Willow followed the strange footprints through to the furniture area of the dump. There was a shabby, upside-down sofa there which made a sort of cave, and the footprints led right inside it. Willow peered in, her heart thumping … then blinked.
Staring back at her, and looking rather worried, was a black and white bird sitting on a nest.
‘They were bird footprints!’ Grouchy said, then hung his head. ‘I should have known that.’
The bird hopped off the nest and flew away. As it did so, it knocked over a small metal box, and a stream of buttons spilled out on to the ground.
Lovely wriggled in Willow’s backpack. ‘Ooh, a box of eyes!’ she said excitedly, seeing the buttons.
Willow smiled. To a Hoozle, she supposed buttons were eyes!
‘Those shiny blue ones are nice,’ Toby said, pointing a furry paw at them. ‘They would be perfect on a Hoozle, wouldn’t they? Maybe Jack’s elephant Hoozle could have them.’
‘Oh yes,’ Grouchy said, nodding. ‘Just right.’
Toby jumped out of Willow’s arms and gathered up the two blue buttons, passing them to Willow.
‘Good thinking,’ Willow said, putting them in her pocket. She gazed around at the rest of the dump. ‘I don’t think there is anywhere else for Croc to hide here,’ she added. She turned and headed for the way out. ‘Can you think of anywhere else that’s noisy and smelly?’
The Hoozles thought for a moment and then, just as they were leaving the dump, an animal rescue van drove past.
Lovely clapped her hooves together. ‘The animal rescue shelter is noisy and smelly,’ she said. ‘And it’s just around the corner.’
‘Yes!’ Willow cheered. ‘Let’s try that.’
They set off up the road. The sun was shining and lots of people were out and about doing their shopping or enjoying the warm weather. ‘Hello, Willow,’ called Mrs Morris, who was wiping tables outside her café. ‘Your Auntie Suzy said you’d be visiting Summertown. It’s lovely to see you! Would you like an ice cream?’
Willow smiled. ‘Thank you, but I’ll have to come back later,’ she replied.
‘Take a left here,’ Grouchy instructed from the backpack, as Willow came to a crossroads. ‘Yes, there it is, just past the post office.’
The animal rescue shelter was full of cages and very noisy! Dogs barked, cats meowed, and guinea pigs gave high-pitched squeaks. ‘It’s definitely smelly in here, too,’ Grouchy whispered, waving a wing in front of his beak. ‘Ugh!’
‘Hi there,’ a friendly lady with curly hair said to Willow as she went in. ‘Looking for a pet? You need to have an adult with you before you can take one home, you know.’
‘That’s okay,’ Willow said politely. ‘I’m just looking.’
She went into the room which housed the dogs first. A black Labrador puppy was bouncing about after a ball in one cage – he was so cute!
‘Awww, look at him,’ Lovely cooed. ‘You know, Willow, back when your mum was growing up, she had a puppy. He was always charging around with me in his mouth. Very gentle though, he never bit me.’ She glanced around to make sure nobody could see, then hopped out of Willow’s backpack and waved at the puppy.
The puppy immediately came over and licked her through the bars, and Lovely burst into giggles. ‘Oooh! That’s so ticklish!’ she cried.
Willow picked her up. ‘Come on, we need to look for Croc,’ she reminded the pony. ‘Where might he have made a home in this place?’
They looked all around the room full of dogs but saw no place for a Hoozle home. The next room was full of cats and kittens in cages. Some were curled up asleep on fleecy blankets, others were eating or in their outdoor areas. Again, there wasn’t really anywhere that a Hoozle could make a home – no dark corners or empty spaces.
‘Croc must be somewhere else,’ Toby said.
Willow thought Toby was probably right and turned to go. But just then, she caught a glimpse of a fluffy orange tail as it disappeared around the corner. ‘Hey!’ she hissed, pointing at the doorway. ‘Did you see that?’
She ran after the creature and was just in time to see a flash of orange as it went into the office. It had to be Croc – they’d found him at last!