"Almost four years. I do tours and other kinds of education and community outreach. I love it," Aoife admitted, watching Elliott pounce and roll and stalk Molly. "Like, just on a personal level, it's a great place to work. They're really dedicated toconservation efforts, and the people who work here really want tobehere. I just wish it wasn't so…" She sighed. "I don't know. Scary."
"Scary like sometimes kids climb into the bison enclosure?"
"Hah! No, honestly, except for Elliott getting close to them to make sure they didn't get close toher, I wasn't that scared for that. I know it might sound unbelievable, but they really don't want to engage. And the babies haven't been born yet for the season, so they're not hyper-vigilant. Mostly that was fine, really. No, it's more the financial side of things. There's really never enough money."
"So you're not paid well?"
Aoife laughed. "We're paid okay. I mean, yeah, I'd love to be paidmore, but who wouldn't? I think even Ms. Collins back there would like to be paid more, and she's clearly got more money than sense. But no, it's more for the actual running of the facilities. Dr. Kelly can do a lot with not much money, but there are always more animals than we can care for coming in from other locations. This was a rehabilitation centre when it originally opened, and grew beyond that, but we still do a lotofthat in the background. And we could do more, obviously, if we had more money. It's always a balancing act. You know?"
"You sound passionate about it."
"Ah, g'wan with ye. I am so, but I probably sound a little high-strung, too. Or, I don't know. I have to be professional on these tours, like. I can't go off on a rant like I just did." She laughed, casting an embarrassed glance at Kanvas. "In fact, I shouldn't have even done it with you, but you asked, and I'm not in lecturer mode right now."
"Whatareyou supposed to do?"
"Eh. I'm supposed to say all therightthings when I'm talking to guests, especially potential investors. I'm supposed to run the numbers and look knowledgeable and be polite and not toointense while being enthusiastic, and…I guess sometimes I just want to say,look, we're doing good work here, we're doing our best to try to conserve species that are endangered, but it's expensive and we need money and shouldn't have to justify that to you, you should understand it without me trying to convince you of it."
"Yeah. I get that. Is that lion actuallyplayingwith her?" Kanvas was watching Elliott, who was now pretty clearly copying things that Molly did: she pounced; he pounced. She stretched high; he stretched high. She actually lay down and rolled over on the pathway, and so did he, waggling his huge paws in the air.
"It's apparently a very smart lion," Aoife said, somewhere between amused and horrified. "I don't know much about its history. It may have come from a circus."
"I guess we're still probably not allowed to pet it."
Aoife laughed, startled. "No. No, I get the temptation, but no."
Althoughshecould pet that lion. Aoife was suddenly quite sure of it. She bet Elliottwouldlike having that big thick mane scrubbed by good strong human fingers, and that he'd lean into it like a house cat, except a hundred times heavier. She laughed again. "He'd knock you over, wouldn't he? If you tried rubbing his ears?"
Kanvas laughed, too. "Like a cat," she agreed. "Leaaaaaannnnnn."
"That's exactly what I was thinking. It would be fun," she admitted. "Assuming he didn't decide to bite your hand off instead. That wasquitea story you told."
"My friend did have a lioness stick her head in the safari vehicle's window," Kanvas said. "I just may have gotten a bit creative with what happened next."
"What actually happened?"
"They rolled the window up very slowly and gently until she took her head out, and then everybody laughed hysterically and went back to camp to change their pants."
"Hah! I bet!"
Graham and Doug finally caught up with them. Graham was sweating; Doug looked like he'd been out for a pleasant walk. They both slowed, though, as they approached Elliott's enclosure. "Holy shit, that's one big motherjammer, isn't it?" Doug asked. "I knew African lions were big, but I didn't know they werethatbig."
"He's an unusual specimen," Aoife said blandly. Elliott had mentioned shifter wolves, in particular, as being bigger than their regular counterparts, so she figured that was the explanation for his size, because Doug was right: Elliott was a flippin'massivelion.
"Is it safe in there?" Graham asked worriedly. "It looks like it could just hop out."
"It's safe," Aoife assured them.
Elliott cast her amischievouslook. Aoife's heart leaped into her throat. She knew he wouldn't jump out of the enclosure, but the idea that he was even thinking about it just turned her knees to water. Her distress must have been apparent, because the huge lion dropped his head and lay down looking genuinely apologetic, blinking big dark brown eyes at Aoife.
"I think he likes you," Kanvas said with amusement.
"He probably thinks I look like a fun-sized snack," Aoife said dryly. "I'm not very big. All right, have we had enough lion-gazing? Are we moving on now?"
Cindy Collins, whom Aoife had almost forgotten about, gave a petulant sigh from the golf cart. "I suppose you may drive us back to the entrance. Molly and I clearly aren't welcome here. Really, that cat is clearly as tame as a mouse. My daughter should be allowed to pet it."
"Ms. Collins," Aoife said, "your daughter's entire torso would fit in his mouth. Let's not push our luck, shall we?"
The CEO's jaw tightened with angry offense. "The entrance, please. Molly? Molly!"
