Samantha's Talent (8 page)

All the way home while she walked with Shufus by her side, Samantha thought about what Mr. Orleans had said.
Maybe I should
, she thought.
I think I'll look into it.
Up until then Samantha had never thought of doctoring animals but now it seemed like a good idea. At least the animals would be able to tell her where it hurt and how they felt. She decided to ask her father about it while they were at the zoo.

According to the on-line references Samantha read, Lufkin supported a very good zoo for a city its size. That fact alone made her doubly anxious for the next four days to pass so it would be Saturday. She was really glad her father had volunteered to help as a chaperone, too. He would never make fun of anyone who asked questions. She loved almost all animals, especially the mammals, the most intelligent of them. Samantha began talking about all the variety of creatures they would see and how the zoo tried to arrange for as near a normal habitat for them as possible and which exhibits she particularly wanted to visit until her Father finally laughed.

"You're a real chatterbox, Sammie. I hope your friends will enjoy this as much as you think you will."

"Oh, I know I'll have a good time, Dad. Thanks so much for volunteering, too. It's too bad Mom didn't want to come."

"Saturday is her shopping day, Sammie. Remember? She works just as hard as I do during the day keeping house, or you do while at school. Besides, I think it's good for fathers and daughters to get out together once in a while even if it is with a gang of boisterous young ladies."

Samantha laughed, knowing he was only teasing.

The ride to the zoo took longer than she thought it would. After all, she could see part of it from their backyard, but the route couldn't go in a straight line. This was because of the woods between the zoo and their house, which was on the last block of the development situated along an elevated ridge of land. The class left in a convoy of cars driven by Ms. Smithers and the parents who had volunteered. Even though she was so anxious to get there that she was practically bouncing against the seat belt, Samantha did enjoy seeing a new part of the city. It was too bad Shufus couldn't come, she thought. He loved to ride and stand on the seat and look out the window.

The fee was paid by the school so there was no waiting at the entrance and soon Samantha and her classmates were among the exhibits of animals.

First came the giraffes and elephants.

"Wow! I didn't think they were
that
big!" Samantha said. She, like the other students, was awed by their size. She found on the information plaque that elephants were one of the more intelligent mammals. She wished she could talk to them. They were certainly close enough but she had promised, and there were all her classmates as well as other visitors nearby.

The monkeys were fun to watch with their swarming antics on the climbing ropes and simulated tree branches. Even better, patrons could get close to them although they were separated by a chain link fence similar to that around yards. The monkeys pushed their hands through the holes between links, begging for peanuts and other food. She wanted to feed them some of her remaining corn dog but a sign was posted in large letters at nearly every exhibit, including this one:

PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS!

It was hard for her to resist their entreaties since she could clearly understand them. They were saying
Give food! Give food, please!

"I'm sorry, we aren't allowed to feed you," Samantha said out loud.

Immediately the monkeys within hearing stopped what they were doing and stared at her.
Whoops!
She thought.
I forgot.

She glanced around and saw that her father was looking at her in a reproving fashion.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I just forgot," she whispered so no one else could hear.

"It's okay but let's move on so they'll go back to playing for the other people.

Several adults and a few of the students stared at her for a moment, wondering what had happened but then shrugged and went back to watching the monkeys' antics.

"The big cats are next," the zoo attendant who was accompanying the class said. "We have some from all over the world." Samantha wanted to talk to her and ask about her profession but she decided it wouldn't be a good idea with so many others around, including her classmates.

The first exhibit of big cats were the tigers. They had a large roaming area that was confined by a moat and a tall chain-link fence. The barriers let the visitors watch without danger to themselves.

Samantha stood by the rail, looking down and out at the big striped cats. There were three of them. Two were walking lazily around but the third stayed by itself. Himself, she amended as she determined its gender. He didn't look very happy.

The zoo attendant was a nice looking, matronly woman with short graying hair. "This is feeding time," she announced. "Our tigers are fed mostly on beef since they are carnivorous, which means they are meat eaters. They would probably prefer to hunt and kill their own meals, such as zebras or gazelles, but of course we don't have room or spare zebras and such so they are given pieces of beef to eat."

