by Ruby Loren
He gave me a funny look. “It’s a bit more than that, Madi. I came here hoping that I’d be able to get you to forgive me for the way I acted and give me a second chance. I know that we’re okay again, but what happened to everything that was between us? I’ve been waiting this whole time for a sign that you wanted to try again, but nothing.”
I arched my eyebrows. “I’ve been a little busy, Lowell! Unlike you, I didn’t come up here for a holiday…”
“Well, obviously that was just an excuse!” Lowell bit back, his eyes flashing.
“Okay, but my work wasn’t just an excuse. I would love to spend time with you, but I am so stressed out right now. Can't you see that? I’m being pressured to produce this stupid review in next to no time at all and if I mess it up, I’m ruined. At the same time as that, my best friend comes all the way up here to tell me I’m selfish for not coming back to Avery Zoo. Oh, and if you want any more reasons, there’s nearly getting mauled to death by lions, a brutal murder, and babysitting a sickly snake. Doesn’t really leave much time for anything else, does it?” I hadn’t even mentioned making sure Lucky was healthy and keeping up my webcomic, but I wasn’t sure that Lowell would be impressed by the latter taking up my time.
“Okay, maybe I have been unfair,” he admitted and we lapsed into silence.
“How about we go and get a drink and talk about it all? I’ll get you some coffee or something,” he said.
“Would you get me a hot chocolate instead?” I said, hopefully. I was suddenly reminded that Lowell and I didn’t know each other very well at all. “It would be really good to talk,” I admitted, thinking that now could be the time for it.
I scrawled a note to Mr Crawley with my number on, so he could call me if he came back and found no one was there. Then we walked out of the critical care unit to have a drink and talk about all things future and past.
“So, you really think we might be good together?” Lowell asked half an hour later.
It was amazing what you could pack into 30 minutes when you had a mind to. Lowell now had a brief history of all things me, as well as a round up of likes and dislikes. He’d told me the same about himself. For some reason, it felt like filling out a quiz in a teen magazine that matches you with your ideal boyfriend, although I wasn’t sure what our answers would lead to.
All I was certain of was that I liked Lowell. He was more interesting than I’d ever imagined him to be and I was glad that we’d had this conversation.
“I think we should give it a go,” I said, wondering what it would be like to actually have a man dating me. Were we boyfriend and girlfriend now? Were we entirely exclusive? Not that it really affected me, I hadn’t been out with anyone for close to a year. In fact, I’d thought about eschewing men entirely. I hoped Lowell would be exclusive for me. I would have to ask, although not now… I didn’t want to ruin the buoyant mood with technicalities.
I finished my hot chocolate and looked at the sky, which was streaked with colours. There was the slightest bite in the air that whispered of the approaching autumn, inching ever closer. A few golden leaves even tumbled around the nearly empty food zone. Time was always ticking on and perhaps it was time I found someone to share it all with.
Lowell’s hand found mine on top of the table. I looked deep into his eyes and wondered what the future held if I decided to let him in. There’s only one way to find out, I thought, and leant in.
Our lips met and while it wasn’t the almost violent, raw passion we’d experienced the first time we’d kissed, this was something better. It was cautious and careful and it felt like the start of something promising.
I reluctantly pulled away several minutes later. “The vet will probably be coming back soon. We’d better get back to the critical care unit.”
Lowell nodded and I used his strength to help me get upright from the awkward, child-escape-blocking, picnic bench that we’d sat on.
He opened his mouth to say something but then shut it again, a smile gracing his lips. For once, there wasn’t anything more that needed to be said.
“I’ll walk you back but then I’d better go and hunt down that caretaker you mentioned,” he said.
We linked hands and walked back across the small animal area of Snidely, both silently thinking that things might not be so bad after all. Now that we had each other, everything that had gone wrong on this job didn’t seem to matter as much.
Our opinion changed when we reached the critical care unit.
The door was wide open and plastic trays holding feeding syringes were strewn on the concrete, as if someone had flung them there.
