“Tobias taken. Tobias taken.” Lilly was amazed Mr. Joe could speak so well without the benefit of a Bowku seed.
Lilly rushed to Dorian who was pretending to read a menu so he could spy on the pet store across the street. “Mr. Joe saw Tobias being taken.” Dorian raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Lilly continued, “Did you see anybody in the pet store?”
“The lights are out in the front of the store and I don’t see any trucks parked nearby,” said Dorian. “Let’s see if anyone parked in the alley.”
“We have to get inside the pet store,” said Lilly. Lilly sounded braver than she felt. She had no idea how to get into the pet store and what if Mr. Stinchfield was inside?
Lilly and Dorian crossed the street and peered into the alley, a large shadow filled with smaller, darker shadows. As the two of them turned the corner into the alley to look for vehicles and signs of Tobias, Lilly felt conspicuous. How do spies do it? she wondered. Do they walk on tiptoe or press up against the wall? Not sure, she crouched over and slinked down the alley past the pet store. There were no vehicles or signs of Tobias but the window to the secret room was open a crack.
They hid behind trashcans and Dorian picked up a few large pebbles to throw at the window. The first few missed and hit the brick wall making barely a sound. The next two hit the window with a thunk and a thwop. Dorian crouched quickly and waited to see if anyone would leave the pet store to investigate. The store remained silent except for an angry, “Squaaawk!”
“Tobias!” cried Lilly running straight at the sound. “Tobias, it’s me, Lilly! Can you hear me?” Dorian ran after her.
“LILLY!” shrieked Tobias. “Release me! This is an OUTRAGE! They put me in a cage!” Lilly pulled at the door frantically. It was locked. At the window, Dorian put his hands through the crack and pushed up. “It won’t budge,” he grunted.
“Dorian, is that you? Timma-timma!” shouted Tobias. “Use your tail! I’m to the right of the window, to your right.”
My tail isn’t long enough. It won’t reach you, Tobias,” said Dorian.
“Stand on this,” said Lilly dragging a trashcan to the window. The lid was wobbly so Dorian pulled out a bag of trash and slammed the lid on straight. Then he jumped on top and stood with his back against the window. His tail slipped gingerly through the crack.
“Good fellow, Tail! Can you follow my voice?” asked Tobias. The tail traveled through the air toward Tobias like an eel sliding through water. Lilly heard Tobias call out, “Slow down, Tail. You’ve gone too far.”
The tail stopped in mid-air and began to move in the opposite direction. “Warmer, yes, Tail,” said Tobias encouragingly. “Warmer, warmer. Tail, you are hot. Hotter. Sizzling! You are touching the latch, Tail. Pull up! Pull across! Yes, you did it! Excellent work, Tail! Excellent work!”
Dorian’s tail zigzagged out the window with lightening speed. A moment later, Tobias unlocked the door to the alley. “ENTER!” he screeched.
Dorian turned the knob and stepped into the secret room. Lilly followed. It was dark. Lilly strained to see Tobias’ silhouette as he flew across the room and landed on the cage that minutes earlier held him prisoner.
“Tobias, you’re okay!” whispered Lilly. “Let’s get out of here!”
“Impossible, Lilly! Timma-timma. I’m sorry,” said Tobias. “Please shut the door and lock it because we aren’t going anywhere.”
Chapter 37
Tobias flipped a switch with his beak. Harsh light flooded the secret room. “BRRRIIGHT!” yelped Tobias as he watched Lilly and Dorian blink helplessly. When their eyes adjusted, Lilly and Dorian saw piles of crates holding dozens of animals.
Lilly’s eyes darted from crate to crate. She didn’t recognize most of the animals, not because they were exotic though they were, but because the cages were small for the size of the animal or the number of animals stuffed into them. “Are they dead?” she asked. “Why aren’t they moving, Tobias?”
“LETHARRRGIC! They’re mostly quiet,” said Tobias, “because they are drugged.”
Lilly’s eyes settled on a cat creature, appearing to be a cross between a cougar and tabby house cat, that struggled to lift itself but slumped to the ground. “I understand why we couldn’t leave,” whispered Lilly.
