The Happy Hippo by Amelia Cobb

Author:Amelia Cobb [Amelia Cobb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857636034
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Published: 2016-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Lucy’s News

The zoo was still bustling with visitors as they walked back to the cottage. Zoe sighed a bit as she walked along the path with Lucy. She was missing Great-Uncle Horace already!

“At least we’ll still be here for the summer, even if Great-Uncle Horace won’t be,” Zoe said to her mum – but as she did, Zoe thought she saw an anxious expression cross her mum’s face. She was really curious now, and had a nervous, wobbly feeling in her tummy. What was her mum going to tell her?

Back at the cottage, Lucy hung her vet’s bag on the hook by the front door and went to sit at the kitchen table. She patted the chair next to her. “Come and sit down, love. I need to tell you something.”

Zoe slid into her seat and Meep perched on her shoulder, just as curious as Zoe. Lucy took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I’ve been a bit distracted lately, Zoe,” she said. “I’ve had to make quite a hard decision over the last week, and I’ve been feeling a bit worried about telling you. You see … Great-Uncle Horace isn’t the only person who was invited to go on the Arctic research trip. I was asked to go too.”

Zoe’s eyes opened wide. “Really? Wow!” This wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all! Surely this was good news?

“One of the biggest parts of the trip is researching polar bears,” Lucy explained. “When I was studying to become a vet, I had a special interest in them. I learned a lot about them from one of my teachers. That’s one of the reasons we have such a wonderful polar bear enclosure here at the Rescue Zoo.”

Zoe nodded. Her mum loved all kinds of animals, but Zoe knew that polar bears were one of her mum’s special favourites.

“My old teacher is the person who is in charge of this expedition,” Lucy went on. “She’s also a very good friend of Great-Uncle Horace, and she asked us both to join the trip.”

“Wow, Mum – that’s brilliant!” said Zoe. “But … Great-Uncle Horace has already set off. Does that mean you decided not to go with him?”

Lucy shook her head. “Great-Uncle Horace knew straight away that he wanted to join the project but it’s taken me a little bit longer to decide,” she told Zoe.

“So what are we going to do?” asked Zoe. She didn’t understand why her mum had been so worried about telling her this news. It sounded so exciting! What an adventure. “Please tell me you said yes! Would we set off straight away, or would we wait for me to finish the school term?”

“Well, that’s the problem, love,” Lucy said gently. “There are no children allowed on the trip. Great-Uncle Horace and I explained to my old teacher just how fantastic you are around animals, but I’m afraid it’s just the rules.”

“Oh,” said Zoe, feeling disappointed. She was so used to being allowed to spend just as much time with

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.