Chapter 8
Scotty rose bright and early today—the big day. His excitement percolated contagiously as the posse sensed something good afoot. Their eager faces shined with false expectation of being included. Noticing that Echo was nowhere in the room, Scotty peered out the window, frowning at the sky: overcast and threatening rain. Having neglected to check the forecast, he sorted through his gadgets until he located one which would give him the weather report. Intermittent showers. Well, that wouldn’t stop him.
Looking through his closet, he searched for a shirt which would conceal his wings. His tail twitched sharply as if it heard his thoughts. Spotting his windbreaker, he slid it over his messy hair, the hood hanging down, beautifully covering the bulge of his growing wings. Maybe the intemperate weather would serve a purpose after all.
Running down the stairs, Barney and Mimi yipping at his heels and Penny descending like a regal queen, he found Abby at the breakfast table, Echo sitting on top facing her. It felt like they were brainstorming, fleeting auras stroked his mind then dissipated. Not enough to tell him what they were talking about. He looked for dog food while he watched Echo climb down from the table to take her spot next to Barney. Barney had been very chummy with Penny and Mimi of late. Probably a result of all of Echo’s unexplained absences. Mimi only had food on her mind as she pawed the back of Scotty’s legs, urging him to hurry. Filling their bowls with fresh water, he turned to Abby, who appeared lost in thought.
“Hey, Ab, you excited about the trip to the sanctuary?” Scotty thought Abby didn’t seem too happy.
She turned, absently giving him a smile. “Sorry, kiddo, I was just wondering about Jose. I haven’t heard from him since he landed in Newark and left to meet the investigators.” Rising, she added, “I think I’ll try to reach him before we leave. Did you speak to Kane?”
“Not exactly. He wasn’t on the boat so I left him a note. After I finish with the dogs, I’m going to run down to the dock and look him up. Then I’m going over to Chloe’s to pick her and her babysitter up.”
“Babysitter?” Abby didn’t sound like she was in the mood for a joke right now. Looking closer, he could see lines on her brow and signs of weariness under her eyes. Even her tail looked dispirited and droopy today.
“Just kidding. She had to agree to have her old nanny come with us or she couldn’t go. You think our house is nice, you should see hers. They have guards at the gate and a cook with a staff. Her father travels a lot for business. He’s not around much. Her mother died a while ago, so her nanny and her uncle look after her. She’s lonely, I guess. By the way, she’s also really pretty.” He paused, looking at his sister. “Abby, is there something you want to tell me? You look like hell.”
She frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. Scotty raised his hands. “Just trying to make you laugh, you look a little tired.”
“Well, I’ve been spending a lot of time working on a project. I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but I will in a couple of weeks. Peter’s helping me out. I’d like you to stay away from his house for a few days. I have him swamped with work. He needs every second to help me. You’ll see other people coming and going from his house. We hired some extra help. You might as well know—it appears Peter has a girlfriend. Her name is Ginger Mae. You’ll meet her soon enough. She’ll be running back and forth between the houses to keep me updated.”
“Peter has a girlfriend? That dog. Do you like her?”
Abby wrinkled her nose at Scotty’s question. “I’m not sure yet. But you’ll like her, I can tell. She’s the type that attracts men like flies on road kill.”
“Meow.” Scotty laughed. “What’s the deal on this project? Why all the hush-hush?”
Abby stood and walked up to Scotty. Her face was deadly serious, inadvertently revealing a hint of fear. He felt a chill down his back.
“You have to trust me, hon, we’ll all be okay, but this is urgently important.”
Scotty glanced at Echo, who had stopped grooming Barney and was clearly listening. In a small voice he asked his last question. “Does this have anything to do with Echo or our changes?”
Abby did not answer. She turned to Echo, silent communication filling the room. She turned back to Scotty and squeezed his shoulders softly. “Yes.”
Scotty’s face blanched.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be okay,” Abby repeated with emphasis.
