by Darrell Bain
Dr. Summers closed her eyes for a moment. Her lips formed a thin line.
Samantha could tell she was scared and unsure. "You don't have to worry," Samantha told her. "Growlfer will be good."
"Tigers don't know anything about being good or bad, young lady. They're just wild beasts, and carnivores as big as it are dangerous. You're lucky you haven't been hurt," the veterinarian assistant said with an air of superiority and an expression of disdain for her.
"That will do, Albert. Just stand by and I'll let you know if we need help. Samantha, this is really against my better judgment but we'll try it your way first. Get him out of the van and follow me."
"Yes, ma'am. Come on, Growlfer. Let's go inside so you can get your medicine."
Albert Randler, the assistant looked disgustedly at the young girl and made certain he stood well clear of the proceedings. Surreptitiously, he took out his phone and began recording the scene.
The tiger obediently climbed out of the van and with Samantha's hand on his neck padded placidly along with her. They followed Dr. Summers, who kept looking back over her shoulder, apparently having a hard time believing what she was seeing. She did have a shot ready, but she had planned on the big cat being led into a room, then doors closed in front and behind him. She would then shoot him with a tranquilizing dart while he was immobilized. She still thought that was the best approach but the young girl and her dog, for God's sake, appeared to have the tiger under perfect control. She led them on into the clinic and pointed to a section where a big square of bedding was on the floor.
She pointed to it. "That's a bed that will raise up to a level where I can work easier. Have him lay down on it."
"Alright, but could you give him the shot before you raise the bed? I don't want to scare him."
"Young lady, you're scaring the devil out of me, and my assistant is about to have kittens, but alright. I'll get down there with him if you can get him to lay down."
"Yes, ma'am. Growlfer, come over here and lay down so you can get your medicine to make you stop hurting so much."
The tiger did as she asked, with her on one side of him and Shufus on the other. Dr. Summers got down on her knees in front of Growlfer then looked at Samantha. "Can you get him to open his mouth so I can see what's wrong?"
Samantha could and did.
"My gosh! You were certainly right. That is as bad an infected tooth as I've ever seen. Now I need to inject this medicine into a vein on one of his front legs. And I'll need to put a tourniquet on the one we use. Will he hold still for that?"
"Could I just hold his leg real tight with both hands?"
The veterinarian shrugged awkwardly from her position on the floor. "We can try. God, this is crazy!"
Samantha got on her knees and told Growlfer what was going to happen, then she put both her hands around a spot on his front leg up above the paw that Dr. Summers pointed to.
"Now squeeze hard," Dr. Summers said.
"I'm going to squeeze, Growlfer, then she's going to put the medicine in you. It will hurt your leg just a little, little bit and then your tooth will quit hurting so much."
Growlfer rumbled an answer that Samantha heard as Hurry!
"He's ready. Go ahead."
Dr. Summers was very good. Samantha couldn't put as much pressure on Growlfer's leg as a tourniquet would have, but the veterinarian managed to locate a vein. She shoved the needle into it and told Samantha, "Now let go and tell him not to move." I must be crazy, she thought. Here I am acting like she can actually talk to that beast!
Nevertheless, Growlfer held very still while Dr. Summers injected a whole syringe full of pain-killer into the vein. Growlfer's eyes blinked, then closed for a moment. He opened them and then gave out a happy growl. Good! Not hurting much. Thank you.
"He said 'thank you' for the shot. He's not hurting much now."
"Well, bless the Lord. Okay, he's going to be a little sleepy and wobbly for a while so we'll let him stay here until the dental specialist arrives. I called him just in case."
"Thank you," Samantha said.
"No, I should be thanking you. Listen, I need to give him some more pain-killer every four or five hours until we're ready to operate. Can you stay here and help?"
"Dad, may I stay?"
"You know what your mother will say, Sammie."
"But Dad, he needs me and Dr. Summers needs me to help."
"Alright, Sammie. Let's go outside and let your friend sleep and relax for now. And we need to call your mother. She's bound to be worried."
Samantha was worried, too, but not over Growlfer, not now. She was worried about what her mother was going to say when she heard about this episode.
No one had noticed but Albert Randler observed the entire proceedings from behind a window of the treatment room while holding his phone. When they were finished he tucked it back into its case and smiled to himself. Stupid girl, he thought. Thinks she knows more than we do!
Dr. Summers fixed up a place for Samantha to stay while Ronald made his call. He explained where they were and how Samantha had gotten mixed up with the escaped tiger. "It was the tiger that came looking for her, Elaine. It's not her fault. And the zoo promised not to release her name or how she was involved."
"Well, how did the tiger know to come looking for her? She must have done something to make it come to her."
"She did speak a few words to it when she noticed it wasn't eating like the others, but we didn't think anyone was around. It turned out that the Zoo's veterinarian, Dr. Summers, was nearby, though. Sammie told her it was having problems eating but the doctor didn't believe her. And honest, Elaine, she never once told her she could talk to animals, much less the tiger. After that, I guess it got her scent when she went out on the balcony for a while. She told me she slept during the afternoon and had trouble going to sleep last night." He had carefully avoided telling his wife that their daughter had spoken to the tiger as if it understood him while the veterinarian was present. And it wasn't a lie, he thought. She didn't actually say she and the tiger could understand each other's speech.
