Part 18 (1/2)

'Sorry!' I mutter, unsure why I'm apologizing.

Sasha blinks at me then quickly rouses herself, reaching for the ignition. 'We're going to be late!'

'Are you all right? Do you want me to drive?'

'I'm fine!' she says, briskly perpetrating a tire-scuffing U-turn.

I open my mouth to emit a plat.i.tude, something like, 'Don't worry, Sasha, I know you're scared but I'll be your real-life guardian angel.'

Instead I find myself saying, 'Did you know that one in four people experience some form of mental illness in their life?'

'What did you say?' Sasha winds up her window to silence the rus.h.i.+ng wind. 'One in four people what?'

I can't believe I said that out loud. 'Are allergic to cats,' I lie.

'I wonder if there are any statistics about the number of cats that are allergic to people?' Sasha muses, with a certain poignancy to her voice.

I laugh. 'I wonder.'

'I mean, it's possible, isn't it? Maybe that's all it was. Just an allergy.'

'All what was?'

Sasha's face clouds over again. I'm losing her.

'Sasha?'

'It's ... I ...' she flounders and fails to find the words to express her angst.

I can't finish her sentence for her. I have no idea what she is trying to say. But I'm sure she'll feel better once we get there. Actually, I'm not sure of that at all, but I can hope.

Finally we spy the sign: TIGER TIGER. A NON-PROFIT RETREAT FOR RETIRED ANIMAL ACTORS.

'Hey we're going to see celebrities before Zo, how weird is that?' I try and make a joke.

Sasha slams on the brakes so hard my seatbelt locks and gives me a diagonal garroting. I've had smoother rides in a b.u.mper car.

'They won't like me,' she blurts, experiencing a resurgence of nerves.

Before I can a.s.sure her that everyone warms to her once they get over wanting to believe that she's a vain 'n' vacuous ice queen, she adds, 'Animals don't like me.'

I want to laugh but decide against it.

'What makes you say that?' I ask.

'It's true. They can tell-' she halts herself.

'Tell what?'

Sasha looks as if she's about to retreat into her catatonic state. No pun intended. I have to do something.

'Gosh look at that!' I say, praying for something to leap into my sight line so I can follow through.

'What?'

'I think I just saw a ...' I scrabble out of the car as if I'm tracking something in the foliage.

'Oh my G.o.d, yes!' Sasha joins me. 'He's looking right at us!' She shrinks behind me.

I can't believe she can actually see my imaginary distraction. Where is it? Suddenly I lock sights with a pair of golden eyes. Benevolent rather than predatory, they seem to be saying, Oh, it's you!

'That's Ryan,' a voice comes from behind us. 'Our VIP guest. He's a liger that's half lion, half tiger.'

Now his expression seems to be saying, I know, I don't get it either.

We turn to find a cozy-looking brunette. 'I'm Carrie,' she smiles, warmly shaking our hands.

I can see the relief on Sasha's face: thank goodness there's going to be someone nurturing around.

'It's actually pretty good timing you being here this week,' Carrie continues. 'I have to go to San Francisco to try and raise some funds-'

'When do you leave?' Sasha panics before Carrie even finishes her sentence.

'Day after tomorrow. I'll be gone a coupla days so Ty will welcome an extra pair of hands.'

Sasha's fretful look returns.

'How about I give you a little tour of the place before it gets too dark?'

I nod on Sasha's behalf.

'We'll start with Freddie. He's the devil himself, it'll be all downhill after that.'

I try to give Sasha a comforting look but I'm feeling a little nervous myself now.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty...

Chapter 15.

'We're not too picturesque yet,' Carrie warns us as she raises the horseshoe clip on the gate and grinds it open. 'This is actually a disused water plant. Go ahead...'

She motions us through the wire fencing and suddenly we're met with a writhing ma.s.s of leopard spots, like an animal print Magic Eye. I blink, trying to correct my vision.

'I've never seen so many cats in one place!' Sasha tries to take it all in.

'We've got sixteen leopards, a mix of Northern Chinese and Asian, the Asian are the smaller ones ...' Carrie points over to a pair hanging back from the group. 'Those two were in a Brooke s.h.i.+elds movie called Born Wild.'