"But I want topetthem!"
"They arewild animals! Move! Move! Move!" Aoife managed not to shout, but she was furious. Much more furious than frightened, honestly. The bisonlovedtheir scratching posts, and wouldn't even notice humans in their space unless they gotmuch, much closer. But an eleven-year-old should know better, and her mother should have been keeping an eye on her, no matter what else was on the woman's agenda.
Molly stared up at her defiantly, then shrieked with rage and ran back to the fence, screaming the whole way. "Mommy! Mommy! Oifee won't let me pet the animals! Mommy, make her let me pet them!" She climbed over the fence with a child's speed and threw herself at her mother.
Ms. Collins lacked Aoife's restraint, anddidyell. For a horrible few seconds the two of them sounded like banshees, their anger rattling the trees. Aoife, on her way back to the fence herself, glanced over her shoulder.
The bison truly didn't care that a tween had been skipping through their field, as long as she stayed well away. The Collins's shrieking and shouting, however,diddisturb the enormous animals, and a number of them were swinging their attention from the scratching posts toward the disruption of their peace. One snorted, a sound loud and warning enough to carry across the wide enclosure, and then, between heartbeats, they were suddenly running.Thunderingacross the field, thousands of kilos of weight crashing forward on surprisingly spindly legs.
Straight toward Elliott.
Ofcourseit was straight toward Elliott: that's why he'd gone out there, putting himself between Aoife and danger. Making certain that if the bisonweredisturbed, he'd be their first target.
Well, that was justgrandif he was a lion, Aoife thought in a panic, but right now he was justElliott.
Just Elliott didn't even try to run, either. He sort of crouched, notexactlylike a cat, but notunlikeone, either. Aoife, who was at least smart enough to run for the fence herself, tumbled over it and leaped back to her feet, climbing halfway back up it as if she might throw herself back into the enclosure to save Elliott. Somehow.
Molly and her mother were still screaming at each other. The men were staring at the ground uncomfortably. Aoife's heart was so far into her throat she thought she'd forgotten how to scream. That, and she had this thin little thread of confidence that said Elliott would be all right. He was a lion. Somehow, that would make him all right.
The lead bison was almost on him now, and that cat-like crouch he was in turned into an absolutely impossible cat-likeleap. He didn't shift, but the grace and strength of his jump was purely lion. He twisted in the air, somehow grabbed the lead bison's horn, and landed on its back like a rodeo rider in a bull pen. With one massive, solid wrenching motion, he twisted the huge animal's head to the side, and suddenly the entire herd was running a different direction entirely.
Aoife did shriek then, or at least squeaked, shock, amazement and a small degree ofamusementcolliding in her throat. Elliott, still riding the lead bison, yanked it around a few more times, sending the whole herd running in a huge circle around the enclosure. The thing was, bison could run forhours. He'd be out there the rest of the day, playing like a circus champion, if she didn't do something about it.
She fumbled for the radio at her belt. "Peader? Yeah, it's Aoife, the bison are running mad. Can we ring the dinner bell and give them a treat to distract them?"
Their herbivore expert, whose name was pronouncedPayder, just unusual enough that even Aoife sometimes had to think about it,grunted into his radio. "I've got somebody already on the way, but what set them off?"
Aoife eyed the hysterical tween and her flush-faced mother. "Trespasser." Under these circumstances, the word specifically meant someone who had entered an enclosure without permission.
Peader's voice went cold with fear. "Is the trespasser injured?"
"There have been no injuries so far. A second trespasser is among the bison now, but…" Aoife paused, searching for the right way to phrase this. "In control of the situation."
There was a long pause from Peader, too. "Someone's going to have to explain that to me later, but I'll take your word for it for now, Aoife."
A few seconds later, a tremendous clanging sounded at the other end of the enclosure. The bison, recognizing it as meaning food, wheeled that direction, and Aoife cupped her hands around her mouth to yell, "They're going for lunch!" in case Elliott could hear her.
Even if he could, of course, he couldn't actually dismount while a herd of bison was thundering around him. Not unless he was going to Legolas his way across the herd's backs and jump off at the tail end of the stampede. Right now, Aoife wouldn't discount the possibility, but it seemed more likely that he'd dismount when the big fluffy walls of muscle stopped for their unexpected morning snack. "Peader, please tell the feed team that the second trespasser is riding one of the bison and will probably be making a bafflingly impressive leap to remove himself from that position."
This time Peader said, "What the feck?" in the tone of a man who expected no answers, and went offline. Aoife assumed he radioed his team, and was about to go rushing toward the feeding area to make sure Elliott was all right when Ms. Collins's voice rose.
"How could you let this happen to my daughter?"
It was, Aoife thought, good that she wasn't facing the Collins when the question was asked. She absolutely couldn't keep the outrage from her expression for a few seconds. Then she turned slowly to see a red-faced, angry tween, and her pale-faced, angrymother. With all the politeness she could muster, Aoife said, "Sorry?"
"How could you let her climb that fence? She might have been injured!"
"Ma'am," Aoife said very evenly, "she's notmydaughter."
"But it's your wildlife park!"
"And I wanted to pet them!" Molly wailed.
"They'rewild animals," Aoife said again, incredulously.
"They're fluffy!"
"I was under the impression," Ms. Collins said, "that this was a wildlife park where the animals were free to interact with people."
