As they approached the house, Sara and Jimmy were both wondering what they would tell mom. Jimmy asked Sara, "What are we gonna tell mom? you know she is going to be mad. " I know, Said Sara, We still have a little ways to go, let me think.
The baby was following along, stopping every once in while to look around, maybe for its mom, maybe for more food, maybe just to look at its surroundings. It was new to him too, and he knew instincivly to be careful. For some reason, he felt he was safe with these other animals he had never seen before. The smaller animals had a strange scent, he didnt really like it, so he didnt get real close. They didnt smell like his mom, but he did smell other animals like himself in the air somewhere. He was wondering why he was walking away from their scent. These smaller animals were feeding him fresh leaves he had never tasted before, they grew too low to the ground for him to eat them. They were much more tender and sweeter than the leaves he could reach in the trees.
Suddenly, they were at the gate and had to decide what to tell mom. Sara knew they had to tell mom what the poachers had done. It was so sad, she hoped mom would understand why they had to bring the baby home. All the way home, Sara kept wanting to name the baby, but she knew if she did, she would want to keep it. That just couldnt happen, and she knew that too. So she just called the baby, baby. They passed through the gate and the baby came with them, staying just far enough to stay a safe distance from the kids. Once they came through, Jimmy closed and locked the gate behind them. The gate and fence was a full 6 feet high, the kind that looks like it was weaved together, silver colored. It didnt stand out like a wood fence would, but it kept the wild animals out and the family safe.
When mom heard the gate open and close, she came out to see who it was. She didnt expect the kids home for a while longer. Mom let out a sharp cry when she saw the kids had brought home a baby giraffe. Oh my, she thought, what now, what have they done. Before she could say a word, Sara and Jimmy both started to talk rather rapidly and she couldnt understand a word they were saying. She decided to ask Sara why she brought home the baby. Mom knew Sara was more likley to do something like this than Jimmy. Sara could never walk away from animals of any kind. She knew there was something wrong.
Mom, Sara started, Its mom was hurt by poachers and we couldnt leave it there. Something bad would have happened to him. We had to make it follow us. We couldnt find more giraffes to leave it with. We had to bring it home mom, really, we didnt have a choice.
Jimmy thought that he would have left it, but then he would have wondered if it would have found more giraffes to go along with. He didnt know that either. "Mom", Jimmy said, "Can we call the park rangers? I think we saw the people that caused all this. I think we passed them on the trail. They were dressed like the park rangers, but they were none that we know. "
Mom went straight for the radio that connected to the ranger station. They kept it there for emergency's. Just in case an animal was hurt or some strange activity was going on. They hadnt really used it that much for emergency's, but sometimes the kids would call and talk to the rangers just for fun. Today was more of an emergency. Mom was talking to the head ranger, and the kids were listening, making sure she said all the right stuff. Sara and Jimmy could hear both people talking. The ranger was upset the kids made the baby follow them home. He would have to brought back to the herd he came from, and hopefully they would except him back in, that was always the problem with taking babies away from a family situation in the wild. You just have to be vary careful.
The ranger said he wouldnt be able to make it out ther for a few hours. He wanted to know if the baby was in a safe location in the yard and if they were sure he wouldnt get hurt. Please dont startle him, he is still a wild animal and even though he is a baby, he is still very strong and could hurt the kids. These were warnings the kids hadnt thought of.
Sara went out to make sure the baby was safe and happy. The yard was very large and the baby was just walking around. He had found a small tree and was munching on the leaves he could reach. Sara decided she better let him eat by himself and just wait for the ranger to get here. She could still watch him from the porch. He was so beautiful.
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