“No escape!” said Tobias. “These animals have no escape unless we help them. Mr. Stinchfield bought these animals. Many are endangered. All were smuggled here illegally. I wanted you to see them with your own eyes. Now you can go to the sheriff’s off—“
Tobias was interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering the alley. He lunged at the light switch. Darkness flooded the room as Lilly heard footsteps and voices move closer then stop outside the door. “HIDE!” whispered Tobias. “I’ll launch an attack-ack-ack-ack-ack to give you time.”
Lilly ran to the front of the store where she’d waited on customers and stocked shelves earlier that day. Lilly squeezed between fifty-pound bags of dog food and hid, her body stiffening at Tobias’ screeching. Seeming not to take a breath, each screech overlapped the next until it sounded like a cacophony of a dozen protesting birds instead of one.
Then Lilly heard loud scuffling. A man screamed, “Off! Off! Get them off me!”
Lilly didn’t recognize the screaming man but the man who answered impatiently was unmistakable. It was Mr. Stinchfield. “Open your eyes, Jake. It’s only the one bird. The old parrot won’t bother you now.”
What did he do to Tobias? Lilly trembled. She stuck her tongue between her teeth to stop their chattering but could do nothing to quiet her heart’s ferocious pounding. Blood rushed like a waterfall and roared in her ears.
Lilly strained to hear. Tobias was silent now. Lilly could hear his helper, Jake, speaking. “Where do you want the boy? I can’t get him inside the dog carrier. It’s too small.”
Dorian? The realization that Mr. Stinchfield had trapped both Tobias and Dorian hit Lilly harder than a punch from Isadora.
“Hold onto him,” said Mr. Stinchfield matter-of-factly. “But don’t do anything that’ll leave a mark. I have a buyer for him. I’ll be right back. Try not to lose control. Oh and keep hold of his tail. It’s like another hand.”
As footsteps approached, Lilly tried to shrink deeper into the shadows. She felt a rush of air as Mr. Stinchfield walked past and saw his shadowy figure move behind the counter where he picked up the phone.
Mr. Stinchfield spoke politely, “Yes, you’re right. It is later than I said it would be. No, no problems at all with your purchases. They’re ready for delivery – a parrot the world believes is extinct and a boy with a tail.” Mr. Stinchfield chuckled.
Lilly shut her eyes. If only she could shut out the truth. Mr. Stinchfield kidnapped Tobias and Dorian to sell them!
“I can get you proof on the bird,” she heard him say. “He’s a Roufus-tailed Tuft, all right. Our library has a catalogue from the National Science Museum with a photograph. Just to be sure, I went to the museum myself and saw the only other Roufus-tailed Tuft in existence, stuffed, of course. It was captured in the 1800’s.”
“I don’t know how old your parrot is,” Stinchfield said, “but it’s a solid investment. The species will be extinct soon enough but your Roufus-tailed Tuft won’t disappear. You can have him cloned.”
Lilly felt ill. She heard Mr. Stinchfield hang up the phone. He called to Jake to “bring the boy.” Lilly lifted her head hoping to see Dorian but didn’t catch a glimpse.
Mr. Stinchfield walked to the center of the store. “You saved me a lot of work, Dorian, coming here to play the hero. Very bold of you to attempt a rescue of Lilly’s parrot.” Dorian was silent.
“I understand your father left right after you were born. Maybe it was because your mother refused to let the doctors remove your tail. That is normal procedure nowadays. Don’t you think removing your tail would have been the better idea? You could have been like everybody else. Instead you’re headed for a private zoo.”
“I don’t blam
e my mother,” said Dorian. “You’re responsible for this.”
“We all have to make a living,” said Mr. Stinchfield, pacing in front of Dorian. “I’m a dealer of exotic beasts. I’ve done a little research on you and your mother. I understand she thought you were some kind of messenger. Did you know this?” Mr. Stinchfield turned on his heel and faced Dorian.
Lilly heard Dorian speak in a quiet voice. “My mother told me. She thinks I’ve been sent to remind the world that humans are animals and if we try to separate ourselves from the animal world, we’ll kill all of nature including ourselves.”
