The Storm Leopards Read online

  For Lauren and Katelyn

  ~ HOLLY WEBB

  To Hannah - with big thanks

  ~ JO

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Behind the Story…

  Collect Them All

  Biography

  Copyright

  Isabelle watched the group of children move off down the road, jingling their collection tins. The pavement was slippery with frost and icy puddles, and one of the girls nearly skidded over. A couple of the others grabbed her to hold her up and they all giggled.

  If I was still back at home, I’d be out carol singing with my friends, too, Isabelle thought. She closed the front door and leaned against it with a sigh. Some of the children from her old school went to the old people’s home to sing carols at this time of year. Probably her friends would be doing that this week. Isabelle blinked at the Christmas cards hanging on a string along the banisters. Lucy had sent her one, and Ellie – really lovely, glittery cards, with long messages about how much they missed her and how school wasn’t the same without her. And her friends had both made her laugh – she could almost hear them talking to her. But it was nothing like being back home with them, not really.

  Isabelle had spotted a couple of people from her new class when she’d opened the door – one of the boys had recognized her and waved, which was nice. But she still felt like an outsider. She hadn’t been invited to join in. Nobody at this school knew that she loved singing.

  “Wasn’t that nice?” Isabelle’s mum came back out of the kitchen, smiling. The carol singers had been collecting for the children’s ward at the local hospital, and Mum had just gone to put her purse away. “I feel so Christmassy now!”

  Isabelle nodded. She wanted to feel Christmassy, too. It was just that she felt so sad at the same time.

  Her little sister, Tilly, was galloping up and down the hallway singing, “Little Donkey! Little Donkey!” and then neighing loudly. It was her favourite Christmas carol, but Tilly was only four, and she couldn’t remember any more of the words.

  “It’s ‘Little Donkey, carry Mary,’” Isabelle tried to tell her, but Tilly wasn’t listening.

  “There’s no point,” her mum whispered. “Come and have some hot chocolate. The carol singing was beautiful, but it was cold standing at the door to listen. I wouldn’t be surprised if it snowed soon – they did say it might on the weather forecast. That’s one of the nice things about being further up north now, isn’t it? And I bet the snow stays cleaner here, too. It won’t go slushy and brown like it does in the city.”

  Isabelle didn’t say anything. She didn’t think that the snow would make up for missing all her friends, and having to start a new school a few weeks before Christmas. Her parents had explained everything to her and Tilly – how they were moving so Mum and Dad could run their own shop instead of working for someone else. How exciting it was. And it meant they’d be living really close to Gran and Grandad. That was a good thing, Isabelle had to admit. But it was on a visit to Gran and Grandad that her mum and dad had seen that the little cake shop they’d always loved was for sale. If only they hadn’t walked down that street that day!

  Isabelle’s mum placed a mug of hot chocolate down in front of her, and then put an arm round her shoulders. “I know you’re missing the things you’d have been doing back at the old house, Isabelle. But there’s fun things happening here, too. It’s the special Christmas event at the zoo tomorrow – with the reindeer, remember?”

  Isabelle nodded and smiled at her. The hot chocolate was really good – thick and sweet, and Mum had even put marshmallows on top. She was trying so hard. But Christmas just didn’t feel Christmassy here, even with the promise of snow.

  Isabelle laughed as the penguin swam past, eyeing the visitors curiously through the glass panel set into the side of the tank.

  Tilly danced up and down, squeaking, “Look, look, did you see, Belle? Did you see him? Do you think he likes my hat?” Tilly adored penguins – she was wearing her penguin hat and mittens, and she had been looking forward to seeing them all day, even more than seeing Father Christmas’s reindeer.

  That was another of the good things about their new home, Isabelle told herself firmly. The zoo was just outside the town, really not far away at all, and there were always special events and fun things to do. Her mum had said that they could come and visit lots.

  Tilly now had her nose pressed up against the glass, and she and Mum and Dad were all cooing at the penguins. Isabelle liked them, too, but the smell was getting to her a bit.