"When are you bringing her home?"
"Um, the veterinarian would really like for her to stay overnight and help with the procedure. They're going to remove a tooth and in the meantime they're giving it pain shots and she's helping. They are very grateful to her, Elaine and the tiger minded her perfectly. It did just as she asked. In fact, it rode in the car with us back to the zoo!"
"Oh, Ronald, this is too much. Don't you know you both could have been hurt or even killed?! Tigers are killers! It's their nature. And besides, you know this will get out. Someone will talk, just as sure as water is wet."
Ronald realized that as well, but didn't want to argue the point. "No one saw us except the vet and her assistant. Maybe that won't happen. At any rate it's too late now. They did say you could come stay with her if you'd like. Or I can stay if you'd rather not."
"I think you'd better be the one with her. You understand that child better than I ever will!"
"Alright, honey. We'll be home tomorrow, then. I'll call the school and get them to forward her school work."
"Just try to keep everything quiet. You know what happened in Alaska!"
"I'll do my best," he said, but he really didn't have much hope. It was just too good a story for the details not to leak.
Chapter Six
The operation on Growlfer the next morning was a success. He still needed some pain medicine when he woke up, though. After it took effect she asked how he felt.
Good. Hungry.
"He's hungry now," she said to Dr. Summers.
"I figured he would be. I ordered some hamburger and made sure there was enough for your dog, too."
"His name is Shufus. He likes hamburger."
She quirked an eyebrow at Samantha. "How did you come up with that name for him?"
She shrugged, unwilling to explain that Bella, the mother dog had told her his name. "It just came to me," she said, which
in a way was truthful.
"Okay, fine. We'll see that Shufus gets some hamburger, too. Will your tiger friend let me give him a shot now when he starts hurting from the operation?"
"I think so. I'll tell him again but he's gotten the idea now that a shot helps the pain. How long will you have to give them?"
"Just until tomorrow in his vein. After that we can inject him in a muscle and in a few days he won't need any more pain medicine. We'll feed him hamburger for a week or two until his jaw is healed up. Can you stay until tomorrow to help with getting his pain medicine into a vein?"
"I'll ask Dad."
She asked and he said, "Alright, but tomorrow morning we're going home. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Growlfer didn't mind the shots at all and gobbled his hamburger as often as he was given it. He loved to have Samantha near and was sorry when she said she had to go, but he promised to hold still when he got a pain shot in his big muscular back leg. Samantha stayed until after the first one then she had to leave. Growlfer nuzzled her face, almost knocking her over with his weight but then his tongue came out and licked her face. It felt like a very rough but friendly wet cloth. She laughed and hugged him.
"Goodbye, Growlfer. You be good now and I'll try to come back and see you again."
She left the tiger behind and a tear leaked from each eye and rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't help it; she was just so happy that Growlfer was healed and not suffering such awful pain.
Dr. Summers put an arm around her. "You can come back any time, Samantha. And thank you again. Thank you so much for helping."
"You're welcome, ma'am. I'm going to be a veterinarian when I grow up."
"Well, you'll make a good one! Now I think your father is waiting.
After Samantha and her father were gone the veterinarian sat and reflected on all that had happened since her first encounter with the young girl and the tiger. Growlfer, she thought. It suits him. And I swear, she can really talk to him and make him understand exactly what she says. I know it's impossible but how else to explain how easily she controls such a fierce carnivore? I wouldn't have dared try the things she seemed to perform so nonchalantly. I believe I need to talk to Dr. Masters and see what we can do for her. She deserves more than just our thanks, but her family certainly doesn't want any publicity. We'll have to be careful.
***
Once Samantha and Ronald were home, Elaine found that she had missed her daughter and husband so much that she wasn't even mad, not then. She hugged Samantha to her breast and both cried together, glad that everything had worked out so well. And best of all, so far the secrecy was holding.
Two days later the family was having supper when the home phone, a land line, rang. Ronald got up from the table and answered it.
"Hello," he said then began speaking with mostly single words or very short sentences.
"Yes, it is."
"Why do you ask?"
"Yes, we do."
"I suppose so." He sighed heavily with those words.
"I don't believe it would be a good idea right now."
"Give me your office or home number and I'll call you back later."
"Yes, that's right. Goodbye." He paused to write a name and number on the note pad by the phone then returned to the supper table.
"Who was that, dear?"
Ronald sometimes concealed things Samantha did with animals from his wife but very seldom outright lied to her, partly because he was a very poor at it and she always found him out, but mainly because he hated lying. He and Elaine had taught Samantha that lying wasn't usually a good idea, too. "That was the zoo's veterinarian, Dr. Summers, wanting to thank Sammie again for the diagnosis and for her help with the tiger. She wanted to let her know how well the tiger is doing and she would like to see her again."
"I still don't think I've heard the whole story. Neither of you said much about your visit to the zoo."
