Tiger Town by Eric Walters Read Free Book Online Page B

McCurdy’s clothes to one of the lines. The two lines contained every piece of clothing he owned. There were socks, shirts, pants, underwear, sweaters and long johns all fluttering in the wind.
    As I’d been working, Mr. McCurdy had told me what was going to happen. The lines were supposed to guide the animals toward the pen, and the clothes waving in the wind were to scare them and keep them away from the lines and moving forward. It certainly sounded like an interesting theory. We’d soon see if it worked.
    “Well, Sarah, you all done?” Mr. McCurdy asked.
    “That’s everything you own,” I said. “Do you think this is going to work?”
    “Sure. Positive. No problem,” he said.
    “You’ve done this before … right?” I asked.
    “Not technically.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means I’ve never actually done it before, but I’ve thought about it. Let’s find out if I’m right.”
    “And if you’re not?” I asked.
    “Then we’re going to have to figure out how to round up a bunch of deer and buffalo,” Mr. McCurdy said.
    “How do we do that?” I questioned.
    “I’m not really sure, but I’m not worried.”
    “You’re not?”
    He shook his head. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”
    “Me? You expect me to —”
    He cackled with laughter. “Sarah, you worry way too much for somebody so young. It’ll work. You’ll see.”
    I walked beside Mr. McCurdy toward the trailer. Nick and Vladimir were already waiting for us.
    “So how do we do this, boss?” Vladimir asked.
    “You and me go into the trailer. We open up the enclosures and let the animals out one at a time.”
    “What do we do?” Nick asked.
    “You and Sarah stay out of the trailer,” Mr. McCurdy said.
    That was good. It could be pretty dangerous to be inside a trailer with an angry buffalo or three.
    “I need you to each take a different side of the line and try to keep ’em moving,” Mr. McCurdy told us.
    “How do we do that?” Nick asked.
    “Yell at ’em, wave your arms in the air.”
    I figured I could do that.
    “One more thing,” Mr. McCurdy said. “If any of the animals tries to break through the line, you just stop ’em.”
    “Stop them?” I gasped.
    He nodded.
    “You want me to try to stop a runaway buffalo?”
    “Just remember, they’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”
    If he was right, they must be downright terrified.
    •
    Nick and I stood on opposite sides of the two lines filled with flapping clothes. Between us was a corridor about five metres wide. We were no more than a dozen metres from the ramp leading down from the trailer. Mr. McCurdy and Vladimir were both inside the trailer. Vladimir was going to work the gate to the pens while Mr. McCurdy would shoo the animals through the door and down the ramp. Once they left the ramp, Nick and I would chase them until they were inside the pen. That was how it was supposed to work. We’d soon find out
    “Yeehaa!” Mr. McCurdy screamed, his voice echoing from inside the trailer.
    I turned in time to see a deer — a big buck with antlers — appear at the top of the ramp. His eyes were wide, and he looked scared and confused. I knew exactly how he must be feeling.
    “Get moving!” Mr. McCurdy yelled as he reached out and smacked the deer on the rump with his hat. The deer jumped down the length of the ramp, landed on the grass and galloped at a full run. Before I could even think to react, he was past me. Charging down the corridor formed by the two lines, he covered the twenty-five metres in seconds and entered the pen. The buck raced around the perimeter of the pen and started to slow down. Coming to a stop in the very centre, he glanced around, put his head down and began to graze!
    “That didn’t seem too hard,” Nick said.
    “Maybe they’ll all be that easy,” I said.
    “I hope not.”
    “You hope not?” I asked in amazement.
    “Don’t you want a little more challenge in your life?”
    “No! I just