
“What can you tell me about the tigers in this enclosure?” she asked the group.
Luke was shocked. He put up his hand.
“Are they criminals?” he suggested.
“Don’t be silly Luke, of course they’re not criminals.”
“Well it don’t seem fair to put innocent animals in prison.”
“Can anyone give me a sensible answer?”
Simon Butler read aloud from the board on the fence.
“They’re Bengal tigers; well known for their power and strength; one of the most feared predators in nature. In the wild they scent mark large areas of up to 100 square kilometres to keep their rivals away.”
“Very good Simon,” Mrs Tebbut smiled.
Luke didn’t think there was much to smile about.
“The wild ones live in massive places, prob’ly bigger ‘n Bournemouth, and this cage is smaller ‘n my back garden. No wonder they look fed up,” he thought.
They moved on. Luke lagged behind with diminishing enthusiasm. Mrs Tebbut drew everyone’s attention to another enclosure.
“Can anyone tell me what these guys are?”
“They’re penguins,” said Anna.
“That’s right. Does anyone know what type?”
“They’re bored penguins.” He knew the moment he said it that he’d said it too loud.
“Luke Walker! I am tired of your attitude! If you can’t enter into the spirit of things with a smile on your face and some genuine effort then kindly do not participate at all.”
That was fine by Luke.
“Why do teachers ask you what you think if all they really want you to tell ’em is what they think?” he grumbled to himself.
When Mrs Tebbut was distracted by Katia getting a splinter, Luke decided to take her at her word and ‘not participate at all’. He was better off on his own anyway. He wandered around the zoo, looking at the animals and feeling sorry for them.
“Don’t seem right to lock animals up when they ‘aven’t done nothin’. It’s like the Sheriff of Nottin’am all over again.”
He noticed an empty bench in front of a line of trees, away from the busier zoo paths, and decided to have a sit down.
“It’s a shame about zoos,” he thought, disappointed.
While he sat there he looked around. Over his left shoulder, behind the trees, he saw another enclosure. It was off the beaten track and smaller than the others. It was concrete and contained nothing of beauty or interest except its occupant. There stood the biggest, most breath-taking, awe-inspiring individual Luke had ever encountered. An elephant. All on her own.
“All on your own,” Luke sympathised, as he made his way to her, “another damson in distress.”
He climbed up on the fence so that he could talk to her over the top of it and she walked towards him to get a closer look.
“I’m on me own too,” he continued, “not stayin’ with the group if I’m not wanted!”
Then he had an idea.
“Would you like to come out an’ play with me?”
The elephant seemed interested so he went on.
“Ok, listen, we’ll have to be a bit sneaky. You wait here while I find a key; then I’ll open this gate and you can slip out before anyone sees.”
It was a brilliant plan!
*******
Continues tomorrow, but if you can’t wait you can read the whole story here now 😀
and the first eight chapters are also available in paperback 🙂
The story continues from yesterday:
He wondered what on Earth he’d done to deserve such a reception as he stood, with muddy face, muddy hands, muddy knees and muddy shoes, at the end of the trail of muddy footprints on the tiled floor.
Being considerate in all things, Luke complied with Mum’s vehement suggestion that he wash more than just his hands, and came to the table in clean clothes. Jared, his older brother, looked at him curiously as if wondering what he’d been doing and Luke returned the look without enlightening him. Mum served up their tea but, as usual, didn’t sit down with them. She would wait for Dad to get home and eat with him.
Luke was dismayed to see bacon on his plate again. He had recently discovered what bacon really was: not food at all but slices of dead piglet. He was horrified. The fact that his parents, who had always told him to be good and kind, would choose to eat it was very confusing. He thought at first that they must not be aware of what it actually was, but when he explained it to them they were not surprised. They told him that people need to eat meat but that he shouldn’t worry because the animals were killed humanely (which they said meant ‘gently’ ). Luke was unconvinced.