  “Mum…” She tapped her mum’s arm. “Can I go and see whatever’s on the other side of the path? That big enclosure with all the trees and rocks in? I won’t go wandering off, I promise.”

  Her mum glanced over at the tall enclosure, which looked as though it had been built around the side of a little hill. “You will be careful, won’t you? Stay right there? We won’t be more than five minutes; we’ll catch you up.”

  Actually, Isabelle thought, they didn’t have a chance of getting Tilly away from the penguins in five minutes, but she didn’t say so. “See you in a bit,” she told Mum and hurried up the steps from the penguin tank, glad to get away from the fishy stink. Probably at the South Pole penguins didn’t smell as bad, she imagined. It was cold enough there to get rid of all the fishiness.

  Once she was out on the path, the chilly wind blew the smell away, and she took a deep breath. Maybe Mum was right, and it would snow soon. The sky had that heavy, greyish-yellow look to it.

  “Hello … Isabelle?” someone said, just behind her, and Isabelle spun round in surprise. The girl was so wrapped up in a big furry hat and a woolly scarf that it took Isabelle a moment to recognize her – it was one of the girls from her class at school.

  “Hi,” Isabelle said, a little shyly. Why couldn’t she remember this girl’s name? Daisy? Lottie? “Have you come to see the reindeer?” she asked.

  The girl nodded. “Sort of. My riding school helps out with the Christmas parade that they have this afternoon. You know, with Father Christmas in his sleigh? The riding school lends all the ponies. I’m taking part in it, which is great, but I have to dress up in an elf costume. Promise you won’t laugh at me!”

  “Oh, I won’t.” Isabelle shook her head. “You’re so lucky, going to a riding school. I’ve only been a couple of times on holiday – there wasn’t a stables anywhere near our old house.”

  “You should come to Hill Farm,” the other girl told her. “It’s brilliant. You could come with me the first time, so you weren’t all on your own.”

  “Daisy! Come on!” A man was waving at them, and Daisy grinned at Isabelle. “Got to go, I told my dad I’d only be a minute. I just wanted to say hello. See you later! Remember – promise no laughing at my stupid costume!”

  “OK!” Isabelle smiled and watched as Daisy dashed away. A riding stables, close by! And Daisy had said Isabelle could go with her – she’d really sounded like she meant it, too. Isabelle walked over to the enclosure, still with a smile on her face, feeling better than she had in days.

  She was a lot happier than most of the people standing at the barrier around the wire fence, she realized, after a minute or so of peering through at the trees beyond. One family was walking off looking really disappointed, and everyone else seemed to be drifting away, too. Perhaps whatever lived here didn’t want to be seen? The wire fence went all the way round the huge enclosure, which was planted with trees and bushes, and even had a little s
tream running down among the dark rocks. The animals that lived here would be able to hide quite easily if they wanted to.

  “Maybe it’s too cold to come out,” Isabelle murmured to herself. She didn’t mind. She could go back to the penguins, and tell Mum and Dad about the riding school. Dad had said it would be really good to find some fun new activities once they were properly settled.

  But just as she was turning away, she caught a flash of movement among the bushes. Curious, Isabelle leaned forward, gazing through the wire. Whatever it was had pale grey fur, and it looked quite big. Isabelle held her breath and watched as the creature stepped out – and stared at her with glowing green-gold eyes.

  “A leopard…” Isabelle breathed. But it wasn’t, not quite. She had seen pictures of leopards, and they were long and lean and golden, with short, silky-looking fur. This cat had a small, neat head, but the rest of her was almost stocky, with huge silvery paws and a fluffy white chest. She was dappled with black spots, and her tail was long and fat. It waved behind her like a thick furry scarf.

  The big cat gazed at Isabelle with great, round eyes, like green glass marbles. Then she turned and loped proudly away between the rocks, leaving Isabelle staring after her, open-mouthed.