“What grand illusions your mother has,” snarled Mr. Stinchfield. “Now Dorian, tell me honestly, do you feel like a messenger or do you feel like a freak?” Lilly held her breath and waited for Dorian to speak.
“Well, Dorian?” insisted Mr. Stinchfield.
Finally, Dorian answered, “My tail doesn’t make me feel like a freak or a messenger. It makes me feel like it’s hard to sit down sometimes.”
Mr. Stinchfield laughed. “I’m sorry to see you go, Dorian. I like you but the truth is, I like money more. Take him into the back, Jake. I have one more call to make.”Before Jake’s shuffling step reached Dorian, Lilly heard a light tapping at the front door. Mr. Stinchfield answered it. Who is it? wondered Lilly. She squinted to see better in the half-darkness. Was it his brother, Mr. Snodgrass? No, Lilly could see the figure wasn’t tall enough to be him. Was it Mrs. Snodgrass?
Lilly recognized the voice, “Why is Dorian here?”
“Miss Brightman!” yelled Dorian. “Help us!”
Relief crashed through Lilly. Finally, help! she thought, pressing her face to her knees to stop a flood of tears.
“It’s necessary, my dear,” said Mr. Stinchfield. Lilly looked up. Mr. Stinchfield and Miss Brightman had moved to a place where Lilly could see them. He had his hands on Miss Brightman’s shoulders. “Do you recall? This was your idea.”
“Not Dorian,” Miss Brightman said in what seemed to Lilly a weak protest. “Only the old bird.”
“It was your idea to steal Tobias?” asked Dorian. “How could you do this? Lilly trusts you!” Dorian spoke with an anger Lilly had never heard from him before.
“Really, Dorian, it’s a parrot, not a person,” Miss Brightman answered. “You’d understand if you knew what it was worth.”
“That’s right, my dear. With the money we fetch for that old parrot, you will be able to live anywhere. No more sleeping in a library closet for you.”
“Please leave the boy out of this,” insisted Miss Brightman.
Mr. Stinchfield held her face between his hands and spoke in a stern voice, “It’s too late. He’s seen too much. Don’t try to back away from this now. You’re as deep into it as I am. Deeper even being the seasoned smuggler that you are. You do remember how we met, don’t you? I don’t think the authorities will be lenient when they discover this isn’t your first time smuggling birds.”
“It’s not fair for you to hold that over my head always,” she moaned. “I didn’t know endangered birds were in with the legal ones. I only knew that I was importing a shipment of legal birds for your brother.”
“It’s a shame you have no proof that you’re innocent, darling,” said Mr. Stinchfield.
The words swirled in Lilly’s head. Miss Brightman -- a smuggler? A kidnapper? To say Lilly’s hopes for rescue were dashed is an understatement. She felt utterly lost plus her stomach churned queasier and queasier with every ‘my dear’ and ‘darling.’
“I can’t do this to a boy,” whispered Miss Brightman.
Mr. Stinchfield cupped his hands around her neck and ran his thumbs down from the bottom of her chin along her vocal chords to the tender well of her throat. The sight made Lilly shiver. “You don’t have to, darling,” said Mr. Stinchfield in a firm but soothing voice. “He is my responsibility. Don’t feel sorry for him. He’ll be living in a mansion. So will the old bird for that matter.” He chuckled as he walked her out of Lilly’s sight. She heard the front door close and the sound of footsteps grow distant.
Lilly remembered Miss Brightman, looking through her binoculars and asking about Tobias. How stupid telling her his name, Professor Tobias Roufus-tailed Tuft. It must have been so easy for Miss Brightman and Mr. Stinchfield to figure how valuable Tobias was with that information. And kidnapping Tobias was Miss Brightman’s idea? Lilly’s heart ached.
Lilly sat in the shadows hardly believing the sounds she heard of Dorian being led to the back by Mr. Stinchfield’s helper. She looked up and stared through the window at the moon. The moon seemed invincibly round and complete. Not a sliver was missing. Tobias said her father could help her save her home. Could he help her save Tobias and Dorian? If only she remembered him. If only she could find the part of herself that remembered forever.
