~ This is a continuation from part one: ~

"Saving an elephant, huh?"

As he was walking across the hallway, Phil heard Sarah's story. Everyone didn't know that he was listening the entire time; and seeing him made Sarah jump.

"Grandfather, I didn't see you there!" she squealed.

"Oh, doesn't matter, Little Rose", Phil replied. "Though, I have to say that I'm a little disappointed that you don't remember me riding the elephant".

"Grandpa!" said Arnold.

"I'm just messing with ya", replied Phil. "But, you already knew that".

Sarah shook her head and in response, Phil sighed miserably.

"Well, might as well continue your story, Little Rose".

"Thank you mostly kindly, Grandfather", Sarah winked as she watched Phil sit in Jasmine's counter chair. When he was settled, Sarah continued with her story.

~

Elephants have emotions, and curiosity, and with Mary, it was no expectation. Whilst Mary was sniffing and exploring my face, hair and hands,  I followed her trunk with my eyes but I was afraid of her.

She was bigger compared to me and Elephants were known to be aggressive (or so I was told). Inside my head, I thought of Mary and what she might do to me. My entire body shook with fear and yet, I sat still whilst she was sniffing. Was there a form of trust or emotional comfort?

Suddenly, with no further warning, Mary gently wrapped her trunk around my hips and lifted me into the air. She dragged me out of the window before gently placing me on the ground. Thank goodness I didn't have my seatbelt on at the time. Mary then walked back a few paces away from me before she laid herself down onto the ground and held out her trunk; she wanted me to come closer to her.

I did what she asked and when I stood in front of her, Mary pulled her trunk away from her and with a sad sigh, she showed me her wound on her neck from the steel spiked chain. Mary touched it lightly before pulling it away, winching in pain.

"She wants you to help her, Sarah", said Uncle Silly Billy.

"But how, Uncle Silly Billy? I don't know how to mend a wound. Not like the Nurses at the hospital".

"Yes, you do. I've seen you helping with Jasmine sometimes. Sarah, Mary thinks that you are the only being that she can trust".

I sighed softly and sadly; I had a lack of confidence in myself but Uncle Silly Billy was right. I had nothing to give but Mary thought I have. So, I decided to pluck up the courage and try to help Mary.

~

Thanks to the use of 5G on his mobile - I mean Cellphone, Uncle Silly Billy managed to research on Doddle about how to treat an elephant's wound. The answer was simple; clean water, camomile extract and iodine. But we had one major problem; where were we going to find them?

This cloud of doubt then gave Uncle Silly Billy an idea.

"I know. I have a friend who is a keeper at the zoo; perhaps he can help".

"That's awesome", I replied. "Which zoo is it?"

"Winnie Holland Zoo. It's not too far from here".

~

We tried to get Mary back into the box but she wouldn't move. I didn't blame her; she hated the box as much as I did but Mary had to be away from the public eye in case something terrible happened.

She grumbled grumpily, telling us that she made up her mind but I didn't want to let her give in.

"Mary, please", I pleaded, "we don't want you to get hurt. I know you don't like the box but the zoo isn't far away. It's only for a few minutes".

Again, she wouldn't move; that was until Mary had an idea. Uncle Silly Billy and I didn't know what she had in mind but, out of the blue, Mary wrapped her trunk around me again; only this time, she placed me on her back.

I was terrified. I had never ridden an elephant before and I didn't like heights either. I wanted to ask her to put me down but she wouldn't want to do that.

"She really likes you, Sarah", said Uncle Silly Billy. "I guess that's her way of saying don't worry, I got you".

I laughed nervously, "Let's hope so".

Mary walked behind Uncle Silly Billy, as he held her trunk and guided us to the Winnie Holland Zoo. After a while, my nerves started to disappear. I began to enjoy the English countryside from a high height; it wasn't high like a hill, but still, it was incredible.

When we arrived at the zoo, Uncle Silly Billy stopped and made a call on his cellphone. "Hello, Shaun? You may want to come to the entrance. Sarah and I have a surprise for you".

