Carolyn McSparren - Safe At Home

The day they were married she’d sworn to him she’d preserve the place as long as she lived, so that no matter how much development, how many vacation homes went up around her, the farm she’d inherited at Bryson’s Hollow would always stay a refuge for the wild creatures he loved so much. In the end he’d given his life for them. The least she could do was keep her word.

No untenanted farm survived long these days without squatters and thieves and even arsonists destroying what they could not appreciate. She simply could not abandon the place, even if she’d been able to afford something halfway decent in town.

But with a day job, she could bring Cody home for at least part of the summer, and perhaps even convince Rachel to give the farm another try. Tala had always found the woods healed her wounds. They might heal Rachel’s, too. A few days’ fishing on the banks of the stream where she’d fished with her daddy might possibly smooth out her daughter’s soul.

One step at a time. First the new job, then work on getting the kids home.

“TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH.” Pete loomed huge and grumpy outside her truck door. “You get everything?”

“Yes, Doctor. Including premixed cement that sets up in any temperature. Regular cement would stay wet for a month in this cold air.”

“Oh. Yeah. Guess you’re right.”

He sounded surprised—maybe he didn’t think women knew things like that. She brushed past him, and her shoulder touched his chest. She caught her breath and kept walking, although her heart thumped.

He, on the other hand, shied away as though she’d attacked him.

“Where are you planning to build Baby’s cage?” Tala asked, ignoring both his reaction and hers. She glanced back at him, and was startled to see that the tips of his ears were red. And he was suddenly breathing as though he’d been running a marathon.

He cleared his throat. “Mace and I talked it over. Round back under the overhang and behind the hay storage. Be protected from the wind, and the hay offers good insulation. Plus nobody’ll see her if they drive in.” He refused to meet her eyes.

“If you could teach her to keep her mouth shut we’d be in business,” she said.

“Move over. I’ll drive the truck around back. It’s still pretty slippery where the elephants have trampled the ground.”

Tala opened her mouth to protest that she was capable of driving in mud, but then she shut it. She barely had enough room in the passenger seat by the time he’d fitted his bulk behind the driver’s seat. He’d had to move the seat all the way back to get in. She wouldn’t be able to reach the pedals until she moved it to its former position.

A few moments later they were at the site for the cage. The location was perfect. The overhang offered protection, and the steel outside wall closed off one side, so they only had three sides to construct.

Mace was already digging postholes in the dirt. Tala climbed out and looked at the perimeter. “Doesn’t look very big,” she said.

“Not nearly big enough if she were healthy and we were going to keep her forever,” Mace said, resting on his digger.

“She can’t stay where she is,” Pete said. “She’s already getting antsy. This way, at least she’ll be able to pace, and we can add a ladder or two so she can climb, although lions don’t actually do much climbing in the wild.”

“Have you tried to find a home for her yet?”

“You’ve only been gone a few hours.”

Tala dropped her head. “I meant to get back sooner. I’m sorry. About the job…”

“Say yes, m’dear,” Mace said.

“I have to speak to the manager at the Food Farm tonight. Give him a chance to meet your offer. I can’t just leave him in the lurch. But if he says no, and if you’ll really let me work from early until school lets out, and let me have the weekends off, I promise I’ll work very hard for you.”

“Wonderful!” Mace said, and clapped his hands. Pete merely turned his back and mumbled something unintelligible.

“I hate to leave you with this now, but I’ve really got to go home and get ready for work,” she said. “And I think I left my gloves inside last night. May I go get them?”

“Of course. Pete and I will unload so you can take your truck. Call after you’ve spoken to your manager. If he does offer you more money, we’ll meet his offer. If you have to give him two weeks’ notice, so be it. We want you, m’dear.”

Tala smiled and walked around the edge of the building, leaving the men hauling posts and wire out of the truck. Maybe Dr. Mace wanted her. She wasn’t sure about Dr. Pete.

She opened the small door to the side of the overhead and walked inside the workroom. The light was dim, and the room felt even colder than outside. The faint aroma of raw meat met her nostrils. She looked over at Baby’s cage to see whether she was still sleeping.

Empty!

She felt her blood chill as she peered into the dark corners. She hoped Baby couldn’t fit between the bars on the elephants’ enclosure, but if she could, the lion could be anywhere in Hollendale County by now.

Tala opened her mouth to yell for Pete and felt something heavy bump her leg. Without moving her head, she looked down. Baby stood beside her, butting her big golden head into the side of Tala’s knee like a house cat. But hard enough so that Tala had to brace her other hand on the medicine cabinet beside her to keep from falling over.

Baby butted her again, then rubbed her body along Tala’s legs, crossed over in front of her and collapsed into a big yellow heap on the concrete. She lay there rumbling contentedly.

“Okay, you’re not hungry—at least I hope you aren’t,” Tala said with more conviction than she felt. “And you’ve been around people, although God knows what they did to you before they shot you. I doubt seriously you know I rescued you last night, but maybe you’re just cold and lonesome.”

Baby rolled her eyes and yawned. Even without all her incisors, her mouth looked capable of biting Tala’s head off in one gulp.

Tala was trapped. The cat lay across her boots. Her body wound around so that in order to move, Tala would have to dislodge her feet and step over the mound of lion. Assuming Baby would let her. How much time would it take before Pete realized she’d been inside too long?

She couldn’t wait. She’d better try to get herself out of this.

“Sweet Baby,” she crooned. “Is your shoulder better?” Slowly, carefully, Tala bent her knees until she could touch Baby’s head. She began to scratch behind the cat’s ears. “My cats always loved this, let’s hope you’re cat enough to do the same.”

The rumbling increased. My word, Baby was purring! Or as close to a purr as she could get. Tala began to stroke the animal’s head. “Aren’t you a sweet ole baby girl?”

A moment later she nearly toppled head first on top of the lion as the door behind her opened and hit her in the rear.

“Hey, can’t you find your gloves?”

“Pete, stay out,” she hissed.

He poked his head around the door. “Holy hell. You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Tala tried to stand up, but couldn’t with Pete halfway in the door. Baby looked over Tala’s shoulder and lashed her tail, annoyed at the interruption.

“Stand up very slowly,” Pete told her. “Then when I open the door, I’ll grab you and drag you out.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Tala said. “Or necessary. I think she just got lonely. I’ve been scratching her ears.”

“Do what I tell you, woman. We’ll worry about what she wants when we’ve put a steel door between the two of you.”

“All right.” In spite of her bravado, Tala felt a rush at his peremptory tone. He was worried.