Tiger Trap (7 page)

When I realized it was Vladimir who was holding me, I felt my whole body melt in relief. He smiled, put me down and removed his hand from my mouth.

“Vladimir, I’m so glad to —”

He clamped his hand back over my mouth.
“Shhh!”
he hissed. “Keep voice quiet.” He removed his hand again.

“But you don’t understand!”

“Shhhhhh!”
he hissed louder, little bits of saliva hitting my face.

“That man,” I whispered, “from the Armstrong’s … that bad man who wanted to buy Kushna.”

“He is here,” Vladimir said.

“Nick told you?”

Vladimir shook his head. “I know. The man is talking to Anthony now.”

“But if you know that, why aren’t you trying to stop him?”

“I don’t want to stop.”

I felt a wave of nausea. Between the running, the confusion, the fear of that man being here and the shock of Vladimir grabbing me, I felt as if I was going to throw up. “But … but … but we have to stop them. He and Anthony are doing business. They’ve reached an agreement. I saw them shaking hands.”

“That’s good news,” Vladimir said.

“How can that be good news?” Now my head started spinning as much as my stomach. This could only mean one thing — Vladimir was part of the deal! Vladimir was working with Anthony to sell the tiger!

I heard footsteps behind me and turned. It was Nick and Mr. McCurdy. They were here! They could help me! They saw us, as well, and slowed to a walk. That was good. Mr. McCurdy had been barrelling along at a pace much too fast for his little old legs. Then Mr. McCurdy waved. There was a smile on his face — a smile I was going to remove when I told him Vladimir wasn’t the person we’d thought he was. How could we all have been so wrong about him?

“Thank goodness you caught her in time,” Mr. McCurdy said before I could say anything.

“I have to talk to you,” I said. “I have to explain things. I have to — what do you mean,
caught me
?”

“Before you went down there,” Mr. McCurdy said. “It could have stopped everything from happening.”

“But we want to stop things!” I cried. “You don’t understand!”

“I do understand. Nick told me what you think and you’re right. He’s the man from the Armstrong place, the one who wanted to buy and butcher Kushna.”

“Thank goodness you understand.” I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

“And that’s why we have to stay here and not interfere or even let him see us,” Mr. McCurdy said.

“But that doesn’t make any sense!”

“That’s because there are things you don’t know. That man doesn’t just buy animals. He sells them. Anthony’s negotiating to buy some animals from him. If he saw me or Vladimir, he’d take off and the deal would never be made. And if that happened, he’d probably sell the animals to somebody who might have other things in mind for them … not good things.”

I let out a deep sigh. Suddenly, it all made sense. All those bad thoughts and feelings, all those
crazy
thoughts and feelings, were wrong. How could I ever — even for a second — have thought those things?

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I just didn’t know. I could’ve ruined everything.” I felt myself on the verge of tears. I blinked hard to hold them inside. This was embarrassing enough already without me starting to blubber.

“There, there … no harm was done,” Mr. McCurdy said as he put a hand on my shoulder.

“No cry, big girl Sarah. If you cry, you will make Vladimir sad and Vladimir might cry.”

“I don’t want you crying, either!” Mr. McCurdy barked. “You’re too big to be bawling!” He looked at me. “We all know you were just doing what you thought was —”

“What was that all about?” Anthony yelled as he came charging around the corner of the barn. He sounded and looked angry — no, not angry, furious. I recoiled from him and moved toward Mr. McCurdy.

“Sarah was just —”

“Sarah almost made this whole deal blow up in my face!” he shouted, cutting off Mr. McCurdy.

“There was no harm. He didn’t see anybody or —”

“But he
heard
her screeching. I convinced him it was just some kid visiting the farm who was screaming, but I know it unnerved him.”

“Is he gone?” Mr. McCurdy asked.

“For now. He’ll be back tomorrow with the animals. At least I hope he will if Sarah hasn’t destroyed the deal.”

