“And here comes the possums. Watch out!”
I looked up to see little creatures flinging themselves out of the trees. Spans of skin between their limbs acted like sails, allowing them to float through the air before they came to land on my shoulders. Possums… Nothing like the ones we had at home, several sets of big brown eyes peered at me as they made little chittering noises as Bronson pulled out some food.
“I know, I know, you greedy bastards…”
Hot Aussie men hand feeding native animals wasn’t on my list of perfect experiences to have while in Australia, but only because I didn’t know that was possible. He held out his hand flat, letting the kangaroos eat food from his palm, but when they were finished, he picked up another bag and thrust it my way.
“Give the possums some of this.”
“But I’m not sure…”
Whatever protests I was about to make, they died in my throat as the possums swarmed down my arms, wanting to get at the bag. Small pieces of vegetables appeared. I watched in fascination as they grabbed the chunks between their paws and started gnawing.
“How am I having a Snow White moment right now?” I asked.
Bronson shot me a shy smile.
“If you’re gonna break out into song about whistling while you work, maybe wait until we’re out of the enclosure,” he said. “Kangaroos, most of Charl’s critters, are pretty skittish.”
“No singing,” I agreed. “Wouldn’t want to scare you beautiful little things, would I?”
Using the same kind of babyish tone I did with puppies and kittens was probably not wise, but the possums didn’t seem to care. They just eyed me and kept on chewing. When their tummies were full, they flung themself off again, going scrabbling up a tree trunk, and I felt curiously empty as a result.
Only for Charlie’s curses to change the atmosphere.
“Enough, you stupid bloody thing!” she snapped.
Nugget might be her foster wombat, but right now, he looked like a small child having a tantrum. She was trying to clean up the wound, and he looked like he was trying to gut her where she stood. I moved forward with perhaps the same stupid bravery as before.
“Hey.” The creature stopped for a second, looking up at me. “You know the nice lady is just trying to help you.”
A little huff of his breath almost had me thinking that he understood me.
“Just keep talking to him…” Charlie said in a low murmur. “Keep talking…”
“So I can see why they named you Nugget,” I told him. “You’re like a little furry tank.” He jerked his head when shetried to wipe the wound with some antiseptic. “Pretty sure you’d have given that bull a run for his money if the two of you faced off. Was that why you ran in front of my car? Because you’d be able to take out the bumper with those claws of yours?”
The wombat stamped his feet in a way that reminded me of a skunk, which had me taking some instinctive steps backwards.
“There you go.” Charlie stepped back with a smile before pulling out her phone. “I’ll send a message to Troy, telling him to pick up some supplies from the vet’s, but…” As she glanced over the top of her phone, her brothers clustered closer. “I don’t care what my stubborn prick of a brother says. You just got Nugget to calm down for a second, so…” Her hand went out. “Troy might not want you working on the farm, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stay here and help in the wildlife rescue.”
“Oh, this is gonna be good.” Billy rubbed his hands together. “Troy will flip out.”
I blinked, looking around the giant enclosure now and seeing it with fresh eyes. I’d been prepared to muck out stables, shovel hay, pick fruit, whatever, but working with wild animals? My grin could not be suppressed.
“I’d love to, mate.”
As I shook her hand, Billy nudged his brother in the ribs.
“Listen to Macca here, talking ‘Stralian. Next we’ll have you saying cu?—”
“Good.” Charlie nodded, then turned to her brothers. “And you two need to fix the fence?—”
“In the top paddock.” Bronson winked at me. “We know.”
“While I will talk you through the feeding and care schedule in here.” Charlie steered me over to a massive white board with a whole lot of things scrawled on it. “I’m gonna be blunt with you.” Her eyes rolled sideways. “It can be a tough job. When we have really young joeys, it can be round the clock care.”
“I raised some neonate kittens my mom found abandoned in our yard,” I said. “I may have missed a couple of school assignments, but each one of them made it into adulthood.”
