Chapter 3

DOG WALKED ALL around the parcel and took a good look at it. There was a row of pictures of animals – an ant, a dog, a small bird and a snake, all of them with big red crosses through them. She didn’t need to be able to read the words beside the picture to understand what the “Government Pest Disposal Unit” was for. There would be something dead inside the box and she would have to sort it out, as Uncle had ordered. But not now, because this was her favourite part of the day and she didn’t want to spoil it with something dead.

With Uncle safely snoring in front of his TV, Dog could give all the animals a little freedom. She opened the cages, and slowly all the small prisoners came out into the faint light that shone in from the streetlamp. There was no hurrying or scurrying. Most of the animals didn’t even stray very far from their cage. The budgies did a few circuits, then perched on the counter in a row to preen and gossip. The mice and rats wandered about for a while, then settled down to groom their fur, or chew thoughtfully on a bit of saved supper. Nobody looked for a way to escape. For Dog, Esme and everyone else, it was just nice to be out of reach of Uncle’s bad temper for a while and enjoy a little peace and quiet.

Squuuuaaaawwwwkk! Squawk!

The loudest sound that Dog had ever heard was coming from the box! Whatever was in there was definitely not dead. All the animals froze in shock. At once, the TV upstairs fell silent and Uncle’s footsteps crossed the floor. If Uncle came down and found everyone out, free in the shop, Dog didn’t want to imagine what might happen.

Squuuuaaaawwwkkk! The sound came again, even louder than before. Tiny feet pattered and wings fluttered as all the animals fled towards their cages. Even with everyone back behind bars, Dog knew that Uncle would still be furious at being disturbed and she would be blamed, because she hadn’t “sorted out” the strange parcel.

Dog rushed over to the box. Whatever it was inside, it must be made to shut up. Frantically she ripped away the string and paper. The box had fallen so that the lid was at the side. Dog pulled at it, and Esme scrabbled at the edge, trying to lever it up with her long claws. From upstairs there were the unmistakable sounds of Uncle getting ready to come down! Then, suddenly, with a sigh and creak, the lid lifted and a cloud of sawdust spilled onto the pet-shop floor. In the middle of it, something was flailing about, making that terrible, terrible noise, louder still now without the box to muffle it.

Squuuuaaaawwwwkk! Squawk!

Desperate to make it shut up, Dog simply jumped on the whatever it was, pinning it to the floor. It gave one last Scrreeeeeeech! and was silent. Dog lay there with sawdust up her nose and in her eyes, listening. Footsteps came to the top of the stairs, then stopped. There was a pause that seemed to last for hours. All the animals held their breath … The footsteps retreated, the TV blared out again. They were safe!

The sawdust settled, and in the glimmer from beyond the pet-shop window, Dog could finally see what she had caught. A single furious eye stared up at her, and below that, a huge curved beak. Esme realized what it was at once and, with a contemptuous snuffle, wheezed off to bed. She didn’t like birds of any sort, especially not big ones, and this one was big. Very big. A huge parrot – a macaw, in fact, almost as long from beak to tail as Dog was tall. It had big feet, with sharp claws. What with those and the beak, Dog realized that it could have hurt her very badly, and yet it hadn’t.

The bird sneezed, and some sawdust fell off its body. In the dim light it was impossible to see what colour its feathers were, but it was plain that there weren’t many of them. There were patches of bare skin, just a few feathers in the tail, and the wings were so ragged that Dog doubted if the bird would be able to fly. No one, she thought disgustedly, had looked after this bird for a very, very long time!

The bird turned to look at her with both its eyes. It didn’t seem angry at all any more. It opened its beak, but this time it wasn’t a scream that came out but a much, much quieter and more surprising sound. “Hungry!” said the bird. “Very!”

Its voice wasn’t human – more like an un-oiled hinge – but it had clearly spoken. Dog had never heard of creatures speaking, and it startled her so much that she dropped the bird immediately. This proved that it definitely couldn’t fly, because it stayed sprawled on the floor in a tangle of wings.

“Ow, ow, ow,” it cried. “Hurted me!”

It lay there, flapping weakly and waving its legs in the air, then went quite still.

“Help!” it said rather sadly. “Help. Please.”

Talking or not, here was a being that needed her care. Dog gently gathered the huge parrot up in her arms. In spite of its length it was terribly light and there seemed to be no strength in the big feet and long wings.

“Hungry, very,” it said. “Very, very.”