I exchanged a look with Lowell and he nodded back. Be on your guard.
Someone had broken in to the critical care unit and had ransacked it!
And I thought I had half an idea why.
9
Loose Ends
Lowell looked at me inquisitively and I shrugged. I had no idea if the searcher had found the money I’d hidden, but I hoped not. The cash was clearly evidence of something.
I froze on the threshold when I heard a loud meow and the sound of something crashing down.
I sprinted without a thought for my own safety towards my office where I’d left Lucky. I’d never forgive myself if he wasn’t okay!
I threw open the door to my office and a person with dyed red hair spun round, dropping the pile of papers she’d been holding - a pile of papers that turned out to be my finished review. They scattered across the floor and Lucky meowed again and pounced on them. At least he was fine.
I raised my gaze to Marie who just stood there, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
Fortunately, it was Lowell who took control. He’d probably been in situations like this a hundred times. Probably on both sides of the situation, too, I thought.
“Marie, you’re looking for the money, right?” he asked.
She flushed and then nodded. “I need it. It should have been mine to start with. George lied to me about how much he got for the damn thing. I just want my fair share and then I’ll be gone. It’s not like he needs the money. He’s disappeared, leaving me to deal with the fallout.” She shook her head.
“What was the money for?” Lowell enquired.
“It was for…” She hesitated. “The snake venom. You know that.”
“The local dealer decided to pay you in brand new twenties that clearly came from a bank. Sure,” Lowell said and Marie’s face turned a little more pink.
“You don’t believe me?” she said, her voice a little higher.
Lowell gave her an ‘are you serious?’ look. “Not a bit. If the money is rightfully yours, we’ll be happy to return it to you. But we need to know where it came from.”
I knew Lowell was deliberately letting the silence stretch out, knowing she’d want to fill it with something.
“I need to think,” Marie muttered after what felt like an age.
At the same time, I heard the door of the critical care unit open and someone exclaiming in surprise.
“I’d better go and…” I pointed to the door and left Marie to Lowell.
Mr Crawley the vet looked around the room with an expression of bafflement.
“Sorry, we… had an escapee. Things got a bit out of hand when we tried to recapture them,” I invented.
“What animal was it?” the vet asked, looking pointedly at the uppermost draws, almost as high as the ceiling, that had been wrenched out onto the floor.
“Squirrel monkey,” I said, and he stopped asking questions. Ha!
“Okay, so… I’ll just clear a space on the counter and we should be good to go with Mr Limey, right?” I said, knowing I probably looked just as flustered as I felt.
I desperately wanted to check that the money was where I’d left it, but it had to be. Marie had still been searching when we’d caught her. But what if someone else had been in and taken it already? My mind whispered and I stomped on the urge to look. I could hardly pull out several wads of no doubt dod
gy cash in front of the vet.
I cleared a stretch of counter, shoving various jugs and tubes into drawers. This place was going to need a serious tidy up in the near future. I only hoped I wouldn’t somehow be held responsible.
The door that led to the corridor where my office was located swung open. Lowell walked in, his hand firmly pressed on the shoulder of Marie.
“She says she still needs time to think, but I’ve got to go and work.”
I silently sighed. What was I? A babysitter? “Sure, she can sit in the corner. If you try to run, I’ll call the police,” I told her.
I looked back at the vet and saw his eyebrows were raised sky high. So much for my squirrel monkey story. He’d have to be blind to not work out what was going on.
“Shall we get started?” I said, hoping to stop things from being derailed any further.
“Yes. Quite,” said the vet and reached into his bag for his surgical tools.
In the meantime, I brought over the canisters of anaesthetic we’d use to put Mr Limey under. I’d overseen operations at the vets before and I knew the basics, but it was a bit different here, operating on site. I hoped I didn’t make any mistakes that might jeopardise Mr Limey’s life.
