A Girl and Her Elephant
The Animal Companions Series #1
by
Zoey Gong
Zoey Gong
Genre: YA Adventure
All of the elephants wept as one of their own lay dying in childbirth.
But Kanita, the daughter of the royal elephant trainer, refused to
give up. With her own hands, she helped bring the baby elephant,
Safi, into the world, beginning a lifelong friendship between a girl
and her elephant.
But Kanita, the daughter of the royal elephant trainer, refused to
give up. With her own hands, she helped bring the baby elephant,
Safi, into the world, beginning a lifelong friendship between a girl
and her elephant.
But many of the villagers worried about the curse of the white elephant
with the red birthmark across her face.
with the red birthmark across her face.
Raised in the mountains of northern Siam, Kanita’s idyllic life is
shattered when she is ordered to marry a much older man and leave her
beloved yet cursed elephant behind. But Kanita’s stubborn nature
refuses to bow to her parents’ wishes.
beloved yet cursed elephant behind. But Kanita’s stubborn nature
refuses to bow to her parents’ wishes.
Kanita and Safi flee their village with the goal of redeeming Safi from her
cursed reputation and cementing their bond, vowing to never be separated.
cursed reputation and cementing their bond, vowing to never be separated.
But the jungle is more dangerous than Kanita or Safi could have imagined.
From new author Zoey Gong, follow Kanita and Safi through the jungles of
ancient Siam in a story of friendship, hope, and redemption.
ancient Siam in a story of friendship, hope, and redemption.
A Girl and her Elephant is the first book in the Animal Companion
series, but each book is a stand-alone novel with new characters and
adventures.
series, but each book is a stand-alone novel with new characters and
adventures.
Kanita could no longer ignore the elephant’s suffering. Even though her father—the king’s mahout—had warned her to stay away, she had to see what was happening for herself. She snuck out of her bedroom window and ran through the village to the royal stables where the white elephant was in heavy labor.
Even though it was late at night, the stables and yard were lit with torches, and mahouts were running here and there, trying to calm the rest of the elephant herd. But they seemed incapable of being consoled, and each one trumpeted in distress.
“Bring more hot water!” Kanita heard her father call to one of his men. “And my kris. I will have to cut the baby loose.”
Her father had asked for his dagger! The poor elephant, Kanita thought. If the elephant—one of the sacred white elephants—died, the king would be displeased. She moved a bale of hay to a stable window and climbed on top of it to get a better view.
On the floor of the stables was the large white elephant. She was straining to birth her calf into the world and tears seeped from her eyes.
She looked at Kanita, and Kanita’s heart froze in her chest. It was as though she could hear the elephant begging her for help.
The elephant’s wet eyes found Kanita’s, and she raised her trunk toward her.
Kanita jumped down from the hay bale and ran into the stables. She had to do something to help. As she entered the building, she saw her father walk behind the elephant with his kris.
“Por! No!” Kanita cried as she ran to him, pulling on his arm. “You’ll kill her.”
“Kanita!” he said sternly. “I told you to stay in the house with your mother. Get out of here.”
“No, I can help,” she said. She went to the elephant and looked at where the baby was supposed to come out. The area was red and swollen, but she thought she could see a trunk trying to wiggle out.
She had never helped birth a baby elephant before. As a girl, she was forbidden from becoming a mahout. But she had helped her mother bring a woman’s baby into the world just a few days before. It didn’t look so different to her. She just needed to reach inside and pull the baby out. And with her small hands and arms, she thought she was just the right size to do it.
She slid her hands inside the mother elephant.
“Be careful,” her father cautioned. “Can you feel the calf’s legs?”
She wasn’t sure what she was feeling. It was like nothing in the world she had touched before. She closed her eyes and let her hands do the seeing for her.
She felt it. The trunk. She could feel the length of it and the ridges up to the baby elephant’s face. She felt the trunk wrap around her arm.
“I feel its face!” Kanita cried.
“Keep going,” her father said.
She pushed further into the elephant, all the way to her shoulders. She slid her hands down the side of the baby elephant and gripped it under its front leg.
“I have it!” she said. “I have the leg!” She tried to pull it out, but she was not strong enough. “Help me!” she cried.
Her father wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled. “Don’t let go!” he ordered.
She could feel her hands start to slip, but she refused to release her grip. The baby elephant’s trunk wrapped even more tightly around her arm. She started to feel the baby elephant’s mass give way.
“It’s coming!” she yelled, and the mother elephant trumpeted again, forcing the baby out.
Kanita and her father fell backward as the baby elephant plopped out of her mother on top of them covered in birthing goo. The baby struggled, still partially trapped in her amniotic sack. Kanita’s father used his kris to cut the sack away.
ZOEY GONG was born and raised in rural Hunan Province, China. She has been
studying English and working as a translator since she was sixteen
years old. Now in her early twenties, Zoey loves traveling and eating
noodles for every meal. She lives in Shenzhen with her cat, Jello,
and dreams of one day disappointing her parents by being a Leftover Woman (剩女).
studying English and working as a translator since she was sixteen
years old. Now in her early twenties, Zoey loves traveling and eating
noodles for every meal. She lives in Shenzhen with her cat, Jello,
and dreams of one day disappointing her parents by being a Leftover Woman (剩女).
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