“Killed gently! So they don’t mind you killin’ ’em then, is that what you’re sayin’? They like it do they? They look forward to it I suppose because their murderers are so gentle!”
After some lengthy discussion in this vein, during which Luke’s parents failed to persuade him to see reason, his mum effected his silence by sternly insisting that she knew best and Luke must eat his meat. Luke said no more at that time but was determined not to.
Again faced with the need to be rid of his bacon, Luke discreetly took a rasher and held it below the table for Dudley. Dudley, his dog, very obligingly took it from him. At that moment Mum reappeared in the doorway.
“What did you just do?” she demanded angrily.
“Whaaat? Nothin’. I dint do nothin’.”
“Luuuke.”
“I was on’y feedin’ someone what was hungry,” Luke explained innocently, “jus’ bein’ generous, that’s all.”
“You know very well that Dudley has already had his dinner and if you keep giving him yours he’s going to get fat!”
Dudley ate fast. Mum went on.
“Don’t ever do that again! You’re a growing boy Luke, you need to eat your meat!”
Luke stuck to his guns.
“I don’t want it! I’ve got Prince Pauls!”
He’d heard the vicar talking about living by one’s principles in the school assembly that morning. It meant having values and putting them into practice; it meant actions speak louder than words; it meant if you love animals you don’t eat them. Luke had never heard of Prince Paul before but knew he must have been a good bloke.
“Prince who? What on Earth are you on about?”
Mum had obviously never heard of him either.
“I’ve got veggietarian Prince Pauls.”
Mum was not impressed.
“Oh give me strength!” she said, “well, you can explain that one to your Dad.”
“But he won’t be home ’til after bedtime right?” asked Luke, hopeful that he wouldn’t have to have that conversation tonight.
“He’s already home. I just saw him walking down the garden. Checking on his lettuces no doubt.”
Luke, suddenly not so confident that he’d thought of everything, became pale as it dawned on him that Dad might not understand that it was a good idea for the damsons to live in the veg patch. He felt sure that, in time, his new friends would be welcome additions to the family, but knew that his dad was not one to take to something right away and it would be better for everyone if they did not meet just yet.
“LUKE!” His dad’s booming voice reached the house before he did.
“How did he know it was me?” Luke wondered.
********
You can read the whole chapter here.
Stay in touch for Chapter 2, coming to this site sometime, or buy the first eight chapters in paperback if you can’t wait that long 😉
The story continues from yesterday:
He crawled across the lawn feeling like Robin Hood or one of his band of outlaws, risking everything to save the innocent.
“I don’t care if Mrs Tebbut don’t think I’m Robin Hood material, that jus’ means I’m doin’ a good job foolin’ ’em,” he rationalized as his knees slid through the mud. “It’s good that I’m goin’ to be Sheriff of Nottin’am’s Guard Number two – then no one will guess that I am actually an outlaw in real life.”
When he reached the hutch he glanced towards the house to make sure he wasn’t being watched. The windows looked dark so it was impossible to tell. He’d have to be quick and hope for the best. He opened the hutch and reached for the rabbit.
“Shh shhh, it’s ok, I’m not gonna hurt ya,” he whispered reassuringly, “I’m savin’ ya, like Robin Hood savin’ damsons in distress from the Sheriff’s dungeon.”
He tucked her safely into his shirt and hurried back to the hedge. The rabbit wriggled and squirmed uncomfortably, her heart beating hard and fast.
“Ow! Stop scratchin’ me!” hissed Luke before regretfully adding “I’m sorry to tell you off, but it’s for your own good. I’m bein’ firm but fair,” and he crouched down to exit the way he’d come in.
As his left foot followed the rest of his body out of the Butler garden it knocked over a rake, which struck a gnome, which fell from its pedestal and broke with a crash. Mrs Butler opened the back door.
“Who’s there?” she shouted.
But no one was.
In his own back garden, Luke headed for Dad’s vegetable patch.
“Here you go Scratcher,” he said to the white rabbit as he closed the gate, “this is your new home.”