The tears I’d been fighting exploded out of my eyes, and I began sobbing.

“Enough!” Mr. McCurdy yelled. “She said she was sorry and —”

“Sorry isn’t good enough!” Anthony bellowed.

“You better stop cutting me off or you’ll be the one who’s sorry!” Mr. McCurdy snapped.

“Sorry
is
good enough for Vladimir,” the big Russian said. He stepped forward, putting himself between me and Anthony. “And if sorry is not good enough for Anthony, Vladimir will make Anthony feel real sorry himself.”

Vladimir took a step toward Anthony. Unbelievably, Anthony didn’t retreat from the oncoming giant but stepped forward himself until they were practically chest to chest! This was going from bad to worse to awful.

“Stop, please!” I pleaded as I squeezed myself into the little space between them. Neither flinched nor budged. If either moved even slightly forward, I’d be crushed.

“The girl’s right,” Mr. McCurdy said. He moved between them, as well, and put a hand on both men. “Now back off before I have to lay a beating on the two of you at once!”

A small smile began to grow on Vladimir’s face, and a smirk evolved on Anthony’s. I think the smirk was the closest thing he had to a smile. Both men appeared to deflate as their shoulders sagged and they stepped farther apart.

“Now let’s all go up the farmhouse, have a coffee and talk this one out,” Mr. McCurdy suggested.

•

“This isn’t good,” Nick said.

“What isn’t good?” I asked anxiously.

“They’ve stopped yelling.”

“How is that not good?”

“When they were yelling, I could hear some of what they were saying,” Nick said. “Now I can’t hear anything.”

“You shouldn’t be trying to hear them at all,” I scolded.

“Why not? It’s us they’re talking about … well, at least it’s
you
they’re talking about.”

An involuntary shudder went through me. My grandmother used to say that somebody was “walking on her grave” when that happened to her. I certainly felt as if I were dead, or wanted to be dead. I wasn’t used to being in trouble. I always worked so hard at doing the right thing.

Casually, I strolled across the kitchen until I was standing practically on top of my brother. Vladimir, Mr. McCurdy and Anthony were down the hall behind a closed door in the bedroom that had been converted to an office for Tiger Town’s business.

“I don’t hear anything,” I said.

“That’s what I told you. They’ve stopped shouting.”

“What were they saying before they stopped?” I asked.

“I thought it was wrong to eavesdrop.”

“It is … but I really want to know.”

Nick didn’t answer. His only response was a smug little expression that overtook his face.

“Please, Nick, it’s important.”

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t hear a whole lot even when they were yelling.”

“What did you hear?”

“There was talk about making sacrifices and doing what was right for the animals.”

“Nobody would disagree with that.”

“And then I heard the word
dangerous
and something about making sure nobody got hurt,” he added.

“Thank goodness nobody did. Do you think that man had a gun?”

“Probably. At least they were afraid he might have had a weapon when we ran into him at the Armstrong place.”

“Did you hear anything else?” I asked.

“I think I heard Anthony say that maybe it would be best if you didn’t come around anymore.”

“What?” I gasped.

“Maybe it would be best if you didn’t —”

“I
heard
what you said. I just couldn’t
believe
it.”

“But don’t worry. Mr. McCurdy told him there was no way that was going to happen and then Vladimir started roaring in agreement.”

I felt relieved and then guilty. How could I ever have doubted Vladimir even for a second?

“You looked like you were worried,” Nick said.

“I was.”

“Did you really think there was any chance Mr. McCurdy would ever stop you from coming to the farm?” Nick asked.

I shook my head. “I guess he wouldn’t.”

“You know how he feels about you, about both of us. It’s the same way we feel about him.”

“I know,” I said. “I was just worried, that’s all.”

“There’s nothing to be worried about. Take the word of somebody far more experienced in the art of being in trouble. In a few minutes they’ll come out and give a little lecture. You have to nod a lot, sound genuinely sorry —”

“I
am
genuinely sorry.”

