The Surge (10 page)
Authors: Roland Smith
Momma Rossi and Rashawn had rushed back to Pet’s ring. Chase waited with Nicole to help her carry Hector to the cat cage. They started carefully peeling away the net.
“How will you know he’s out?” Chase asked.
“Gentle prodding,” Nicole said.
She found a broom and unscrewed the handle. Each time they pulled a layer off, she tapped Hector on the head and waited. If there was no reaction, they removed another layer.
“One layer left,” Nicole said.
They could see Hector clearly now through the fine mesh. His eyes and mouth were open. Nicole touched him several times around his ears and muzzle, waiting for a reaction.
“I think he’s down for the count,” she said.
They pulled the last layer off. Hector didn’t move.
“Now what?” Chase asked.
“We pick him up and carry him to the cage.”
“Have you ever had one wake up while you’re carrying it?”
“I’ve never picked up an immobilized cat before.”
“That’s encouraging.”
“But I’ve seen it done a half a dozen times. I’ve never seen one wake up.”
“Let’s hope your perfect record isn’t broken this morning.”
Hector wasn’t heavy, but carrying him was awkward, and painful for Chase’s bad shoulder. Nicole took the head and front legs, Chase took the hind legs, and they shuffled their way to the big cage. They were halfway there when the door to the barn opened, and they were blinded by several flashlight beams.
Marco was the first to reach them.
“Dad!” Nicole shouted.
“I’d give you a hug, but I see you have your hands full. Is he dead?”
“Tranquilized.”
John, Tomás, Cindy, Mark, and Richard joined them.
“You okay?” John asked, staring at the leopard.
“We’re fine,” Chase said.
John grinned. “Guess you had an eventful night.”
Chase returned the grin. “You might say that.”
“Need a hand?”
“Yeah, my shoulder got banged up.”
Tomás stepped forward and took Hector all by himself. “Where?”
“Follow me,” Marco said.
John introduced everyone as they followed Tomás and Marco.
“We’ll put him into one of the holding cages,” Marco said,
sliding open a guillotine door. “It will be easier to deal with him in here after the drug wears off.”
Tomás laid Hector inside on a bed of straw.
“Is that you, Marco?” Momma Rossi hollered from the other end of the barn.
“Yes, Momma,” he hollered back, then looked at Nicole. “Sounds like your grandmother isn’t any the worse for wear.” He closed the door.
“You’d better hurry,” Momma Rossi called. “I think your elephant is about ready to have her calf.”
Everyone had gathered around the elephant ring, waiting. Mark had started his camera rolling.
“It’s kind of dark in here,” John observed. “We have some spare generators in our trailer. Tomás and I could go and —”
“Not a good idea, Dad,” Chase said.
“Why not? The weather’s fine now.”
“That’s not the problem,” Chase said. “There’s a lion locked in the trailer.”
“What?”
About halfway through his explanation about how Simba had gotten into the Shop, Pet gave birth.
The calf emerged with a whoosh of fluid, hitting the hay-covered floor hard enough to break the pinkish embryonic sac. The tiny calf started kicking immediately. Pet whipped around. For a moment it looked as if she was going to step on the calf, but then she nudged it gently with her foot. She reached down with her trunk and pulled away some of the sac from its wrinkled gray skin.
“I had no idea elephants had that much hair when they were born,” Richard said.
“I didn’t either,” Cindy said.
The calf struggled to get up, but couldn’t seem to get its long legs under its body.
“Is it a male or female?” Nicole asked.
“We won’t be able to figure that out for a while,” Marco answered.
“It looks strong,” Rashawn said.
“And more important,” Momma Rossi said, “Pet looks calm.”
Marco nodded. “You’re right. I haven’t seen her this tranquil in weeks. She might just take care of this calf.” He looked at Nicole. “What do you think we should name it?”
Nicole thought for a minute. “If it’s a girl, I think we should call her Emily.” She looked at Chase. “What should we call it if it’s a boy?”
Chase smiled.
“Storm.”
The calf finally managed to get to its feet and take a few wobbly steps.
Tomás had pulled several bales of hay around the ring for everyone to sit on. Chase shared a bale with his father. Rashawn sat with Tomás. Richard with Cindy. Nicole was squeezed between Marco and Momma Rossi. Mark was not sitting. He was darting around the ring, videotaping Pet and her calf.
“Tell me about your shoulder,” Chase’s father said.
Chase described their desperate run across the crumbling levee road the previous day.
His father shook his head in wonder. “We saw you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your headlamps on the other end of the washed-out road. Of course we didn’t know it was
you
. Mark caught it on video.”
Chase rubbed his sore shoulder. “You wouldn’t have been able to reach us. By then, the levee was gone.”
His father nodded. “We’ll have to get your shoulder checked out.”
“I need to go to the dentist,” Chase said, showing him his broken front tooth.
“We’ll take care of that too,” his father said, then looked across the ring at the calf.
Something wasn’t right. His father wasn’t asking the
questions
. After every storm there was a debriefing. They would go over the disaster in minute detail, point by point, discussing what they had done, and what they should have done. His father was exhausted — they were all exhausted — but that had never stopped him before.
“What’s going on?” Chase asked.
His father looked at him with sad eyes. “Earthquake. A big one in Mexico. It’s near Tomás’s family. Nicole’s mom and the circus are in the same area. They’re off the grid. We can’t reach them by phone.”
“Does Nicole know?”
“I doubt that Marco has had time to tell her, or his mother.”
The calf took some tentative steps underneath Pet. It put its tiny trunk over its head and opened its mouth.
“It’s nursing,” Nicole said happily.
“What are we going to do?” Chase asked quietly.
His father stood up. “We’re going to Mexico.”
Chase Masters and his friends have made it through the longest night of their lives, but their adventures are far from over. Now they’re headed south of the border to track down the missing Rossi Brothers’ Circus and to search for Tomás’s family. With a volcano about to erupt after a massive earthquake, Chase has never faced such a serious threat to his survival!
Roland Smith is the author of numerous award-winning books for young readers, including
Zach’s Lie
,
Jack’s Run
,
Cryptid Hunters
,
Peak
,
I
,
Q
, and
Tentacles
. For more than twenty years, he worked as an animal keeper, traveling all over the world, before turning to writing full-time. Roland lives with his wife, Marie, on a small farm south of Portland, Oregon. Visit him online at www.rolandsmith.com.
THE CRYPTID HUNTERS BOOKS
Cryptid Hunters
Tentacles
THE I, Q BOOKS
I, Q: Independence Hall
I, Q: The White House
THE JACK OSBORNE BOOKS
Zach’s Lie
Jack’s Run
THE JACOB LANSA BOOKS
Thunder Cave
Jaguar
The Last Lobo
OTHER NOVELS BY THE AUTHOR
The Captain’s Dog
Elephant Run
Peak
Sasquatch
Storm Runners
Copyright © 2011 by Roland Smith
Cover Art & Design © 2011 By Phil Falco
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First edition, September 2011
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eISBN 978-0-545-38832-0