He placed her gently among the lettuces.
“There’s plenty to eat ‘ere see, we don’t mind sharin’. Dad’s always tellin’ me to share.”
Scratcher hungrily and gratefully tucked in. Nearby, between the carrots and the peas, a reddish brown rabbit and a grey rabbit watched with moderate interest as they nibbled and chewed. Luke made introductions.
“And there’s friends for you to play with. I rescued Rusty yes’dy but Ash just come today like you. They’re quiet but I think you’ll get on alright with ’em.”
It transpired that Luke, though quite new to outlawdom, was not one to procrastinate. As someone who hated being confined to his room, he sympathised with anyone imprisoned alone and was determined to help them. Ash and Rusty had been housed similarly to Scratcher in two different back gardens adjacent to the playing field. Spotting them during ball retrieval operations, Luke had decided that those damsons needed rescuing and was certain he was the outlaw for the job.
Luke kept his new friends company for the next ninety-eight minutes until the sound of his mum’s voice calling from the house reminded him that it was nearly tea time.
“I’ve got to go in for me tea now,” he explained, “but I’ll see you tomorrow,” and he showed Scratcher where she could sleep when she got tired.
Ash and Rusty didn’t need to be shown, being already aware of the small hole in the side of Dad’s shed made by Luke with Dad’s hammer. He had been very considerate in making the hole, ensuring that it was at the back so as not to look untidy to the casual observer; and making it just rabbit-sized. He was confident he’d thought of everything.
“Dad on’y uses it at weekends,” he concluded, “so you won’t be in nobody’s way in there at night.”
Feeling very satisfied with his first week of outlawing, he said goodnight and went inside. Mum had her back to him when he stepped into the kitchen.
“Is tea ready?”
“Yes, just about. You’d better go and wash your hands,” she said as she turned to face him. “Luke!” she gasped.
“Whaaat?” said Luke, frowning at his frowning parent.
*****
To be continued ….
Click here for the whole chapter
Ow! That was a thistle. Luke poked and scratched at it with a stick until it broke away from its roots and could be pushed aside. He then rubbed his grazed wrist and forged ahead, emerging moments later on the other side of the hedge. Simon Butler’s back garden.
It wasn’t the first time Luke had gained illegal entry to Simon Butler’s garden but if all went well it might be the last. He’d been eleven times before, to visit the rabbit. Simon kept his rabbit in a small wooden hutch at the end of the garden, near the dustbins. He used to let her out to play when he first got her but after a couple of months, when the novelty had worn off, he only visited his pet for five minutes once a day to refill her food and water. Luke felt sorry for her. He could see the hutch from his bedroom window next door. When he borrowed his dad’s binoculars he could even see the rabbit.
“She must be so sad and fed up. And bored,” he said to the Robin Hood poster on his wardrobe door, “I’m going to visit her.”
A couple of times a week for the last month and a half, Luke had endured scratches and scuffs, and the hedge had endured bends and breaks, so that the rabbit could have a bit of company. He always took her something from Dad’s vegetable patch – a bit of lettuce, or a carrot maybe – and after the first few times she seemed pleased to see him. She put her face close to the wire and eagerly tugged at the treats he pushed through to her. But he had to be careful not to get caught.
Simon was a smarty-pants who always did his homework and always got good marks. He was good at sports and he was good at maths. He was always the first to put up his hand in class and his shoes were always clean. Irritating though all of that was, Luke could have let it go if Simon hadn’t done something unforgivable.
Luke’s best friend, Joe, was not very fast and he was not very clever. He was last to be picked for every team game and first to be told off in every lesson for not knowing the answer. But he always took it on the chin. He shrugged it off. Sports weren’t his thing. Maths wasn’t his thing. He wasn’t especially enamoured with science or history either but that didn’t worry him. He was the best friend Luke had ever had and was totally reliable. He had kept his mouth shut when Luke tripped over his shoe laces and knocked Mrs Tebbut’s mug of tea all over her desk; he had kept it to himself when Luke accidentally cracked Mrs Tebbut’s windscreen with a cricket ball. He was the kind of friend who could always be depended on.