As she talked big chunks of meat attached to bones began dropping among the cats. The two that had been moving around immediately grabbed big hunks of it and began gnawing ferociously. The other also found a section of beef but Samantha noticed that it appeared to be eating more delicately, nibbling rather than tearing at the meat on the bone. When the tiger began chewing he gave out a subdued coughing noise. It meant nothing to anyone else but Samantha heard it clearly as a sound of pain, as if it hurt him to eat. She wanted to ask it what was wrong, but again there were too many people around. She could understand the tiger's rumbling voice as it ate though, just as clearly as if he had been human.
Hurts! Mouth hurts!
She wanted desperately to tell the attendant but how could she explain without telling her she could talk to animals?

"It's time to move on now," Ms. Smithers told the class and their chaperones.

As the group walked away they lost sight of the tigers. Samantha was barely paying attention to where they were going because she was thinking about the tiger that had been hurting. It looked so sad, even while eating. Suddenly she had an idea.

"Dad, I think I'm going to be sick. Maybe we should go back home." She looked up at her father and tried to look as if she felt unwell. She actually did feel a little sick at the thought of the pain the tiger had expressed while eating.

"What's wrong, Sammie?"

"I'm... I feel sick to my stomach."

"Come on, let's talk to your teacher." They hurried along until Samantha's father could speak to Ms. Smithers. "Samantha says she's feeling sick. Maybe it was the corn dog, but I should probably take her home."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. We're not even half finished but if she's sick, by all means take her home, or to the doctor."

"Thank you. I'll do that."

"Goodbye, Ms. Smithers. Thank you for bringing us to the zoo," Samantha said.

"You're welcome Samantha. Now go on home and I hope you get to feeling better real soon."

The class moved away and Ronald led Samantha back in the direction from which they'd came. Once they were back to where the tigers were confined, she stopped and grabbed her father's hand. "Dad, I'm not really sick. I just wanted to come back here and talk to one of the tigers. It's hurting real bad and can't eat well."

"Oh, Sammie. You know you can't talk to it here. What would your mother say?"

"It won't take but a minute, Dad and no one else is nearby," she pleaded.

He looked around and saw that she was right. "Go ahead, but hurry and get it over with while we're alone."

"Oh, thanks, Dad. You're so good to me." She turned and looked across the moat at the tigers. The one who had been eating slowly was still there but the other two were farther away, sunning themselves.

"Hello Mr. Tiger! What's your name?"

The tiger looked up in surprise. It wasn't certain who had spoken to it in tiger language but it had to be one of the people he could see. He rumbled a reply.
Growlfer
is what Samantha heard.

"Does it hurt you to eat?"

Yes. Hurts. Tooth hurts.

"I'll try to get someone to help you, Growlfer," Samantha told him.

"What is going on here?" A voice from behind Samantha and her father asked.

They both whirled around. A zoo employee with a name tag reading Dr. SUMMERS, VET. was staring at Samantha with her hands on her hips. She was young and pretty with dark hair worn in matching braids but at the moment she had a very stern look on her face. "What is going on here?" She repeated. "It isn't nice to tease our animals."

"I wasn't teasing, ma'am," Samantha responded. "The tiger there hurts when he tries to chew his food," she said without thinking. "His tooth hurts. And his name is Growlfer."

"Young lady, what makes you think that tiger's tooth hurts? Has he told you, by chance? And given you his name in the bargain?"

Samantha thought quickly, attempting to stay out of trouble so her mother wouldn't hear about the episode. "I just called him Growlfer because that's what he looks like his name should be. And can't you tell by the way he's eating that it hurts him to chew?"

"I--" The veterinarian's gaze went from Samantha to the tiger. She watched as it cautiously removed the last bit of meat from the bone. The other two tigers had finished long before.

"You know, you could be right. He could have a sore tooth. What's your name?"

