CHAPTER NINE
“This is Pepe,” said Gaspar. “He was definitely not something I wanted to add to the menagerie but you’ll find that my mother is very difficult to deal with.” The skunk was sitting beneath the shade of tree, nibbling on a morning snack.
“Over there are Oscar, Mabel, Hank, and Penelope,” said Luke.
“They’re Komoda dragons,” whispered Blake. “I don’t think I’ve seen one live. They could be dangerous to the smaller animals, even children and adults.”
“They know not to behave that way here. Besides, we gave them free reign on the nutria. They’re like giant rats or beavers. They’ve practically destroyed parts of the bayou so they eat away on those all day long,” said Luke.
“You can see from here Stella, our beautiful hippo and Rusty, the bison. We have Coco as well but he tends to stay away from Rusty. Back there is Elvis and Shorty, our giraffes and then Caraway and Poppy, our jaguars.”
“Holy cow,” she whispered.
“Twiggy is our sweet girl elephant. She and Steve,” he looked around and then finally found him, “there he is in the tree.”
“That’s a Bengal tiger!” she screeched.
“Yes. Yes, he is. But he’s the sweetest old fella you’ve ever met in your life,” smirked Gaspar. Steve leaped from the branch and nuzzled next to Gaspar. “Semu and Steve have become inseparable.”
“She’s the gorilla that speaks sign language, right?” asked Blake.
“Yes but she also speaks to us the same way the other animals do, and before you ask, I have no idea how that is. They just communicate to us through sounds or just in our head. Alvin speaks with several people on the property, but his first love is definitely Trak.”
“Let me guess, he’s the alligator I saw wandering the property this morning,” she grinned.
“That’s him,” nodded Gaspar. “If you’re ever afraid of something, Alvin will come to the rescue I assure you. We also have a number of dogs that we personally own and that provide protection here on the property.”
“I think I saw them this morning,” smiled Blake. “They seem to cluster around children and pregnant women.”
“They do,” laughed Luke. “We have Monster, Daisy the seventh, Chaos, and two new ones, Cane Corso’s, Duke and Zeus.
We had a Zeus a number of years ago who was pretty special so we decided we’d let that name live on.
Part of what Sniff and Lucy do is run a K-9 training center for military and para-military purposes. ”
“This is all so special, so amazing,” she said staring at the animals. They each slowly moved toward her, even the anaconda. Not once did she flinch or shrink back. In fact, she moved toward them.
“Mama?” frowned Gaspar looking down at Irene. “Is she okay?”
“She’s better than okay, baby. She’s home.”
“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” she said softly walking further along the path. “I love animals and I’m going to love helping to take care of all of you.”
Gaspar and Luke smiled, watching her kneel to the dirt, the animals literally curling around her as if protecting her. Zane stared at the scene, frowning to himself.
“Is she okay being that close to that anaconda and the tiger?” he asked.
“She’s better than okay. I think they’re telling her that she’s accepted and trusted,” said Luke. Irene smiled.
“It’s more than that.”
“Yes. Yes, I heard that you two have been feuding, but why? You have nothing to fight about. Look at this beautiful place you’ve been given to live. If you want to live somewhere else I’m sure we can speak to the others.”
“Yes, I’ve met Irene. Yes, she does smell nice.”
“I do love your spots. They’re quite beautiful and yes, your stripes are equally as beautiful.”
“Well, I’m not sure how we would do that but I’m sure we could make it happen. Speakers to pump music in shouldn’t be too difficult a task. I’m very happy to have met all of you as well.”
Blake stood and turned to stare at the group of people behind her. They were all staring open-mouthed at her.
“Oh, my gosh,” she whispered. “Did I just do that? Did I just hear those animals and speak to them?”
“You did, baby,” smiled Irene. “And you did it when you was real little too. It got you in trouble, so you hid it as best you could. Remember?”
“Y-yes. Yes, I do remember. I was only five or six. My step-father had just started coming around. I had a dog and the dog told me he was a bad man and I needed to stay away from him. When I told my mother, she spanked me and called me a liar.”
“But you weren’t lying, were you child? You just held it all in after that. You heard them but you thought it was all in your imagination. But it wasn’t. You have a gift, baby. A gift that you can bring into the open.” Irene touched her hand and Blake was surprised to feel warmth and softness.
She turned to look for Zane’s face and found it. His beautiful, handsome face staring at her with no judgment whatsoever.
“Do, do you think I’m crazy?” she whispered.
“Not in the least,” he smirked. “And I’ve met a lot of crazy so I’m kind of an expert.”
“You’re not crazy at all, sweet girl,” said Irene.
“Mama, what’s happening here,” asked Gaspar.
“Sometimes you just know when someone has a gift and shoulda’ been a part of your family all along.
They are family. They belong here and this sweet child belonged here long before we ever found her.
She was born with this but had no one to help her bring it out.
She will become our greatest asset with the animals. ”
“But, Mama Irene, how? I mean, I hear them and they hear me but how will that become an asset here?” asked Blake.
“Come here, child.” Blake walked toward Irene, following the sweet ghost toward the docks. She pulled her close and smiled at her. “The trust of an animal is worth a thousand times the trust of a human. They will never betray you. Never. And they know which ones to truly trust.”
“I can see that,” nodded Blake.
“Alright. Put your arm out. Oh dear, you’re sleeveless. Zane? Give her your shirt.”
“What? No, Mama Irene, it’s okay,” said Blake quickly.
“I don’t mind,” said Zane.
He took the t-shirt off and his muscles rippled as he moved. Blake could see the scars on his back and she nearly winced, knowing what kind of pain that must have caused the man. He handed the shirt to Mama Irene, who wrapped it around her arm.
“Alright now, arm straight out. I want you to think about the most majestic creature you’ve ever seen and call to it.”
“Call to it? Like, make a sound like theirs?” asked Blake.
“No. No, like call to it in your head.”
Blake held out her arm and brought to mind the only majestic creature she could think of that she’d never seen live and in person. She waited, her breath coming soft and easy and then she heard something say, ‘I’m on my way’. She nearly opened her eyes but feared it would break the chain.
When she felt a heaviness that nearly broke her shoulder, she opened her eyes to see the spectacular beast staring at her. She could feel a hand beneath her bicep and turned slightly to see Zane.
“I’ve got you,” he grinned. “He looks like he weighs a lot.”
The bald eagle stared at her and she smiled at him, whispering how beautiful and handsome he was. He cocked his head upward, as if to say, ‘I know’. He could have dug his claws into her but he didn’t, he held there gently for a few moments and then flew away.
She laughed out loud, jumping up and down, hugging Zane tightly.
“He came to me! He came to me and spoke to me!” she laughed. He laughed as well, nodding.
“I saw. We all saw,” he smiled, unwilling to let go of her.
“Oh,” she said backing up. She took the t-shirt off her arm and handed it to him. “Here. I don’t think he poked any holes in it or anything.”
“It wouldn’t matter if he did. It was worth a thousand t-shirts to see your face that happy.”