Chapter 29

While Caitie was en route to Bellevue, John Taylor, Kris Clifford, and Kenny Carlson got into the back of the SPCA ambulance along with Princess. Although the attendants were opposed to the children riding in the ambulance, it took only a single low growl from the tigress to change their minds. While they were moving as quickly as they could through the Saturday traffic on the East Side, the children watched as the EMTs in the vehicle treated the wounded animals as best they could.

One of them picked up a microphone, and they could hear him radio ahead to the hospital, "It really looks bad. We have two tiger cubs, one male and one female. The male has been hit by three bullets, the female by two. Our ETA is about three minutes. Get two ORs ready. You're going to need them."

When he signed off, Johnny Taylor said, "Sir, I think they would feel better if you called them by their names. The male is Duke, and the female is Duchess. This is their mother, Princess."

Looking at the giant animal who had been sitting quietly like a house cat, the attendant was amazed. He realized that, even though she was sitting quietly, in spite of the lurching and sudden movements to get around stopped cars, the creature had not apparently moved a muscle nor had she moved an inch in the speeding ambulance. Now, looking into her eyes, he realized there were great tears flowing down her furry cheeks.

"She's sure you will do everything possible to save her children," Johnny said quietly. "She would be delighted to do anything in her power to save them, and she wants to know if you need any of her blood. She's certain it would be a perfect match."

The attendant, Mike Smith, looked at the huge tigress. When he did, he saw her eagerly nod her head. "My God!" he gasped. "It's almost as if she knows what I'm saying."

"But of course she does," Kenny replied. "She and Prince can even read. Of course they do have trouble turning the pages, but now with the computer they're really funny. We have a big screen on ours — it's 21 inches — and there they'll sit side by side, just eating it all up. They're really very intelligent."

Then his eyes filled with tears as he continued, "And we really adore the cubs. Please do whatever you possibly can for them. Our whole family will be eternally grateful. Right, Kris? Right, Johnny?" Both of the children solemnly agreed.

Mike didn't know if they were teasing him or not, but they certainly appeared to be sincere. He was utterly baffled.

Just then the driver shouted back, "We're here. Grab on tight!"

Everyone held on as the big truck came to a screeching stop, then backed into a tight turn. A moment later the driver set the brakes while the rear doors were being thrown open. In moments the two wounded cubs were being rushed into waiting surgeries.

As Princess expected, they did need blood, and as she knew, hers was a perfect match. It was funny really to see the staff of the animal hospital dealing with a giant Royal Bengal tiger. Although they were frightened to be in the presence of such a famous carnivore, she behaved better than any house cat they had ever treated.

The hospital's staff of veterinary surgeons was one of the very finest in the world. When the first surgeon came out of the operating room where he had been operating on Duchess, sweat was pouring off his brow as he pulled off his blood-stained rubber gloves. He leaned back against the waiting room wall for a moment, took a deep breath, and said softly, "She'll be fine."

He shook his head and said, "She is the finest, healthiest young creature it's ever been my pleasure to treat." Before he could say more, Princess was before him, gently kissing his hand. When he looked down at her, she looked up and he was amazed to see great tears flowing down her furry cheeks.

"Princess wants you to know how grateful she is for saving her little girl's life," Ken Carlson said softly. "And while she certainly doesn't want to scare you, she would like to give you a kiss."

The surgeon was stunned when he heard Ken's words. But when he nodded, he was even more amazed at what happened next. Sitting up straight in front of him on her haunches, the tigress wrapped her huge forelegs around his waist, pulled him close to her furry breast, and then kissed him softly full on the lips. Impossibly, the man could feel love and joy and great thanks in the kiss. Reaching out, he put his arms around her great neck as far as he could reach and kissed her. As he did, he ran his hands over her magnificent fur.

When he released her, he extended his hand and said, "It is truly a great honor to meet you. What's your name? Mine is Jake Carter."

The tigress extended her right paw and Carter took it in both hands. "Thank you, Dr. Carter," she communicated. "This is an even greater honor for me. My name is Princess, and thank you so much for saving my little girl's life. She's so innocent and so sweet!"

Carter was so stunned, he almost fell over. "But ... but what happened? It was almost like this tiger was talking!"

"She was," Kenny said quietly. "And thank you, sir, from all of us."

A few minutes later, the surgeon came out from the other surgery, even more tired than Jake Carter had been. He announced that little Duke would make it, too. The poor doctor was almost knocked over as Princess, now utterly overjoyed, could not thank him enough.

