Mandy and James were out walking in Monkton Woods near Welford, the Yorkshire village where they lived. Mandy had spotted something in the carpet of leaves beneath one of the oak trees.

"What have you found?" James ran over and skidded to a halt beside her. His sneakers sent up a spray of leaves. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and looked down at the little hollow Mandy had made in the leaves.

Mandy cupped her hands together and lifted something very carefully from the ground. She held what looked like a bundle of bedraggled feathers. Two round, dark eyes stared at James. A sharp, hooked beak opened and a kind of creaky noise came out. It sounded like a gate that needed oiling. Mandy drew in her breath. She gazed up at James with shining eyes.

"Oh, look! It's a baby owl."

James touched the tiny creature gently with his fingertip. "What kind of owl is it?"

"A tawny owl, I think," said Mandy. "Oh, the poor thing!" She had thought it might be an owl when she first spied the bundle of grey-brown flecked feathers lying in its hollow of leaves. Although she'd seen pictures of baby owls she had never actually seen a live one. It felt soft and beautiful and very fragile.

"Wow!" exclaimed James. His eyes were round behind his glasses. "Where did it come from, Mandy?"

Mandy looked up into the huge oak tree, its great branches reaching up to the sky.

"Up there somewhere," she said, frowning. "You can never really see owls' nests; they're too well hidden. It's probably where two of those big branches meet or maybe in an old squirrel's nest somewhere."

Mandy's heart jolted with pity. "Poor thing," she murmured again.

James squinted upward, pushing back the peak of his baseball cap to get a better view. "Maybe we could climb up and put it back in its nest," he suggested hopefully.

Mandy knew it would be the best solution. The owl wouldn't survive for long out in the open, that was for sure. But how on earth were they to reach it?

"We'd need a ladder." Mandy tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Her brows knitted together over her blue eyes in a thoughtful frown. "Or maybe I could climb up?" she said, not sounding at all sure. She had long legs and was pretty good at climbing trees, but this one had a tall, straight trunk with no footholds at all.

"No way," said James with a shake of his head. "The first branch is miles up. Don't you think we should just leave it where it is?"

Mandy stared at him in horror. "We can't do that! It'll get eaten by a fox or something!"

James shrugged. "I read somewhere you should leave baby birds alone. Sometimes their parents come down to feed them."

Mandy shook her head. "Owls mostly come out at night," she said. "It could be too late by the time they find him." She heaved a sigh. There was only one thing to do then. They would have to take the baby owl back to Animal Ark. Her mom and dad were both veterinarians. They would know what to do.

"We'll have to take him back with us," she said to James.

James bit his lip. Once Mandy made up her mind about something, there was no changing it.

James whistled to his dog. Blackie crashed through the undergrowth toward them.

"Come on, Blackie." James patted the Labrador's sleek head. "Time to go home."

But Blackie was too interested in Mandy's mysterious bundle to take any notice of his master. He jumped up, sniffing the owl's feathers.

"Down," Mandy commanded. Blackie ignored her and went on sniffing.

James pulled the dog's collar gently. "Blackie, do as you're told!"

Blackie wasn't the most obedient dog, but this time he listened to James and allowed himself to be pulled away from the baby owl.

Mandy carefully wrapped the owlet in her scarf and cradled it gently in her arms. "Come on, James. The sooner we get this thing to where it's warm, the better."

Blackie soon lost interest and trotted on ahead.

"What do you feed owls?" James trudged along by Mandy' side as they made their way through the woods out toward the road that led to the village of Welford.

Drs. Emily and Adam Hope ran a busy veterinary practice in the village. They had adopted Mandy when she was a baby. Her birth parents had been killed in a car crash and Mandy couldn't remember anything about them. The Hopes were the only parents Mandy had ever known. As far as she was concerned, nobody could wish for a better mother or father.

James, a year younger, was Mandy's best friend. He shared her love of animals. Mandy and James both went to school in the neighboring town of Walton. Today, though, was the first day of their spring break.

"I'm not sure," Mandy said in answer to James's question. She knew that in the wild, owls hunted for small mammals like mice and voles. Owls hunted mostly at night, although sometimes you saw them out in the daytime, especially during springtime when they had young to feed. But Mandy couldn't exactly imagine catching little furry animals to feed the baby owl. In fact, Mandy wasn't sure what she was going to do with it. All she knew was that they couldn't leave the tiny, helpless creature out in the woods with on one to protect it.

The bird peeped out with huge, scared eyes as they made their way across the village green toward the old stone cottage with its wooden sign that said ANIMAL ARK VETERINARY CLINIC. Dr. Emily and Dr. Adam had started the practice when they got married. Dr. Adam had lived in Welford all his life, and both he and his wife were well known and popular members of the village community.

Mandy and James hurried in through the clinic door. Jean Knox, the receptionist, was busy at her computer. She looked up as Mandy and James burst in.

"Where are mom and dad?" Mandy asked breathlessly, cradling the owlet against her coat.

Jean glanced at the appointment book in front of her. "Your dad's gone up to Syke Farm and your mom's indoors." She peered over the top of her glasses. "What have you got there, Mandy?"

Mandy went closer and gently peeled back the woolly scarf.

Jean's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, my goodness. Where did you get that?"

Mandy explained quickly.

"We couldn't possibly reach the owl's nest," James blurted. "So we had to bring it here."

"Well, what will you do next? Take it out to Simon. He'll know what to do," Jean said matter-of-factly. It was no real surprise to her when Mandy arrived home with a sick or abandoned animal. If Mandy had arrived home with a baby elephant, Jean probably wouldn't have batted an eyelid. Mandy loved all animals and wanted to be a vet herself one day.

Simon, the veterinary nurse, was sterilizing the surgical instruments. It had been a busy morning: a cat with a torn in its paw; a dog that had swallowed a sock; five puppies for injections; a rabbit with pneumonia; and a gerbil whose babies were ready to be born. Then, to top it all, fussy Mrs. Ponsonby from Bleakfell Hall had arrived with Pandora, her pampered Pekingese, just as they were closing. It had taken all of Dr. Emily's powers of persuasion to convince Mrs. Ponsonby that her dog didn't have the flu, just a runny nose.

Simon looked up and grinned when Mandy and James walked in.

"Hello, you two," he said cheerily. "What have you been up to this morning?"

"We found this..." Mandy pulled back the scarf to reveal the baby owl.

"Oh, wow!" Simon touched the creature's head. "Where?"

James explained.

Simon frowned and ran his hand through his fair hair. "You know, you should really have left him there."

"I told you!" James said.

Mandy began to wonder if she had done the right thing in bringing the owl to the clinic. But it was too late now. Rightly or wrongly she had brought him home and it was now her responsibility to look after him. "But I couldn't just leave him," she protested.

Simon pulled a wry face. "I know it's hard, Mandy, but the parents may have come down to feed him - or he might have been able to find his way back to the nest."

Mandy shook her head firmly. "No, I'm sure he's too weak for that."

Simon looked at the tiny creature. "Well, maybe you're right. If he's the smallest chick, the others probably hogged all the food and he probably would have starved to death anyway."

Simon pulled back the scarf a little more. "He's very tiny. I'm afraid it's the survival of the fittest where birds in the nest are concerned. Nature can be very cruel at times."

"It certainly can," Mandy said. The little owl looked so sweet. To never have known if he lived or died would have been too much to bear.

"I think the best thing to do..." Simon suggested, "is to take the little fellow up to the animal sanctuary. I'm sure Betty Hilder will know what's best."