We waited for a minute or two before Shaun, his recent bride-to-be Grace and another girl came to the gate. The trio were shocked when they saw Mary and I.

"Who on the heavens earth would allow a young girl on the back of an elephant?" the girl asked us.

"Mary did", I replied. "Mary the elephant".

"She's a very friendly elephant", she said with a smile.

"She is, Miss".

"Miss, Miss?" she joked. "That's Jennifer Huntingdon to you but my friends' call me Jenny".

Although I didn't understand her joke, I smiled at Jenny, because I knew that she was friendly and I knew that I can trust her. "I'm Sarah, and this Mary, and Uncle Silly Billy". I pointed at the pair of them but as I pointed at Uncle Silly Billy, I noticed that the pair were looking at each other with smiles on their faces.

"She calls me Uncle Silly Billy", he added, "but I'm William. Just plain old William Sky".

"Well, plain old William, I see you in a different light", she teased. "What a lovely name you have, Silly Billy".

The pair laughed as Jenny walked over towards Mary. Soothing the beast, she patted her on the side and greeted her in a soft whisper. She then noticed the cuts around her neck and when Jenny asked about them, Uncle Silly Billy told her the whole story.

"What a cruel act to do", she said, after he finished. "You two were very brave".

"Billy has a courage of lion but Sarah has the nature of an elephant", said Shaun.

"Can we take her into the zoo?" I asked excitedly. "I would love to see Mary walking around the area".

~

To my delight, Shaun, Grace, Uncle Silly Billy, Mary and I went into the zoo and headed towards the elephant enclosure; I had visited there may times and I once went inside with Shaun as Uncle Silly Billy and I were given a special tour.

The enclosure was long deserted before Mary's arrival, as one the zoo's last Elephant - a bull named Jingo - died few months earlier. The keepers were delighted to have Mary and I couldn't stop smiling throughout the entire time. All the keepers fed her, cleaned her, healed her wounds and allowed me to interact with her.

Jenny and Uncle Silly Billy spent a lot of time together (and I have to admit that I was jealous of them), but Jenny managed to spend some time with me too. She asked me questions about my love of my animals, to which I replied, "Not a lot but the only thing that I know is that animals have the same emotions and feelings as humans.

"Well, you are certainly an intelligent child", was her response.

~

"Of course you were an intelligent, Sarah!" Jasmine interrupted. "And you are still intelligent".

"Oh, yes", added Phil, "she has a brain of a thousand cells and nerves. Not like me who has lost them after Woodstock".

"Err", said Gerald, "hate to interrupt but I would like to know the rest of the story, please".

"So", asked Arnold, "what happened next?"

~

A few days later, Mary was out and about and suddenly, word got around the zoo.

Every family and couple wanted to come and see the ex-circus elephant; but, there was one person who wanted to come over for a different reason.

I was helping out in the enclosure and feeding Mary her dinner (before the zoo's closing time), when a mysterious figure loomed from the top of the railings - where the public would usually stand - and that figure was the circus ringmaster.

"Hello, little darling", he smirked, "are you enjoying yourself?"

"More than your bullying at the circus", I replied, as a I wrapped my arms around Mary's trunk for protection.

"I don't know what you mean?"

"I know you're lying. I'm not stupid!"

"What makes you say things like that?"

"My heart, which you don't have".

Our conversation was interrupted by Shaun, who asked the ringmaster to leave, which he did so in a respectable manner.

"I don't trust him, Mary. I'll never let him hurt you".

That night, Mary and I slept together on a bale of hay inside the enclosure. The zoo was quiet but —"

~

"Wait, you slept next to Mary? Aren't Elephants' supposed to be dangerous?" Arnold asked. "I mean they can squash you".

Sarah didn't say anything; Maybe I shouldn't have said that, she thought.

"Well — that was a lie", she said, trying to cover the truth. "I'll probably move on".

~

I slept near Mary, but we weren't alone. Jenny and Uncle Silly Billy were there with us, so we had company.

Whilst they were asleep, Mary gently woke me up and once I was up, I could her grumble.

