by Darrell Bain
"Oh. Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry."
"You can see why we don't want any publicity, Dr. Summers. After that wolverine episode, in addition to a few others, we actually had to move from Alaska because the neighbors thought she was so strange. They were also scared their children might try to emulate her and get badly hurt--or worse. I can't really blame them for that but we still don't want to be ostracized again.
"I can certainly understand the parents' concern and your own, but I really do think you should encourage Samantha to consider a career in animal care. She seems so good at it. In fact, I still have a problem believing the way that tiger responded so perfectly to her, as if it understood every word she said to it."
"She just has a way with animals, that's all," Elaine said, closing the subject.
Dr. Summers could tell that she didn't want to talk about Samantha's talent anymore and in fact, appeared to be concealing information about her. Soon she simply thanked Samantha again and thanked both parents for allowing her to speak to her, then took her leave.
Elaine hoped that would be the end of the matter but somehow she doubted it. Oh Lord, she thought, please let her start thinking that boys are more interesting than animals!"
Chapter Seven
By the time her twelfth birthday was behind her, Samantha had already begun noticing boys although she hadn't let on how much. Boys had suddenly become much less peculiar and much more interesting. There was a dark-haired boy in particular she found very attractive. His name was Mark Cadberry. She had mentioned him to her mother the last time they talked about the way her body was changing and what she could expect in the future. The discussion included how interesting the opposite sex would become. Her mother had told her they would and it turned out to be true. She didn't know if Mark liked her or not, and having grown up without many friends she was still very bashful and couldn't bring herself to speak to him. However, her first day back in school he spoke to her.
"Hello, Tiger-girl," he said with a grin as she and other students were just entering their first period class.
Startled, she didn't know what to think and found that she was unable to utter a word at first. Tiger-Girl? Tiger-Girl! What can he mean? How could... " That was as far as her thoughts went because the boy's greeting was taken up by other students who made similar remarks.
"Are you going to have your own TV show?"
"Hey, here's the tiger-tamer!"
"Hey, Sammie! What other wild animals do you hang around with?"
"Are you going to join a circus?"
"How about bears? Can you make them mind you, too?"
"Nah, she's strictly a tiger lady!"
"Yeah, Tiger Lady! That's her name!"
"Did you use a whip and gun to tame that tiger?"
"She's a big TV star now. She doesn't want to talk to us peons!"
Most of the students gathered around her desk and vied to be the next to think of something to say to her. Youngsters can sometimes be very cruel without really intending to.
"Shut up!" Samantha finally yelled. "I'm not a... a tiger anything and I don't know anything about TV! What are you all talking about?" She was on the verge of bursting into tears because she knew that somehow her escapade with Growlfer had gotten out. She knew her mother would be furious and she dreaded the inevitable confrontation.
"Didn't you know you were on the news last night and again this morning? You're a star! They said you and your dog caught the runaway tiger and brought it back to the zoo!"
She turned this way and that as the boys and girls continued to crowd her and shout questions. A few uttered ugly epithets. Some remarks were friendly but Mark, the boy she thought she liked, had set the tone and most of the other students followed his lead. She wanted to run from the room. She wanted to go and hide somewhere but there was nowhere to go. She huddled at her desk and wondered what to do.
"Class! Class! What on earth is going on here?!" Ms. Smithers had entered the room unnoticed and observed for a moment or two before speaking. "Take your seats immediately! You should be ashamed of yourselves for making fun of Samantha when she's a hero. She and her dog may have saved someone from being hurt or killed. Maybe even one of you! Now apologize to her, right now!" Her voice and manner was so stern that the class was subdued immediately. The students who had been clustered around Samantha's desk mumbled apologies in a half-hearted but ashamed manner, then took their seats.
Samantha couldn't bear to look at anyone. She thought of her mother and her father and how they would react. Had she really been seen on the television news?
She had, and to confirm it, during the breaks between different classes Betty and a couple of other girls she had made friends with told her what they had seen when their parents were watching the evening news. Footage of her, Shufus and the tiger exiting the van was shown, followed by her leading the tiger into the clinic by simply guiding it with a hand on its shoulder. There was another scene of her assisting Dr. Summers giving the first pain shot to Growlfer. There were several subsequent parts of a recording. One was shown several times, where the huge cat licked her face with its rough red tongue in gratitude for her help. She was shown in close-ups laughing and hugging him in return. She was told that her dog was also seen with her in the clinic. He was by her side each time she came in contact with the tiger.
"I bet it was that helper of Dr. Summers who recorded all that," Samantha told her friend, Betty. "He acted like I was trying to steal his job or something. I never saw him doing anything but watching us, but I bet he was using his phone to take videos of us all the time."
"Well, someone sure did. That was awful brave of you and you're famous now!"
"I don't want to be famous. My mother is going to be really, really mad about this."
"How come?" Betty asked with a bewildered expression on her face.
"She doesn't like me to be around any animal but Shufus or Tuffy."
"But, golly, why not? Look how much good you did."
