The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3317 by Angharad Copyright© 2021 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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I clopped along the corridor to the labs while Sarah walked alongside me in her flat shoes making only the barest squeak on the tiled floors. "I've never seen a dormouse," she said making conversation her tone excited.

"Well they are mainly nocturnal, so that's hardly surprising.

"Like bats, they're flying mice really, aren't they?"

"Uh not really, Sarah, bats are an entirely different order to mice, to start with most are insectivores through a few eat other things like birds or frogs and I believe there's one which eats fish."

"What? Crikey, I thought they were just flying mice."

"No mice are rodents, which is quite a large order including things as small as harvest mice and as big as a beaver."

"What?" she gasped, "Mice are related to beavers?"

"Uh not quite, they're in the same order which means they have some similar characteristics like the teeth are the same design, which is usually the most obvious one."

"Oh like my rabbit," she squealed almost like someone a few years younger.

"Uh, not quite rabbits and hares belong to the order of lagomorphs."

"Oh, what's the difference?"

"They have different teeth and their jaws are a bit different and lagomorphs have furry feet including hair on the soles of their feet instead of pads."

"Wow, you know everything, don't you, Auntie Cathy?"

"Actually, I don't but don't tell my students." She roared with laughter, possibly more so than the joke deserved so I wondered if she was anxious about what she was going to tell me. I know I was a little concerned about hearing it, even though I had a good idea what she would say.

I let us in to the dormouse lab and switched on the low lighting in the cages. Most of them would be settling down to hibernate now, especially as we have the temperatures in their cages reflect the outside temperature and it was cooler this last few days. We've improved on the design since I first set it up with more natural places to hibernate and where they can build their nests. These are usually on the ground, in holes in the ground or in trees near the ground. They frequently nest in leaf litter around the base of trees or thick shrubs.

"Wow, they've got furry tails," said Sarah almost squealing.

"Yes, despite the common name, the common dormouse is closer to squirrels than mice, but it is a rodent."

"Are squirrels rodents, then?"

"Yes," I fished into one of the cages and picked out a sleepy dormouse, it wasn't torpid simply a little sluggish waking up rapidly as I held it. Sarah stroked it gently on the head.

"They are so beautiful, aren't they?"

"I think so, but then I've been in love with dormice for quite a few years."

"Can you get them as pets?"

"They're protected animals, so they shouldn't be taken from the wild except as an emergency or without a special licence. We have a special licence to breed them here and release them into the wild."

"Sounds a lot more fun than looking after someone else's unwanted children."

"I thought you liked your course?" I said although I knew she wasn't being stretched enough.

"'S'okay, I s'pose, but that was before I discovered dormice." She laughed and stroked our hapless Muscardinus some more. "Could I hold her?" she asked which I was half dreading, this wasn't Spike and thus not used to handling.

The lab door opened, "Oh it's you, Professor?" said James obviously thinking he'd caught two students who shouldn't be there.

"I'm just showing Sarah the dormice," I said and he wandered over.

"Yeah, lovely, aren't they?" he said as I put the one in my hand back into its cage.

"Could I hold one?" she asked again.

"What d'ya think, Professor?" asked James winking at me.

"A torpid one?" I suggested and he nodded then opened a cage a few down from us and picked out one that was curled and fast asleep, well, it's not really asleep, but it looks like it.

"Just a minute or so, because it will start to wake up and that consumes a lot of energy."

"What is it hibernating?" she asked.

"Starting to."

"She's gorgeous," she said quietly looking at the bundle of fluff in her hand.

"It's a male," I said pointing at the sign on the front of its cage.

"How can something this beautiful be male?" she asked, I hope rhetorically because I wasn't going to answer it. James relieved her of her precious cargo and we thanked him and headed back up to my rooms.

She was silent walking back and stopped and said, "You used to play with them when you were a student?"

"A bit at Sussex when the guy who was running the surveys there left I got placed in charge of them, but it wasn't until I came here that I was able to really do any study."

"You've been very lucky."

I agreed, I have in all sorts of ways. We got to my office and sat on the couch. "So have you made your mind up?" I asked her.

"I don't know, Auntie Cathy, I thought I had but then you showed me those gorgeous dormice and now I don't know. Do they study them at other universities?"

"Probably, but as part of their ecological science courses or biology. We do some field biology and ecology courses and some environmental science as well."

"Would I be able to study dormice?"

"Not exclusively that's post grad stuff," she looked bemused, "master's or doctoral degrees." She nodded her understanding. "Some of our undergrads do get involved with dormice as part of the survey things we teach them, but they may just as easily end up counting pond life or plants somewhere and trying to integrate what they see into the environment in which they are seeing it."

"What, why does this grow here?" she asked and I nodded answering, exactly that.

"That sounds a bit more fun than changing nappies or wiping snotty noses."

"I thought you enjoyed doing that? I know I did when the girls were little."

"I thought I did but you opened my eyes to other things."

"You make me feel like the serpent in the Garden of Eden handing Eve the apple of knowledge."

"I never understood that story, Auntie Cathy, what's wrong with knowledge?"

"I think it was meant as a way of explaining our self awareness which in our arrogance we thought we were the only species of mammal to possess it. Seems several others do as well and possibly some birds."

"So it wasn't just that Adam noticed he had an outie and Eve had an innie?" she asked.

