A Foal Called Storm E-Book

Helen Peters

• Herausgeber: Nosy Crow
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: The Jasmine Green Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 85

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Jasmine's dad is a farmer, and her mum is a large-animal vet, so Jasmine spends a lot of time caring for animals and keeping them out of trouble. Unfortunately, this often means she gets into hot water herself... A perfect animal story for younger readers by Waterstones Children's Book Prize-shortlisted author Helen Peters, with beautiful black-and-white illustrations by Ellie Snowdon. When Jasmine finds a lost foal in her father's field, she can't believe her eyes. Who would abandon such a beautiful creature, especially as it's hurt its leg? With the race on to reunite Storm with his mother, Jasmine is determined to solve the mystery and bring the culprits to justice! Brilliant storytelling that will make you laugh and cry, this is Dick King-Smith for a new generation. Look out for Jasmine's other adventures! A Piglet Called Truffle A Duckling Called Button A Sheepdog Called Sky A Kitten Called Holly A Lamb Called Lucky A Goat Called Willow An Otter Called Pebble An Owl Called Star A Deer Called Dotty A Donkey Called Mistletoe

Leseprobe

For Greta, Arthur, Polly and Betsy. H. P.

For Clare x E. S.

Chapter One

Where Have You Come From?

“That was a massive storm last night,” said Jasmine to her sheepdog, as she clambered over a fallen tree branch. “Did the thunder scare you, Sky?”

Sky leapt over the branch and ran along the riverbank, wagging his fluffy tail. If he had been frightened by the thunder, he showed no sign of it this morning.

It was the Tuesday of the May half term. Jasmine had got up early, as usual, and had fed her other animals before walking Sky. She 2needed to be organised today, because she had two rabbits coming to stay for the rest of the week.

Jasmine sometimes looked after other people’s pets when they went on holiday. The money she made helped to pay for her animals’ food. It was also good experience, because she was planning to have an animal rescue centre and boarding kennels when she grew up.

They were almost back at the farmhouse when Jasmine heard a strange sound. Frowning in confusion, she stopped and listened.

The farm was full of noises: birds singing in the hedgerows; sheep baaing in the meadows; cockerels crowing in the yard.

But this was different. It was a high-pitched whinny. None of the animals on Oak Tree Farm sounded like that.

Jasmine walked past the farmhouse towards the field called the Sixteen Acres, where the sound seemed to have come from. There were no 3animals in there at the moment.

And then she stopped and stared in amazement.

Standing beside the hedge was a beautiful chestnut foal. It had a white blaze on its face and white socks on its hind legs. As Jasmine stared, it lifted its head and gave another high-pitched whinny.

What was a foal doing there?

Jasmine’s heart raced as the possibilities ran through her head. Her mum, Nadia, was a vet. Maybe she had brought the foal to the farm to recover after an illness or an operation. She had never done that before, but it was possible.

But if she had, then why hadn’t she mentioned it?

Suddenly a truly thrilling thought struck her.

What if the foal was a present? Might Mum and Dad actually have bought her a foal of her own?

Her excitement drained away as she considered 4this in more detail. She already had two cats, a pig, a duck, a sheepdog, a ram, a deer and a donkey. Apart from her cats, Toffee and Marmite, Jasmine had rescued all these animals. And always she had had to fight her parents in order to keep them. Every time, they reminded her how many animals she already had, how much they cost to feed, how much space they needed and how much time it took to look after them.

But Jasmine was an optimist. Although it was unlikely, it wasn’t impossible. She clipped Sky’s lead on and slowly approached the field.

The field gate was wide open, and suddenly Jasmine understood how ridiculous her hopes were. Even if her parents had bought her the foal, they certainly wouldn’t have left it alone in a field with the gate open.

So whose was it, and where had it come from?

As she drew closer, she saw that something was very wrong.

The foal was soaking wet. It must have been 5out in that terrible storm. It was shivering all over, which could have been from the cold, but looked more like fear. Its nostrils flared and quivered, and the whites of its eyes were showing. Its tail was clamped down against its body. Its ears swivelled rapidly, flickering back and forth, as though it was about to flee at any moment.

6

Jasmine stopped several metres away and spoke in a soft murmur, trying to soothe the little creature.

“What’s wrong, little foal? Are you lost?

Where’s your mum?”

The foal was beautiful, with big dark eyes, a dark mane and tail, and long legs. As Jasmine softly approached, it backed away, terrified. She noticed it was limping.

“Oh! You’re hurt!”

There was a nasty cut on the foal’s hind leg. The gaping wound looked fresh, and there was a lot of dried blood around it.

7“You poor thing. What happened to you?”

The wound looked deep enough to need stitches. That was a job for Nadia, but she was out on an emergency call.

