The Scent of Blood (9 page)

Three tigers spilled out of the lorry. The bucket was knocked from Zara’s hand as they each seized a chunk of meat.

It might have been all right. There was a moment when things could have been OK. If Zara had thrown more food into another pen, she could have re-caught them and got away unharmed. But then Christopher screamed. High and loud. Like Mr Monkton. And the tigers hated it.

A snarl.

A growl of warning.

Thud!
One blow from a paw and Christopher would never scream again.

And the tigers were still upset. Quarrelsome. Fighting over what was left of the raw meat. They turned their attention to Zara. She had the gun, she could have saved herself, but Zara wouldn’t shoot. Not a tiger.

She dropped the rifle, which clattered on the concrete as she opened her arms wide. She looked as if she was inviting a kitten to jump onto her lap. And one of them did jump – but its claws were unsheathed, its jaw agape. For a split second I saw the glint of those teeth flashing in the sun, then I shut my eyes. Graham and I hung on to each other in the back of that lorry, trying to make ourselves invisible. And then it was over.

Kylie had heard Christopher’s scream and come running. Zara might have stolen the rifle from Mr Monkton’s office, but the vet had left his bag in Kylie’s kitchen and there was a tranquillizer gun in it. She didn’t even radio for help: she climbed straight up on the roof and darted the tigers.

Waiting for them to fall asleep was the scariest bit, as far as Graham and I were concerned. It was only a few minutes but it seemed to take for ever. In the meantime we had to remain still and silent, desperately hoping that the tigers wouldn’t come for us. We were extremely pleased when they finally toppled over, but also extremely pleased that they hadn’t been killed. By that time we’d seen more than enough death.

There’s not much to add, really. It turned out we’d been right about April. She
had
married Mr Monkton, and – despite a legal challenge from one of his nephews – she did inherit the whole place. But she ran it well, and although she kept the yurts and the hotel as a tribute to her late husband, she put all her energy into sprucing up the zoo. They built this huge new aquarium with sharks and coral reefs and walk-through tanks, which won a really big conservation award. By the time it opened, Kylie and Pete had got together and Sandy’s wife had gone back to work at the zoo because their youngest kid had started school. I knew perfectly well that the keepers would be supporting each other. Zara hadn’t lied about that – they really were a close, tight-knit group. I was glad to hear they were all getting on OK. But when our teacher organized a school trip to Farleigh Manor, Graham and I decided not to go along. We’d experienced enough of the Animal Kingdom to last us both a lifetime.

Tanya Landman is the author of many books for children, including
Waking Merlin
and
Merlin’s Apprentice, The World’s Bellybutton
and
The Kraken Snores,
and three stories featuring the characters Flotsam and Jetsam. Of
The Scent of Blood
, the fifth title in her popular Poppy Fields series, Tanya says, “I used to work in a zoo full of hungry – potentially man-eating – carnivores. When I started writing, it seemed a perfect place to set a murder mystery.”

Tanya is also the author of two novels for teenagers:
Apache
, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Booktrust Teenage Fiction Prize, and
The Goldsmith’s Daughter
, which was nominated for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Since 1992, Tanya has also been part of Storybox Theatre. She lives with her family in Devon.

You can find out more about Tanya Landman and her books by visiting her website at
www.tanyalandman.com