I Heard Animals' Voices novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Noon

The second blast never came.

Derrick had stepped out of the dark and closed his hand over the horn before she could press it.

"Lorna," he said. "It's four in the morning."

Dr. Bramhall did not jump, which told me she had heard us coming.

"Baseline testing," she said. "A reactivity score before the assessment. It's standard."

"You've been blowing a horn at a sleeping animal."

"At an animal I'm responsible for."

"Then go home," said Derrick. "And leave the horn here."

She looked at his hand on it, then at me standing behind him in my pajama top and sneakers.

"See you at noon," she said, and clicked away down the aisle with the clipboard under her arm.

Duke was pressed into the back corner of his cage, shaking.

I went to the glass.

"Duke," I said. "It's Tierney."

"Did I roar?" he whispered.

"No."

"Did I sit?"

"No," I said. "That's okay. You don't have to sit anymore. You just have to look at Poppy."

"She'll make that noise again."

"Maybe. Look at Poppy anyway."

He lifted his head.

Beside me, Derrick lowered his shoulders, and I told myself he was just tired.

At noon the whole zoo was standing in the big cat house.

There were donors in good coats and a board chair with a lanyard.

Two cameras stood by a woman with a microphone from the local news.

There were also three schoolchildren, a stroller, and a man eating a pretzel.

Dr. Bramhall stood at the front in fresh khakis, with a headset mic and a tablet.

"Today," she said, "we will test whether Duke can safely be introduced to another tiger."

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