"What's wrong, Mary?" I whispered.

I heard a noise that came from inside the enclosure. With her trunk, Mary picked me up and held me tight.

WHIP!

A massive echoed the entire room. I began to shake with fear; I had never heard a sound so terrifying before.

At first, I thought I was dreaming, as it felt like a nightmare.

But, it wasn't; for out of the blue (and shadows) came the ringmaster.

"I thought Shaun told you to leave!" I snapped at him.

"Yes, but he didn't say YOU can leave".

Suddenly, a dozen men came out from their hiding places around the enclosure and they ran towards me; with one grabbing me by the waist and carrying me to the ringmaster. The man handed him to me.

As I struggled to realise myself from his grasp, the ringmaster chuckled softly whilst he tightly squeezed my wrist. I then saw Mary in destress as she looked on.

"You see, my dear?" he said wickedly. "This is why animals shouldn't have freedom.

"You think you may have kept her safe but you didn't. You led yourselves into our trap.

"Stupid girl, you are as dumber as a turkey!"

I heard a giant cry as I looked at Mary; she was surrounded by the men and they were determined to keep her away from me. However, little did I know what the ringmaster had other plans for us.

"Take the elephant and put her in the crate; the girl will join her shortly".

~

I looked on with a heavy heart as I peeked through the small window. When I was in the crate with Mary, the sun was already rising. There was hardly any sunlight coming in but it didn't matter to me.

I buried my head into my hands, crying uncomfortably. I lost all hope; in that moment I was in there, I realised that nothing will be the same again. I may never anyone at the hospital and school again. I may never get a chance to celebrate future birthdays or go on holidays and I may never be happy again. I was frightened.

I could feel Mary's trunk touching my hair; she gave it a blow before slowly pulling in towards me, as if she wanted to give me a cuddle.

My eyes were closed; I didn't dare to open them. Tears were already filling up my eyes and I quickly wailed like a baby.

"Mary, what are we going to do?" I sobbed. "What are we going to do?"

Suddenly (at that moment), the crate began to jerk. I felt something underneath my feet and, in her case, Mary could feel it underneath her stomach. The crate (and the car attached to it) stopped and I could hear the car doors crashing and mumbling. I couldn't hear their conversation but from the tones of their voices, I knew that they were shouting.

I didn't know how to react to it but Mary did. Without warning, she bashed the crate door open with her forehead and quickly scooped me up trunk, running as fast as she could. I held on to her trunk for dear life whilst closing my eyes, hoping and praying that she would stop.

I screamed from the top of lungs and no matter how loud I screamed, Mary didn't stop. It went on for what felt like seconds and everything was flashing in front of my closed eyes with my head touching Mary's trunk.

Then - she stopped.

I opened my eyes and to my surprise, I discovered that we found ourselves in the city of Westminster.

I had no clue how we stopped here but judging by the distances we made from that small and smelly crate to the gardens, I realised that the ringmaster and his gang of thugs drove us from Winnie Holland Zoo and on the motorway during the night and managed to stop in central London where the breakdown happened.

Mary put me down onto the ground before moving her trunk towards the leaves of the trees near the statue of Winston Churchhill. She felt hungry after all that running and I didn't blame her. Being an Elephant must of been hard with all that noise and running around everywhere. It might of have twice, if not as five times as hard as a human would run a marathon or swimming fifth lengths. I could be wrong though as I always tend to mix up my Maths and measurements. Anyway, back to the story.

I watched Mary as she continued to eat the leaves; but I felt chilly. It was very early in the morning when we stopped for food and to have a rest. My tummy was begging to rumble and I knew that by now, it must be breakfast time. I wiggled my legs and knees in a desperate attempt to make me warm. It was no good and by then, I was shivering so badly.

I walked up to Mary, petting her while she was eating in hope that I would distract myself from the cold. It wasn't working but at least I tried.

When Mary finished her leaves, she saw me standing beside her. With a low grumble, she picked me up with her trunk again before placing me on her back.

~ To Be Continued: Part Three coming soon ~