Christian the Lion Read online

  To Christian and all animals

  that enrich our lives

  The four little cubs padded about, blinking in the sunshine and wrinkling their noses, making tiny mewing noises as they encountered all the new sounds and smells around them.

  Their faces were covered in fluffy tawny fur, they were still wobbly on their feet and their paws seemed far too big for their little bodies. But safe in their mother's enclosure at the zoo, the cubs were free to explore their new world. Mum followed her babies around proudly, ready to help them if they tumbled. Her orangey-brown eyes twinkled with joy as she watched her children — three girls and a boy — running and capering around the cage.

  One of them, the male cub, left the others and went back to the safety of his mother's side.

  The beautiful lioness, Mary, lay on the ground, twitching her tail — flicking it up in the air and then down again. Her son watched, mesmerized, before pouncing and chewing it. After a while he grew tired of playing. He cuddled up to his mother and was soon asleep. His sisters joined him and settled down for a nap.

  Their father, Butch, looked on from a distance, handsome and proud, with a large mane that was darker than his silky coat. It was hard to believe that the male cub, curled up next to his mother, would one day grow up to become a powerful and noble beast like his father, feared and respected by animals and humans alike.

  But that was a long way off. For now, the new family lay snuggled up together, warm and safe and happy …

  A few months and hundreds of miles away, shoppers bustled in and out of a grand London department store looking for last-minute Christmas presents. Carols rang out across Harrods’ many floors and staircases; decorations adorned every surface and lights sparkled all around the building. People rushed around trying to find presents for their friends and families, eager to get home.

  They weren't rushing past the exotic animal department, though. A small crowd had gathered there. Children and adults alike were gaping at a cage, not quite able to believe their eyes. There was something wonderful inside …

  Lion cubs! There were two, and they were the size of small dogs, with mottled, faintly spotted fur. One of them, the girl, looked angry. She pressed herself up against the bars of the cage, baring her teeth and snarling at the unwelcome attention. But her brother was different. Much calmer and quieter, he lay there, staring out past his enraptured audience. It seemed like he was focusing on something in the distance.

  Despite the crowds that had gathered round the cage, two friends doing their Christmas shopping almost missed the cubs. Ace, the taller of the two, was fair, while John had long dark hair. They had just moved to London from Australia and were talking excitedly about the presents they planned to send back to their families. Strolling past the cage, chatting away, they completely failed to notice what was going on right beside them.

  “I've no idea what to get for my mother,” John moaned.

  “Stop whining!” Ace told him. “Apparently you can buy anything in this store! We'll find something — don't panic.”

  “I hope—”John started.

  But at that very moment, both men spotted the cubs, just metres away from them. They stopped dead in their tracks, their mouths dropping open in amazement.

  “I don't believe it!” Ace exclaimed.

  Awestruck, John shook his head. “Wow!” he whispered. “You really can buy anything in this shop!”

  The lions were now playing what looked like a game of tag. They nibbled on each other's ears, then pounced, rolling around in a clumsy jumble of tawny fur. The two men moved closer, crouching down beside the bars and staring in wonder at the beautiful big cats in front of them.

  Eventually Ace spoke. “It's so sad to see them locked up in this tiny cage.” He frowned. “I bet they don't even know what Africa looks like.”

  John was angry too. “I can't believe it,” he said. “That cage is tiny. I wish there was something we could do.”

  Ace was right. The cubs had never seen their African homeland. They had never lived in the wild with other animals. Born in a zoo in Devon, they had lived happily there for a while, but they had soon all been sold. This brother and sister had been bought by Harrods: at the age of nine weeks they had been separated from their parents and two other sisters and sent to live in London. At least in the zoo they'd had space to move around and explore; but it was obvious, as they wrestled playfully with each other, that something needed to be done about their cramped new home — and quickly.

  Suddenly the male cub seemed to notice Ace and John watching him and stopped his game. Padding across to the bars of the cage, he fixed his beautiful rust-coloured eyes on each man in turn.

  John and Ace gazed right back at him, hypnotized by the cub's huge eyes. Time seemed to stand still.

  As the fluffy little lion continued to gaze at them, fascinated, John turned to Ace. “I—” he started. But then he stopped and shook his head. “No, it's silly — forget it.”

  Ace looked puzzled. “Forget what? Go on -what were you going to say?”

  “It's just…”John paused again.

  “What?!”

  “Let's buy him.”

  “What? Really?!” Ace gasped.

  Disturbed by the noise, the lion cub lifted a front paw and patted the side of the cage, making the bars rattle.

  The two friends looked down at him again and smiled.

  “Why not? I just can't bear the thought of him staying here,” said John.

  Ace looked at him, incredulous. But John held his gaze — he clearly meant what he'd said.

  After a minute, realizing how determined his friend was, Ace agreed. “OK … Let's do it! Do you hear that, little fellow?” he asked the lion cub excitedly. “You're coming with us!”

  The big cat's eyes were bright. He seemed to be listening to every word they were saying. He knew this was something exciting and was now gazing out at Ace and John, eager to see what would happen next.

