‘We’re nearly there,’ Angie kept saying, and we emerged from the forest and headed downhill towards a town in a green valley. Angie drove on, but I wanted her to stop. I sensed danger. It came to me in a smell … of something that didn’t belong in this quiet green land. It got strongerand stronger.
‘Timba’s really scared, Angie,’ said Leroy. ‘He’s got his tail bushed out.’
Why didn’t Angie stop? Why was she driving on, into that unknown danger? It wasn’t the smell … it was a feeling. A sense of anger and displacement. It wasn’t human! It was animal. More animal than I’d ever believed existed in our quiet green countryside.
‘A zoo!’ Leroy shouted, and Angie did slow down. She wasn’t frightened like me, but she obviously didn’t like seeing the zoo.
‘Can we go in?’ Leroy asked, and then answered his own question with a big sigh. ‘I get it. Not now! But can we, one day?’
Angie drove slowly past some high walls with wire along the top, and two tall iron gates.
‘I didn’t know this was still here,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe they haven’t closed it down. It’s a private zoo, and those animals are not happy in there. I can feel their desperation. Let’s get clear of it.’ She drove on very fast, and I relaxed a bit as the smell faded away. Ihoped we weren’t going to live near that zoo.
‘You haven’t let me do anything I wanted.’ Leroy pouted and started to cry. ‘I wanted to climb up the bridge, and I wanted to see if there were fish in the river. Then I wanted to see if there were bears in that forest … and you wouldn’t let me.’ He kicked angrily at the car floor.
Angie was kind.‘Aww, don’t cry,’ she said. ‘Poor Leroy … I know it’s tough, and you’ve been SO good. We’ll do all those things when we’re settled in. I’ll need your help with Timba. He’s terribly frightened, poor love, and you’re so good with him now.’
Leroy calmed down. He turned to look at me.‘I’m good now, Timba,’ he said. ‘Don’t be scared. I’ll look after you.’
Despite my plans to run away, I tried to settle down in the new house. Angie put my basket next to the Aga in the kitchen so I was cosy. It wasn’t quiet like Graham’s house. We could hear voices and traffic, and the rumble of huge shining aeroplanes which made the cups rattle. At first Leroy watched them constantly and asked Angie where they were going and why.
‘Do they go to Africa?’
Angie shrugged.‘Maybe … yes, I think there is a flight to Johannesburg.’
‘Is that near Timbavati?’
‘I don’t know, Leroy. We’ll look on the internet later.’
She dismissed it as unimportant, but I could see the dreams streaming through Leroy’s mind. Dreams too big and intense to share.
The first time I was let out into the small square of garden, I remembered what Vati had taught me, and checked it out, walking slowly over the grass, feeling energies through my sensitive paws. I found a place where moles were living under the ground, I found an underground spring, and I found an energy line. It was in an odd place, close to a big stone in the wall of the house. Talking to Vati seemed possible when I sat there, but the contact was muffled. I missed him so much.
I kept an eye on Angie, who was getting used to a new job, and making new friends. She came home tired, and Leroy was difficult and demanding. He wanted every last bit of Angie’s love and energy.
Leroy was obsessed with the zoo, and he pestered Angie every day.‘Why can’t we go? I’ve never been to a zoo.’
‘I will not spend my money visiting THAT PLACE,’ Angie declared. ‘When we have time I’ll take you to a proper zoo where they care about the world’s wildlife.’
‘But I want to go to that one,’ Leroy argued. I saw the look in his eyes. He was going to go there, no matter what, with or without Angie. I sensed it burning in his soul.
In the spring Angie bought Leroy a bike and a helmet to wear. Straight away, Leroy disappeared. He whispered goodbye to me and his eyes flashed with excitement.‘I’ve got a bike, Timba. Now I can go to the zoo.’ I sat on the windowsill and watched him wheel the bike into the road.
‘Don’t go too far, Leroy. Just up and down outside, and be careful,’ Angie called from the kitchen.
‘Yeah … OK. See you later,’ Leroy shouted. He disappeared down the road at full throttle, pedalling with such energy that I thought the bike would fall apart. He was pushing it and pulling it at the same time, and lifting the front wheel off the floor, then banging it down.
I sat on the doorstep, and waited for him to come back.
Soon Angie was standing in the street looking for him, her eyes anxious.‘Where has he gone?’
I knew, but how could I tell Angie? I followed her up and down the street with my tail up, wanting to help, and in the end she picked me up. I tried sending her images, but she didn’t get them. All I could do was cuddle against her and purr as she got more and more anxious, and cross with herself. ‘How could I have been so stupid? Oh God, if he gets hurt on that main road, I’ll never forgive myself.’