He slowly finished with the dogs, saying nothing as he tried to absorb Abby’s comments. Leaving them to their eating, he let himself out to the terrace, ambling down to the dock to find Kane as he tried to dispel his feeling of danger, weighing his concern over Abby’s words. He knew his sister. She was scared. And if she was scared, well then so was he. Why hadn’t Echo come to him with the problem? He wasn’t sure if he should feel left out or not, realizing being a teenager had its limitations. He decided he had better pay a little more attention to things around the house. Maybe Chloe will want to spend some time with me and the posse? She can bring her little monster, Teddy.
Brightening, he approached the dock. He could see Captain Cobby busy with some mechanical thing, trying to un-jam it with a screwdriver.
“Hey, Captain. Kane around?”
“Yo, Scotty. He just went up to the carriage house to change. He found your note this morning but he had chores to finish first. He’ll be ready in time. I’ll send him up to the house by twelve. That okay?”
“Sure thing, Captain, thanks.”
Captain Cobby stood up, coming toward Scotty at the end of the dock. “Thank you, Scotty, you’re a good boy. Your mom would be proud.”
Giving Captain Cobby a salute, Scotty headed back to the house to get his Jeep. Abby must have let the posse out because they were waiting for him on the terrace, tails rocking in syncopation.
“Come on, guys, back in the house. I have a day off today and you can’t come.” Laughing at their miserable faces, he snuck out to the garage, started the Jeep and headed to Chloe’s house.
Arriving ten minutes later, he quickly found himself being led into her house by one of her father’s men. Chloe was just coming down the stairs, Teddy in her arms and wrapped up in an old yellow and turquoise afghan.
“Do you mind if I bring Ted? It’s so hard on him when I leave him behind. I thought I could leave him with your guys, now that they’ve already met.” She grinned impishly, twirling around to show him her outfit.
“Yeah, sure, he’ll be okay. I’ll tell Echo to keep an eye on him.”
“Echo again. I thought she was a cat.”
Blushing, Scotty chastised himself for the casual slip.
“Yeah, but um, she’ll still do a good job.” He covered badly. Fortunately, his butt was saved by Mrs. Elbarad bustling into the foyer. She placed a jacket over Chloe, removing Teddy from her arms.
“No, no, Mrs. E., Ted’s going with us.” She scooped up the tiny handful, Teddy’s pink tongue dancing over her face like a frantic butterfly. “Shall we go?” Scotty watched her smile, noticing light dance in her brown eyes as she led the way to the Jeep.
When they got to the house, Abby and Kane were waiting. They deposited Teddy in the house with his afghan, exchanged greetings and off they went.
*
The Big Cat Sanctuary sprawled out on the inland side of Sarasota where the land had managed to escape overdevelopment, housing a touch of old Florida. Mixed zoning, ramshackle hovels and quaint cottages led to the entrance to the sanctuary, which was well lit and off the main road.
Driving through the main gate, they bumped along a long dusty gravel driveway, parking in a mowed grassy field among the dozens of vehicles already there. Strolling into a small building where their entrance fee was collected by smiling volunteers, Scotty noticed most of them were clearly retired and occupying their time by honoring a passion for wildlife with their dedication to the sanctuary.
Abby got busy snapping photos. She took pictures of the entrance off the main road, the parking lot and the outbuildings. Sc
otty watched her back up to get long-distance shots of the enclosures. What’s up with her? he wondered, as Chloe and Kane comfortably chatted each other up with Mrs. Elbarad trailing behind.
He must admit the animals grabbed him. The sanctuary housed over twenty bears from all parts of the world. There’s nothing more awe inspiring than standing four feet in front of a six-hundred-pound brown bear resting on the side of his haunches, casually washing his face with a paw which could break your neck with one swipe, while he nodded amiably at the people gawking at him.
They observed primates with inquisitive tiny wise-man faces, a huge male tortoise ponderously chasing a lady tortoise, hoping to get her to hold still long enough to make new baby tortoises. They watched massive camels, tiny ponies, large exotic South American birds which made outrageous sounds, preening and performing for the crowds, and even a kangaroo. They got to touch a darling ring-tailed lemur, a precious mammal found only on the Island of Madagascar off the coast of Africa, its mighty tail a stunning and fluffy adornment any woman would kill for. And goats. Dozens of the petite ungulates with beautiful markings, tripping over themselves to stick out their tongues at the crowd, begging for the goodies sold for a few dollars to feed them. And a young discarded chimpanzee rescued by the sanctuary, his childlike human antics delighting the crowd.
