Great Animal Escapade by Jane Kerr

Author:Jane Kerr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken House
Published: 2019-05-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Charles Larkin was sitting in the hotel reception reading a newspaper when Danny sneaked inside. At first sight he appeared engrossed in the pages but Danny noticed that every time the front door opened, Larkin lifted his head to look.

It was the reason why Danny had slipped, unobserved, through the side entrance. He wanted to watch without being seen, because he still wasn’t quite sure what he was doing here. Or what he was going to say.

He’d spent the night in the elephant house, curled up beside Maharajah’s warm body. Not that he’d had much sleep. His body ached from the fight, and bruises had started to bloom across his skin. But even if there had been no pain, guilt would have stopped him from sleeping.

This was his fault. He’d made a mistake. And now he’d made everything worse by pushing Hetty away. He’d regretted the angry words almost from the moment they’d left his mouth. But by then, everyone had gone.

At least Maharajah appeared unharmed. He’d slept as peacefully as any baby, breathing in slow even breaths with no sign of any pain or discomfort. At dawn, Danny had cleaned the skin around the broken tusk for the third time, dabbing the mix of water and iodine along the root. And by the time he’d finished, one of the elephant keepers had arrived for the day shift.

Reluctantly, Danny had said goodbye, but only because there was nothing left for him to do. Maharajah had seemed perfectly content. And Danny had known he needed to go home. The Jamesons must be wondering where he was – although no doubt Crimple had already told them the full, shameful story.

But when Danny finally walked out of the elephant enclosure, he hadn’t taken the right fork towards Belle Vue House. Instead, he’d followed the opposite path towards the Longsight entrance. And then – expressly against Mr Jameson’s orders – he’d sneaked out of the park alone.

Larkin’s hotel was just a short distance away, along Redgate Lane, and it had been easy enough to slip through the side door. But now that he was here, Danny wasn’t sure what to do.

He lifted his head and looked at the man who claimed to be his father. If anything, Larkin was even more finely dressed today. His boots were polished to a glossy sheen, and he wore gold cufflinks in the sleeves of his crisp white shirt.

He looked like a man who didn’t work. But more importantly, he looked like a man who didn’t need to. Danny wouldn’t have come otherwise. Past experience had taught him not to trust anyone who looked like they needed money. They were usually willing to do anything to get it.

For a long time, Danny did nothing but watch – and Larkin continued to inspect each new arrival. Danny wondered how long it would take before he gave up. And then he wondered how long it would be before he did too. And after a while, he was surprised to find his mouth was dry and his palms were damp.

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