Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page B

turned to look.
    "I'M TAKING SOME PRIVATES TIME HERE!"
    "Private time," Teagan explained automatically. "She means private time. The whole bus heard that," she said, putting the phone back to her ear and sinking a little lower in her seat. Public transit was becoming
way
too public lately.
    "Sorry," Abby said. "We're having a sale, and I'm supposed to be on the register. See ya."
    "See ya," Teagan said, but Abby had already hung up.
    Teagan took a shortcut through the Primate Research House on her way to the clinic, to see if Cindy had forgiven her for shoving Dr. Max. The chimp shrieked and covered her eyes as soon as Teagan came in.
    "I'm the one who should be screaming," Teagan said. "You ruined my sweater. That stain's never coming out."
    Cindy shook her head and puckered her lips.
    "I'm not after your Dr. Max, I promise. I have a problem of my own." The wiggles at the edges of her vision were getting worse. "It seems he's going to be around awhile. Maybe I'll bring him by so you can meet him."
    Cindy peeked out between her fingers and screeched even louder. The rest of the apes decided to join in, so Teagan retreated to the clinic.
    The office was empty when she got there. "Hello?" she called.
    "Back here." Teagan followed Agnes's voice into the exam room.
    "We've had some excitement this morning." The vet tech was wiping down the table. "Apparently a hyena ate a rubber boot two days ago."
    "Buster?" Teagan asked. Buster was eight years old and would shred and swallow anything he could latch his powerful jaws on.
    "The Hyaenidae garbage disposal himself," Agnes said. "He's going to need surgery. The groundskeeper who was wearing the boot when Buster got it didn't tell anyone it had happened until Buster was down and hurting. He was afraid of getting in trouble."
    "Buster took it off his foot? I'd be afraid of losing more than my job."
    "He'll check the enclosure more carefully before he goes in next time, for sure—if there is a next time. Dr. Max is taking a short walkabout to calm himself before we start. I pity anyone who gets in his way today. Oh—I haven't had time to feed anybody this morning, much less clean cages."
    "I'll do it."
    Teagan had finished the cages and was heating the goat's milk for the tiddlywinks' breakfast when Dr. Max came in.
    "Were you in the primate house?" he asked.
    "Yes," Teagan said. "I came through there."
    "Did you see a stray cat?"
    "A cat?"
    "I heard a commotion and went over there. Cindy told me you had a 'scary kitty' with you. I wondered if a stray might have gotten in."
    "I don't think so," Teagan said. "I didn't see one, at any rate."
    "Well, keep your eyes open," Dr. Max said. "Strays carry all kinds of diseases. I've got to scrub up. I can't observe in the primate house today, so stay a good distance from the enclosure. Ms. Hahn is still having fits."
    Teagan mixed the hedgehogs' food, then tapped on their box to wake them up. They had to be hungry if they hadn't been fed yet, but they huddled together in their little ball, their black eyes blinking at her.
    "What's the matter with you?" Teagan picked up Tiny Tiddly gently and offered him the eyedropper of milk. His little heart was beating like a trip hammer.
    "What's wrong?" Teagan stroked him with a fingertip. "It's just me." She coaxed him into eating. The other hoglets finished their bowl of food, and she took it away. They huddled together again, trying to burrow deeper into their nest.
    Dr. Max was still in surgery when she opened her locker and took out her baby chimp doll. She always felt foolish carrying it across the zoo grounds. Little girls stopped to point, and their mothers stared.
    Cindy seemed to have forgotten about Dr. Max or any scary kitties. Out, she signed when she saw Teagan. Out,
please.
Cindy always asked to come out. It broke Teagan's heart. Cindy was never going to get out.
    Where is your baby?
Teagan signed. The chimp shook her head.
    Cindy had been stolen from the wild as an infant, sold on