Page 51 of Tiger Queen

“That’s why I’m bringing this to you first,” he said gently. “I’m asking, not telling.”

“There has to be another way.”

He tapped the papers again. “The math doesn’t lie, Rachel.”

“I can take a pay cut,” I offered. “I’ll work for free.”

David blinked in surprise, but shook his head. “That’s awfully selfless of you, but your weekly salary doesn’t come close to making a dent. This is a big problem, and it requires a big solution.”

I didn’t want the zoo to re-open. I hated the idea. And I knew David was right. Finding homes for the rest of the animals in three week was impossible. If they didn’t get some more money coming in…

“Fine.”

David relaxed visibly. “It will be better than before, I promise. No private photos with drugged-up tigers. We can tighten our rules on—”

“I said okay,” I snapped. “It’s your zoo, not mine.”

“Rachel…”

I stormed out of his office before he could say anything else.

23

Rachel

I was angry all day. While I fed everyone, cleaned out some of the enclosures, and did visible examinations of the animals. I wanted to scream and rage at someone. To let it all out.

To make matters worse, Ashley called me back during lunch.

“Rachel! I’m sorry I didn’t pick up last night. We were having game night here at the horse farm. This place is a hoot!”

“Sounds like you’re having a lot of fun,” I said with a small pang of jealousy.

“So much fun. Hey! I heard you guys moved eight cats down to the Endangered Cats Animal Preserve!”

“We did,” I said. “Four female Bengals, two male Siberians, and a pair of cheetahs.”

Ashley chuckled. “You know, when you actually took the job there I was skeptical. I thought Crazy Carl’s sons would be just like him and want to keep the zoo open and make more money. I’m glad I was wrong.”

“Yeah, totally,” I said. “I’m glad you were wrong too.”

After we hung up, I felt a tremendous amount of guilt about everything. Ashley had warned me this might happen. And now we were reopening the zoo. Sure, David insisted it was just to get more money and buy us some more time to move the animals. But it felt like I was being used.

The problem was this place wasn’t built like a proper zoo, where the visitors observed from a safe and non-disturbing distance. The animals here were cramped and too close to the visitors, and even surrounded by them on all sides in some cases. In the videos I had watched last night, visitors threw food into the enclosures and laughed when the animals ate it. Some people taunted and tried to scare the big cats to get an exciting reaction out of them.

Real zoos were a lot more ergonomic. Good enclosures were built down into the ground, allowing the visitors to look down into them from above. That gave the animals the illusion of privacy, and kept them calm. Not to mention it was important to keep humans as far away as possible, so that the variety of scents did not bombard the animals’ senses. It would overstimulate them.

I was taking notes on the chimpanzees behavior when Anthony came walking up. “Did you hear what David came up with? We have a way to earn some money. We’re reopening the zoo.”

One glance at him told him everything he needed to know.

“Oh. Were you against that?”

“It was one of the conditions of me working here!” I exclaimed. “I absolutely hate it. These animals should not have humans pressing against the fences around them on all sides.”

Anthony sat on the bench next to me and grimaced. “It’s all my fault.”

“It’s your fault David decided to re-open the zoo?”

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