“Excellent!” Nick said in praise. “Sound
just
like that. Even better if you can add a few tears to the mix. That would be perfect.”

I was still working at fighting back more tears, but maybe I should stop. Even contemplating crying to manipulate Mr. McCurdy and Vladimir made me feel guilty. But who knows? It might help and I was desperate.

“I really have to hand it to you, Sarah,” Nick said. “You don’t screw up very often, but when you do, you really do it in a big way.”

“Thanks for pointing that out.”

“That’s all part of the job of being a little brother. That and annoying you whenever possible.”

“If that’s the job, you’re doing just great.”

“Thank you.”

I turned around at the sound of the door opening. There was a flash of colour as Polly flew through the opening, down the hall and into the kitchen.

“Stupid girl!” she squawked. “Stupid girl!”

I wanted to say something back, but what was the point in arguing about something that was so obviously true?

I dragged myself down the stairs of my school. It had been a long, tiring day of classes after a long, sleepless night. It would be good to get home. Maybe I could have a little nap before I started to make dinner. Then, after dinner, Nick and I would go over to see Mr. McCurdy and Vladimir. I was so grateful that I was still allowed to go over — what an awful thought it had been that I might not be able to go over there anymore. I didn’t even know why I was still thinking about it. The trouble was over.

It was true that with all the help at Tiger Town there was less need for me and Nick, but we were still needed. Mr. McCurdy said that I was the expert on the kangaroos, and it was neat for me to know things that nobody else did. My little joeys were getting bigger all the time. It was so wonderful to see them —

A loud, jarring car horn startled me, and I spun around. It was Mr. McCurdy! He was sitting in the front seat of his big old convertible. Calvin was standing in the back seat, waving.

“Sarah!” Mr. McCurdy yelled.

Waving back, I realized that every eye that wasn’t on him was now on me. It wasn’t as if people didn’t know we were close, but I suddenly felt embarrassed. What I should have been more concerned about was why Mr. McCurdy was here. Was something wrong?

I hurried over, wanting to get there quickly while trying to ignore the reactions I knew were going on around me. As I got close to the car — and Calvin — I wondered what people would say, how they’d react, if the chimp decided he’d forgiven me and greeted me with a big kiss. Not good. Not good at all.

“Come on, Sarah, get a move on!”

I stopped beside the passenger door. Calvin appeared to be ignoring me and was looking in the other direction, or maybe he was just fascinated by all the people milling around us.

“Get in,” Mr. McCurdy said. “We have problems.”

“What sort of problems?”

“Big problems. Get in and I’ll explain.”

I opened the door and climbed in, praying that Calvin was still too preoccupied to greet me more formally.

“Where’s Nick?” Mr. McCurdy asked.

“He’s got basketball practice after school.”

“Too bad. I was hoping to drive you both.”

“Drive us? That would be great. Can we go now?” I asked, not wanting to remain the centre of everybody’s attention any longer than I had to.

“Sure.” Mr. McCurdy reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out his driving glasses. They were pink rhinestone women’s cat’s-eye glasses, which just about completed the picture. He turned the key, and the engine began grinding and whining, but it didn’t catch.

Oh, dear God, please let it start. Please don’t leave me stranded in this convertible with a chimp, surrounded by just about everybody from my school.
I closed my eyes and kept praying. Then I heard the engine start!

“Amen,” I said softly, opening my eyes as the gears ground noisily and we moved forward. I slumped down in the seat to disappear at least a little bit.

“You mentioned a problem,” I said.

“Big problem,” Mr. McCurdy said.

“What sort of problem?”

“We got in some new animals this morning.”

“Did one of them escape?” I asked, thinking about Buddha.

“No, none of ’em, though it would’ve been better if some of ’em never arrived. We got a European lynx, a couple of buffalo and a dozen more parrots. It’s the parrots that are the problem.”

