[AMB] Grand Old Ambassador Dame

Jessica walked up to the railing and glanced down into what looked like an overgrown mud pit. She shrugged and moved to walk on to the next exhibit which hopefully had something more exciting within, but her six year old daughter Leigh tugged back at her hand. 

"What's this?" asked the daughter, pointing to an enlarged photo on the railing overlooking the quiet exhibit. The black and white photo showed a hatchling Galapagos tortoise on a trim grass lawn next to an apple of about the same size. 

Leigh was just learning to read, and demanded to know what the caption said. Jessica sighed; this walkway was in the sun and she wanted to move on to a shadier spot. 

"Victoria as a hatchling in 1921. She began life as the pet of Lady Bandersham on an English estate and roamed the gardens." Jessica said, pointing out the words as she read.

Leigh was entralled. "That's Victoria?" she asked, pointing down into the enclosure.

Jessica squinted. On second look, the overgrown mud pit had a variety of uneven rocky and grassy terrain and vegetation. It looked overgrown but the fallen logs provided visual barriers and the shaggy scrubby trees provided shade and browse. What she had dismissed for lifeless boulders were in fact several grown Galapagos tortoises. They were enjoying the cool mud bath in the shade of the trees, while she stood on the walkway and sweated.

Her daughter was pointing at the largest of the tortoises. "Sure, I guess so." Jessica said. 

Before she could move on, her daughter was pointing at a second picture on the railing. "What does this one say?"

The second was a picture of a large tortoise, presumably Victoria again, being ridden by a toddler. The toddler's father stood protectively nearby, wearing clothes that were clearly from half a century after the first picture.

"This one says after Lady Bandersham's children had to sell the estate, Victoria went to live at a small zoo. They used to let children ride the tortoises."

Jessica knew what was about to come next. "Can I ride the tortoise?" Leigh asked with hope in her eyes.

Jessica read on and shook her head. "Tortoise rides aren't good for the tortoise, it says. Once she got too large for the small zoo, they sent her here to live. And this zoo is accredited so it has to meet certain safety standards, like not letting children get run over by giant tortoises." 

Leigh clearly didn't like that so Jessica forged ahead to distract her. "Look. It says Victoria is a great ambassador for her species because her life has been documented for a hundred years. A hundred years! That's a whole century."

"Is that how old grandma is?" Leigh asked, tortoise-rides forgotten.

"That's even older than grandma." She turned to look at the biggest tortoise. It was huge, and the shell looked a little faded and worn around the edges. She thought perhaps she recognized the dark yet alert eyes from the photograph there, and a small chip in the scute by the creature's neck. It had done a great job covering itself in mud, so the dark skin of its legs wasn't even visible through the brown muck. It heaved a relaxed sigh and blew a few bubbles in the watery mud, burrowing itself deeper in. It was hard to imagine that it was a hundred years old, but also hard to imagine that it was once the size of an apple.

Jessica did a little mental math and realized the animal had been twice her age when it was used to carry around small children, and she felt a pang of sympathy for it.

"Nice to meet you Victoria. Enjoy your spa day. You've earned it." Jessica called down to her, and Leigh waved goodbye before they moved on to find some shade and the next exhibit.