Chapter 29

Bobbie and Tom were delighted to find they had made it home with five minutes to spare before the eleven o'clock news. She decided to let the VCR record the show while she and Tom watched it from their bed. Bobbie finished shedding her clothes first, then pulled the bed clothes down to the end of the bed and flipped the pillows to the foot. She was lying with her chin propped on her hands when Tom joined her on the bed. They kissed passionately but broke their kiss when they heard Jack Johnson announce the news. The lead story was again the circus.

When the show opened, the camera was in a tight close-up of Johnson. He said, "Folks, in tonight's feature story, there is a small embarrassment for KNBC. You're going to see our star reporter and my new co-anchor, Joyce Collier, in a featured rôle. Speaking personally and frankly, I don't know what management is going to think nor do I care. I think it's great."

Then he said, "But because Joyce is so much a part of the story, even though it's hers — and she did a brilliant job with it, by the way — I'm going to handle the narration to spare her some embarrassment."

The show covered the great leaps and pyramids quickly, but Bobbie and Tom were both delighted and pleased to see that the real star of the show was Joyce. They chuckled at the exchange between Joyce and Rajah when she fed him his pizza and stole a piece — it even showed the look of hurt in his eyes. Then it showed her riding and leaping while using the tape of her comments while she did it.

They cracked up with laughter as the audience did at the show. "Isn't she wonderful!?" Bobbie exclaimed. "Her timing is just so great!"

There was a beautifully cut scene of Wiesman's visit. When he said, "No teeth," there was a shot of a tiger with his huge white teeth gleaming. With the remark, "No claws", they showed Rajah's paw on Wiesman's chest with the claws slowly extending. To the remark, "the tigers are drugged," there was a montage of the incredible coordination of the animals working both individually and as a group.

When the take closed on Tom and Bobbie in passionate embrace, they cut back to the studio with a two-shot of Jack with Joyce sitting beside him. "Partner, that was utterly spectacular! And I mean it both as a piece of news film and for your performance. You were simply marvelous!" Then he asked her about Wiesman and possible further trouble.

"Jack, I can't answer that. I can say from personal knowledge, though, that those animals are working from love. They simply adore Bobbie and Tom Conroy, Andy Cartwright and Ken Clifford. There is no doubt in my mind that any of those animals would cheerfully sacrifice his life in an instant to protect any of them.

"On last night's show, Jack, you made a very perceptive comment about attending the circus and seeing the wild animal act. It was like the people who go to the Indy 500 to see the cars crash: people are waiting to see a big cat attack its trainer. The look in the eyes of those cats is baleful ... almost evil. You feel that the animals bitterly hate the trainer but fear him. The fear outweighs the hate ... but just! Jack, with these animals it's totally different. You look in their eyes and see love and warmth. Honest, you really do.

"As far as future trouble, I don't know. I certainly do know, though, that those cats have all their teeth, all their claws, and are certainly not drugged in any way. If there are more complaints, we'll have to see. In fact, Jack, the animal-rights people will be here in our studios tomorrow, so we'll then learn what their complaints are."

She shook her head sadly and added, "I can see one coming right now: letting the tigers eat pizza. I know it's not part of a tiger's normal diet, but I'll tell you what," she said with a big grin at Jack. "I'll let you tell Rajah! I'm certainly not going to. Besides, he's a big baby! Did you see the film? The poor thing almost cried when I had one lousy bite! And it was a large pizza, too."

The next segment had Ann Henry talking about the results of the trial and Jim Perkins' comments, particularly including the possible need for vouchers if that was what would be needed to permit students to hear about God in school. Ann ended her piece : "Millie Flaherty, who will be the new head of curriculum in Sacramento starting Monday morning, commented that the reason these children perform so well is that the Holy Spirit — the third person of the Trinity — literally comes down to that classroom and inspires those children.

"I certainly don't know. I do know, however, that I have seen six-year-old children perform with a level of knowledge and understanding of our background as a nation that would put a graduate student in history to shame.

"I also know that on an objective test, developed and controlled by Educational Testing Service — the College Board people — Bobbie Conroy's students went off the scale: a scale developed for use through college! And I also know that Bobbie Conroy personally achieved a perfect score — every answer was correct. It is an utterly unprecedented achievement for anyone."

The camera went in close on Ann who closed: "All I can say is that Bobbie Conroy will be in her classroom Monday morning and her students will be there with her. She will be happy, they will be ecstatic, and I will feel very good about the long-term future of our republic!"

"Thank you very much," Jack said, "And I do as well. From what I have learned, Bobbie Conroy is truly a national asset ranking with the fathers of her students who are Medal-of-Honor winners!"

Tom pulled Bobbie close and told her that Johnson sure got that one right. Bobbie just snuggled closer.

After a commercial break, Johnson was on camera and said, "And now we have a special feature from my co-anchor. I hope you enjoy it. I know I certainly did."

The screen went dark for an instant and then opened with a head-and-shoulders shot of Joyce dressed as she had been at the Forum: she was wearing white short shorts, a white halter top, a white ribbon holding back her hair in a pony tail and nothing else.

The camera came in close on her face and she said, "This feature is only for the women in our audience. Would all you men please go get a beer or ... or something ... while I speak to the women?

"This is particularly addressed to those of you who, like me, are single and over twenty-one... way over twenty-one. I don't know about you, but speaking for myself, I'm now resigned to being a spinster for the rest of my life."

With a cute little grin she added, "Isn't that an awful-sounding word, 'spinster'? Couldn't we come up with something with a little more ... Forget it, you get my point.

