“Patience isn’t my strong point, I’m afraid.” Zoe sipped her coffee, wondering what exactly she was referring to. Since she’d arrived here, Marcy had been giving her that mischievous look as if she wanted to kiss her, yet she hadn’t made a move. She contemplated bringing up last night’s exchange, then decided against it. Mornings weren’t the right time to discuss such things, so she changed the topic to something more generic. “What’s this coffee? It’s really nice.”
“It’s good, old-fashioned filter coffee with some frothed almond milk added in. I have one of those plastic machines from the seventies. Also came with this palace,” Marcy said, then excused herself when her neighbour called her over.
Zoe watched Marcy interact with the older lady. She said something that made the woman laugh, then patted her shoulder as she promised to come over later that day. Marcy’s life here seemed happy and wholesome, and she loved how sweet she was with her neighbour. Maybe she’d had the wrong opinion of Marcy all along. Player or no player, it was evident Marcy was not a bad person.
27
Finally filling the pool was a satisfying experience. All new, clean and shiny, and the water looked inviting as it sparkled in the early morning sun, making Marcy want to take her clothes off and jump in before it had the chance to warm up. But she had work to do and there was no time to waste. She still had to build the firepit and the barbecue area. Neither of those were planned, but as she went along, more and more ideas sprung to mind, and she couldn’t help herself; she just wanted to continue building on something that was already pretty close to perfection.
Perhaps she didn’t want the experience to end as it had given her so much joy and satisfaction. Or maybe she was worried she’d miss the social aspect of the caravan park. That was certainly something she’d considered. All in all, though, Marcy liked her own company and over the years while she’d worked here, she hadn’t felt lonely once. But there was also this gnawing sense of responsibility towards the pensioners in the park. What were they going to do when she moved away? Who was going to fix their appliances or hang their shelves? Who was going to help them with their paperwork they couldn’t read because most of their correspondence was in Spanish? It was a ridiculous thing to worry about; she knew that. Her neighbours would be okay. They’d just have to find someone else to help them out with their DIY and all things internet and post related.
Something moved in her peripheral vision, and she glanced over her shoulder, astonished to find the lynx there. It was hiding behind the bathroom outbuilding when she turned, but reappeared seconds later and started walking towards her. “You again?” she whispered, getting down on her knees. “I thought I’d scared the hell out of you and that was the last I’d see of you.”
It was still limping and looked like it was in pain. It also looked skinny, which made sense as it wouldn’t have been able to hunt with a possible infection in its paw. “Fuck. What are we going to do with you? Are you thirsty? Hungry?” Marcy expected it to run off when she stood up to get water from the kitchen, but it only took a couple of steps back. Filling a bowl, she contemplated calling the ranger again, but she was pretty sure he would only run off, and then it might die of hunger or the infection. She carefully put the bowl down and stepped back, then waited for the lynx to approach. It must have been thirsty as it didn’t look up once while drinking. “I’m afraid I don’t have any food for you, kitty. I already ate my packed lunch and even if I had a sandwich, I don’t think it would be good for your stomach.”
Sitting down again and crossing her legs, Marcy pondered over what to do. The lynx seemed to trust her now, so hopefully it would stick around for a while. It stared at her for long moments and when she didn’t move, it lay down and licked its paw. “Good boy,” she whispered, having no idea whether it was male or female. She googled ‘lynx’ and learned that the only way to distinguish males from females, was their size, and that males were bigger. Since she’d never seen another lynx first-hand, that didn’t help much.
She looked up the ranger’s number and braced herself for a long wait. They might take hours to get here and there was a big chance they’d never get hold of it since the animal wasn’t tagged. Just as she was about to call them, an idea hit her, and she called Zoe instead.
“Marcy?” Zoe sounded surprised when she finally picked up after several attempts.
“Hey. Yes, it’s me. Listen, I have a huge favour to ask you. Are you busy?”
“I’m at work,” Zoe shouted over the noise of extractor fans and sizzling pans. “Can it wait?”
“Not really. I’m so sorry to interrupt your day, but I have a lynx here and I think its paw is infected.” Marcy kept her voice low so she wouldn’t scare it away. “That stuff you put on my hand, does it work for animals too?”
“That stuff? Oh, the shepherd’s purse? Of course. It’s great for animals. Wait, one moment, I can’t hear you very well.” Zoe said something to one of the chefs, walked away from the noise and Marcy heard a door close. “A lynx, did you say? Are you sure?”
“Yes. It’s in pain. Can you please bring some of that paste over? I don’t know how long I can keep it here.”
Zoe hesitated, then cleared her throat. “This isn’t a joke, right?”
“I’m afraid not.” Marcy resorted to begging as she really couldn’t think of anyone else who could be here within fifteen minutes, and besides, whatever Zoe had put on her hand had worked miracles for her and hopefully it would do the same for the lynx, if she could manage to put it on. Apart from that, it was likely she had something it could eat in the kitchen. “Please, Zoe.”
“Sure, I can leave for a little while. I don’t have the car today, but I can take a taxi.”
“Thank you.” Marcy let out a sigh of relief. “I’m in the hills so I’ll message you the closest postcode. From there, just tell the driver to follow the dirt road uphill and ask him to stop when you see my truck in the distance. Walk up slowly and don’t make any noise; I don’t want it to run off again.”
“Okay, I’ll leave now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“You’re the best, I owe you big time.” Marcy paused. “Oh, and Zoe? Do you happen to have any raw chicken or rabbit?”
Zoe chuckled and Marcy heard a locker door slam. “Yes, I have raw chickens; I’ll bring a big, juicy one.”
28
This was not how she’d expected her afternoon to go, Zoe thought as she tiptoed up the hill with her handbag in one hand and a chicken in the other. She caught sight of the house in the distance and stopped for a moment to take it in. Built into the rocks and blending in with the landscape, it was truly beautiful. The full glass façade and slick pool and terrace made it look modern, yet there was also something charmingly bohemian about it. She wondered if this was the project Marcy had told her about. If it was, she was thoroughly impressed.
Spotting Marcy, she waved. Marcy waved back and pointed ahead of her, where an Iberian lynx was lying on the terrace.So, it wasn’t a joke.Zoe continued up the driveway, then slowly walked around the back of the pool so she wouldn’t scare the animal.
“Chicken,” she whispered, holding it up.
“Thank you,” Marcy mouthed, and gestured for her to stay where she was. She walked over to Zoe, took the chicken from her, then approached the lynx. She carefully placed the chicken on the ground and hastily retreated as the lynx stood up, attacking the raw meat like it hadn’t eaten in weeks.
“I think he likes what’s on the menu,” Zoe said, keeping her voice down when Marcy came back. “Is it ahe?”
“No idea; I just have a feeling he’s a boy. The poor thing is starving.” Marcy cast Zoe a grateful glance and squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