Did you know that man had eaten chimps into extinction in Africa by 2030? Did you know monkeys had the tops of their skulls sawed off while alive, then positioned under dining tables which had holes cut out of the middle and were draped discreetly so that rich Asian businessmen would not have to watch the death spasms of the human-like primate as they spooned his live brain into their mouths?
Did you hear the story of the Asian restaurant owner who let his son play on the kitchen floor with a sun bear cub while he heated the water he was going to boil the cub in before serving it to rich diners in another room?
Did you know that, in Thailand, farmers chained bears up in boxes so small they could not move at any time in their whole lives while the farmers, without anesthesia, hooked their gall bladders up to archaic machines which would become part of them until they died of infections, pain or malnutrition, just so that the farmers could milk their gall bladders for fluid sold in illegal markets, the supposed antidote to male infertility?
Did you know the black bear had been hunted by men anxious to prove they had the biggest penis in the woods, for mere sport and trophies, all over the U.S. until they risked extinction by 2040?
Did you know elephants, rhinos and the glorious pièce de résistance, the Bengal tiger, had been slaughtered into extinction to make profit from selling their body parts by 2030?
And the most intelligent, creative, discerning man of the forest, the orangutan, like the chimpanzee and so many other primates, was extinct by 2025 through the destruction and theft of their homes for profit in Sumatra and Borneo. Did I mention men thought they tasted like chicken?
Do I even need to tell you what man has done to other wildlife species in all corners of the world?
Scotty finished reading the flyer handed to him by a young girl wearing a shirt that said Please don’t eat my friends. A photo of her with an assortment of animals, cuddled protectively to her side, featured prominently on her shirt. He noted a little dog which looked unmistakably like Teddy. Shaking his head, he remembered he heard somewhere that people ate dogs and cats as delicacies. Delicacies. That meant they had other food. They viewed canines and felines as luxuries. Yeah, he thought bitterly, men must have their luxuries.
Disturbed, he tried to erase the abhorrent images from his mind. Looking around, he spied the group and caught up as they approached the tigers and lions. The first tigers he laid his eyes on were the mutant recessive gene white, and the awesome rich and velvety orange Siberian and Bengal. They were kept in a tiger version of giant dog runs. Chain-link fences kept them from escaping. At the back of the runs, they enjoyed access to a huge outdoor compound, complete with colossal boulders, trees and a pool of water.
Scotty approached the run of the most resplendent of the Siberians as he paced, calmly and deliberately, looming large. Very large: his paws massive, his head enormous. Scotty noticed his perfection marred by a missing piece of his left ear, near the tip. It looked like a perfect semi-circle. While Scotty admired the tiger, it approached. Standing in front of Scotty, he sat, adjusting his haunches comfortably, not taking his golden eyes off him. The tiger raised his paw to the chain-link fence, his needle-pointed claws hooking on the metal. Scotty stood inches away. He could actually reach out and touch the tiger if he was stupid enough. The organic sweet smell of the beast engulfed him as he inched closer. He could see the rhythmic rise and fall of the brilliant orange chest, its black velvet stripes moving in time. In that moment, he met the hypnotic stare of the magnificent beast. Neither moved; the tiger a statue.
The tiger suddenly shook his head as if to ward off an annoying fly, never taking his eyes off Scotty. Its eyes narrowed then widened, as if with some kind of recognition. In the pit of his stomach, Scotty felt a great injection of warmth working its way to his head. The space between the two of them slowly morphed. He found himself rising, looking down on the tiger as the fur dropped from the hide of the animal. Roaring deafeningly, the iconic cat fell to the floor, flesh melting to expose the great rib cage. Within seconds, the only signs of the precious magnificence that had stood before him were dissected bones, crumbling to dust. Scotty looked down the runs to the other cats. The runs were empty, only lonely piles of pulverized calcium remained. Scotty felt himself start to sweat. He reached up to wipe his forehead, feeling his hot clammy fingers wipe away the acrid evidence of what must be a delusional reaction.
