Hide! The Tiger's Mouth is Open Wide! (2 page)

‘What are you talking about?’ Sophie asked.

‘Ohhhh, I see,’ said Mrs Nightingale.

‘Can someone tell me what’s going on?’ Sophie asked.

Dr Sharp appeared behind Tom. ‘Your turn, Sophie.’

‘OK, but only if you tell me how you managed to get Tom in your dentist’s chair,’ Sophie said.

Dr Sharp grinned. ‘Oh, it was simple enough. You see, as well as looking at human teeth, I also inspect the animals in London Zoo once a year. They need a check-up once in a while, just like you. And next Sunday is my official visiting day. I said to Tom that if he let me look at his teeth, then he could come with me on my rounds.’

‘Oh . . . OK . . .’ Sophie stammered.

‘You’re included in that offer too,’ Dr Sharp said.

‘Amazing, right?’ Tom said.

Sophie nodded, too dumbstruck to answer.

‘I can’t believe I didn’t want to come to the dentist,’ said Tom. ‘It’s brilliant here. And it doesn’t hurt at all. Honestly, Sophie, there’s nothing to worry about.’

‘I
know
that,’ said Sophie.

‘Cool,’ said Tom airily, and sat back down in his chair. Then he picked up a comic that was lying on the table next to him and started to read it.

‘You’re unbelievable, you know that,’ said Sophie.

Tom smiled. ‘Thanks, Soph.’

Chapter 2

The following Sunday, Tom and Sophie were racing each other to the zoo. They always went to the zoo at least once at the weekend because both their parents worked there – their dad as a zookeeper and their mum as Chief Vet.

Today was a Big Day though. Dr Sharp was going to meet them at the gates.

‘Do you think he’ll examine
all
the animals?’ Tom asked as they trotted across the bridge that led to the zoo.

‘I suppose he’ll have to,’ said Sophie.

‘But they’ve got, like, fifteen thousand different ones,’ Tom said.

‘It’s more like seventeen thousand,’ said Sophie, ‘so yeah, maybe he’ll just look at the ones with sore teeth.’

‘And I suppose not all the animals have teeth,’ Tom said. ‘I mean worms don’t have teeth, do they? Or budgies? Or goldfish?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Sophie.

‘Or spiders? Or frogs?’ Tom continued.

‘I’m not sure,’ said Sophie.

‘And some animals have massive teeth, don’t they?’ said Tom. ‘It would take him ages to look at an elephant’s tusks. And what about a walrus’s. Or a warthog’s!’

‘Yeah, and the zoo’s got five warthogs,’ said Sophie, ‘and they’ve each got two pairs of tusks. That’s . . . twenty warthog tusks!’

When they reached the zoo gates, Dr Sharp was waiting for them. Next to him was a friendly-looking young woman with spiky purple hair and bright red lipstick.

‘This is Violet,’ said Dr Sharp. ‘She’s my assistant.’

‘Hi, Tom! Hi, Sophie!’ Violet greeted them enthusiastically. ‘Dr Sharp has told me that you’re London Zoo experts.’

‘I don’t know about that . . .’ Sophie said.

‘That’s right!’ exclaimed Tom. ‘Ask us anything you like!’

‘OK,’ Violet said with a smile. ‘Where can I get a massive chocolate croissant for my breakfast?’

Tom and Sophie smiled. ‘This way!’ Tom said, and led the way to the Oasis cafe.

After Violet had bought her croissant, Dr Sharp took an electronic notebook out of a black case that he was holding. He glanced at it quickly and said, ‘First up is Colin the camel. He’s a Bactrian camel, so he’ll have two humps. Bactrians originally come from the Gobi Desert in east Asia, but where does he live now?’

‘Over here!’ said Tom.

‘You’ve got to be careful with Colin,’ said Sophie, as they walked across the picnic lawn. ‘He’s got a bit of a temper.’

‘Make sure he doesn’t bite you,’ said Tom. ‘His teeth are like daggers.’

‘Well, his canine teeth will be like daggers,’ said Violet. ‘They’re these teeth here. The ones like Dracula’s fangs.’

She pointed to the two pointy teeth in her own mouth.

‘But as for the rest of his teeth,’ Violet went on, ‘they won’t be like daggers at all. They’ll be pretty flat.’

‘What do you mean?’ Tom asked.

‘Well, camels are herbivores,’ said Violet. ‘That means they only eat plants. Which tends to involve lots of chewing. Camels grind down grass and leaves and vegetables for hours and hours every day. For that, they need lots of rounded flat teeth.’

‘So it’s only carnivores that need sharp teeth?’ said Sophie.

