Alvin had no time to ask what had happened when Bill arrived.
At Little Ginny's insistent urging, he made a net and hauled aboard the little rhino, which looked as if it was about to drown itself.
The rhino was barely bigger than a pig. As soon as it was on board, it came hobbling toward Little Ginny, covered in wounds and making soft snorting sounds, finding itself a bodyguard with uncanny precision.
Alvin watched Little Ginny play amateur nurse, unable to resist stroking the bump on the rhino's nose.
He glanced curiously at Bill and asked, "What is this thing?
There are rhinos in Borneo?
And what was going on with that tiger?"
Bill glanced at the miniature rhino. "It's a Sumatran Rhinoceros.
They're the smallest rhinos known to the world. I can't believe we ran into a calf.
They're incredibly rare these days...
Too bad it's injured. It probably won't live long!"
Little Ginny loved ugly, strange things. The little rhino had an ugly, enormous head, tiny eyes like green beans, a chubby body, and short, sturdy legs...
It fit her definition of "cute" perfectly!
When she heard Bill say the little rhino wouldn't live long, Little Ginny angrily wrinkled her nose at him and pulled a face. Then she grabbed her dad's right hand and shook it with all her might.
Alvin looked at the little rhino, which seemed to be in a lot of pain. With a helpless smile, he ruffled Little Ginny's hair and said, "All right, all right. But once its injuries have healed, we'll have to leave it here. This is its home."
Bill hesitated, then said, "I don't know how you plan to keep it alive, but if you want to help this species, I have a friend who runs a wildlife