Looking for his sister and friends, he found himself to be alone. He ran out of the kennel, shouting for them. The roaring silence thundered in his unhearing ears. No staff, no crowds, no Abby. He looked to the sky, shrinking back against the wall of another enclosure as he examined the sudden darkness, the sky preparing to snow. He felt a drop of moisture on his nose. Raising his hand, he caught a flake that drifted leisurely to land on his hand, the color of sludge, unusually large. The moisture from the flake burned his skin with its freezing incalescence. He felt crushed by an overwhelming premonition of despair and hopelessness. His breathing became labored as he fought for air. Gasping, he fell to the ground, his surroundings sluggishly closing in on him. The last thing he remembered was an image of Echo, flashing auras to his mind as he gradually toppled over onto his back, sinking into oblivion.
Chapter 9
“Dude, you okay?” The voice sounded familiar, but the face was indistinct. He fought the miasma that wanted to pull him back to oblivion. The face crystallized, revealing Kane’s amused mug. “Are you sure you don’t want to take off your windbreaker? You must be awful hot? With all that fur and all.”
My fur? How did he know? Scotty’s heart started a steady hammering as concern over Kane’s question caught him off guard. He could make out Abby’s voice in the background shooing Kane away. He heard the sound of a distant lawnmower and Chloe’s voice pleading with the dogs to hush. Sounds like Teddy took over the posse. He realized his mind must be clearing. He struggled to sit up, wondering why he was home.
Abby knelt near his head, whispering, “You okay, hon? You gave me a scare there. I had the damnedest time getting you out of there. Someone called an ambulance. I couldn’t let them examine you. Thank God, Kane knew what to do. I didn’t realize you had told him about us. He stalled everyone while Chloe and I got you to the car. Do you remember anything?”
Scotty stood. He felt fine except for a lingering feeling of anxiety. Kane covered for me? “Can we talk about this later, Abby? I need to clear my head, that tiger’s behavior unnerved me. I’ll be fine. I want to get Chloe home and then we have to talk, okay?” Scotty spoke in a sober whisper, noticing Chloe’s intense focus on them. He watched as Abby walked over to Kane. Placing her arm around his shoulders, she solemnly asked if h
e and his father would be available for a meeting later this evening. Kane smiled, his face reflecting wonder and respect.
“Sure, Abby, how late do you want us?” His voice was soft, all traces of the youthful wise guy gone at the tone of her seriousness.
“Nine should be fine. Call me if you have any changes. Tell your dad I look forward to seeing him.” Smiling, she showed Kane out to the terrace.
“Okay, young lady, it’s time for young Scott to take us home.” Mrs. Elbarad stood impatiently, heading toward the front door. “Scott, are you sure you should drive? Perhaps your sister should take us home. I cannot have Miss Chloe in any jeopardy.” Not getting any response, she bristled. “I am afraid I must insist.”
“Okay. Ab, do you mind? I’ll sit in the back with Chloe and Teddy. If we can get him in the car, that is.” Teddy tried to elude Chloe’s grip, running back to where Penny relaxed on her doggie bed, apparently oblivious to Teddy as he persistently climbed her back and straddled her neck in his ridiculous attempts to impregnate her floppy ear.
Driving to Chloe’s house gave Scotty a chance to talk to her softly in the back seat. He was aware of Mrs. Elbarad’s responsibilities, but resented her attention on any conversation he had with Chloe.
“I’m so sorry this turned out so badly. Do you think you might want to get together again?”
Chloe turned to him, her face brightening with pleasure. Teddy nestled exhausted in her lap on his afghan. “Yes, of course. I’m pretty free for the next few weeks. I just have my morning swim sessions with my coach. Practice starts with the team in June, so I have to be ready to prequalify my time. Why don’t you come over tomorrow for lunch? We can hang out at the pool. Bring your suit.”
Scotty grimaced. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with Chloe questioning why he wouldn’t take off his shirt. Sensing his discomfort she punched him lightly in the arm.
Alien Species Intervention: Books 1-3: An Alien Apocalyptic Saga (Species Intervention #6609) Page 43