"I just talked with the tiger once, Mom, but honest, I just forgot because Growlfer was hurting so bad from a sore tooth he could hardly eat. After he told me, then I told the veterinarian but she didn't believe me. That's why Growlfer came looking for me, because I told him I'd try to get him some help. Honest, I didn't know anyone was listening."
Before her mother could begin chastising her all over again, Ronald came to her defense. "Dr. Summers didn't believe her, honey, even when Sammie just explained she had noticed why she thought the tiger wasn't eating. She didn't say a thing about talking to him."
"So the vet wants to thank her in person now. She's already thanked her, according to Sammie. You know what this will mean if we let it go any further, don't you? Publicity and then ridicule. Ronald, I've told you and told you, we just can't go through that again."
"I know, I know. Sammie's not at fault, though. Not that much anyhow."
"I'd like to know why not? After I explicitly told her--"
"Because we have a very observant, bright, courageous and compassionate daughter, that's why. She just couldn't help speaking up when she saw that tiger was hurting so much. The vet just told me that the dental specialist who operated said that it could very well have died if the infection had gone much further and gotten into its bloodstream. And Sammie noticed it when all the professionals missed it. You should be proud of her."
Elaine went from confrontational to confused. She knew that everything her husband had just said was true, but on the other hand... "Well, so long as that vet still promises to keep it quiet I suppose it's okay. For now. But, Sammie..."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Whatever you do, don't tell her and don't tell anyone else that you think you can talk to animals. Just don't. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," Samantha said while wishing that her mother would believe her like her dad did. Sadly, it seemed impossible to convince her.
The following day Ronald called Dr. Summers and explained about the situation at home, how he and especially Sammie's mother did not want any publicity at all. If she understood the situation, then she could call on Samantha that night and talk to her.
"Thank you, Mr. Douglas. I understand perfectly and I'll do everything I can to keep it quiet, including telling all my colleagues not to talk about the episode. Dr. Masters became involved inadvertently and he and I would like to do something for Samantha, but very quietly. Perhaps a scholarship to help with veterinary training if she's still inclined to be involved with animals when she's older."
"Thank you. That would be very helpful." Then surprisingly he laughed. "I seriously doubt that anything except an interest in the opposite sex will distract her from her love of animals!"
"I'd just like to ask you one question, Mr. Douglas."
"Go ahead."
"Has your daughter ever done anything like this in the past?"
"Well... yes, but her mother doesn't like us to talk about it. She does have a way with animals, but my wife doesn't want her to be around them without supervision. She's afraid that Sammie will get hurt fooling with the larger ones."
"That's probably a good idea. Very well, then, thank you for calling me back and I'll talk to Samantha after supper tomorrow night. About eight? Would that be alright?"
"That would be fine."
***
"Good evening, Mrs. Douglas. Hello, Samantha. It's good to see you again," Dr. Summers said when Mr. Douglas escorted her into the den where his wife and Samantha were waiting.
"Good evening," Elaine said, "I'm glad to meet you, and I want to thank you for seeing to it that Samantha's part in recapturing the tiger was kept out of the news."
Dr. Summers smiled. "We just told the reporters that it decided to come home and then went right into its cage."
"Please have a seat," Ronald said.
After coffee had been offered and accepted Dr. Summers turned to Samantha. "I'm sure you'll be glad to know that... Growlfer, as you named him, is doing well." She smiled. "And he loves hamburger. It might be hard to get him back to his regular diet."
>
"Shufus, too," Samantha grinned. "He doesn't get hamburger very often and he was real happy staying with Growlfer and getting to eat it every meal."
"How nice. Now, I had two reasons to want to talk to you. Three, really. First, on behalf of the zoo and all its patrons, thank you again for taking care of our tiger. That was very brave of you."
"Oh, I didn't have to be brave. Growlfer likes me." Samantha stopped when she saw her mother give her a warning glance.
"Well, if you get along with other animals as well as you did with him, you would make a truly excellent veterinarian. Did you know that there are special vets who take care of zoo animals, rather than farm animals or pets?"
"Really? Maybe that's what I should study, then."
"That was my second reason for wanting to stop by tonight. I have a letter here that tells the story of you and the escaped tiger." She handed an envelope with the letter to Samantha. "Please feel free to use this when the time comes to apply to veterinarian school or for a job at a zoo. You can also use my name as a recommendation any time you want."
"Oh, thank you!"
"And finally, if you still aspire to become a veterinarian and if you're admitted to an accredited school, our zoo has a special fund for helping worthy students, who in return would agree to work at our zoo for a certain length of time. A friend and also a veterinarian is aware of how much you helped, and we both believe you would fit the program perfectly if your interest in animals continues."
"That would be wonderful," Samantha exclaimed despite her mother's unsmiling countenance.
"It's no less than you deserve. Besides, your father tells me you have a special way with animals. I can well believe it now. Have you helped others like you did Growlfer?"
"Just a few. Mostly animals in the wild like to go their own way and stay away from humans, so I've only been around a few of them. A grizzly bear let me play with her cubs once and one time I helped a wolverine that was threatening some kids at our school because it was real sick. It had rabies."
"That's enough, Sammie," her mother warned.