"If I remember my bible stories, they had several kids when God kicked them out of the Garden. I think as well it's about the discovery of good and evil, which of course varies with culture, though I would hope that certain themes would appear in every culture like the protection of children and respect for life, but it sadly doesn't and in places life is still cheap. Anyway we're going off course a little, so what have you decided, or what had you decided before you caught dormouse contagion?"

She giggled and looked slightly embarrassed avoiding direct eye contact. Well, I suppose I am the alpha female, so she needs to keep me on board whichever she chose, but then if she knew me better, she'd know that I try to stay supportive of whoever I'm dealing with, it's part of my role and part of my nature, so she doesn't need to appease me., all she needs is to be honest with me and I'll do whatever I can for her.

"Auntie Cathy, what would I need to do to apply to study dormice here?" she asked blushing. I admit it wasn't quite how I expected the question to be framed.

"Ideally, you would need to offer us the equivalent of and A and two Bs at A-level plus sufficient GCSEs, including English and Maths. There is an alternative where you complete and access course which would provide both you and the university you applied to an opportunity to assess whether they think you are up to the level of education we need and for you to decide the same about yourself. I'm not sure how academic your current course is."

"I have GCSE English and maths, and I have two A-levels, a B and C in Biology and Geography."

"I see, even I can't pull strings enough to accept you with those, but if you were to apply to me, and write to me personally, then I would be happy to offer you a place next year if you were to achieve another A-level in a science subject or maths or complete a successful access course."

"What if I completed my nursery nurse course? Would that count?"

"I don't think I could accept that, Sarah because it's a vocational course, were you doing physiotherapy, which is another vocational course I could accept it because it comes with a degree, so demonstrates an ability to deal with degree level study."

"What sort of science would you need me to do for another A-level?"

"Maths would be best, but I accept not everyone copes with maths, especially at A-level or higher. It would need to be science such as Chemistry, I would probably accept Geology, because there is some overlap with the ecology element in biology or environmental science. The problem is that most courses are running now and even if you were able to get enrolled on one you'd be two months or more behind."

"I've left it a bit late, haven't I?" I could see the disappointment in her face and I was half expecting tears. "Is there no other way, Auntie Cathy?"

"Officially, no, but I've just had a thought. When did you get your A-level biology?"

"Eighteen months ago."

"And that was a B?"

"Yes."

"If I said to you to sit and pass one of our first year papers on biology in three months time with more than 60% I would give you a place next year. You would need to revise like made for the interim and I would arrange a copy of the part of the syllabus you'd be examined on, but it's mostly A-level standard and I will arrange a copy of a past paper so you can see the type of question, though obviously the questions will be different and the topics may be different as well. If you chose to accept the challenge, you would come here and sit the exam, which is three hours long, in my office. It may pay you to continue your nursery nurse course until then or even beyond to maintain your options. I will give you a placement and allow you some time to study during that placement. That is the best I can do, Sarah and I am stretching the rules about as far as I can."

"I appreciate that, Auntie Cathy, but I just don't know what to do now." She looked quite bemused by it all.

"Wait till Peter comes back and talk it over with him and let me know, but I need to know soon because we'll be in the thick of exams ourselves and that's always a busy time; besides, you'll need to get studying if you accepted the challenge to take our exam."

"And I could still work for you, as a placement?"

"Yes, and I will pay you something for anything you do, especially if it includes things like housework."

"Gosh, I do appreciate all you're offering but my head feels like it's spinning."

"It's a big decision an answer within a couple of days would suffice and just about give us time to prepare for it or not as you decide. It's entirely up to you, girl." She blushed as I called her girl and a fleeting smile ran across her face. She enjoyed being called it as I knew she would because many years ago, I did when it was used for the first times to me.

We were sitting as she wrestled with her decision when Peter returned. "So is everything sorted?" he asked.

"Not quite, my fault, Sarah is considering whether or not she would like to study at this university and I have made her a special offer, which she is fully understanding of. She needs to go back with you now and talk it over and to consider it against the other options she had and let me know within the next two days because I'll need to set things up and so will she."

"How long is this going to drag on, Cathy, because it seems each time she sees you you offer her something else?"

"This is the last option, Peter and she needs to make her decision in the next two days."

"Could you or someone give me a bit of tutoring, Auntie Cathy?" asked Sarah.

"I could probably find someone who could help you structure your revision. I won't do it because I'm probably going to be marking it." I didn't add, as you'll be staying in my house or at least working there, it would also be wiser to use someone else.

"If that's the case, Auntie Cathy, I want to take your exam and enrol here next year."

"What?" exclaimed Peter, "What exam?"

"I have made Sarah an offer to sit part of a first-year biology paper and if she passes it with 60% or more, I will forgo further A-levels and offer her a place here to study biology in one of the modules we offer here."

He looked anxiously at his niece, "You really want to do this?"

"I'm still going to do my placement with Auntie C, but she'll give me some time to study and pay me."

He looked at me and I nodded.

"Leave me your address and we'll get a letter out to you tomorrow," I said smiling and Sarah beamed a huge one back to me.

"I saw the dormice, Uncle Pete, I want to work with them instead of children."

He shook his head, "We'll wait for your formal offer, then."

I nodded and wished them goodbye."

Sarah turned round and flung herself at me, "Thank you so much, Auntie Cathy, I won't let you down."

"I don't believe you will." We hugged and she went off with Peter who was still shaking his head.

"I knew bringing you here would mess up everything, I just bloody knew it," he muttered as they went down the stairs.