"Anyway, once I faced the idea of living alone for the rest of my life I got ... scared! There are, after all, some things a man provides: security, for example. Well, I gave it a lot of thought and now I think I've found the perfect answer. My answer's name is Rajah!" With that the camera pulled back to a two-shot with Rajah sitting at Joyce's side with his tail neatly wrapped around his forelegs.

"This is Rajah!" she said. Then she looked down at him and said, "Say hello to all the nice people, honey. Remember, they pay me and I feed you, so be extra nice to all of them."

Bobbie squealed as she saw Rajah smile, lift his right forepaw and wave to the camera. Then the camera pulled back to bring Joyce back into the frame.

"As far as vital statistics are concerned, Rajah is a Royal Bengal tiger. He weighs a little over 600 pounds — how much over depends on how much pizza he ate that day. He is in his prime. If he were human he would have just reached his eighteenth birthday."

With a sexy little grin she added, "Girls, wouldn't you really love to have a sexy eighteen-year-old guy for your very own? Wouldn't you? Now be honest!"

Looking at Rajah she said, "I mentioned security. Darling, show the people your nice teeth and claws." Instantly, Rajah was rearing up on his hind legs with his forepaws clawing the sky. His fully-extended claws gleamed in the sunlight. At the same instant he let out a mighty roar. With his huge mouth opened wide the size and sharpness of his teeth became apparent. As quickly as he had leaped up, he was seated again.

"Thank you," Joyce said, giving him a hug. Then the camera came in on her as she continued, "Security? How much do you need? Even here in Los Angeles where we have world-class muggers, can you imagine any of them in his right mind caring to take on Rajah? Can you? I certainly can't.

"How about being at home alone in your apartment at night? Are you concerned about security? Maybe your unit isn't on as high a floor as you'd like it to be? Rajah is your answer. Can you just imagine a burglar in your apartment? He has just unplugged your TV and is lifting it off the table. Then he feels Rajah's warm breath on the back of his neck. Turning, he sees his huge green eyes gleaming fiercely. Then what?"

Joyce grinned and answered her own question: "Honestly, I don't know exactly what would happen then. But I will double-your-money-back guarantee you: your TV will still be there."

Then she added, "Incidentally, although I haven't had the chance to check it out myself, I understand that a tiger's eyes glow in the dark. Now wouldn't that be a wonderful feeling? Looking over your shoulder and seeing these huge green eyes staring at you balefully."

Looking at the cameraman, Joyce said, "Charley, go in tight on Rajah's head. I want just a head shot so people can see his eyes. Raj, look at me. Do you love me?"

The camera caught the tiger perfectly and caught the look of warmth and adoration in his eyes. Then Joyce said, "Charley, hold that shot. Now, Raj, what would you do if you saw a man threatening me ... he was going to hurt me. What do you do?"

There was an instant change. Now the eyes were as cold as Antarctic ice. Rajah bared his teeth and let out a deep-throated growl that was frightening in its intensity. "Thank you, darling," Joyce said, then to Charley, "You can swing over to me now, Charley, and thank you."

With the camera now in tight on Joyce she said, "Can you see any mugger in his right mind ignoring that? Maybe Rajah can't speak English, but he certainly can communicate. Don't you all agree?" Then she smiled and added, "You know, I guess it's a good thing that Los Angeles is so large in area. Because it is, if any mugger made a move against me it's really quite likely that all of his pieces and parts would still end up inside the city limits!"

The camera pulled back and now Joyce was sitting on the ground using Rajah's side as a back rest. "So much for security. What else? Well, personal things ... Admiration, for example."

Turning to the tiger she extended her beautiful leg and asked, "Raj, do you like my leg? Is it shapely enough for you?" The huge animal nodded his head and grinned. "Honest? Are you really sure?"

This time Rajah got up, came over to Joyce and began to lick her leg from her toes right up to her crotch, missing not a square inch. The sensation on her flesh was exquisite and Joyce sighed with pleasure. Then she said, "Guess what? There's an extra added attraction. Don't you absolutely hate to shave your legs? Isn't it just an awful pain in the butt? Guess what?"

Feeling her leg she confirmed what she had sensed and said, "Now it's as smooth as a baby's bottom — and it was completely painless. In fact, it really felt pretty sexy.

"But it's not all roses. After all, Rajah is a very big boy and loves to roam. He needs his exercise. You know ... like walking a dog? But guess what? He even has advantages there, too."

The camera pulled back and showed Joyce running with a beautiful long-legged stride while Rajah happily trotted along beside her. While still running she said, "Now if you're like me, this is good for 100 yards, maybe. Two hundred yards on my best days. But then what? That isn't nearly enough exercise for a big boy like this. So what do you do? It's easy."

The scene cut to Rajah bounding along at full speed with Joyce sitting on his shoulders. Then it cut to him still running while she casually stood on his back doing ballet movements. In the last cut she was lying on his back with her head resting on the back of his. The animal was still running at full speed.

While lying on his back she said, "This is really the way to get exercise. Tomorrow, I think I'll bring my sun glasses and a book. And just think! My weight on his back is adding to Rajah's exercise. Isn't it neat?"

The camera cut to a tight close-up on Joyce's face. She was exquisite with her golden skin, tawny hair and beautiful green eyes. "But now let's face it, girls," she said, "There are a few things to be said for men. But what? Well, I guess they're pretty good on a cold winter's night to keep you warm. Then, there are women who love the feel of a man's hairy chest on their smooth skin. But you think that's good?"