Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga #1)(24)

Maybe the driver forgot about me? Maybe he needed to get something and is coming back? Maybe the truck was stolen and the driver is still around here somewhere? I knew none of these were likely scenarios, but they made me feel hopeful – if only for a minute.

I walked around to the other side of the gas pump and found my black bag lying in the dust. I rushed over to it, picked it up, and checked inside. Everything seemed to be in order.

Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me and whirled around to see Ren sitting by the side of the road. His tail twitched back and forth while he watched me. He looked like a giant abandoned puppy wagging his tail hoping someone would claim him and take him home.

I muttered, ‘Oh, no! This is just great! “Nothing will go wrong,” Mr. Kadam said. Ha! The driver must have stolen the truck and let you out. What am I going to do now?’

Tired, scared, and alone, my mom’s words of advice came flooding back: ‘bad things sometimes happen to good people’; ‘the key to happiness is to try to make the best of, and be thankful for, the hand we’re dealt,’ and her all-time favorite, ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemon meringue pie.’ Mom had tried and practically given up having kids – and then I came along. She always said that you never know what’s going to be right around the corner.

So, I focused on the positives. First, I still had all my clothes. Second, I had my traveling papers and a bag full of money. That was the good news. The bad news, of course, was that my ride was gone and a tiger was on the loose! I decided the first order of business was to secure Ren. I went back to the store and bought some jerky snacks and a long length of rope.

With my newly acquired fluorescent-yellow rope, I walked outside and tried to get my tiger to cooperate. He’d moved off several paces and was now heading for the jungle. I ran after him.

The sensible thing would have been to go back to the store, borrow a phone, and call Mr. Kadam. He could send some people, professional-type people, to catch him. But I was far from thinking sensibly at this point. I was afraid for Ren. I had absolutely no fear of him for myself, but what if others panicked and used weapons to sub-due him? I also worried that even if he escaped, he couldn’t survive in the jungle. He wasn’t used to hunting on his own. I knew it was utterly foolish, but I chose to follow my tiger.

I begged, ‘Ren, come back! We need to get some help! This isn’t your reserve. Come on, I’ll give you a nice treat!’ I waved the jerky snack in the air, but he kept moving. I was weighed down with Mr. Kadam’s backpack and my bag. I could keep up with him but the extra weight was too much for me to overtake him.

He wasn’t moving very quickly, but he always managed to keep several paces ahead of me. Suddenly, he loped off and darted into the jungle. My backpack bobbed heavily up and down as I chased after him. After about fifteen minutes of pursuit, sweat was trickling down my face, my clothes were stuck to my body, and my feet were dragging like heavy stones.

As my pace slowed, I entreated again, ‘Ren, please come back. We need to go back to the town. It’s going to be dark soon.’

He ignored me and began winding through the trees. He’d stop to turn and look at me every so often.

Whenever I thought I’d finally catch him, he’d accelerate and leap ahead a few feet, causing me to chase after him again. I felt like he was playing a game with me. He was always just out of reach. After follow-ing Ren for another fifteen minutes and still not catching him, I decided to take a break from my pursuit. I knew I’d traveled far from town, and the light was dimming. I was totally lost.

Ren must have realized that I wasn’t following him anymore because he finally slowed, turned around, and ambled guiltily back over to me. I glared at him.

‘Figures. The minute I stop, you come back. I hope you’re happy with yourself.’

Tying the rope to his collar, I turned around in a circle and carefully studied each direction to try to get my bearings.

We had traveled deep into the jungle, looped in and out of trees, and twisted and turned numerous times. I realized, with great despair, that I’d lost all sense of direction. It was twilight, and the dark canopy of tre