"She just doesn't," Samantha told her, unable to admit to her friend that she could talk to animals but her mother didn't believe her. "Come on, it's time to go to our class." Only the fact that she and her parents had gone out the previous evening for dinner and an early movie had prevented any of them from seeing the news stories she was featured in. She knew her Mom and Dad would have either seen or heard about it by the time she got home, though. The way the story had spread to even the kids at school made that almost a certainty. She wasn't looking forward to their reaction, especially what her mother would have to say.
The final bell rang and classes were let out for the day. Samantha dreaded to leave because she had to take the bus. She couldn't even talk to her father first like she wanted to, because this week he had early classes and Elaine's car was in the shop. Exactly as she had feared, her mother was waiting on her. She approached with trepidation, but instead of being mad her mother greeted her with tears in her eyes and a huge hug and kiss. It was the last thing she had been expecting. Not only that, her father was home, too. He had left work early to be there for her. He gave her a fierce hug and kiss as well.
Samantha was befuddled. "I thought you would be mad at me," she said, looking at her mother rather than her father.
"Oh, honey, I'm not mad at you. It's that ungrateful, avaricious, jealous attendant at the zoo who filmed you helping the vet I'm mad at. The lout actually sold the video to a news station. Dr. Summers called a little while ago and apologized and told us he had been fired. He should be put in jail as far as I'm concerned!"
Samantha was awestruck. She had never seen her mother so upset at another person, not even at the ungrateful authorities at the school in Alaska after she saved the first and second graders from the rabid wolverine.
"I've talked Mr. Orleans and he's agreed to become our attorney here and represent us. He told me he'd see what can be done, but I'm afraid the cork is out of the bottle now and can't be put back in. Sammie, we know how you were treated at school toda
y. Ms. Smithers called us about it," Ronald said. "That's a perfect example of bullying and we're not going to stand for it and we don't want you to, either. If it does happen again, you be sure and tell us and Mr. Orleans will jump all over the parties responsible. He's really grateful to you after the way you helped him and your friend Betty with Tuffy."
"Oh. That's great, Dad. All the teachers were okay though, especially Ms. Smithers, but some of the kids I thought were friends made fun of me. They called me Tiger Girl and all sorts of other names." Suddenly she thought of the boy she had been attracted to and how hateful he had been and burst into tears.
"It's okay, baby. We'll get through it," her mother said and hugged her again. "Seeing you leading that tiger into the clinic and holding its paw while it got a shot and watching it licking your face made me realize what a wonderful, brave daughter we have, just as your father told me you were."
Samantha's tears continued and she finally admitted that she was crying more over Mark, the boy she had liked but who had turned out to be so awful than anything else.
"Well, just be glad you found out he wasn't a nice person now instead of maybe getting to like him a whole lot more and then finding out. You're a very pretty and extremely smart girl and there are many other boys who will see you that way. Don't you dare cry over him anymore."
The way her mother emphasized the last sentence made her laugh through her tears. Mom is right, she thought. He's nothing to cry over.
Ronald took over for a moment while his wife saw to bringing some milk and cookies to the table.
"What's going to happen now, Dad?"
"We'll just have to play it by ear, Sammie, but whatever you do, don't let any of the kids at school bully you. Just tell them they could never do what you did in a million years, and that you're going to get a scholarship from the zoo for helping if you decide to become a veterinarian. And tell them it's very, very rare to be assured a scholarship for college at your age. I'll bet that's something none of them have. Don't brag, but don't let anyone belittle you, either. It's like your mother said. We'll get through this, so don't worry."
"We just about had to move from Alaska," Elaine said as she brought the plate of cookies and a glass of milk back to the table where they had all been sitting. "We had so few neighbors, and some of them who were natives who still held vestiges of beliefs from the old days. You know, from when Shamans and people with supposedly odd powers were both feared and venerated. Here, though, we have a large population and we also have social media to counteract any meanness that raises its ugly head."
"She's right, Sammie, and I want you to tell one or the other of us any time something like that episode Ms. Smithers related to us happens to you. We'll put a stop to it real quick."
"Yes we will," her mother emphasized. "But Sammie, there's still the business of you getting mixed up with animals. I know you have a special way with them but please, please try to avoid becoming entangled with any more of them where it would be noticed and never, ever tell anyone you think you can talk to animals. No one will believe you and doing so will only make fitting in here harder for you and for us, too."
"I'll try, Mom. I really will. Sometimes, though, I can't help it."
"We know, Sammie. Now let's let the matter drop and soon enough the stories will die down." She smiled, noticing again how pretty Samantha was and how she was changing so rapidly as she entered puberty. "Besides, before you know it you'll find another boy you like and forget all about Mark."
"Yes, ma'am." Samantha returned the smile but inside she knew that sooner or later she would get mixed up with another animal in need, or one just curious about her. She just hoped she could keep it secret next time.