"Samantha Douglas," she responded, then realized she shouldn't have given her name. She was afraid to look at her father, who she knew would be upset with her.

"Well, Samantha, we'll take a look at him tonight. What was it you called him?"

"Growlfer. That's his name."

"Well, it suits him, anyway." She smiled for the first time, making her look even younger.

"We need to go, Sammie," her father said.

She knew he meant it by the tone of his voice. She could hardly bear to leave while knowing the big cat was hurting so much but her father's admonition left no leeway for argument. "Goodbye, Growlfer," she called, then followed her father's urging. She looked back from time to time until the tigers were out of sight.

A middle-aged gentleman who had overheard the exchange between Samantha, the tiger and the zoo veterinarian noticed that all three tigers followed the young girl with their eyes until she was out of sight. He took out his phone and made a note of her name, which he had also overheard. After that he began walking in the same direction the veterinarian had gone.

A bit later Ronald sat down on a bench and told his daughter to sit beside him.

"Sammie, perhaps we shouldn't mention the little contretemps with the tiger to your Mother. You promised, you know."

Tears appeared and wet her eyelashes, causing them to glint in the sunlight. "Dad, I know I promised but I just couldn't help it. Poor Growlfer was hurting really bad and no one knew it."

"I'm sure they would have noticed eventually. Sammie, you are going to have to learn to be careful about talking to animals when anyone besides me is nearby. Now you've called attention to yourself again. I just hope that lady doesn't remember your name." He sighed, knowing Sammie could no more keep her talent under control all the time than a dog can keep from barking, Shufus excluded, who had been taught to bark only for a good reason. "Now stop crying and let's go home. You can see the rest of the zoo some other time. And no more talking to the animals today!"

She wiped the tears from her face and trudged along with her father, no longer as happy as she had been, even though the other animals were interesting. Eventually she brightened up and tried to remember the fun she'd had with her father until they encountered the tiger. Besides, he said she could see the zoo again. Maybe she could talk to Growlfer some more then and maybe by then the lady veterinarian would have cured his toothache.

***

The middle-aged gentleman with streaks of gray in his dark hair was also a veterinarian who had come to assist the zoo's animal doctor on a tough case, then decided to wander through the zoo and observe the other animals. His name was Dr. Robert Masters but all his clients called him Dr. Bob. As soon as Samantha and the man he presumed to be her father were out of sight he reversed course and headed back to see Dr. Summers again. Upon arriving at his office he knocked on the door and was asked to come in.

"Back already, Bob? What's happening now?"

"Dorothy, I was taking the long way back to my car and happened to be nearby when that young lady was speaking to you about the tiger."

"Oh, yes." She smiled. "She's very charming but it looked as if her father didn't want to attract any attention."

"Are you going to check her tiger for an infected tooth like you said?" Dr. Bob asked.

"Do you think it's worth the trouble, Bob? I know I told her I would, but it was just to make her feel better. You know how much trouble it is to look at a tiger's teeth, especially way in the back of its mouth. We'd have to give him anesthesia, which also means calling in a dental specialist so that if he does have an infected tooth we could get it out right then and not have to anesthetize him twice. That would be costly and we have a real tight budget this year."

"Did you happen to notice how your tiger paid so much attention to her?" He pulled out his notebook. "Samantha Douglas. That's what she said her name was. Right?"

"If you say so. I had already forgotten, but yes, now that you mention it, the tiger really did appear to be listening to her."

"Well, whatever you do is your decision, of course. I just thought I'd come back and speak to you about it. The young lady seemed quite sure of herself."

"I'll think about it, Bob."

"Alright. I'll leave you to your paperwork, then," he smiled and pointed to a high stack of printouts on her desk."

They shook hands and Dr. Masters departed. Inside her office, Dr. Summers put her chin in her hands and considered the episode with the tiger and the young girl. She ignored the papers on her desk for a long while, but money to run the zoo was very short, so eventually she decided to simply watch the tiger closely for a few days and see if she could detect a problem.