So when Smarty-Pants told Mrs Tebbut that Joe had copied his test and Joe got sent to the Head Master for cheating, Luke was very cross. Simon Smarty-Pants Butler was a tell-tale and a liar. He could never be trusted. And he didn’t like Luke any more than Luke liked him. It was vital that Luke didn’t get caught.
****
to be continued …
Click here for the whole chapter.
Prepare to be inspired. Prepare to be in awe. Prepare to have your heart lifted and your eyes moistened 🙂
Eight year old Amelia Meyer, who was granted a wish by The Make-a-Wish Foundation because she suffers from brain cancer, wished that she could clean up all the litter in her local park.
“She chose to clean her local Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri because she wanted it to look nicer for her friends and neighbors. “Another reason is because [litter] can stay dirty and it can get animals sick,” she added.
Fortunately, Make-A-Wish didn’t just hand Amelia a trash bag and wish her well on her endeavors. Instead, the foundation organized hundreds of people to participate in the cleanup, with everyone from local business employees, the Kansas City Fire and Police departments and schoolchildren getting in on the action. Amelia said she was surprised at just how many people showed up to help.
Sly James, the mayor of Kansas City, attended the event at Swope Park to congratulate Amelia on being selfless and an all-around “really neat kid.” He then proclaimed February 27 “Amelia Meyer’s Take Care of the World Day” throughout the city.
Amelia’s story didn’t just motivate people in her own community, but people in other parts of the state and even the world. As word of her wish spread on social media, other people organized cleanups in their own areas, tagging photographs of their efforts with #AmeliasWish.
Though Amelia’s wish is unconventional, it seemed to bring her no less joy than another child’s trip to Disneyland might. Throughout the day, she ran around collecting trash with a big smile on her face. Jill Meyer, Amelia’s mother, said that the night before the cleanup, Amelia expressed she was “so excited” for the litter patrol. When Jill asked her why, she responded, “Because I get to pick up trash!”
It’s hard not to feel inspired by Amelia’s caring attitude. She clearly hasn’t let her age or life-threatening illness stop her from doing her part to make the world a better place. May her selfless wish serve as an inspiration to people who come from more fortunate circumstances.
Meanwhile, my wish is that Amelia overcome her battle with cancer because we absolutely need more people like her in this world.”
He’s acts gruff and I’m so dainty
But we seem to get on quite well.
He pretends to be tough but he’s soft really
And he likes me, I can tell.
****
He likes his space and I like to snuggle –
He lets me, not often, but sometimes.
I wouldn’t go so far as to give him a cuddle
But he’s my best pal for all times.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – the best Star Trek movie ever! We love this film and watched it again last night. If you haven’t seen it, or even if you have, you should watch it at your first opportunity and witness Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Chekov, Uhura and Sulu go back in time in a Klingon vessel (complete with cloaking device) to save the whales. In spite of its serious message it is full of humour and is a fast-paced, entertaining, well-told story. Highly, highly recommended 😀
THE PETITION STATES:
Britain has been struck by a succession of Atlantic storms accompanied by very heavy rain. In early December Storm Desmond saw 5,000 people flooded out of their homes in Carlisle in spite of £38 million of flood defences recently installed by the Environment Agency. More recently, Storm Frank has caused similar havoc in the Southwest, Lancashire, Yorkshire, the Scottish borders and Northern Ireland.
We demand that a major national tree planting effort is implemented, to build our national resilience to future flood events, and that the shooting of beavers is halted immediately!
The key to reducing the risk of more floods is to realise that conventional ‘flood defence’ can never provide security against the ever more extreme weather events that global warming will bring. The storm waters must be held back into the moors, bogs, fields and headwaters, so that they are given the chance to replenish soils and aquifers, and are released only slowly into the main streams and rivers.
