Iris Johansen - A Summer Smile

“Are you afraid of me?” There was a note of speculation in Pandora’s tone. “You certainly were spooked when you first woke up.”

“No,” Zilah answered quickly. “Sometimes I have nightmares. I must have been dreaming, and seeing you sitting there startled me.”

“I was glad I scared you,” Pandora said with the honesty of a child. “I thought it wouldn’t hurt to get the upper hand right away since we were going to have to spend some time together.”

“But we don’t have to spend time together. I’ll just tell Sheikh El Kabbar that-”

“It wouldn’t do any good,” Pandora interrupted with an imperious wave of her right arm. “Philip doesn’t change his mind, not ever.”

Something dark and liquid had splashed on the polished white of the mosaic-tile floor when Pandora gestured. Zilah stared at it a moment before she realized what that liquid was.

“You’re bleeding!” she said, shocked. “What’s wrong with your arm?”

Pandora shrank back farther in the shadows of the wing chair. “Nothing. I scratched it a little.”

“Haven’t you bandaged it?”

“It isn’t serious. I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

“If it’s bleeding that freely, it should be attended to. Shall I phone your father?”

“No!” Pandora snapped. “It would only make him angry with me again. I told you it wasn’t serious.”

“If you don’t want me to notify your father, then at least let me bandage it.” Zilah got out of bed and pulled the girl to her feet. “Come on, I’m not so bad at first aid. I used to help Jess doctor the livestock on the ranch.”

“You lived on a ranch?” Surprise made Pandora docile as Zilah led her toward the bathroom. “You don’t look like a rancher. You’re as beautiful as any of Philip’s khadims.”

“And good looks aren’t allowed in any other profession?” Zilah asked. “I assure you it doesn’t get in the way at all. I ride herd on the cattle, brand, mend fences, and I’m a pretty fair horsewoman myself. Not as good as you, but I’ve won a few blue ribbons in the local horse shows.” She chuckled. “And they were far more concerned about my skill at dressage than whether my teeth were prettier than the horse’s.”

“I’m not terrific at dressage,” Pandora said absently. “I’m better at jumping, but I’m working on it. What kind of horse-” They had reached the bathroom door and she broke off. She pulled to a stop. “No, my arm’s fine. I don’t want to go in there.”

“Nonsense,” Zilah said. “It will take only a minute.” She reached for the doorknob.

Pandora pushed her aside and stepped in front of it. “Then I think I’d better go in first.”

“Why on earth?” Zilah asked, puzzled.

There was an indecisive silence before Pandora muttered, “There’s a tiger in your bathtub.”

“What!”

“It’s only a little tiger,” Pandora said hurriedly. “Just a cub really. I was keeping it in the stable, but I couldn’t leave him there with no one to take care of him. Horses get nervous around cats, and someone would have been sure to discover him.”

“So you put him in my bathtub.” Zilah’s voice was dazed. “Did you think I wouldn’t find him? I assure you I use the bathroom with moderate frequency.”

“It was all I could think of,” Pandora said. “I couldn’t let those poachers get hold of him again.”

“What poachers? Why do I feel I’ve entered the twilight zone?”

“Oh, do you watch ‘Twilight Zone’? Philip has all the episodes on video cassettes. They’re very interesting, aren’t-”

“Pandora,” Zilah interrupted, pronouncing each syllable very distinctly. “I’m not interested in Philip’s passion for ‘Twilight Zone.’ What poachers?”

“There were some poachers in the bazaar last week. Philip wouldn’t have stood for it, but they move around from place to place and sometimes he doesn’t know. They had the skins of a few adult tigers and they had penned up Androcles in a cage. I guess they were waiting until he was older before they butchered him. So I waited until dark that night and then sneaked in and stole him.”

“You stole a tiger?” Zilah asked faintly. “That must have been interesting.”

“I get along with animals,” Pandora said simply. “They trust me.”

“Is that scratch on your arm from your friend Androcles? If so, I wouldn’t say that demonstrated a high degree of friendliness.”

“You couldn’t expect him not to be frightened. I had to smuggle him into the house under a coat. Naturally, he clawed me a little.”

“Naturally,” Zilah echoed, shaking her head in wonder.

“Are you going to tell Philip?” Pandora asked tensely. She raised her chin. “Not that he’d care. He likes me better than he does you.”

“That wouldn’t be difficult,” Zilah said dryly. “And I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do. Suppose we take a look at your friend Androcles and see just how much of a danger he is.” She wouldn’t be surprised to see a full-grown tiger in the bathroom. Or, for that matter, to see nothing at all. It could be an elaborate joke. She was beginning to believe anything could be possible with Pandora Madchen.

It wasn’t a joke.

The tiger cub was curled up fast asleep on a bath towel in the center of the pink and ivory sunken tub. When Zilah flipped on the light, he opened one sleepy eye and then rolled over on his side.

“Isn’t he cute?” Pandora asked. “Just like a big pussy cat.”

“Adorable.” At least he wasn’t full-grown as Zilah had half feared. He was rather sweet. “However, he doesn’t seem to have a very developed sense of self-preservation. I think he’s gone back to sleep already.”

“Animals sense things. He knows we wouldn’t hurt him. Can we keep him?”

“Pandora, this isn’t like those doves you let out of their cages,” Zilah said. “This charming little pussy cat is going to grow up to be a dangerous animal. How could you-” Her glance moved from the tiger cub to the face of the girl beside her. “Good heavens, you’re gorgeous ! I thought you said you weren’t pretty.”

“I’m not pretty.” Pandora said fiercely. “I’m straight as a stick and I have horrible hair. And,” she added triumphantly, “I have freckles.”

She did have freckles. A golden dusting across the bridge of a small, perfect nose in a face with the most beautifully classic bone structure Zilah had ever seen. Huge midnight-dark eyes were surrounded by lashes of equal darkness. The “horrible hair” was chopped rather than cut into a boyish style that looked like it had been caught in an eggbeater. Still, the color and texture were magnificent. It was a shade of blond that was close to silver and it caught and reflected all the light in the room. She did lack curves, but she was as fine-boned and athletically graceful as the tiger cub in the bathtub. Good heavens, if she was this beautiful at fifteen, she would be unbelievable at twenty. Yet her denial of that beauty held a puzzling element of desperation. Then the light dawned. Philip El Kabbar didn’t like or trust beautiful women, according to Pandora. Therefore Pandora refused to be beautiful.

“My mistake,” Zilah said solemnly. “I didn’t notice the freckles.”

“Well, the light is pretty bad in here,” Pandora conceded. She pointed to the tiger cub. “I know I can’t keep him indefinitely. He’ll have to be sent to a wildlife reserve, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to keep him for a little while.” Her expression took on a poignant wistfulness. “I’ve never had a pet before. We always moved around too much before we came here. I thought just for a little while…”

Zilah felt a melting helplessness that boded no good for her common sense. “Well, perhaps for a day or so it wouldn’t do any harm,” she said reluctantly. “I probably wouldn’t be using the tub anyway. I usually prefer to take a shower.” She suddenly ran her hand distractedly through her hair. “Oh, Lord, what am I saying? I think I’ve just accepted a tiger as a roommate.”