6

“Lisa?” called Buzz as the Animal Adventure Club all tumbled into the rangers’ lodge.

Lisa was holding Spiky and peering into his ears.

“Yay! You’re back!” she said cheerfully. “Two seconds, I’m just giving Spiky his last dose of ear drops. He’s looking great!”

“Lisa, it’s the fawn,” blurted Gracie. “We saw a nasty cut on its neck and we think it’s badly injured, but then I stood on a branch and it ran off.”

“Whoa!” said Lisa. “Slow down, Gracie.” She popped Spiky back in his cage, took off her gloves and came over to the group. She frowned. “Hey, wait a minute, where’s Lexi?”

“Er… We thought she was with you,” stammered Isla.

“She said she was coming back to the lodge,” said Buzz.

“You let her come back by herself?” asked Lisa quietly. “She wouldn’t know the way.”

Isla, Buzz and Gracie looked at each other awkwardly.

“But she stormed off,” said Gracie. “She left the gate open, and she was picking wildflowers. I told her she shouldn’t.”

“And she was dropping sweetie wrappers,” added Buzz. “I had to pick them up.”

“We tried to stop her,” said Isla.

Lisa frowned and folded her arms. A guilty silence hung over the children. Isla knew that they weren’t telling Lisa the whole truth.

“But maybe we didn’t try hard enough,” said Isla, chewing her thumbnail.

Gracie looked down at her feet. “It was sort of my fault,” she muttered. “I think I upset her. I got a bit, well… angry.”

Lisa didn’t need to say anything. The children knew from her face that she was disappointed. She grabbed her jacket and swung it round her shoulders.

“Look,” she said, “I know Lexi can sometimes put her foot in it and say the wrong thing. Loudly,” she added, with a twinkle in her eye. “The thing is, it’s all a bit of an act. Between you and me, she was really nervous before we came today. That’s why we were late. She had changed her mind and wasn’t going to come, but I persuaded her. I said I knew you would make her feel welcome.”

Isla shifted her feet uncomfortably. She could feel her face getting very hot.

“But why didn’t she want to come?” asked Buzz.

“She was a bit scared. Behind all that confidence, Lexi is shy. She’s only been in Pittendooey for a few weeks and it’s very hard to move to a small town when you don’t know a soul. It’s not easy fitting in. Remember, you’ve all known each other forever! Well, at least since nursery.”

Buzz, Gracie and Isla glanced at each other guiltily.

“She’s just been trying too hard. Can you give her a chance?” asked Lisa.

The children nodded.

“We’re really sorry,” said Isla.

“We’ll make it up to her,” Gracie promised.

“Well, we need to find her first,” said Lisa, opening the door of the lodge. “Now, what about the fawn. Did you actually see it?”

“Yes, curled up under a tree in Craggy Woods, but it ran off,” said Gracie.

“And before that, we found more patches of blood,” added Buzz.

Lisa glanced at her watch. “Right, it’s 5 p.m. now, so we need to find Lexi before it gets late. At least it won’t get dark for a while. I’ll check Craggy Woods, and keep my eyes open for the fawn too. Sounds like it’s not too badly injured if it’s up and about,” Lisa reassured them. “I’m sure its mother will be nearby and looking out for it. But if I need to, I can call my friend the vet at the wildlife hospital in Strathdooey. You follow the path the other way, towards the boat sheds, to look for Lexi,” she said, setting off towards Dooey Burn Bridge.

“I hope Lexi’s found her way onto the path,” said Buzz as they walked around the east side of Loch Dooey. “Then at least we’ll meet her as she comes round the loch.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” said Isla. “She was very upset when she left us.”

Dark clouds filled the sky as they walked along, and a few spots of rain quickly turned into a shower. They all pulled up their hoods and trudged on through the gloom.

“Lexi!” yelled Gracie, her eyes wide and anxious. “Where are you? Lexi!”

Her voice echoed around the reserve. They all stopped walking and stood silently, listening. The rain was falling heavily now, pattering on the surface of the loch in a million tiny round ripples. The wind was picking up too. There was no reply, only the distant cry of an oyster catcher.

“Where is she?” said Buzz, sounding panicky. “What are we going to do?”