A bright morning dawned in the Animal Kingdom and Pingoo opened his eyes and the first thing he remembered was that a human girl called Lolo had come to live with them. He wondered how he could help her get back to her family. Pingoo was a little afraid of all grown up human beings, though Lolo seemed nice enough.
As he thought about all this, Torty who had woken up a few minutes ago, came out to the pond and said, “We need to give her some breakfast. I think Willoo has some berries somewhere she can eat. But she is a little girl. She needs some milk…”
“Where will we get milk now? She will have to make do with berries unless she wants fish again!” replied Pingoo.
Torty slowly waddled off to search for the elusive berries. Willoo was fast asleep still, snoring gently. As the sun started to rise in the sky, Lolo woke up as well. For a second she had no idea where she was, but then she remembered how she had gotten lost, and had been found by a koala bear and a penguin. Lolo’s mouth trembled as she wondered what her mother and father were doing.
As she sat up, a tear forming in her eyes at the thought of her home, in walked Torty with some blackberries. “I am sorry, but it is these or the fish Pingoo catches. I don’t think you will like to eat leaves much?” she said in her gentle voice.
Lolo who had been brought up to be a polite girl said, “They will do very well, thank you very much. But when can we start looking for how to find my way back home?”
“Right after breakfast” chimed in Pingoo who had come upstairs as well. He and Torty had had a short discussion on what to do, and decided to follow the path up to the main road. From there they would walk along the road to see if Lolo recognized anything familiar. If they saw another human being, Pingoo was determined to flee before he was caught or worse. He hoped that the human would help Lolo find her way back then.
After having breakfast, Lolo and Pingoo set out with Torty. Willoo had still not woken up. They walked for an hour and came to the field where they had found her the day before. As per plan, the trio started to walk along the main road. There was not a soul in sight, but cars zoomed past at top speed. They kept walking but Lolo could not see anything she remembered and the sun was starting to become very strong. Finally as it neared noon, Pingoo said, “We have to turn back now. I don’t think this is the right way! We can try again in the opposite direction tomorrow…”
Lolo’s face fell but she was a smart girl and knew that what Pingoo was saying was the sensible thing to do. Torty patted her feet in sympathy and the dejected three started on their way back. As they neared the field again, Torty who had very sharp eyes, spotted a cow and her calf grazing in the field.
“Milk!” she exclaimed pointed at the cow and Lolo and Pingoo both jumped in surprise. “Errr millk?” asked Pingoo, not making the connection.
“Yes..a cow..she can give us milk for Lolo!” said Tory excitedly. “But will she want to?” asked Pingoo doubtfully while Lolo's eyes grew wide as she heard the animals discuss this.
“The only way to find out is to ask” said Torty wisely and she waddled off to ask. As the strange group approached, the cow turned beautiful brown eyes towards them and continued to chew calmly. The little calf, who was as calm as her mother, also gazed at them.
“Hello there! We have here Lolo who is a lost little girl and she needs to have milk for breakfast. Can we trouble you for a little?” asked Torty.
The cow turned her eyes on the wide eyed little girl and then nodded. “Yes you may!” she rumbled in a deep and serious voice.
“But we have nothing to take the milk in…” said Pingoo. “Oh no, that is right!” said Torty and both looked disappointed that they had no way to carry the milk.
“I can help..” said the calf speaking for the first time. “Let me go with you three, get a bottle from where you live, and come back to Mother Cow for the milk…”
“That would be wonderful!” said Torty and Mother Cow nodded yes. So the little calf who was called Hoofoo walked steadily with them back to the house.
Willoo who had woken up by then, got the gist of it and said, “Very fine that Hoofoo is helping us with the milk situation. But what about tomorrow and the day after that? How will we get milk for Lolo then?”
Torty quickly nudged Willoo because Lolo’s eyes had started to fill at the thought of not finding her way back home anytime soon. Willoo quickly corrected himself, “I mean we would also like a cup of milk now and then…”
Hoofoo smiled at this and said, “Easy. I will go and get milk for everyone from my mother everyday. And I think I will stay with you all for a while too, if you don’t mind. I am growing up now, and Mother Cow would like me to be independent!”
“That solves everything!” exclaimed a delighted Willoo and the rest also nodded. They all liked the calm and quiet Hoofoo who seemed to have everything in control.
As promised, Hoofoo got milk for the Animal Kingdom and Lolo everyday and soon he took over all outside chores, becoming a member of the little family, until no one could remember what it was like before he came.
“By the way, we need eggs for her too..” whispered Torty to Pingoo as they were all getting ready for bed. “One step at a time, Torty..one step at a time..” said Pingoo as he walked out to the pond to sleep.
Hoofoo was lying in the garden placidly chewing on some grass. Pingoo wished him good night and went off to dream of the next adventure!
Note: Image has been sourced from Google.