  “That wasn’t just a leopard,” Isabelle whispered. She was still peering hopefully through the wire, but the silver-grey cat had disappeared. Isabelle shivered as the cold wind cut through her coat. “I wonder what you are?” she said to herself, stuffing her hands into her pockets and hurrying over to the display board at the front of the enclosure. “Oh! A snow leopard!” I didn’t even know you could get snow leopards… She frowned. Didn’t leopards live in jungles – or forests, at least? The spots were for camouflage amongst the leaves, she’d thought. She giggled, thinking of a snow leopard trying to camouflage itself in the snow – it would be like a lot of floating spots…

  Actually, I suppose snow isn’t white all the time, Isabelle decided, looking thoughtfully at the rocky enclosure. Maybe the spots do help them blend in, if they live in rocky sorts of places like this. She scanned the display eagerly, looking at the photos of the leopards’ habitat, and the map showing where they lived in the wild. China, Russia, Nepal, India. “All across the Himalayas… Mountain cats.” Isabelle glanced up at the rocks again, and caught her breath – was that a silvery face gazing down at her between the branches, or had she just imagined it?

  The wind shifted the trees a little, and there was nothing there. But even though she couldn’t see the snow leopard, Isabelle was sure that she was still listening and watching.

  “I can see why you need all that fur,” she said. “It looks so cosy, just right for snowy mountains.” Then she went back to reading. The poster said that snow leopards used their furry tails as scarves to wrap around their noses. Isabelle hitched her own scarf higher up. “Good plan,” she whispered through the fence.

  “What are you looking at?” Mum said behind her, and Isabelle jumped.

  “Oh! I was reading this – all about snow leopards. This one’s called Dara.”

  “It’s cute!” Tilly said, pointing at the photos. “Where is it?” And she tried to lean over the barrier and get closer to the wire. “I can’t see it. I want to see the big cat!”

  “She could be asleep, Tilly.” Mum crouched down beside her to explain. “There are caves and dens for the leopard to sleep in. I read about her on the zoo’s website – it said that snow leopards are really shy. Sometimes they don’t want to be seen. We’re really lucky to have one here in the zoo to look at – in the wild, people hardly ever see them.”

  “But I want her to come out and see me!” Tilly said crossly. “It’s not fair!”

  “Only five thousand left in the wild,” Isabelle’s dad murmured, looking at the information board. “Wow, they definitely are endangered. But it says they’ve been breeding them here for quite a while.”

  Isabelle nodded. “Dara was born here at the zoo, it says. And she had cubs, but now they’re older they’ve gone to other zoos – because snow leopards like to be on their own in their territory. And they want to get zoos all over the world to breed them, because they’re so rare.”

  “They’re shy, Tilly. You’d never see one if you went to their mountains, either,” Dad said, putting an arm round Tilly, who was still looking sulky. “Even here in the zoo they don’t always want to show themselves. Now, we’d better go if we want to get a good spot to watch this parade. We can come again – we’ll just have to make sure we look for Dara every time we visit. I’m sure we’ll see her sooner or later, won’t we, Belle?”

  But I did see her… Isabelle almost said aloud. Then she simply smiled and nodded, and followed her family.

  “Goodbye,” she whispered, as they headed away from the enclosure. The snow leopard would be her secret. As she walked slowly down the path, she was sure that a pale-furred cat was watching her go, hidden deep among the rocks.

  “Isabelle, there’s an elf waving at you over there…” Dad nudged her. “Look, on that white pony.” He pointed over the shoulder of the lady next to him, and Isabelle leaned over the fence to see. There was a big crowd gathered to watch the parade, but they’d managed to find a good place. Even Tilly could see, peering through the barrier.

  “They’re called grey, Dad,” Isabelle said, smiling. The pony was gorgeous, almost snow-white, with a long forelock that dropped over his eyes. He had a Christmassy red and green blanket under his saddle, and tassels hanging off his reins. Daisy had on stripy red-and-white tights and a green tunic. She even had a little pointy elf hat. Isabelle sucked her cheeks in hard – she’d promised she wouldn’t laugh.

