Chapter 1
The baby lion’s cries were silenced as she latched on to the milk bottle. She had been orphaned at the Cincinnati Zoo 2 weeks ago when her mother had died unexpectedly from diabetes. The cub’s brother had passed away before the Zoo’s vet could do anything, but the surviving cub had been sent to Animal Haven.
Animal Haven was a wildlife rehabilitation center owned by the government and run by volunteers. It was 200 acres of outdoor pens and buildings with rooms and cages for animals not fit to go outside.
Anita Hastings was a 16-year-old who practically lived at AH. She had the task of feeding the big cats.
There were several big cats at AH: the lion cub, a male Siberian tiger named Sirocco; two puma sisters, Sara & Kara; an Iberian lynx named Dream Catcher; and a cheetah named Freya. A car had hit Sara when she was young, and she had been found with Kara by the side of the road. Sirocco was abused by the zoo he had been at, cramped in a 4-by-9 cage with a concrete floor and no fan in the summer, and was a permanent resident. Dream Catcher was pregnant, and her kits were going to be released into the wild when they were older. Lastly was Freya, who had been illegally brought into the country and was bought by a rock star that eventually couldn’t take care of her. She was too used to humans to be released.
Anita watched as the lion cub emptied the bottle. She put it on the counter to be sanitized. The cub was going to be given to the Philadelphia Zoo when she was older. The cub fell asleep on a pile of hay, so Anita left and walked down to the lobby. There, she found her best friend, Abby Libman, pacing up and down across the polished tile floor.
“What’s up?” Anita asked.
“Ever seen Bambi? A car killed a doe and the orphaned fawn was trying to nurse from her. They think the fawn might have worms…. They’re doing tests,” Abby said. She took care of the deer at AH as well as rabbits, ferrets, and most other small mammals. “Anyway, how’s the cub?” Abby continued.
“Doing well. She’s sleeping right now,” Anita said. She turned to the woman behind the main desk. “I’m signing off for the day, okay? Gabriel should be here soon to watch her.”
The woman nodded and the girls took off, grabbing their bikes as they went. As they pulled up to the end of the long driveway, a black limousine drove up the way they had just came. They couldn’t see anybody through the tinted windows.
Abby sucked in her breath. “Only somebody important would come to AH in a gas guzzler.”
“Do you think it’s the government?” Anita asked.
“I don’t know, but I should be getting home. See you tomorrow!” Abby called as she rode away.
Anita glanced at the limo and thought about who could be coming to AH before riding home.