Ten minutes later, we were good to go. I cast a strong look in Marie’s direction but she stayed seated in the corner, looking as blank as ever. I guessed she probably needed the money for a reason. Without it, she’d have no place to go. I tried to push her from my mind. It was a problem to worry about later. I needed all my focus to help Mr Limey.
“Okay, Madi, I’m ready to begin. If you could just get Mr Limey out of his vivarium and pop him on the counter there…”
I bit my lip to keep from scowling. I should have seen this coming when I was asked to play nurse. Of course I would be the one risking getting bitten by a highly venomous snake - one who’d seemed pretty cranky earlier on in the day.
“So, you’ve worked here a long time. How many people have you seen get bitten? Ever been bitten yourself?” I said, conversationally, while I transferred the snake onto the counter. Fortunately for my safety, he’d gone back to being listless.
The vet thought about it for a moment. “There have only been a couple of instances during my time here. The worst was when Lord Snidely himself was bitten. I’m not sure exactly what he was doing with his hand inside a black mamba’s vivarium, but there you go. He was very lucky indeed. He collapsed but his wife found him in time and she was able to administer the anti-venom. If she hadn’t gone looking, well…” He left the obvious hanging. “Aside from that, there have only been a couple of instances where younger or trainee keepers were bitten, spat on, or scratched by various reptiles and amphibians. If left, I'm sure they would all have been in jeopardy, but Dracondia Manor is very well equipped to deal with these things. As for myself, I’ve never been bitten - although that’s not to say the little blighters haven't tried! I have over the elbow snake proof gloves I always wear when handling snakes.” He lifted them out of his vet’s bag to show me and I tried not to throttle him.
“We should get started,” I prompted, knowing it was getting closer to the end of the day. The ‘experts’ had said they’d pick Mr Limey up on their way out and it would be better for everyone if they didn't arrive before the surgery was complete. I trusted Mr Crawley’s opinion on Mr Limey's size and subsequent inability to be able to produce eggs. I also knew he wanted to have a word or two with the pair himself. I wanted the scalpels to have been put away by that time.
“Okay, let’s get going. Now, all I need you to do is do exactly as I say,” Mr Crawley said, and I nodded.
He reeled off a whole string of instructions and I lost myself in a flurry of action as we began the surgery that I hoped would save Mr Limey’s life.
What felt like an age later, Mr Crawley asked for the tweezers. I passed them over and he gently pried a solid lump from Mr Limey's abdomen. He asked for the dish and I held it out, noting the clang when he dropped the blood-stained item.
“All right, let’s get him sewn up again. He’s still a young snake, remember, so the quicker we get this done, the better.”
I nodded again and lapsed into listening to instructions and passing things to the vet whenever he needed them.
“And there we are! Well done! A successful operation all round. If I were you, I’d put Mr Limey in a vivarium with some fresh bedding in. We don't want any dirt to get into the wound while it’s healing.” The vet poked at the lump in the dish. “Looks like he swallowed a rock. That can happen sometimes." He shook his head. “When I see those two so called ‘experts’ I’ll have a thing or two…”
Marie made a choking sound and scrambled to her feet. She tried to run for the door that led back to the corridor. I was after her in an instant, reaching out to grab the back of her collar.
“Stop right there,” a commanding female voice said.
I turned to see Eleanor Landy and Harrison Marl walk through the door. I looked back at Marie's face and saw it had turned ashen. A few things started to click in my head.
“Are these the experts?” The vet said to me, and I nodded, hoping he'd keep them talking long enough for me to figure out exactly what was going on.
Unfortunately, Eleanor spotted the blood stained gauze we hadn’t yet cleared up and made a strangled noise. “What have you done to the snake?”
Mr Crawley puffed up and stepped forwards. “I have saved his life. He needed an operation to remove the blockage in his abdomen. I operated and removed the item, which turned out to be a stone. Any one who knows anything about reptiles would have known that a green mamba of his size is nowhere near the level of maturity needed to produce eggs - regardless of what his gender may or may not be. And so I ask you, what gives you the right to go around pretending to be experts on animals you so clearly know nothing about, hmmm? Did you think it was a good way to make a fast buck?” He raised his rather hairy eyebrows.
