Tiger by the Tail by Eric Walters Read Free Book Online Page A

“What is what?”
    “This. The footprint in the mud.”
    He ploughed back through the puddles, splashing water into my face.
    “Nicholas, you jerk!” I shouted as I wiped my face with my arm.
    “Sorry. Where’s the footprint?”
    “Here,” I said, pointing to the ground. It was now half-filled with water.
    He bent down to look more closely. I bent down as well.
    “What do you think?” I asked.
    “I can’t be certain … but I think … that maybe … it’s an animal track.”
    “I know that! What kind of animal?” I screamed.
    “How should I know? It’s an animal, maybe a dog.”
    “But look how big it is!”
    “A big dog. Come on, let’s get going. I need a muffin,” he said as he straightened up and started walking again.
    I put my hand down, just above the muddy water that filled the paw print. I stretched out my fingers. There was still space on all sides between the ends of my fingers and the edges of the track.
    “Nick, this isn’t a dog!” I yelled, looking up to see him just a few metres farther along, crouched down. I stood up and moved quickly to his side.
    He looked up at me. “More tracks. Here, coming from down the path. It’s not a dog.”
    “I know, I just said that. The tracks are too big. Maybe it’s a bear.”
    “It’s not a bear either,” he stated.
    “How do you know?”
    “If it was a dog or a bear there’d be claws at the edgesof the prints. Dogs and bears always have their claws out,” he said quietly.
    “How do you know that?”
    “I’m a Boy Scout, remember?”
    “If it’s not a dog or a bear then what is it?”
    “Something big, something that either doesn’t have claws or can pull in its claws … like a cat.”
    “Like a tiger,” I said under my breath.
    “Yeah, like a tiger,” Nick confirmed. He stood up and wiped his muddy hands on his pants.
    “Nicholas, don’t do that!”
    “Sorry,” he answered.
    “Maybe Mr. McCurdy was out taking Buddha for a walk,” I suggested.
    “I don’t think so. Maybe he was riding it,” Nick said.
    “Riding it? What are you talking about? He wouldn’t ride on his tiger!” I exclaimed.
    “Yeah, you’re right, but you’ll notice there are no other tracks out here besides ours and the tiger’s. So if Mr. McCurdy wasn’t riding it, then Buddha is out here by himself.”
    “We have to get out of here.”
    “We can’t go back the way we came,” Nick said. “The tracks are leading out toward the road.”
    “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t double back into the bushes. We don’t have much choice,” I said. “Let’s get to the house right away. Once we’re with Mr. McCurdywe’ll be okay.”
    “Sounds good to me. Let’s run.”
    “No!” I said forcefully, and then lowered my voice to continue. “We should move slowly and quietly. Buddha might be sitting just over the bank or maybe he’s watching us right now. If we run he might decide to chase us.”
    “We’ll just outrun him then,” he suggested.
    “Tigers can move faster than a racehorse. What makes you think you can move that fast? You’re not even that good a runner.”
    “Believe me, if a tiger is chasing me I can become a good runner. Besides, Buddha wouldn’t hurt me. I’ve fed him right from my hand.”
    “Good, now he thinks of you and he thinks of food. Since you don’t have any food in your hand maybe he’d think of your hand as food.”
    That shut him up. We moved up the driveway, slowly, quietly, hardly daring to breathe. I looked apprehensively at the tall weeds and bushes and trees lining the laneway; any of these could offer the perfect hiding spot from which a tiger could pounce. I looked over my shoulder, gazing down the lane. No sign of anything. Turning back around, I caught my first glimpse of the roof of the house. We rounded a small curve and then climbed an incline and the house was right ahead of us across a patch of grass.
    “We’re going to be okay,” I said, more to myself than to Nick.
    “This is