Chapter Sixteen

Savage Sanctuary Island, Simon

“I ’ll take you to the hut,” Simon said. “There’s food, and you can get dry and keep Indra company while I round up the other cats. One is injured, and I may need to bring him back with me, but I promise you’ll be safe,” he added, glancing quickly at Sarah because she encouraged him with smiles, and he liked her. He might like Misty too, but he wasn’t sure about Paige. She didn’t smile, and she looked at him, not quite in fear, but in definite mistrust. The two new cat’s brought into the sanctuary had the same expression.

“Is it warm there?” Sarah asked, visibly shaking with chattering teeth.

Simon looked her straight in the eyes, something that usually made him uncomfortable. “It’s warm, I promise,” he said.

“Okay, can we hurry?”

Simon took off his rain slicker and placed it over her shoulders, being careful not to touch her when he did it. She was being nice, and he didn’t want to scare her. The slicker reached her ankles and would protect her from the storm.

“I don’t have another one,” he said to Paige and Misty, his eyes downcast.

“It’s okay,” Misty said. “But I’m with Sarah and just want to be warm.”

“Thank you,” said Sarah and touched his hand.

An odd expression came across Simon’s face before it disappeared. The cats touched him, and every so often Yolanda kissed his cheek, but contact with another person was something that rarely happened in his world. He liked that Sarah wasn’t afraid of him.

“What about the lions that you call cats? You said they’re out there. They might attack,” Paige insisted.

“If you walk next to Indra, they won’t bother you. The cats are afraid of him.” Simon kept his gaze on the floor.

Paige didn’t say anything, but Simon knew her face would be mean .

“I’m cold,” Sarah said. “Stay here if you don’t want to be warm.”

Simon looked up in time to see Paige give Sarah an evil glare. Then she shrugged.

“Okay, but if this is a trick,” she said, giving Simon her best impression of menace, “I don’t care how big you are, I’ll hurt you.”

Simon met her gaze. “I don’t like to be hurt,” he replied simply.

Paige glanced at Misty, and it was Misty’s turn to give Paige a dirty look.

“You’re outvoted,” Misty said sternly, leaving no room for argument.

Paige shrugged and looked away.

“You can hold onto his fur like this.” Simon showed them how to grab a section of the skin on Indra’s back and hold on. Sarah placed her hand on the tiger’s back, but Misty and Paige did not. “Stay close and stay with Indra if I need to handle one of the cats.”

“Is that a dart gun?” Paige asked.

“Yes,” he nodded his head. “It will put a cat to sleep really quick.”

“What about the men?” she asked, her tone holding belligerence.

“If I shoot one of them with it, they’ll go down too.”

“Can I carry it?”

Simon thought about it for a moment. “What if you accidentally shoot it and hit one of us? ”

“I grew up hunting with my dad and brother. I know how to use a gun.” Her eyes challenged him.

“Okay, but if I need it back, will you promise to give it to me?” Simon asked.

Paige’s entire body relaxed, and Simon knew he was doing the right thing. He took the strap off his shoulder and showed her the gun.

“The safety is on. You push this to take it off.”

Paige took the gun and placed the strap over her shoulder, swinging it around to carry it on her back like Simon had. She gave him her first smile.

“I like you,” she said.

He looked uncomfortable and shuffled his feet.

“Let’s go,” Sarah begged, still shivering even with the rain slicker.

“No flashlights. You need to follow me and stay close,” Simon told them before they walked outside. He locked the lighthouse behind them.

The wind was worse, but the rain had let up a small bit. Simon moved quickly, and the girls followed. There wasn’t much visibility, but Simon knew where he was going. A few minutes into their hike, Misty tentatively placed her hand on Indra’s back.

“He’s warm,” she told Paige.

It was all Paige needed. Her fingers sank into Indra’s wet fur as they moved deeper into the forest, rain pelting them. The trail finally turned into a narrow paved road. There was no sign of the other cats or of the two men. Simon led them past a fenced area that held a group of buildings. Jerry was in there, and Simon didn’t want him to see the girls. Finally, he took them past large cages and pointed at a building about a hundred feet away.

The hut was a hut. Though it was large, it had a thatched roof that leaked when the rain was bad like it was now. Simon patched it every few months, and it would need it again after this storm. They moved faster. Even Indra knew they would be out of the weather soon and increased his stride.

Simon opened the door and quickly let them inside. He didn’t notice the odor, but Paige did.

She covered her nose with her arm. “What is that smell?”

“The cats’ food,” he said simply. “I have T-shirts you can change into, but I don’t have pants that will fit. You can change in my room.” Simon opened the door to his bedroom and told them to wait a moment. They watched as he pulled a small box heater from the corner, plugged it in, and turned it on. “The room will heat quickly and you’ll be warm.”

Misty’s eyes didn’t leave the heater that was now glowing red.

“Does the door lock?” Paige asked suspiciously, delaying their entry into the room.

“No,” Simon answered and looked miserably at the door that led outside. “I will wait out there and make sure no one gets into the hut. You can lock the front door behind me,” he said.

“No,” Misty said, stepping forward and stopping Simon with the urgency in her voice. “We’re good. You can wait in the outer room and make sure no one opens the bedroom door. We don’t want you in the rain.”

“I can do that,” Simon said in relief. “The T-shirts are on the shelf.”

The girls looked around the small room. Dingy was a good word for what they saw. In the corner, there were makeshift shelves held up by cinder blocks. The shelves held his clothes, and the corner had an arrangement of plastic farm animals. They were all upright, facing around the room. There was a single rumpled bed with a small nightstand next to it. Several children’s books lay on top of it along with a cassette player. He’d told them he was teaching himself to read so he could be smart. Compassion swamped Misty.

“He’s huge,” Paige whispered as they rushed to gather around the heater. “I’ve never seen a man that tall or so big. He scared me, and I’m still not sold on him being safe.”

“He wants to help us, and I didn’t see a line of people behind him making the offer,” Sarah said, her blue fingers all but touching the metal grill of the heater. “Indra is his friend. Those other men wanted to kill the cats and do something bad to us. We got lucky.”

Paige sighed and gave in. “We did. I’ll try to be nicer.”

Misty, who knew the wet clothes were making them colder, walked to the stack of dark T-shirts and handed one to each of them. They were the official shirts for the island and each had the word “staff” prominently across the back, with a logo on the front pocket. They were old, but they had been neatly folded and they were soft and clean.

“We’ll get warm faster once we’re in dry clothes.” Misty turned, feeling shy, as she removed her wet shirt and jacket and slipped the T-shirt on. It went to her calves, the bulk of the shirt swamping her in a cascade of material. She quickly removed her pants and turned to the other girls. They had made the same decision and had undressed like Misty. If Simon wanted to hurt them, he would have. They had no choice but to trust him.

“I’m still cold,” Sarah said with her hands at the heater. Her lips were blue along with her fingers.

“I have an idea,” Misty said. There was a blanket on the bed, and she pulled it off and lifted it over her head. “Let’s make a tent over the heater, and we’ll warm up faster.”

It worked, and within five minutes, they were finally warm enough that they had stopped shivering.

“It’s too warm in here to leave,” Sarah said. “ But we should make sure Simon knows we’re changed.”

“Maybe he has another heater going,” Paige said. She walked over and opened the door.

“Who the hell are you?” a strange man asked.