Harrison and Eleanor exchanged a look and I thought quite a few unspoken words passed between them.
“Where’s the stone?” Eleanor asked, deadpan.
Marie tugged on my arm and opened her eyes wide. She was looking at something on the operating table. I followed her gaze to the rock, that was still sat in the dish where the vet had placed it. It was stained by blood and other nasty things, but now I looked at it again I could see something else. The rock had a greenish hue to it and beneath all the gunge, it looked polished.
Oh.
I frowned. Well, that made no sense at all!
“Why? Do you need proof that it wasn’t eggs? Didn’t you hear me the first time? I’ve been working for the Snidelys my whole career. I know about snakes. I don’t know who you think you are, coming in here and claiming to work for that family…”
Harrison Marl pulled out a gun, fitted with a silencer, and shot Mr Crawley in the shoulder.
I saw the bullet go in and the small explosion of blood that followed in its wake. There was a moment of silence, as Mr Crawley turned to look at his shoulder.
Then the pain must have hit.
He started yelling and pressed his hand against the wound, falling back against the wall before sliding down to the floor.
Everything seemed to move a lot faster after that. Harrison Marl turned the gun on us. I raised my hands and shut my eyes, wondering if this was the end. My mind jumped to Lucky and I wondered who would look after him, before I thought of Lowell and the potential the future had held for us both. What could have been? I wondered.
I stayed frozen for a moment or two before I opened my eyes again. Harrison was still pointing the gun at me with a look of bemusement on his face. Eleanor had just scooped the stone out of the dish and placed it in her jacket pocket with an expression of distaste. Being unfamiliar with the critical care unit, she wouldn’t know that there was a cupboard full of tissues just behind where she stood. I felt disinclined to let her know.
I looked anxiously across the room at Mr Crawley, who was sti
ll writhing around. His hand slid into his coat pocket and he came out with a mobile phone. I must have winced because Harrison strode over there, keeping the gun trained on us, and grabbed the phone straight from the vet’s trembling hands.
“You can’t just let me bleed out!” the vet protested.
Harrison smirked. “You said it yourself, you’ve got years of experience working as a vet. You should be able to fix yourself up just fine. You’re the expert, remember?” he said, running a hand over his dark, greased hair.
“You nearly done?” Harrison called to Eleanor.
She was over by the stack of empty vivariums. I’d left Mr Limey’s old one up on the top and she pulled it down before opening the false bottom. “It’s gone. He must have lied to us.” She swore under her breath.
I’d been keeping my face studiously blank but when she said it, Marie giggled next to me. Eleanor and Harrison snapped round to look at her.
“Hey, this place is a mess, Ellie,” Harrison said, and she took the hint, marching over to us. Marie shrank back against the door I’d blocked when the imposing woman got close.
“Did you already take it? What did you do with it?” she asked, pulling back a hand with the apparent intention of striking Marie.
“Nothing! I don't have it! She does," Marie said, dropping me in it.
Eleanor turned to face me and I refused to give her the satisfaction of showing that I was afraid. I drew myself up to my full height and made eye contact, which meant I was tilting my chin up at a 45 degree angle.
“What did you do with it? Thought it was a nice little bonus, did we?” Eleanor taunted, stepping even closer. She bent so that our faces were level. “It’s time to pay up!”
I opened my mouth to tell her I didn’t know what she was talking about. It wasn’t the most honourable thing to do, but I was fed up with Marie lying and then being disloyal enough to grass me up at the first opportunity. Two could play at that game.
Before I had a chance to lie and say that I hadn't seen any money, and perhaps they should ask the person who trashed the place again, the front door of the critical care unit burst open. Harrison turned but he wasn’t quick enough to bring the gun around. Lowell ploughed into him like a rugby player taking out a little old lady. The men crashed into the linoleum floor and slid a little across the room, before hitting the wall.