‘As a rule, yes.’ said Violet. ‘If you’re a meat-eater, you need strong, pointed teeth to kill your prey and tear the flesh off their bodies.’

Tom smiled. ‘Cool.’

‘Of course, there are also omnivores,’ said Dr Sharp.

‘What do they eat? Omelettes?’ Tom asked.

‘They eat everything!’ Violet said. ‘We’re omnivores. That’s why we have sharp teeth at the front and flat teeth at the back.’

‘It means we can gnaw a chicken drumstick
and
chew on a salad,’ said Dr Sharp.

They had arrived at the camels’ enclosure. Mr and Mrs Nightingale were waiting for them.

‘Roger, Violet, good to see you,’ said Mrs Nightingale.

‘So what’s up with Colin?’ Dr Sharp asked.

‘Nothing really. He just needs a check-up,’ said Mr Nightingale.

‘OK, let’s have a look at him,’ said Dr Sharp.

They all went inside the enclosure and Colin ambled over. Mr Nightingale gave the command ‘Kush!’ and Colin lowered himself down on to the floor. His legs completely vanished underneath his large brown shaggy body.

Then Mr Nightingale put his arm around Colin’s neck and started to whisper to him. ‘OK, we’re just going to look inside your mouth. No need to panic.’

Dr Sharp gently lifted up Colin’s lips. Colin shied away, but Mr Nightingale held his neck more tightly and stopped him rearing back.

‘A camel’s mouth and teeth are perfectly adapted to their native environment,’ Violet said to Tom and Sophie, as Dr Sharp poked around in Colin’s mouth.

‘You mean life in the desert?’ Sophie asked.

‘Exactly,’ said Violet. ‘He’s got a split lip, which lets him grip on to tough desert plants and strip leaves from spiky branches. The skin on his lips is tough too, so all those prickly cactuses and thorny twigs don’t hurt his mouth at all.’

‘So if I had teeth like that, then could I survive in the desert?’ said Tom, feeling his own mouth.

‘His teeth have to be strong too,’ said Violet, ‘to tear those plants out of the ground, and then to chew them up.’

Tom looked again at Dr Sharp who was now prodding Colin’s gums gently. Colin was getting restless again.

‘Does Dr Sharp like his fingers?’ Tom asked.

‘Let me stroke Colin, Dad,’ Sophie said. ‘He’s always liked me.’

Mr Nightingale nodded and moved to one side; Sophie came close and started to stroke the fur on Colin’s back.

‘Excellent, all done,’ said Dr Sharp. ‘He just needs a quick scrub now.’

He reached down into his case and pulled out a gigantic toothbrush. It was more like a back scrubber or a toilet brush.

‘OK, this is when Colin might kick off,’ Mr Nightingale said. ‘Are you sure you’re OK there, Sophie?’

‘We’re fine,’ Sophie said, continuing to hug Colin’s neck.

Dr Sharp squirted some toothpaste on to the brush. Tom expected the toothpaste to be in a giant tube too, but it was actually normal-sized. Then Dr Sharp started to scrub Colin’s front teeth. Colin, flinched, pulling his neck backwards as he began to push up with his front feet. Sophie slid off the camel’s neck and landed on the hard floor of the enclosure with a jolt. Dr Sharp dropped his toothbrush and Mrs Nightingale instinctively pushed Tom behind her.

Mr Nightingale reached down for the harness that he had clipped to his belt. But Sophie was back on her feet, gently stroking Colin again.

Colin leaned towards Sophie, lifting his neck up and staring ahead with a calm expression. Sophie gently put pressure on Colin’s neck, urging him to sit back down.

‘Let’s go down together,’ she said quietly.

At first Colin’s legs stiffened and he seemed to refuse but, as Sophie kept stroking and whispering, his legs slowly gave way and he lowered himself back down.

‘Good work, Sophie,’ Mr Nightingale said.

Dr Sharp picked up the toothbrush again.

‘Shall I have another try?’ he asked.

Colin seemed to understand the question and immediately hissed at the dentist.

‘Colin likes Tom too,’ Sophie suggested. ‘Maybe if Tom was doing the brushing, Colin wouldn’t mind so much.’

Dr Sharp looked down at Tom and nodded. ‘OK with me, if it’s OK with Tom.’

Tom was handed the giant toothbrush. He stared at it as if it was a sword, not really knowing what to do with it.

‘Go for it, Tom,’ Violet said.

Tom snapped out of his trance and nodded. He looked up at Colin and took a couple of steps forward. When he was close enough, he gently put the toothbrush in the camel’s mouth.

Tom started to brush hesitantly, but then got more confident, scrubbing away at Colin’s front teeth, which were yellow and crusted with gunk. Sophie continued to stroke Colin’s fur and hum soothing songs.