We need more trees: it’s no secret that just having trees in the landscape helps rainwater to infiltrate into soils.
Sign the petition for tree planting to prevent floods!
Next, beavers: trees are food for beavers, and beavers use them to build their dams. And that’s absolutely key to restoring landscapes and making them water retentive. We should select water–loving tree species that are palatable to beavers — like poplars, willows, sallows and alders — and establish them along watercourses, ditches, streams, ponds and eroded upland gullies.
Unfortunately, beavers are actually being shot in Scotland. Scotland needs its beavers as much as England does – and for exactly the same reasons.
Sign the petition to stop beavers being killed in Scotland!
By: Oliver Tickell
Editor of The Ecologist
To: DEFRA
Once upon a time there were two beautiful girls called Snow White and Rose Red. They were very unhappy because they were imprisoned in a large windowless shed with thousands of others like them. They were cramped and miserable; they never saw daylight or felt the wind on their faces; and the prison guards were rough and cruel. Then one night, everything changed.
As the wind blew and the rain poured down, someone came and lifted them out of their prison and carried them out into the night.
The beautiful girls were scared at first. They tried to shelter their heads from the wind and rain, instinctively ducking under the chin of the person carrying them. What was this cold, dark, wet outside world? They had never seen it before and didn’t know what to think.
After hours and hours of jostling and jolting in the wind and rain; after feeling cold and wet and very very nervous; they arrived somewhere. Somewhere new. Somewhere unfamiliar.
They explored with care. They didn’t know what to make of it. They didn’t know who to trust. But they were curious. They weren’t so desperate to get away anymore. They started to wonder if this was, after all, something good.
As they settled in to their new surroundings they were approached by other individuals. One of whom in particular, Mrs Teapot, became their devoted friend.
And so they lived happily ever after 😀
Be kind to every animal
And every bird as well.
Be nice to them, they’re beautiful
And don’t eat them or I’ll tell!
For the story so far click here
I was up before dawn on the morrow and found a strangled vixen outside my door, the poor wee lass was intended to teach me a lesson. I knew they wouldn’t stop killing whatever I did so, for the sake of their future victims, I still had to try to save those I could. Leaving Donnan at home to protect the others, I made my way to the Viscount’s estate and tried to scare as many grouse away as I could, before the “sport” began. I saw his guests arriving and said a prayer for the innocents who would cross their paths. I stayed out of sight and got ahead of them to the woods.
Such brave and noble men who would, five of them, gang up to slaughter a little bird.
I tried to stay out of sight whilst rushing to pick up the injured before their dogs got to them, but I’m sure it was inevitable that someone would see me.
“Miss Allaway, I thought my man had spoken to you about this. Ah well, I suppose if you want something done right you have to do it yourself – isn’t that what they say?” The Viscount himself stood over me but I didn’t look up. I couldn’t take my eyes off the bird whose tail had been clipped by a shot which almost missed him. He was flapping and gasping and panicking. I reached out to him as the Viscount spoke again.
“Miss Allaway, I see you cannot be reasoned with.” I heard a click and that was it. That was the end of me.
To be continued …
For the story so far click here
“The night before I died I was sitting at home by the fire, nursing a baby red grouse who had been orphaned by the Guns the week before. My friends, Brighde the doe and her fawn, Beathag, were asleep on their blanket and Donnan, the collie, was taking a deep drink of water. It was peaceful until Donnan suddenly stopped his lapping and turned to the door with ears pricked up, growling. Then came three heavy thuds on the door. I was afeared but Donnan was there. I opened the door.”
