The Silky Seal Pup Read Online Free PDF Page B

impression of Meep’s bossy chattering.
    Zoe stifled a giggle. “Never mind, I’m here now,” she said. “And we’ve got a show to plan!”
    Zoe unlocked the parrot enclosure with her paw-print necklace, and she and Meep slipped inside. “I think we should have a flying bit, and then your impressions—”
    Zoe stopped talking as a group of visitors came up the side of the enclosure. As they peered in she felt like one of the animals! She picked up the parrots’ food bowl and pretended to be filling it.
    Finally the visitors left and Zoe turned to the parrots. “OK, if we start with Ruby—”
    Rio gave a warning squawk and Zoe stopped talking just as the door to the enclosure opened.
    “Oh, hello, Zoe,” Annie said cheerfully. “I didn’t know you were in here. Are you practising for the show?”
    “Er, yes,” Zoe replied awkwardly.
    “You should use hazelnuts,” Annie suggested. “Rio will do anything for them.” She pulled one out of her pocket and held it up. With a flutter of wings, the cockatoo landed on her arm and picked the nut out of her fingers with his clever feet.
    Annie started sweeping the enclosure, and Zoe turned to Meep. “It’ll be difficult to have our rehearsals while Annie is here. I can’t talk to the parrots in front of her,” she whispered to Meep. “We can’t start practising while all the visitors are wandering around either…” Zoe looked round the enclosure as she wondered what to do. Then, as she glanced over to the seal enclosure, she thought of Star and had an idea. “Of course! Let’spractise at night, once the zoo’s empty!”

    That night, Zoe and Meep crept out of the cottage again. First they stopped at the seal enclosure, to check on Star. The little seal was awake and whimpering, her eyes shining in the darkness. Zoe scooped her up for a cuddle. “We’re going back to see the parrots. You’re going to see the very first rehearsal for their show,” she told her. Star cheered up straight away, squeaking happily.
    Once they’d slipped inside the parrot enclosure, Zoe explained her ideas for the show. The parrots listened eagerly, their heads cocked to one side. “I’ll pick an animal, then you can make the sound,” Zoe suggested. “Let’s start with…a wolf, like Luna and her cubs!”
    Ruby let out a loud, deep howl. It sounded so real, Zoe almost believed one of the wolves was standing next to her! “Warthog,” she said. Rio oinked noisily. Meep fell off his log laughing, and Zoe was delighted to see Star giggling shyly.
    “When we do the real show, I’ll ask the audience to think of some animals too,” Zoe explained. “After that, I thought you could do some special tricks! Why don’t you start by flying in a pattern?”
    Ruby bobbed her head up and down excitedly. Then she squawked to her friends, and the parrots sailed into the air. They flew along in a perfect line, then around in three neat circles. It was going really well until Ruby and Rio tried to land on the same branch and almost crashed into each other!
    One by one, they perched on the branch, gripped the bark with their strong claws and swung upside down, which made Star gasp. Finally they flew down and landed in a row on Zoe’s arm.
    Zoe pulled out a bag of hazelnuts from her pocket and offered the clever birds one each. “That was brilliant!” she told them as they munched the nuts happily. “With a few more rehearsals it’s going to be perfect! I didn’t know how talented you were. I can’t wait for the visitors see you in action.”

    As the parrots chatted about more tricks, Zoe grinned. She was sure the visitors were going to love the show. Clever Ruby and her friends might just save the Rescue Zoo!

Chapter Nine
The Big Day
    For the next few days everyone at the Rescue Zoo rushed around getting ready. The paths were swept, the fences were painted and lines of cheerful bunting were hung between the trees. Zoe raced home from school every day to help and every night