“That’s a lot of new parrots, but you can put them in the same enclosure for a while until you build a bigger one,” I suggested.

“It’s not the enclosure that’s the problem. You probably don’t know, but parrots can carry diseases — infectious diseases.”

“Polly … is Polly okay?”

“Polly’s never around the other parrots. Polly doesn’t even
like
parrots. But that was sweet of you to be worried. Some of these diseases are harmless to parrots. They only hurt people.”

“People? You mean
you
could get infected?”

“I was infected. Over forty years ago. Got sick as a dog for a month, but I recovered. Other people aren’t that lucky.”

“Then you have to stay away from those parrots,” I said. “You don’t want to catch it again.”

“That’s the thing. Once you’ve had it you can’t get it again. Your body builds up these things, these, um … I forget what you call ’em …”

“Antibodies,” I said. “We’ve been studying them in health class. It’s like once you get measles you can’t get it a second time.”

“Exactly. So I’m safe.”

“What about Vladimir?” I asked.

“Same thing. Had it in Russia over ten years ago, so he’s safe, too.”

“And Anthony?” I didn’t know why I was even asking. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t care if he caught hoof-and-mouth disease. Then I felt bad for feeling that way.

“Funniest thing. Anthony thinks he had a mild case himself. But just to be safe he’s going to stay completely away from the parrots. Same as Bob and Doug — they’re going to stay clear away from that area of Tiger Town.”

“That’s probably smart to be safe like that,” I said.

“I’m glad you agree because that’s why I picked you up. I had to tell you and Nick that you can’t come over to the farm.”

“We can’t?”

“Nobody can. The health department has put us under quarantine. No visitors, no volunteers, no nobody can come to Tiger Town.”

“What if we stayed away from the parrots?” I suggested. “We could stay clear on the other side of the farm.”

“Can’t do that, Sarah. Can’t break the law and can’t risk anything happening to either you or Nick. You know how much I care about the two of you.”

Mr. McCurdy saying that made me feel a little bit better. “How long do we have to stay away?”

“Could be as little as three weeks.”

“Or as long as …?”

“Up to six or eight weeks,” Mr. McCurdy said.

“Eight weeks! That’s practically forever.”

“We’ll hope for less, but there’s nothing we can do,” he said.

“But what about Kanga and Roo? Who will take care of them?”

“We’ll do our best. If we have any questions, we know you’re just a phone call away. Don’t you trust me to take care of them?”

“Of course I do. It’s just that it’s such a long time to be away from them, and Laura and Calvin and Vladimir … and you.”

He smiled. “The animals have to stay on the farm, but you can count on me and Vladimir coming over to visit a couple of times. It isn’t just you who’ll miss us.”

“That would be nice. I’ll make you both a really special, big dinner.”

“Make us a few big dinners and you’ll see us more than a couple of times. Now I need you to do me a big favour.”

“Anything.”

“As soon as I drop you home, I need you to get on the phone and start calling people, all the volunteers we have, and tell ’em they can’t come around until they hear from us again.”

“I can do that.” I paused. “By the way, in case somebody asks, what’s the name of this disease?”

“It’s some big fancy word I have trouble saying. Must be Latin or Greek or something. Just tell ’em to stay away.”

“I’ll do that as soon as I get home, but there’s one thing I need to know. What you’re telling me … it’s true, right?”

“You think I’m lying?” Mr. McCurdy asked. He sounded upset.

“Not lying. Just sort of protecting me. You’re not really in any danger, are you? You can’t get the disease, right?”

“Sarah, you have my word on that. Believe me, there’s absolutely no chance I can get that disease.”

That made me feel a lot better. “That’s all I needed to know.”

I settled back in my seat. It wouldn’t be great, but it would be okay eventually. Funny, though, just yesterday Anthony wanted me to stay away from the farm, and now I couldn’t go there — nobody could. What an odd coincidence.