Mr Ape by Dick King-Smith

Author:Dick King-Smith [King-Smith, Dick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781407099309
Publisher: RHCP
Published: 2018-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Ape Does a Deal

Not until the donkey foal had managed – after several unsuccessful attempts – to get to its feet could Ape drag himself away from the sight of this new arrival at Penny Royal, so that dawn was breaking as he walked up from the stables to the house.

As he crossed the hall on his way to the kitchen, a hen in the drawing room announced the laying of an early egg, while in the music room a canary sang its first song of the day. Hearing his footsteps on the great tiled floor of the hall, all the guinea-pigs in the dining room began a squealing that said plainly, ‘Bring us breakfast!’ but Ape was too tired to do more than take off his jacket and pull off his boots before dropping onto his bed.

It was past eleven when he woke again, he saw by the kitchen clock, and his first thought was that he had fed none of his animals. ‘Ah, but Jake will have seen to them all!’ he said with relief.

Only then did he remember that Jake was now at school.

When at last he had tended to his livestock (increased yet again, for the grey doe had produced six babies in the butler’s pantry), Ape set about getting himself some lunchtime breakfast. Because it was so late, he did not have it in bed but sat at the kitchen table, eating rice crispies and squashed-up banana and raspberry yoghurt, all stirred together.

‘How I shall miss that boy when the Harts move on,’ he said with his mouth full. ‘I hadn’t realized how much he has to do each day; and now there’ll be more to do – another lot of little rabbits from the black doe soon, and masses of baby guinea-pigs before long. At least the hens can’t produce anything because I haven’t got a cockerel, but the canaries probably will. And before you can say Jack Robinson, the puppy will be here. And, of course, there’s the baby donkey – I must be sure and give Joe a good price for her when the time comes. Don’t know what I’ll do without him either. Still, thank goodness Jake has gone to school – that should keep them here.’

Later that afternoon Ape was standing in the loose-box, feeding an apple to Columbine and telling her how beautiful her daughter was, when Joe and Jake came in.

‘I took a few hours off to get some sleep, Mr Ape,’ Joe said. ‘After I’d seen to Billy.’

‘Quite right,’ said Ape. ‘What d’you think of the foal, Jake?’

‘She’s beautiful,’ said Jake.

‘Just what I was telling Columbine. How did you like your first day at a new school?’

‘It was all right, Mr Ape,’ Jake said.

‘He got into a fight,’ said his father, ‘with one of the big boys.’

‘Really?’ said Ape. He took Jake by the shoulders and turned him round to look at him. ‘Can’t see any cuts or bruises,’ he said.

‘No,’ said Joe, ‘but the other boy’s got a lovely black eye, a proper shiner.

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