Jasmine thought quickly. An animal as nervous as this might bolt if anything startled it. She needed to keep the foal safe, but it was far too jumpy to let her approach it. She would just have to shut it in the field.

“I’m going to close this,” she said, as she walked slowly and quietly to the gate. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now. I’ll look after you.”

Jasmine had never cared for a foal before, but she had dealt with other frightened animals. She stood by the gate, speaking gently, trying to reassure the trembling creature.

“You’re a boy, aren’t you? I wonder what your name is. Do you even have a name? Are you an orphan? Are you hungry?”

If only Mum were here. But even if she were, she wouldn’t be able to treat the foal’s wound 8when he was this nervous. He would bolt if anyone went near him, and probably give himself another injury.

Suddenly Jasmine knew what she must do.

“I’ll fetch some hurdles and build you a pen. That’s what Mum does if she treats an animal in the field. And I’ll phone Tom to come and help. He’ll be so excited to meet you.”

She took Sky back to the house and phoned Tom. He was Jasmine’s best friend, and they had rescued many animals together. He lived very close to Oak Tree Farm, so he and Jasmine could walk to each other’s houses.

“That’s amazing,” he said. “I’ll come over straightaway.”

Jasmine fetched metal hurdles from the lambing barn and carried them to the field one by one. As she approached the gate, the foal backed away, trembling. His ears were pinned back. Jasmine knew, from experience with her donkey, that this was another sign of anxiety. 9

When she opened the gate, the foal cocked his hind hoof, preparing to kick.

“Thanks for the warning,” she said. “I’ll keep well away from your back legs.”

As she carried the last hurdle in, Tom walked into the field.

“He’s so beautiful!” he said. “I can’t believe he just turned up here.”

“I know. But he’s so scared, poor baby. Look how he’s shivering.”

“Do you think he ran away? How did he get that horrible cut?”

“I don’t know, but something bad has happened to him. He’s way too young to be away from his mum.”

“Have you phoned the police?”

Jasmine didn’t want to admit she hadn’t thought of this. “Mum will phone them when she gets home,” she said.

“Maybe he was abandoned,” said Tom. “Or stolen.” 10

“He can’t have been stolen. If he was, the thieves would have him, wouldn’t they? They wouldn’t have left him here.”

“Unless he escaped,” said Tom.

While they constructed the pen, they talked softly to the foal, hoping to get him to relax and start to trust them.

“His coat’s a lovely colour,” said Tom. “I like his white socks, too.”

“And those cute little white markings on his forelegs,” said Jasmine, “just above his hooves.”

By the time they’d finished, the foal had stopped trembling, but his mouth was tight and pinched and his body was still rigid with stress.

“How are we going to get him into the pen?” Tom asked.

“I’m not sure. When Mum treats foals, she always gets their mother to lead them in. They follow their mums anywhere.”

“What about putting some food in there?”

“I don’t know what to give him,” said Jasmine. 11“He looks too young for solid food and I don’t know if it’s safe to give him cows’ milk.”

“Can you phone your mum?”

“Not really. She’s probably pulling a calf out of a cow right now.”

From the orchard came a loud braying sound. The little foal pricked up his ears.

Tom’s eyes widened. “What about Mistletoe?”

“To lead him into the pen?”

“Yes. Maybe the foal would follow him.”

Jasmine looked doubtful. “He’s not going to think Mistletoe’s his mum.”

“No, but horses and donkeys usually get on together, don’t they? Mr Hobson said people have donkeys as companions for their horses, and some people use them as babysitters for foals.”

Mr Hobson was Mistletoe’s previous owner, and he knew everything about donkeys.

“Well, if anyone can calm him down, it will be Mistletoe,” said Jasmine. “He’s the kindest donkey in the whole world.”

Chapter Two

A Good Sign

Mistletoe was browsing in the orchard hedge with Jasmine’s pet deer, Dotty. Jasmine fetched his head collar and lead rope.

“Hello, Mistletoe,” she said. “There’s somebody we’d like you to meet.”

She held out the collar so the donkey could sniff it. He was used to wearing it, but it was good manners to warn him before she put it on.

Mistletoe was twenty years old, and very patient and calm. Jasmine had no worries about his behaviour, but she wasn’t sure how the foal 13 would react to him.

When the foal saw Mistletoe approaching the field, he froze, staring at the small brown donkey. Mistletoe stared back. The foal lifted his head, gave a loud snort and shied away.

Jasmine and Tom exchanged worried glances.

“Should we take Mistletoe back to the orchard?” asked Tom.

But Jasmine was reluctant to give up so soon. “I think they’ll be fine. They can stay away from each other if they want to. I’ll just leave Mistletoe’s head collar on in case we need to catch him quickly.”