Just then, Ken Carlson arrived at the hospital along with Jeff Collins. They immediately shared in the joy of the animal that her cubs would live. Princess then left the room to go to her cubs and see for herself that they were all right.

The group's joy was short-lived however, because a few minutes later two important-looking people arrived at the hospital. The leader, Cameron Cummins, announced that, as president of the New York Chapter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), he had come to rescue these endangered creatures from the people who held them captive. With him was a uniformed officer of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries & Wildlife, charged with enforcement of Federal endangered-species regulations.

Cummins' pomposity almost sickened Ken, but after Cummins demanded a place for a meeting, they all went to a vacant office. As Ken expected, Cummins immediately took the seat in a swivel chair behind a big desk, a position he felt to be one of authority.

Without even bothering to introduce himself to the others, Cummins was about to start right in, when there was a sharp knock on the door. Being closest to it, Ken opened it for Princess who sat down beside his chair and looked around attentively. It was apparent that Cummins appreciated what he saw as his advantage in being separated by the desk from the wild creature.

Beginning, he said, "It's obvious that you have been cruelly treating theses animals! Just look at this poor, malnourished creature! Why, I can almost see his rib bones protruding..."

"Princess is a she, not a he," Ken corrected. Then he looked at Princess and saw her pink tongue was sticking out at him. "Now wait a stinking minute, Princess! Not buying you and Prince pizzas every night is not what this gentleman has in mind..."

"Of course it isn't," Cummins interrupted. "The idea! Pizza for tigers! Utterly ridiculous."

"I told you so," Ken told her looking smug but at the same time winking his left eye which was out of Cummins' sight line.

"What a pompous jackass!" Princess communicated. "Who is he?"

Communicating mentally, Ken quickly filled her in and then suggested they have some fun.

"Neat!" she thought. "Prince had so much fun with that idiot at the TV station, and Rajah did, too, at the circus. But I missed it all. Can I play, too?"

Ken assured her that she could. In fact, he was counting on her to play a starring rôle.

Remembering the experience of Tom and Bobbie Conroy with Jack and Joyce Johnson, Ken decided to have some fun. "Princess," he said, "it's been a very tiring day. I need to stretch out. How about it, big girl?"

Princess managed to look aggrieved, but lay down on the floor with her head up. Ken stretched out on her back and used her huge head as a head rest. "Much better!" he proclaimed. Then to Cameron Cummins he said, "You were saying something about abuse?"

"I certainly was!" he stated emphatically. "Just look at that poor beast! Kept constantly drugged..."

In an instant, Ken was unceremoniously dumped on the floor as the huge cat, responding to his mental command, leaped over the desk and confronted Cummins who was seated in a high-backed leather-covered swivel chair. Her paws were on both of the arms and her face was only inches from his as she bared her teeth and let out a loud and very ominous growl.

"Damn it, Princess, this is my best suit, too. Why do you always have to be in such a damned big rush?" Ken asked querulously.

Then he appeared to think for a moment, shook his head and said, "Of course, Mr. Cummins, you did ask for it. There are few things these cats are more sensitive to than even a hint that they take drugs. Why Princess had nothing, even when she gave birth to her cubs. She wouldn't take any chances with them, so she endured the pain of labor with no help of any kind." When he said that, her giant head nodded up and down.

To the officer of the Fisheries & Wildlife Service, John Evans, he said, "And I would keep your hand away from your weapon, officer. I understand that they found the gun used to shoot the cubs. The guy's hand was still gripping it ... But of course the hand was about twenty feet away from the guy's body, if you get my meaning. Let's just say that these cats have claws that are truly razor sharp."

Continuing to look at the officer he shook his head and continued, "You know, the safest thing you could do would be for you to give it to me."

With his hand shaking, Evans did exactly that. In an instant Ken had ejected its clip, pulled back the slide to ensure there was no round in the chamber, released the slide and put it on a shelf well beyond Evans' reach.

Turning back to Cummins, he saw that the man was ashen and he was trembling like a leaf. "Princess, dear, I think Mr. Cummins is having trouble breathing." Pretending to study the situation, he finally said, "It must be his collar. It's much too tight. Do you think you could loosen it for him?"

With her great paws on the arms of the chair the tigress slowly extended her claws fully from her paws. As she did, Cummins' eyes widened as he saw them get longer and longer. Ken, seeing his fascination, commented, "They really are quite remarkable, aren't they? The full span of her claws is about ten inches ... as some hoodlums found out quite painfully earlier this afternoon. They're about five inches long, fully extended. Now Princess, to avoid unnecessary embarrassment, why don't you show Mr. Cummins how sharp they are?