  “Is she a friend from school?” Dad asked, glancing at Isabelle hopefully. “She’s a very good rider. They all look amazing, actually. Those ponies must be very well trained to stay so calm with all these children cheering at them.”

  “She’s not quite a friend yet,” Isabelle said. “But she might be. I think, anyway. She said maybe I could go riding with her,” she added, grinning at Daisy. She was making faces at her cute elf outfit and mouthing something that looked like, Don’t you dare laugh!

  “What about one of these necklaces?” Isabelle’s mum suggested. “With the owls on – so sweet!”

  “Maybe,” Isabelle said. Mum had given both her and Tilly a bit of money to spend in the gift shop – not loads, because it was just before Christmas, but enough for a small souvenir. Tilly was with Dad, trying to decide between sweets and a furry penguin, but Isabelle just couldn’t find anything she really liked.

  She peered into a basket on one of the shelves – it looked like there were little fabric toys in it. Isabelle picked one out, wondering if Tilly would like it, and then smiled delightedly – a little felt cat.

  “That’s pretty,” her mum commented. “It’s a Christmas decoration – look.” She pointed out the loop of thread on the cat’s back. “You could put it on the tree, or hang it up in your room.”

  Isabelle turned the little cat over, surprised by the roughness of the felt under her fingers. She looked at the big label attached to the cat’s back, wondering whether the felt was made of something strange. It didn’t feel like the felt they used to make things at school. The label showed a photo of a family, wearing strange wrap-around coats and beaming at the camera. The girl in the photo was about the same age as she was. She had two tall older brothers, and she looked tiny standing in between them.

  “Handmade in Mongolia,” Isabelle read. “Mum, these are sold by a snow leopard charity – it says so, look!” She smiled, stroking the dark spots on the pale blue felt. “I thought it was a cat, but it’s a snow leopard. Please can I buy this?” She checked the price. “I’ve got enough.”

  She followed her mum to the till, still reading the label. The tree ornaments were made by families in Mongolia, it explained. People who lived in the snow leopards’ habitat. The charity sold the decorations for them, which meant that they were sold in a larger number of shops. That way th
e families earned more, and in return they agreed not to hunt the snow leopards. Instead they helped to care for them as a protected species.

  Isabelle handed over her money, and then went back to reading the label. At the bottom there was a website address. She would look it up as soon as she got home, she decided. What must it be like, to live among the snow leopards? she wondered.

  Isabelle stood the little felt snow leopard on the desk in her bedroom. She’d borrowed Mum’s laptop to look up the snow leopard charity online. She still couldn’t believe that she hadn’t even known snow leopards existed – Isabelle loved animals and she knew loads about wildlife, or she’d thought she did. Well, she was going to make up for it now.

  Isabelle typed in the address from the label and gave a delighted gasp at the beautiful photo that came up on the screen – a snow leopard sitting on a hillside, staring out across a valley at a line of snow-topped mountains. His fur was yellowish cream, dappled with soft ash-grey spots and rings, and his tail curled out behind him, looking almost as long as he was.

  The charity’s website had lots of photos and a whole area for snow leopard information, too. Isabelle skipped from page to page, cooing at the gorgeous pictures. The cubs were even cuter than the adult snow leopards. They looked more like normal leopards than the adults did, but Isabelle wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe because all leopard cubs had massive paws and much fluffier fur than grown-up leopards.

  “Aww,” Isabelle whispered. “They’re born with blue eyes, like Tilly was.” Isabelle had been surprised when her little sister was born – she and Mum and Dad all had dark hair and eyes, but Tilly’s eyes were a soft blue. They’d changed to brown now, and Mum had told her that most white babies had blue eyes at first. It looked like it was the same for snow leopards – almost all the adults had eyes that were grey, or greenish like the snow leopard at the zoo.