Renee Jennings answered the phone, her tone neutral. "Hello."
On the other end of the line, Evan Griffin sounded urgent, yet he remained polite. "Miss Jennings, hello. I’m Evan Griffin, the head of Tiger Park at Zenvia Zoo."
"Is there sothing I can help you with, Mr. Griffin?" Renee Jennings asked.
Hearing her ask, Evan Griffin got straight to the point. "Miss Jennings, I know this is sudden, but I’m calling because there’s an ergency, and I was hoping you could help. Is now a good ti?"
Renee Jennings asked, puzzled, "Is it serious?"
Evan Griffin’s voice was grave. "Sabin has suddenly started self-harming. The zoo’s animal psychologist tried to communicate with him, but it doesn’t seem to be working..."
When they had reached a dead end, an image suddenly flashed through his mind.
The girl who had been surrounded by nine ferocious tigers, yet erged completely unscathed.
A powerful intuition washed over Evan Griffin. ’Maybe she has a way!’
He told the zoo director about his idea, and the director imdiately nodded in agreent, telling him to contact Renee Jennings at once.
He was calling Renee Jennings from the director’s office right now.
"Understood." Renee Jennings’s voice took on a serious note. "I’m on my way."
After hanging up, she crouched down in front of Cecilia and the little kitten, speaking gently. "I’m sorry, Cecilia, Candy. I have an ergency to take care of right now. Can we have our al together another ti?"
The little girl noticed Renee Jennings’s brow was tightly furrowed, as if sothing bad had happened. Her mom always frowned like that whenever her dad left for work.
Cecilia asked with concern, "Renee, did sothing bad happen?"
Renee Jennings stroked her little head and said softly, "A big tiger at the zoo is hurting itself. I’m going to see if I can help."
When Cecilia heard this, she urged, "Then you should go quickly, Renee!"
After she said that, the little girl realized it was a big tiger, not a big kitty. She cried out in her tiny, childish voice, "A tiger! Tigers are scary! Aren’t you afraid, Renee?"
"Not anymore." Renee Jennings stood up, her tone softening. "Because I’m friends with them."
She turned to look at Rosalind. "Luna, I have to go, it’s an ergency. I’ll treat you to a al next ti."
"Don’t worry about it, Renee. Saving the tiger is more important." Rosalind walked her to the elevator, her face wreathed in smiles. "Co visit whenever you have ti."
Watching the elevator doors close, Rosalind thought about how the zoo had called to ask for Renee Jennings’s help with a tiger problem. She couldn’t help but feel that asking her to check on her daughter’s kitten was a bit of an underuse of her talents.
**
「Zenvia Zoo」
Renee Jennings parked her car and followed the signs to the employee entrance.
While on her way, she had received a call from Evan Griffin, who said he’d arranged for soone to wait for her at the employee entrance.
"Miss Jennings!" A voice called out from a short distance away.
Renee Jennings looked up and saw Evan Griffin standing by the elevator, waving to her. He was wearing a black-and-white Rush jacket.
On the way to Tiger Park, Evan Griffin explained Sabin’s situation in detail.
"The Breeders first noticed Sabin wasn’t doing well the day before yesterday. He was eating less dinner than usual."
"We were worried he was sick, so we quickly arranged for a vet to examine him. But Sabin wouldn’t cooperate at all, and he wasn’t interested in the treats the vet offered."
"As a last resort, we had to tranquilize him to draw blood and run a series of tests. When the reports ca back, the vet said there was nothing physically wrong with Sabin."
"Yesterday, we brought in an animal psychologist, but they couldn’t find the cause either."
"This morning, Sabin wouldn’t even eat his breakfast. He just kept roaring in Tiger Park."
"As soon as visitors entered Tiger Park this morning, Sabin lunged at the barrier, trying to attack them. An elderly man was so frightened he had a heart attack."
Evan Griffin sighed deeply. "When Sabin realized he couldn’t reach the visitors through the barrier, he started hurting himself, repeatedly slamming his head against the rocks..."
As he spoke, the two of them arrived at the entrance to Tiger Park.
Evan Griffin led Renee Jennings through the employee passage into the tigers’ inner enclosure, explaining as they walked, "We were afraid he would disturb the visitors and injure himself further, so we gave him another tranquilizer shot. We took the opportunity to clean and bandage his wounds."
Renee Jennings nodded slightly, her gaze falling on Sabin. The magnificent tiger, who should have been majestic and imposing, now lay quietly behind an iron-barred gate, his eyes closed from the effects of the anesthetic.
"How much longer will the anesthetic last?" she asked.
"Another hour," replied Evan Griffin.
Hearing this, Renee Jennings thought for a mont before suggesting, "Sabin isn’t awake yet. Why don’t I go talk to the other tigers first? Maybe they know what’s going on with him."
At her words, Evan Griffin’s pupils contracted sharply before widening slightly. He stared at the young woman’s fair, beautiful face, his lips moving as if he wanted to speak, but he stopped himself several tis.
Seeing his hesitation, Renee Jennings took the initiative and asked, "Mr. Griffin, is there sothing else you wanted to say to ?"
"Miss Jennings..." Evan Griffin lowered his voice, his tone serious. "Can you... understand what tigers are saying?"
He rembered that on the day the tigers went wild, Renee Jennings had been talking to them the entire ti.
Renee Jennings’s brows furrowed slowly. After a few seconds of thought, she said with calm indifference, "You guessed correctly. I can understand them. But I don’t want too many people to know."
"I understand." A solemn expression appeared on Evan Griffin’s face, and his tone was earnest. "Don’t worry, Miss Jennings. I’ll keep your secret. However, I may need to report this truthfully to the director."
"That’s fine." Renee Jennings had a faint suspicion that she might be interacting with the zoo much more frequently in the future.
「Ten minutes later.」
Renee Jennings and Evan Griffin entered Tiger Park in a staff-only vehicle.
Several large tigers were lazing about on the rocks, occasionally lifting their eyelids to glance at the group of foolish, boring humans beyond the barrier.
As the vehicle appeared, the nose of the tiger perched on the highest point twitched. It seed to have caught a familiar scent.
It shot up, its gaze fixed on the vehicle.
The distance was a bit too far for Renee Jennings to tell which tiger it was, so she could only call out from the vehicle, "Hey! Are you the most handso tiger in Tiger Park?"
As soon as she said it, Rory’s expression brightened, and it leaped up excitedly. "That’s right! This handso tiger is the most handso tiger here!"
It landed steadily on the ground and, with a few agile bounds, pounced right up to the front of the vehicle, its voice filled with undisguised excitent. "Renee! You finally ca to see this tiger! This handso tiger has been waiting for you for so long!"
It had been waiting every day for its human friend to co and visit.
Unfortunately, its friend never ca. All that ever showed up were the boring humans.
Rory placed a paw on the vehicle’s safety rail, its tone tinged with a hint of grievance. "You haven’t been here in so long. Did you forget about this tiger?"
"No." Renee Jennings quickly soothed the aggrieved big cat. "I didn’t forget you. I’ve just had too much going on lately. I’ve been too busy."
As she said this, she actually felt a pang of guilt. Her gaze on Rory softened, surprised that this big fella had been waiting for her all this ti.
"I was afraid you’d forgotten ," Renee Jennings sighed softly.
Rory vowed, "You’re this tiger’s good friend! How could this tiger ever forget you?"
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