Lilly breathed slowly and stared at the moon without blinking. As she filled herself with her breath, the moon swam before her eyes. Lilly let her breath flow slowly out of herself and away. As her breath slipped away, Lilly felt herself slip out with her breath and float in a dream.
In a dream, Lilly floated in her cat pool and stared up at the beast, Mr. Stinchfield, King of the Animals. He grinned at Lilly, his grin spreading across his massive tiger face. The beast stirred her with his straw. Lilly wondered what to do… remain a pool of cat and let the beast drink her up or become her catself and fight back. But a cat, no larger than a mouse, was no match for a tiger. She would never survive. Either way, Lilly knew she was certain to disappear forever.
The beast smiled as he slowly stirred her with his straw. Lilly readied herself to disappear. “Please don’t hurt,” thought Lilly.
In her dream, Lilly stared up. The tiger face filled the night sky. The King of the Animals stopped stirring. As he leaned forward to drink her up, the moon appeared where his tiger face had been.
The moon pulled at Lilly’s watery self. A voice from faraway and forever rolled through Lilly in waves, “Tyger Lilly, burning bright in the forest of the night… Dare frame thy own fearful symmetry…” Lilly listened, “Dare frame thy own fearful symmetry…” In the next moment, every drop of Lilly became a rising tide. Then the liquid cat opened its mouth and drank herself.
The beast reared back and watched the pool of cat disappear. In its place stood the white cat no larger than a mouse. “Bravo!” laughed the beast. “What other tricks do you know?”
Lilly grew to the size of a tabby cat. The beast roared with laughter, “That’s good. Let’s see more.”
Lilly grew larger, chocolate stripes rising across her back. Lilly grew larger still, her blue eyes flashing. As the King of the Animals watched, the white cat no larger than a mouse grew into an enormous white tiger. Lilly rose on hind legs. Her tigerself towered as tall and as broad as the King of the Animals who dropped his straw and backed away.
Lilly stared at the moon. Feeling invincibly complete, Lilly breathed in slowly thinking only of her breath. As her breath entered her body, Lilly flowed into herself. She felt solid. And she was wide-awake.
Mr. Stinchfield stood by the register placing the phone on its receiver. In the half-darkness, Lilly stood as tall as her tallest self and lunged at Mr. Stinchfield. She crashed her shoulder against his ribs and sent him sprawling to the ground. As Mr. Stinchfield yelped in surprise and pain, Lilly felt for the secret alarm under the counter and finding the button, secretly rang for help.
Chapter 38
“You horrid animal,” shouted Mr. Stinchfield still lying on the ground. It had been a few moments before Mr. Stinchfield realized the force that slammed into him was Lilly. “When I’m finished with you, you’ll wish you were in a private zoo!”
He tried to stand and yelped with pain. “I thought you knocked the wind out of me but you cracked my ribs, you beast!” With a growl, he pulled himself up.
Jake ran to the front dragging Dorian with him. “Did you hear that, Boss?” Outside a siren’s wail grew louder.
“Oh, wha
t now?” moaned Mr. Stinchfield. “Untie the boy and get that parrot out of the cage.”
“Huh?” said Jake looking dumbfounded.
“Do it you idiot!” screamed Mr. Stinchfield.
Jake untied Dorian and ran toward the back as a speeding car with flashing lights screeched to a stop in front of the store. Sheriff McDuffie jumped out of the car with surprising speed. Mr. Stinchfield walked slowly to the door wincing with every step. He turned the key and let the lawman in.
“Sheriff, how can I help you?” said Mr. Stinchfield smiling through gritted teeth.
“Help me?” asked the sheriff.
Lilly ran to the sheriff. “I rang the alarm! Sheriff, please help us. There are –
But before Lilly could finish, Mr. Stinchfield interrupted her, having realized his mistake. "Of course I'm the one who rang the alarm.” He turned the lights on and pointed at Lilly and Dorian. “These two delinquents broke in. As you may or may not know, Sheriff, my half-brother and I own the pet store together. He’s away on business and I’m in charge.”
Tyger Lilly Page 17