The Mystery of the Nervous Lion - West Nick. Страница 7

He slipped off the handkerchief bandage and lifted the lion’s leg. The animal whimpered.

“Come on, George,” the vet said. “I won’t hurt you. Been taking care of you since you were a baby.”

After a cursory glance, Dawson dropped the leg. “Superficial cut, Jim, but nasty. I’d better take him back to the dispensary for a better look. We don’t want to risk an infection.”

“Right,” Jim Hall said. “You’re going with Doc Dawson, George,” he informed the lion, guiding him down the slanted tail-board.

As the vet started for his truck, the irate film producer stepped in his way. “What’s going on?” he bellowed. “Where you taking that lion? We hired him for the movie. He starts work tomorrow morning at eight sharp.”

Doc Dawson stopped to light his stub of cigar and blew smoke in Eastland’s face. “That lion will be ready to work when I say he is. His leg may be better by tomorrow morning, and then again it may not. My job is to keep George healthy. I don’t care two cents for your crummy movie. Now get out of my way, mister, or I’ll walk right over you!”

Jupe and his companions quietly watched the drama. At the sudden vehemence in the vet’s voice, Eastland paled and backed off. Dawson opened the rear door of his truck. Jim Hall brought George forward, patted the lion’s flank, and raised his hand.

“Up you go, Georgie.”

Obediently, the lion leaped into the truck. Hall closed the door and Dawson drove off. The lion pressed against the open-mesh sides of the truck, looking sad, a whimpering sound in its throat.

Eastland stepped forward again. “I’m telling you now, Hall, that lion better be ready,” he threatened. “Now do you want to see what he did to Rock Randall, or not?”

Without a word, Jim Hall followed the film producer into his station wagon. He waved to Mike as the driver spun the long car around, calling as he caught Jupe’s eye, “Sorry, fellows — I’ll see you later.”

Jupe watched thoughtfully until the station wagon disappeared into the jungle. “That sounds like a bad scene, if it’s true,” he said.

“If what’s true?” Mike Hall snapped. “My Uncle Jim’s story or Mr. Eastland’s?”

Jupe shrugged. “I’m not disputing your uncle’s word, Mike. But you have to admit he looked worried.”

“I’m sorry, Jupe,” Mike said, his voice breaking. “I didn’t mean to flare up at you. But anything that concerns my uncle, concerns me, too. I — well, I’m living with him because my parents were killed in a car accident. He’s my father’s brother, and my only family now — except for Cal.”

“Cal?” asked Bob.

“Who’s he?” Pete put in.

“Cal Hall is my other uncle. He’s a big game hunter and explorer in Africa,” Mike explained. “He sends Jim animals for Jungle Land. If Jim gets them young enough, like with George, he can train them easily. He puts the others on exhibit here and hopes to train them all some day. But it’s a lot harder to do once they’re full grown.”

“How come Jay Eastland acts so nasty?” Pete asked. “What’s he got against your Uncle Jim?”

“Nothing I know of,” Mike said. “He’s worried about his movie getting done on schedule. And before he leased Jungle Land, he wanted an agreement it would be safe working here, with the animals around. Jim guaranteed it would.”

“What happens if your uncle guessed wrong — and there’s an accident?” Bob asked.

“Jim would lose a lot of money. He had to put up a bond of fifty thousand dollars as a guarantee. He signed over Jungle Land as security for the bond. So he could lose everything. He’s losing money already because tourists aren’t allowed in when we rent out for a movie. They might disrupt things.”

Jupiter listened carefully. “I assume, though, that your uncle will make a considerable amount of money if the movie goes through on schedule, without any accidents. Correct?”

“Yes,” Mike admitted. “I don’t know the exact amount but it’s so much a day. And George gets paid five hundred dollars when he works. Trained animals are rented for a lot of money — just like movie stars.”

“Has George had any accidents before?” asked Jupe. “Has he ever attacked anybody?”

“No,” Mike said. “Never. He’s a very gentle animal and well-trained. That is —” he bit his lip “— until lately, anyway. Recently he’s been acting up.”

Bob, in charge of Records and Research, had his little memo book open. “We still have no information about that,” he said. “How has George been acting? What’s he doing now that he didn’t do before? Maybe that might give us a hint, Mike, about what’s making him nervous.”

“Well, he’s not himself. He’s on edge. He stays in the house with us but lately he hasn’t slept well. Almost every night, he’s up and growling, walking around, trying to get out. Jim can’t get him to go back to sleep, and he doesn’t take orders as he used to. He’s getting so hard to handle now I’m afraid he’s not the good-natured, well-trained animal he used to be.”

“It could be something outside is exciting him,” Jupe said. “Are any animals here allowed to roam loose at night?”

Mike shook his head. “We have deer in a compound but they can’t get out. We have horses that are used in a lot of Westerns. They’re kept in a corral. We’ve got two elephants down by the lake but they’re in their own compound, too, and stay there. We’ve got raccoons, monkeys, birds, dogs, chickens, and a lot of other animals — but they’re all penned up at night and accounted for.”

“Nevertheless,” Jupe said, “something or somebody is making George nervous.”

“Nervous enough, maybe, to attack that actor, Rock Randall,” said Pete. “Though maybe he asked for it. I remember hearing he’s a pretty nasty guy.”

“He’d have to be pretty stupid as well as nasty to start up with George,” Bob said. “George didn’t look too friendly and gentle when we ran into him. Maybe it was because he got that cut on his leg. Maybe not.”

“We can’t say anything for sure yet, fellows,” Jupe said. “We can’t blame George for Randall’s accident until Jim comes back and tells us what happened. Maybe it was another kind of accident. One that none of the animals here were —”

Mike clapped his hands suddenly. “The gorilla!” he cried.

“What gorilla?” Pete asked.

“Do you have a gorilla here, too?” Bob said.

“Not yet — but we’re expecting one. Part of a new shipment from my Uncle Cal. Maybe it got here already, and got loose — and attacked Rock Randall!”

Jupe held his hand up. “Assuming it already got here how could it escape? Wouldn’t it be in a locked cage?”

Mike nodded. “You’re right. I’m acting as nervous as George, myself. Jim didn’t say anything about the gorilla arriving, and he’d know. Besides, if it was here, there’s no way it could get out of its cage unless — unless —”

“Unless what, Mike?” asked Bob.

The young boy licked his lips. “Unless somebody who didn’t like my Uncle Jim opened its cage and let it out!”