Just as her mother had predicted, the hullabaloo over the tiger died down after Mr. Orleans threatened some of the media with suits for invasion of privacy. The news outlets and internet moved on to other events, except for one person. An enterprising free-lance reporter by the name of Jennie Standifer who lived in Houston and sometimes wrote for The Houston Chronicle had been fascinated by the story of Samantha and the tiger. She wondered if anything similar had happened to her in the past. She also happened to be an extremely good investigative reporter. She learned that the family had moved from a wilderness area of Alaska where there had to have been many wild animals around. She sent a query to the nearest stringer in the area. Stringers are individuals living in different areas who can be called on by large publications or internet news services to write about or relate stories from where they lived. Stringers also didn't mind digging up information on persons or places for a fee.
Jennie's stringer hadn't heard of Samantha Douglas but it didn't take long to ferret out where the family had lived in the little town of Wikluk. Jennie convinced him with an additional payment to hire a bush pilot to take him to Wikluk. There he found an amazing human interest story buried in the little town out in the wilderness. It took the local stringer only a few days to entice the inhabitants to tell about the grizzly bear, the pet moose, the wolves and the rabid wolverine Samantha had convinced to lay down and be shot to death with no apparent effort at all. He bundled up all the details and sent them back to Jennie's home computer, where she usually wrote her stories.
My God! How on earth is a girl that young capable of such feats? She thought as she read the email. No wonder she had such an easy time taming the tiger. But how does she do it? Before another hour passed she found herself driving north toward Lufkin where she intended to interview Samantha in person, if possible. She intended to talk to the zoo veterinarian as well. It was a human interest story that went far beyond that of the escaped tiger. She couldn't possibly pass it up, or so she thought. Along the way another possibility began intruding upon her thoughts. It would probably suit the family more. They were most likely sick and tired of the publicity if what she'd heard so far about the situation was true. On the other hand, she had a great story already, one that might very well gain her national fame--which she didn't really want. It might interfere with her other, more important profession. Upon further thought, she believed there might very possibly be something about the girl that would be more fitting for that other activity. She really didn't know. Her job was to call such unusual episodes or individuals to the attention of the agency she worked for and let them decide. Much more often than not, there wasn't any interest and she could do as she wished with her stories. She arrived in Lufkin still undecided about how to proceed, other than definitely having made the decision to notify her superior.
***
"This is kind of interesting but I don't know that it would be of any use to us," David Marston said.
Jane Carruthers, his partner and associate, come over from her desk to see what he was talking about. She leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner. "What is it?"
"One of our outside agents brought this to Anton's attention and he passed in on to us. It's a young girl who apparently can talk to animals." David grinned at the obvious exaggeration of the report. His facial features improved with the humor he displayed, drawing attention away from his slightly overlarge nose.
Jane shrugged and brushed a strand of taffy-blond hair from her face that had fallen when she leaned over him. "I've run across stranger things in this business."
"So? You think we should follow up on it?"
She considered for a moment. "Umm. No, I think not. Not now, anyway. She's pretty young to be involved in our business. Why don't we just list the ID number the agent who brought it to his attention, then flag the girl's name, along with any background you can find on her. List the circumstances and log it for follow up and possible use later on."
"Sounds good to me. Dinner tonight?"
"Sure. This will give us something new to talk about."
"It is interesting, isn't it?"
"Very." Jane went back to her own desk. For a while she sat and mused over the report but finally shook her shoulders and got back to work.
That evening at the restaurant after they had ordered, David pushed a folder containing several pages of printout across the table to Jane.
"What's this, David?"
He grinned. "You wanted background on our young Dr. Doolittle? Get a load of this!"
"Who's Doolittle? Seems like he was a bomber pilot way back in WWII, wasn't he?"
"No, but never mind. Just read this and tell me what you think now." She shrugged and took the folder, then opened it and began reading. A few minutes later she dropped it onto the table and stared at him, dinner momentarily forgotten. "Is this all true?"
"If you believe the bit about the tigers, then you just about have to believe this, too."
"But... but controlling a rabid wolverine? And a grizzly bear mother with cubs? Or wolves? What is she, a magician of some kind?"
"Nope, just a normal young girl who happens to be able to talk to animals. She is extra-bright, though. I think we'd better keep a closer watch on her than we planned originally and not just depend on news reports, don't you?"
"Definitely. And David, I do believe we should keep our eyes open for signs of the other agencies that might be interested in her. I'd hate to see the NSA or FBI or even our own military grab her."
"I would, too. She's not even thirteen, yet."
"That wouldn't matter to them. They'd want her to talk seals into diving into submarines with explosives or crap like that. Frankly, I think her potential, if it's all true, is worth much more to the country than for uses like that. You know that's how they think, though."
"Unfortunately. I also know I can't shake loose from my part of the project we're assigned to right now. How about you?" David raised his brows.
"I doubt it. I'm in it up to my eyeballs. I'll have to talk to the boss, but he's usually open to the odd and not so obvious potential like this girl has shown. And remember, he didn't know about this other stuff you've dug up. Hey! You've heard about that new wunderkindkid, Juan Carrerea, that's coming aboard, haven't you? Why don't we see if McAllister will let him handle it? He could keep a permanent watch on her."