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 Busby! Stop! You re under arrest!
 Come on, Heather! shouted Isla, but now that the logs
weren t piled up Heather was scared the fence was too high!
She was frozen.
Mr. Hornbuckle reached under his jacket and pulled out a
length of rope. He whirled it like a proper cowboy, took aim
and flung it lassolike around the neck of the hunted pig. Once
he reeled it in she d be trapped.
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Isla looked at her terrified friend, tears in both their eyes,
and she willed her to make one last try.  Jump, Heather, jump!
whispered Isla.
Heather backed up six paces, took a deep breath, gathered
herself and then took a run up. With a mighty heave, she took
off, soaring through the air and sailing toward the fence into
the zoo. As she flew, Mr. Hornbuckle dug his heels in and pre-
pared to pull her back, but Heather was too strong and as she
flew over the fence he was yanked off his feet. The rope slipped
out of his hands and he flew headfirst into a huge muddy pud-
dle, just as the pig he d been chasing landed right in the middle
of a bush just inside the fence.
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Chapter 16
Pigs
Do Migrate
µ
Millie and her friends were still creating an amazing diversion,
but they were tiring and Isla knew they had only minutes to get
Heather to safety. She shoved Heather into one of the play huts
and went in with her. Heather was gasping for breath and Isla
gave her a massive hug.
 I m so proud of you, but we don t have any time. These pigs
live in the open, and there s nowhere for you to hide. We ve got
to get to the Bearded pigs enclosure. It s just over there the
big green building with loads of rocks.
She stuck her head out just in time to see two keepers trying
to grab Iain as he ducked and dived. He seemed to have got an
ice cream from somewhere and was using it to get a sheep to
charge between the two keepers, knocking them completely off
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balance. She grinned and looked around. The coast was clear
so she grabbed Heather and set off.
As they moved, Isla kept talking.  I think you ll be fine with
the Bearded pigs. The information board says they re mostly
from South Asia that s places like China and Borneo and
Sumatra and so on. Their piglets are striped when they re born,
and they have yellow tufts of hair around their snouts, which
is why they re called Bearded pigs. They have quite thin bodies
but massive heads and they eat anything.
They got to the pig enclosure safely and dropped down out of
sight. Isla turned to Heather.
 Right, I ll help you over this trench and then you re on your
own. I think you ll just have to blend in as best you can. I ll
come and see you as soon as possible, so keep an eye out for me.
That pest man knows you re in here so you ll have to stay out of
sight, but you ll be fine. Hopefully they ll stop looking for you,
and I can convince Dad to let you come and live with us, but
that might take a while.
They waited until nobody was around and then Isla knelt
down. Heather very gently scrambled up on her back and
jumped across the trench into the pig enclosure. She landed
and turned to face Isla. Suddenly it hit both of them. This was
good-bye again. Isla put her hands across the moat and gently
stroked Heather s snout. Heather snickered and then lowered
her head and shook it from side to side until the coin on the
string fell off. She picked it up in her mouth and held it out to
Isla. Isla didn t trust herself to speak so she just took the coin,
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hung it around her own neck and reached back to stroke her
friend one more time.
 Oi! Get your hand out of the enclosure!
Isla looked around to see a zookeeper in a green uniform
waving and running toward her. She bent down, blew Heather
a kiss and spoke very quickly.  You d better run inside and hide
for a bit until you know what to do and you ve made friends. I ll
come and visit you, I promise. I ll whistle three times.
Heather scampered off and Isla stood up as the zookeeper
arrived, slightly out of breath.
 You must be careful, young lady. Some of these animals can
give you a nasty bite. Best not try to touch them. If you want [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]