“There stood the nasty gamekeeper and his henchmen, from the Viscount’s household. I had had run-ins with him before when I put out his heather-fires or freed foxes and other souls from his evil traps and snares. Donnan stood beside me, snarling at the keeper and the lads behind him who held shovels and sticks menacingly to intimidate me. The keeper spoke low, his voice sounded cracked from too much smoke. He told me that if I did not stay away from the grouse shoot on the morrow, and keep entirely away from the Viscount’s estate, it would not go well for me, or my friends, and with that he raised a stick as though it were a gun and aimed it at Donnan. Donnan leapt at him and bit his leg hard. The nasty man yelled and kicked my good boy off, shouting at me to “be warned!” as he limped away.”
To be continued …
The lucky winner of our 3rd Honestly Books giveaway, What’s Good For The Goose Is Not Good For The Panda by Lavender Laine, is B Mackela
Congratulations Bill 🙂 Give us your address via our contact form on the About page and we will get the book to you as soon as possible.
There now remains only one more chance to win! The final book of our Honestly Books stash, the little Bibbolybob book, will go into the draw next week. Look out for Monday’s post to enter 😀
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
How the meat gets to the plate is something quite atrocious,
Gentle souls are cruelly killed by humans so ferocious,
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
***
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
***
Those gentle souls of hoof and wing
Have done nothing to me.
I’d like for them to run and sing,
I’d love to set them free.
***
And then one day I realised
Exactly what to do.
I gave up meat and veganised
And you could do that too, oh ….
***
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
How the meat gets to the plate is something quite atrocious,
Gentle souls are cruelly killed by humans so ferocious,
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
***
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
***
I found that I did not miss out
On tasty things to eat.
My vegan meals without a doubt
Are much better than meat.
***
There’s sausage rolls and pies and flan
And chips and pizza too.
There’s cakes and sweets and marzipan
All cruelty-free for you, oh ….
***
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
How the meat gets to the plate is something quite atrocious,
Gentle souls are cruelly killed by humans so ferocious,
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Note that Naomi was rescued from a “natural” free range farm. There is no such thing as humane meat.
Russian Academy Of Science training four rhesus macaques to travel into space and land on Mars.
Please sign the petition NOW to stop them.
Thank you.
Our third Honestly Books giveaway is the unique What’s Good For The Goose Is Not Good For The Panda by Lavender Laine.
You can read our review of it here, but basically it follows the classic children’s story model in which the protagonist (Patty the panda) goes on a journey to find out about herself by trial and error.
It’s told completely in rhyme which is charming and the illustrations and text are all done in collage which is so different and fun and shows children that they can make art out of anything and encourages recycling.
The moral of the story is that we are all different and that what’s good for one is not necessarily good for another. This is undoubtedly why Laine dedicates the book to the Safer Medicines Trust which campaigns for an end to animal experiments on the grounds that all species are different and therefore results from animal tests cannot be relied upon for human medicines.
So if you’d like your own copy of this book just comment on this post to enter Friday’s prize draw. We will announce the winner on Friday morning. Good luck 😀
Support this fantastic Florida group, Eco-Action, and maybe start one in your area 🙂
Look at these fantastic real-life Venus Aqueouses 😀
Save the Planet Associate – a community organisation in Thailand. Support and share their work and like their page 😀
And the winner of our first Honestly Books giveaway: How Many Friends Could A Bibbolybob Make If A Bibbolybob Came To Earth?, by Edward Benn and Juliet Mahoney, is Bookish Heather!
Congratulations Heather – we will send the book to you as soon as you contact us with your address 😀
For the story so far, click here 🙂
When the lights came back on, Venus, Adi and Jean took to the stage.
After an encouraging response from the crowd, the girls exited stage right, and Venus bumped into someone less encouraging.
To be continued …
For the story so far, click here
To be continued …
(Music: cover of The Cure’s A Forest, by Ping Trace)
For the story so far, click here
Inside the hall, the meeting had already started.
Then, backstage –
To be continued …
“I believe that every man who has ever been in earnest to preserve his higher or poetic faculties in the best condition has been particularly inclined to abstain from animal food, …”
Henry David Thoreau
Walden and Other Writings
ISBN 9780553212464
Bantam Books
Page 276
Violet's Vegan Comics 