  Then, glancing around at the Christmas lights and decorations, Ace had an idea. He turned to John. “We should call him Christian,” he suggested.

  “Christian …” John mused. “I think I like it … Christian.”

  The cub lifted his head and seemed to nod at them. By now Ace's hand was gripping one of the bars of the cage. Christian stuck out his long tongue and licked it.

  John grinned. “He likes it too!”

  “Christian it is, then.”

  John and Ace hovered around near Christian's cage, nervous and excited at the same time. Fortunately they didn't have to wait long before Christian's keeper, Sandy, introduced herself and asked them if they needed any help. She was small and pretty, with brown hair and striking blue eyes. John quickly explained how keen they were to give the little cub a new home.

  “Well, the female's already been sold — but, yes, this one's for sale,” she told the two friends. “I'll miss him terribly when he's gone — he's so gentle and affectionate.” She paused and a smile crept over her face. “The staff across the way will be pleased, though! He may look cute and cuddly but he caused havoc in the carpet department last night!”

  The picture of innocence until they'd made it past their keeper, Christian and his cheeky sister had escaped into the carpet section during their exercise time the previous evening. The cubs had enjoyed the feeling of freedom in this big open space and had played like naughty children amongst the beautiful, expensive rugs and throws. Running and tumbling around, they had explored every inch of their surroundings, just as they had at the zoo.

  When she'd finally caught up with them, Sandy wasn't amused. Their little teeth and claws were very sharp, and the state of some of the carpets showed they hadn't learned to control them yet. She'd scooped up Chr
istian and his sister and had carried them back to their cage, one under each arm. Glancing down at their playful faces, she couldn't stay cross for long. “You're adorable now, but I wouldn't like to upset you when you're all grown up!” she told them.

  John and Ace looked at each other — were they making the right decision? they wondered. If Christian could run riot in a huge place like Harrods, what would he be like in their tiny flat? This was going to need some serious planning!

  Meanwhile, Christian and his sister had recognized Sandy's voice: hoping that she'd brought them a treat, they'd moved closer to the bars and were trying to get her attention by patting her legs and meowing. They weren't disappointed. She threw a plastic ball into the cage, which Christian immediately swatted with his paw. Now, with the cubs distracted, Sandy started to tell John and Ace all about Christian's life. Unaware that his future was being decided just outside the cage, he and his sister happily chased after their new toy.

  The next stage was for Christian to meet Ace and John properly so that he and his keepers could decide whether they would make the right human guardians for him. So, when Harrods finally closed for the day, John and Ace returned to Christian's cage in the animal department. They were feeling tense, and Christian appeared to be nervous too. For once he looked even more agitated than his sister: pacing the floor of the cage, he seemed to know that something important was about to happen. He had been a real attraction at Harrods, with lots of customers eager to have their photographs taken by his cage, but so far nobody had been serious about buying him. Would this time be any different … ?

  While they waited, John and Ace talked quietly to each other. “I know Christian seems gentle and friendly, but, well, he is a lion” Ace whispered to his friend. And he was right. Christian was just like a cute, fluffy kitten now, but in a couple of y ears’ time this tiny cub would grow up to be the king of the jungle.

  John took a deep breath. “Yes,” he replied, “but he wants to come with us — I just know it. And besides, we can't possibly leave him here, can we?”

  Moments later Sandy opened the cage, and the little lions padded out. “Both cubs have been handled by humans since birth,” she explained. “Christian really loves to play and be cuddled.”

  The female cub didn't seem to be interested in John and Ace; as soon as she smelled her evening meal — chunks of raw meat and a raw egg — she ignored them and started searching for her supper. But Christian was curious, and his jewel-like eyes inspected them closely.

  The two friends had knelt down to be on his level. As Christian approached, John reached out to stroke him. To his delight the little lion responded by clambering onto his knee and rubbing his forehead and face against his neck.

  “What's he doing?” asked Ace softly.

  “He's showing that he respects you,” Sandy told them. “Whenever lions meet in the wild, they greet each other by rubbing their heads together like that.”

  Christian then moved from John's knee into Ace's open arms and solemnly repeated the ritual — the little cub had introduced himself. Sandy's face broke into a wide smile. “He likes you both,” she decided.

  The day Christian was to leave Harrods for ever arrived more quickly than seemed possible. When the time came, Sandy carried Christian to the shop's back entrance, where a car was waiting, driven by John's friend Joe.

  The two friends from Australia shared a small flat on the King's Road above the furniture shop where they worked. They really wanted to give Christian a better home than the tiny cage he'd become accustomed to, so they knew they would have to move. They searched for days, looking for a big enough home with a garden for Christian to play in.

  They just couldn't find anywhere that was quite right. But then they had an idea — it meant they wouldn't have to move after all: Christian could live in the big basement of the furniture shop! And they soon solved the problem of finding somewhere for him to run around: the nearby church had a big garden and the kind vicar told Ace and John that he'd be happy for them to exercise the lion cub there. So, with the basement cleared out and cleaned, and the freezer stocked with meat, Christian's new home was ready.

