“The police are after you?” whispered Sid.

“Yes!” replied Eric. “They wanted to evacuate me after Granny died, send me off to live with strangers, so I did a runner.”

“No!”

“Yes. I have to hide,” said the boy, scuttling across the room and opening a cupboard door. “Don’t tell ’em I’m here!” he said as he found a place between the old pots and pans and shut himself in.

CLUNK!

TAP! TAP! TAP!

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” huffed Sid, making his way across the room to the door. “I know what three taps on the back window means and it isn’t the police. It’s—”

“Just your Bessie!” exclaimed a lady.

Eric spied through the crack in the cupboard door as a very jolly lady in a doctor’s coat hurried into the room. She gave Sid the biggest bear hug, sweeping the poor man off his feet.

“OOF!”

All the animals swirled around her, hooting with delight.

“HONK! HONK! HONK!”

“SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!”

“Just your Bessie!” repeated Parker the parrot.

“Put me down, Bessie!” protested Sid with a shy smile that betrayed his true feelings for her. “Me tin legs might drop off!”

“Sounds like a perfect idea to me, my Sidney!” she chirped. Bessie had a joyful voice that made you instantly like her. You just knew she was someone who was full of life and love and laughter. “Then you won’t be able to run away from me any more!”

“Put me down, Bessie! Please!” he repeated with a twinkle in his eye.

She did so.

CLANK!

“Spoilsport!” she huffed.

Over the man’s shoulder she spied Eric peeping out of the cupboard. “My Sidney?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know you have a small boy hiding in your cupboard?”

“Yes, I do!” said Sid, scuttling over to the cupboard and opening the door. “This is my great-nephew, Eric! Come out of there, you!”

The boy pushed his way past the pots and pans and climbed out of the cupboard.

CLUNK! Then he stood up, and put out his hand to shake, assuming that’s what grown-ups did. The lady had other ideas. Just like she’d done to Sid, she scooped the boy off his feet and hugged him tight.

“Come to your Auntie Bessie!” she cooed.

Despite this lady being a perfect stranger, it felt nice to be hugged by her. She was all warm and soft and squishy, perfectly made for cuddles. It was almost as nice as being hugged by his mum or dad. Almost, but not quite.

“Put the boy down now, Bessie!” chuckled Sid.

“I don’t mind at all!” exclaimed Eric.

Bessie twirled the boy around the room, trying her best not to trip over the animals, and set him down on the floor.

“Bessie is my neighbour—” began Sid. But no sooner had he begun speaking, than Bessie leaped in.

“I am my Sidney’s neighbour! I live in the house right next door. Fortunately, the fence between our back gardens burned down in a bombing raid, so now I can come and go as I please. It couldn’t be more perfect!”

Sid pulled a face. He wasn’t so sure.

“Oh! You are naughty, but I like you!”

“Bessie comes over to—” began Sid again.

“I come over to feed the animals when my Sidney is out at work.” A puzzled look crossed the lady’s face, and she checked her little watch. “Talking of which, shouldn’t you be at the zoo by now?”

“Yes and no,” replied Sid.

“Yes and no? There is no yes and no. It’s yes or no!” she teased.

“Yes, I should be there by now. But, no, I shouldn’t, because I have been fired!”

“FIRED!” repeated the lady theatrically.

Sid nodded his head.

“FIRED?”

He nodded his head once more.

“FIRED? As in, fired fired?”

“YES! FIRED! AS IN FIRED!”

There was silence for a moment.

“FIRED?” she asked again.

“YES!”

“But, my Sidney, you’ve been working at the zoo forever! You’ve devoted your life to that place! I know you’ve given blood, sweat, toil and tears! Why in the name of goodness would they fire you?”

Sid looked to Eric for help.

“Well, it’s a long story,” began the boy.

“Ooh, I like long stories!” said Bessie, sitting down at the kitchen table, and somehow stroking all the animals at once. “There, there, my darlings. I will feed you in a moment.”

“We were worried about Gertrude,” said Eric.

“The gorilla?” she asked.

“Yes, Gertrude the gorilla. The bombing raids had been frightening her like mad. And she broke out of her cage, and Batter—”

“Who?”

“The nightwatchman at the zoo,” said Sid as the one-winged parrot hopped on to his shoulder.

“He was going to shoot Gertrude, and… well… we…”

“YES! GO ON! This is better than going to the pictures!” she cooed.

“Well, we had to wrestle the rifle from him, and he got knocked to the ground!”

“OOH, THE DRAMA!” she exclaimed.

“And we both got in big trouble.”

“I shouldn’t even have been at the zoo in the middle of the night,” said Sid. “And certainly not with the boy. And now the zoo director general has decided that because Gertrude broke out of her cage the vet has to put her down.”

“NO!” said Bessie.

“YES! He said she’s a danger!” replied the boy. “But she’s not. She’s lovely! And I know because she’s my best friend!”

“Oh dear,” began Bessie. “Oh dear, oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…”

Eric looked to Sid. Was Bessie ever going to stop saying “oh dear”?

“Oh deary, deary me! So what are you going to do now?” she asked.

Eric replied, “Well, Bessie, it’s simple!

We have to save her!”