Pokrewne

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Chelsea Handler Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (epub
Brit Brinson [Dia of the Dead Dia of the Dead (epub)
Cody Goodfellow [Radiant Dawn Radiant Dawn (epub)
Cate Tiernan [Immortal Belove Immortal Beloved (epub)
Drew Hayes [Super Powereds 02 Super Powereds Year 2 (epub) i
Beth Harbison [Shoe Addict 02 Secrets of a Shoe Addict (epub)
Cara Lynn Shultz [Dark World The Dark World (retail) (epub)
C M Kars [Never Been Kissed Never Been Kissed (epub)
Desiree A Cox [Lust, Desire a Twisted by Desire [MF] (epub) i
Berk, Reinhard Missbraucht

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.”Then, Mr.Davis gestured that I should follow him.We walked around the corner of the building to a large barn that was painted white with blue trim.He opened the wide doors for us to enter.The bright sun filtered in and warmed the area, spotlighting the dust particles that flew around as Mr.Davis and I walked past.I was surprised at how much light shone in the two-level building despite there being only two high windows.Wide beams rose high overhead and arched across the ceiling; the walls were lined with empty stalls that held bales of hay stacked up to the ceiling.I followed him as he approached the beautiful animal wagon that had been a part of the performance yesterday.He picked up a large jug of liquid vitamins and said, “Kelsey, meet Dhiren.Come here, I want to show you something.”We approached the cage.The tiger, who had been dozing, lifted its head and watched me curiously with bright blue eyes.Those eyes.They were mesmerizing.They stared right into me, almost as if the tiger was examining my soul.A wave of loneliness washed through me, but I struggled to lock it back into the tiny part of me where I kept such emotions.I swallowed thickly and broke eye contact.Mr.Davis pulled a lever on the side of the cage.A panel slid down, separating the side of the cage near the door from Dhiren.Mr.Davis opened the cage door, filled the tiger’s water dish, added about a quartercup of liquid vitamin, and closed and locked the door.Then, he pushed the lever to raise the panel in the cage again.“I’m going to do some paperwork.I want you to get the tiger’s breakfast,” Mr.Davis instructed.“Head back to the main building and go back behind the boxes.You’ll see a large refrigerator there.Take this red wagon with you to carry the meat from the fridge back here.Then take another package out of the freezer and put it into the fridge to thaw.When you return, put the food into Dhiren’s cage just like I did with the vitamins.Be sure to close the safety panel first.Can you manage that?”I grabbed the wagon handle.“No problem,” I said over my shoulder as I headed back to the door.I found the meat quickly and returned in a few minutes.I hope that safety door holds, or I’ll be what’s served for breakfast, I thought as I pulled the lever, dished up the raw meat into a wide bowl, and slid it carefully into the cage.I kept a wary eye on the tiger, but it just sat there watching me.“Mr.Davis, is that a female or a male tiger?”A noise came from the cage, a deep rumble from the tiger’s chest.I turned to look at the tiger.“What are you growling at me for?”Matt’s dad laughed.“Ah, you’ve offended him.He’s very sensitive, you know.In answer to your question, he is a male.”“Hmm.”After the tiger ate, Mr.Davis suggested I watch the tiger practice his performance.We closed the barn doors and slid the wooden beam down to lock them in place just to make sure the tiger couldn’t escape.Then I scrambled up the ladder to the loft to watch from above.If anything went wrong, Mr.Davis had instructed me to climb out the window and return with Mr.Maurizio.Matt’s father approached the cage, opened the door, and called Dhiren out.The cat looked at him and then put his head back on his paws, still sleepy.Mr.Davis called again.“Come!”The tiger’s mouth opened in a giant yawn and his jaws gaped wide.I shuddered looking at the huge teeth.He stood up and stretched his front legs and then his back legs one at a time.I chuckled to myself for mentally comparing this large predator with a sleepy housecat.The tiger turned around and trotted down the ramp and out of the cage.Mr.Davis set up a stool and cracked the whip, instructing Dhiren to jump up onto the stool.He got the hoop and had the tiger practice jumping in and out of it for several minutes.He leapt back and forth, running through the various activities with ease.His movements were effortless.I could see the sinewy muscles moving under his white and black striped fur as he went through the paces.Mr.Davis seemed to be a good trainer, but there were a couple of times that I noticed the tiger could have taken advantage of him— but didn’t.Once, Mr.Davis’s face was very close to the tiger’s extended claws, and it would have been very easy for the tiger to take a swipe, but instead, he moved his paw out of the way.Another time, I could have sworn Mr.Davis had stepped on his tail, but again, he just growled softly and moved his tail aside.It was very strange, and I found myself even more fascinated by the beautiful animal, wondering what it would feel like to touch him.Mr.Davis was sweating in the stuffy barn.He encouraged the tiger to return to the stool, and then placed three other stools nearby and had him practice jumping from one to the other.Finishing up, he led the cat back to its cage, gave him a special jerky treat, and motioned for me to come down.“Kelsey, you’d better head on over to the main building and help Matt get ready for the show.We have a bunch of senior citizens coming in today from a local center.”I climbed down the ladder.“Would it be okay if I bring my journal in here to write sometimes? I want to draw the tiger’s picture in it.”He said, “That’s fine.Just don’t get too close.”I hurried out the building, waved at him, and shouted, “Thanks for letting me watch you.It was really exciting!”I rushed back to help Matt just as the first bus pulled into the parking lot.It was completely the opposite from the day before.First, the woman in charge bought all the tickets at once, which made my job much easier, and then all the patrons shuffled slowly into the ring, found their seats, and promptly fell asleep.How could they sleep through all the noise? When intermission came, there wasn’t much to do.Half of the attendees were still asleep, and the other half were in line for the restroom.Nobody really bought anything.After the show, Matt and I cleaned up quickly, which gave me a few hours for myself.I ran back to my cot, pulled out my journal, a pen and pencil, and my quilt and walked over to the barn.I pulled open the heavy door and turned on the lights.Strolling toward the tiger’s cage, I found him resting comfortably with his head on his paws.Two bales of hay made a perfect chair with a backrest; my quilt spread over my lap warmed me as I opened my journal.After writing a couple of paragraphs, I began to sketch.I’d taken a couple of art classes in high school and was fairly decent at drawing when I had a model to look at [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]