Chapter 22
Felicity resisted the urge to immediately ring Andrea.
‘Right then. Erm…’
The donkey edged closer.
‘What is he doing here? He’s very cute but I’ll be honest, I don’t know anything about donkeys,’ said Felicity with a shrug.
The room was a state, with a thick layer of dust covering everything, but it was hard to tell if the donkey had just arrived or had been living there for a while as there was no sign of droppings or any water or food anywhere around.
‘I do,’ said James, and Felicity looked at him in surprise.
‘You do? How come?’
‘You don’t have to sound so shocked.’ He laughed softly, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘My parents never let me have any pets but my Great Aunt Barbara had donkeys when I was a kid. I got to go to the country to visit her, once or twice. Donkeys are officially the best.’
Felicity blinked. ‘You know about donkeys? What are you, Old MacDonald or something?’
James chuckled, his eyes still on the donkey.
‘No, nothing like that. She just had a donkey… kept like a pet, I guess? She was called Jessica. Jessica Rabbit to give her full title.’
‘That’s extremely cute,’ said Felicity. ‘Also, nice to see the legacy of Who Framed Roger Rabbit is still going strong.’
‘What can I say? It’s a classic.’
‘Debatable.’
‘And we had a couple of pygmy goats. We named them Billy and Gruff – geddit?’
As he spoke, James bopped down to its level and the little donkey came straight over and stood next to him.
Slowly, James reached out a hand and gave its soft head a little rub.
The poor creature had the most enormous brown eyes and a tiny splodge of white hair on his forehead.
He was thin and his coat was dull and covered in dirt.
He smelt… interesting. A little bit of urine but also comforting, musky and sweet, with undertones of hay.
‘Hello, little guy,’ said James.
‘I think he likes you,’ said Felicity, heart melting.
‘It’s always a bit hard to tell with donkeys, as they don’t really show a lot of emotion. But yes, I think he might.’
‘He’s so cute.’
James looked up at her. ‘What is he doing here?’
‘And why was he making that awful noise? He sounded so upset.’
‘It’s a heart-breaking sound,’ said James, ‘but actually they tend to be mostly silent when they are distressed. They have great hearing, though, as you can tell by the ears. He probably heard us wandering about.’
‘What a clever boy,’ said Felicity, reaching out a hand and giving the donkey’s soft head a rub.
‘Poor chap,’ said James. ‘He really shouldn’t be on his own like this.’
Felicity turned and looked out of the door as if the answer would be in the garden.
But all she could see was the wide lawn stretching across to the neighbour’s fence and…
oh yes, there they were. Clear donkey tracks, meandering left and right across the space.
The grass was so churned up in places it was impossible to tell where they started.
‘He must have come from somewhere. Let’s go ask the neighbours.’
They left the little donkey mooching around the kitchen, both feeling rather guilty as they closed the door on him, and went up and down the street, knocking on doors, but no one knew anything about a little brown donkey. It was as if he’d appeared out of mid-air.
‘Reminds me of our first animal rescue,’ said Felicity as they left the last house in the road.
‘When was that?’ said James.
‘Ha. Very funny.’
‘Sorry, couldn’t resist.’
Felicity smiled to herself. She still remembered the first time she looked into those blue eyes of his, penguin hood hiding his blond hair from view. Despite her concern for their new furry friend, a little thrill of excitement ran through her body at the memory.
As they walked back up the gravel drive, James looked over at her as if he could read her mind.
‘Not the time, Brooks. We have a donkey to save.’
The intensity in his voice just made the little thrill even more thrilling.
‘Right you are. What do we do next then?’
‘You’re the animal saviour.’
‘I know but you’re the donkey expert.’
‘Not really. I know they like their ears scratched and I know where you find the donkey button but…’
‘I’m sorry. The what now?’
‘The donkey button. Touch a donkey gently on its forehead and its ears will go back. Didn’t you know that?’
‘Why would anyone know that?’
James waved a hand. ‘It’s a thing, trust me. Anyway, I know that but I don’t know what you’re meant to do if you find a random donkey on a mini-break.’
‘What kind of secret agent are you anyway?’
‘No kind,’ said James, laughing. ‘We’ve been through this about a zillion times. I work for GCHQ not MI5.’
‘I know you say that, but I’m still not convinced.’
‘Whatever.’
They opened the back door into the kitchen and there was the little donkey, staring at them expectantly, as if he knew they’d be back.
‘The point is,’ James went on, ‘what on earth are we gonna do with this little guy now?’
But Felicity was too busy touching its forehead. ‘His ears really do go back. That is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.’
‘Told you.’
‘Can we keep him?’
James actually laughed out loud. ‘Are you kidding? What are we gonna do, pop him in our hand luggage?’
‘Why not? He’s so ickle.’
‘He is pretty ickle, but not small enough to fit in your case I’m afraid,’ said James solemnly.
The little donkey blinked his big eyes at Felicity and she threw her arms around his neck. She was already sold. The donkey lifted his chin and ever so gently rested it on her shoulder and Felicity’s heart melted into a puddle.
‘Look what he’s doing.’
‘He likes you.’
‘He’s properly cuddling me. Oh, James, I actually think I love him.’
‘Ha ha, that didn’t take long.’ James sighed and ran a hand down his face. ‘Okay, how’s this, maybe we ring round and see if there’s a rescue centre on the island?’
‘That, Mr Penguin Man, is actually a sensible plan.’
‘I have my moments,’ said James.