Summer Waters - River Rescue

When it was obvious that Rusty wasn’t going to take any more milk, Antonia put him back in his pen. The cub clung to her, but Antonia was firm.

“I’m not allowed to cuddle you,” she said, pushing his paws away. “Sorry, but it’s for your own good.”

Antonia wrote down the amount of milk Rusty had drunk on his record sheet, then emptied the remainder down the sink. She washed the empty bottle and soaked it in sterilising solution. There was still no sign of Cai and none of the other volunteers had arrived either. As Antonia collected the things she needed to clean out Billy and the gull’s aviaries, she wondered whether she should have stayed away too.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” said Claudia, suddenly looking up from her computer. “I would never have managed on my own.”

Antonia smiled gratefully. She knew Claudia meant it. They were good at reading each other’s minds. Feeling much more cheerful, Antonia went outside to the birds. As she reached the aviary she heard footsteps behind her.

“Antonia!”

Antonia was pleased to see Cai and waited for him to catch her up.

“Hi, sorry I’m late. Mum and Dad took ages to get up this morning.” Cai’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as he opened Billy’s aviary door for her. Arms full of mop, bucket and cleaning things, Antonia went inside. Cai squeezed in after her and when he’d shut the outer door, Antonia opened the inner one.

“I thought you might not come today,” she said.

“Why? Cos my parents are here? It’s brilliant having them around, but we don’t have to do everything together.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

“Well, I don’t,” said Cai forcefully.

Surprised at Cai’s snappy tone, Antonia started cleaning Billy’s cage. She and Cai worked in silence until the razorbill cocked his head and said cheekily, “Urrr!”

Antonia and Cai burst out laughing.

“You cheeky thing!” said Cai.

With the silence broken, Cai began telling Antonia a funny story about his dad falling asleep at dinner and getting strawberry cheesecake in his hair. Antonia giggled appreciatively. But deep down she was convinced that Cai wasn’t as cheerful as he sounded. There was a worry line on his forehead and his brown eyes had lost their usual sparkle. By the time they’d finished Billy’s cage and cleaned out the gulls, Antonia couldn’t bear it any longer.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.