‘Good stuff. You can come over this afternoon if you’re free?’
‘That’s incredibly kind, thank you. I’ll check with his dad and let you know in a few minutes.’
When we all gathered for lunch, Alexander agreed that the afternoon would be perfect, and so did Theo, even though he had had a riot that morning with Douglas and Mum, who had staged some sort of crazed Christmas scavenger hunt that all three had enjoyed enormously. They had been hunting for festive items beginning with each letter of the alphabet; angel, bauble and crib were easy enough, but things got very silly around ‘q’ when someone suggested a small duck ornament might count as a Christmas quacker. Having described his morning in great detail, Theo was now asking about the sanctuary.
‘What birds do they have? Why have they got them there – are they injured? What sort of help do you think I can be? Can Runcible come too?’
I laughed.
‘I can only answer one of those questions. Yes, Runcible is allowed to come, but she has to stay on a lead. Otherwise, we’ll just have to find out when we get there.’
Douglas and Mum decided to stay behind, having worn themselves out with Theo, as did Coco, who wanted to practice a recipe or two.
‘I’ll join, though, if I may?’ said Constance. ‘I’m making good progress with the book, and it won’t do me any harm to get out of the house for a while.’
Theo looked around at us, his face happier than I had seen it yet.
‘Yes, come, Aunt Constance. I’m hoping they might have a merlin, or even owls, but I suppose…’
His face fell and Alexander put a hand on his shoulder.
‘What’s up?’
‘If they’re in the sanctuary, it means that they’ve been hurt. I shouldn’t be excited about that.’
There was a silence and the adults looked at one another awkwardly. It was Constance who saved the day.
‘Not at all,’ she said robustly. ‘You’re not excited about them being hurt, you’re excited about the chance to see these birds close up, and to help them, and so am I. Fallon and Dad, too, I imagine.’
We both nodded vigorously. She continued.
‘Sadly, in life, animals do get hurt, but wonderfully there are people like Fallon’s friend Sadie who help them, and that is a cause for celebration. Now, let’s get this lunch eaten so we can get there as soon as possible.’
Taking her cue, we all started eating and Douglas asked Alexander how plans for the Christmas Fayre were going, which kept us talking until it was time to get ready to leave.
The sanctuary was a twenty-minute drive away, and I saw Sadie waiting for us as we drove up the lane. Tall, with long, grey hair today caught up in a clip beneath a woolly hat, she made a striking figure against the leaden sky.
‘Welcome,’ she greeted us, shaking everyone’s hand and stroking Runcible’s head. ‘Good to see this little one again, I always was a fan of your dog. Come on, let’s get moving – it’s cold out here and there’s plenty to see and do.’
She strode off towards a large building near the house and we all trotted after her. I was glad of the prospect of being indoors again; Sadie lived on a bleak and exposed part of the moors and the wind was snatching at us viciously, turning our cheeks red and making our eyes water. She pushed open a heavy woodendoor and we found ourselves inside a large, warm room lined with cages but otherwise kitted out as a vet’s surgery.
‘So, this is where we do any medical work on the birds, as you can see. The cages here are small and they don’t stay for long. Today we’ve only got one bird in, came in this morning and I had to operate. Come and see.’
She led us over to a cage with a heat lamp in it and we all peered in. All I could see was a little hunched bundle of feathers, partially wrapped in bandages, but Theo let out an exclamation.
‘Oh! Is it a Little Owl?’
Sadie smiled at him.
‘It is. Rare for us to get one here. Not so lucky for him, but lucky for you today.’
‘What happened to him?’ asked the little boy, his nose pressed to the cage.
‘He was found caught in some tangled barbed wire. Thankfully, he hasn’t broken anything, but he has some cuts, and he needs plenty to eat and drink. We’ll move him to a larger enclosure soon and he’ll be able to leave us in a few days with any luck. He’s one we’ll need help with.’
Theo turned big, shining eyes on Alexander.
‘Daddy, I might be able to help, mightn’t I?’