  Now, as he was about to leave Harrods, Sandy held him close. He looked back at her with sadness in his eyes. As tears rolled down her face, he gently put his paws around her neck and licked them away.

  She kissed him on his soft button nose. “Goodbye, little man,” she whispered quietly, carefully setting him down between Ace and John in the back of the car. He sat perfectly still.

  “Don't worry, Christian. She'll come and visit you,” Ace told the cub, stroking his head.

  But Christian looked back at Sandy out of the rear window, saying a silent goodbye to the second mother he had known.

  As soon as he was on his way to his new home, Christian's mood changed dramatically. He'd spent all of his young life behind bars, and this new world was very, very scary; he didn't know what to do with himself. His eyes darted around restlessly and he pawed at John's and Ace's faces, crawling all over them, desperately trying to find a way out of the car.

  The two friends tried to distract the little cub. They gave him the big teddy bear they'd bought him as a welcome-home present, but Christian just wasn't interested. He patted the bear away with his paw before clambering around the car again.

  Meanwhile John and Ace's friend Joe was struggling not to crash the car. He pulled over to the side of the road and stopped.

  “Guys,” he said frantically, “you'll have to calm him down or none of us are going to make it back to the shop alive.”

  Christian seemed calmer now that the car had stopped. John and Ace spoke gently to the frightened cub, patting and stroking him. Since their first meeting they had both been back to Harrods to play with Christian nearly every day, and the cub was beginning to get used to them. Having relaxed a little, he realized that he was with friends he could trust.

  Miraculously, Christian stayed calm as the car started off again, and when they reached the shop he was happy to be carried inside and down to his new home.

  In the basement he blinked, obviously a little overwhelmed and disorientated by his surroundings. But soon he was padding quietly around his new kingdom, sniffing every nook and cranny. John and Ace followed him nervously, just as his mother had done months earlier at the zoo.

  The basement was perfect: even though it was below ground level, it was light and airy, with several rooms where Christian could prowl around and explore to his heart's content.

  He inspected everything, checking out each and every cushion, toy and ball that Ace and John had brought for him to play with. His clever eyes didn't miss a thing.

  The two friends watched Christian anxiously, desperate for him to be happy in his new home. John frowned. “Can we do this?” he asked Ace. “Can we really raise a lion?”

  But it was Christian who decided to answer his question. He padded over to the two men and looked up at John — he wanted to play. He stretched up to place his paws on John's chest, then licked his face.

  John gasped, delighted by Christian's show of affection.

  “I think we can!” Ace whispered.

  Christian was home.

  In just a few days Christian seemed to have settled into his new life with John and Ace, and it soon felt like he'd been with them for ever. Even during those first days the lion cub grew bigger and stronger than he'd been in Harrods. But even though he soon looked more grown up, Christian still loved to play, and from the moment he moved in he made sure that his new guardians knew it. If one of the men was talking to the other, or was on the telephone, Christian would climb up onto his knee and pat him gently to show that he wanted some attention.

  John and Ace had carried Christian's giant teddy bear downstairs into the basement, thinking he might like to play with it. But Christian had pulled it to pieces in just a few minutes, and bits of the teddy bear were soon to be found scattered around the basement rooms.

  The cub quickly became br
ave enough to wander up the stairs and into the furniture shop; once there, he soon found much more interesting things to play with than a teddy bear.

  On the afternoon of Christian's first full day with them, John and Ace got another shock when they went down to the basement: the little cub was running around with a waste-paper bin on his head! At first they thought he had somehow got himself stuck, but they soon realized their mistake. Christian was tossing his head about playfully, growling to himself. John and Ace removed the bin, putting it to one side of the room, but Christian chased after it and proceeded to tear it apart. The raffia strands soon joined the bits of teddy bear strewn across the floor!

  On his second day in his new home, Christian was woken at eight o'clock.

  “Good morning!” called John as he clattered down the stairs to the basement. To make sure that Christian would be as comfortable as possible with them, John and Ace had installed a heater in one of the basement rooms and placed a pile of blankets next to it so there would be a warm place for the little cub to sleep. It made a cosy bed, and Christian was reluctant to wake up. When John called out, his fuzzy face peeked out from the blankets, looking confused. He blinked sleepily before stirring and slowly getting to his feet.

  John carried Christian over to the big kitty-litter tray near his bed. The clever lion cub was already beginning to understand what it was for. Every time he made a mess on the floor, John and Ace carried him over to this tray.

  “Well done, Christian!” John told him when he was finished. “We'll have this sorted in no time.”

  Ace soon joined them in the basement, carrying Christian's breakfast. Realizing what was coming, Christian woke up properly and careered over to Ace, almost knocking the meal out of his hands in his eagerness! In the mornings, and again just before he went to bed, Christian was given some vitamins and minerals with milk. But he much preferred his two other meals of the day! John and Ace brought him big chunks of raw meat from their favourite butcher and served them with a raw egg and some calcium, to make sure that his bones grew big and strong.