Alexis and the Lake Tahoe Tumult (2 page)

“Salt?” Bailey asked Alexis. She shut her door gently, trying to keep her footing. “Did I miss something?”

“Salt melts ice,” said Alexis. “Something to do with lowering the freezing point of water.”

“Very good!” said the woman. She reached down to help Alexis and Bailey up the steps. “You’re a smart one! You must be the documentary girls.”

“That’s us!” said Bailey. “Are you ready to be famous? If we win, our video will be on the Discovery Channel!”

“That would be fabulous! I’m Karen Ingles. My husband and I own the reserve.” Karen Ingles reached out to shake Mr. Howell’s hand and then the girls’ hands. “Come on in, you three! I’ll show you around, and you can tell me more about your video.”

The inside of the cabin was very cozy. Alexis noticed that it looked to be half house and half office. A roaring fire filled a beautiful stone fireplace. A few old couches were near the fire, and Alexis felt it would not just be a comfortable place to sit but would be a great location to film an interview or two. Looking toward the side of the cabin, Alexis could see a small kitchen and a large desk with papers strewed all over it. A door behind the desk led deeper into the cabin. Karen hung her parka on a coatrack and told the rest of them to do the same.

“Thank you so much for allowing us to do this, Mrs. Ingles,” said Alexis.

“Please, Karen is fine. And don’t mention it. We don’t usually give tours, let alone allow people to film our animals, but your e-mail was so wonderful that I couldn’t refuse. I could tell you two girls really cared about the animals, and it’s a chance for college scholarships, too! Besides, you made me laugh.”

Alexis smiled and was about to say something when her father yelped.

The girls spun around to see Mr. Howell jump up on the couch. He was shaking and pointing to something on the floor.

There, curled up on a rug in front of the fire, was a full-grown bobcat!

“Don’t worry, sir,” said Karen. “That’s only Bubbles. He’s kind of a pet.”

Bubbles opened his eyes and lifted his nose in the air, sniffing.

“Dad, get off the couch!” said Alexis, embarrassed. “I don’t think he’s going to hurt you. Besides, you do know that bobcats can jump, right? The couch won’t do you much good.”

Everyone laughed. Mr. Howell even chuckled nervously as he stepped down off the striped cushion.

“Why do Bubbles’s eyes look strange?” asked Bailey. She had crept closer and was sitting on the stone of the fireplace, only feet from the large cat.

“He’s blind,” said Karen. “That’s the only reason he’s kept as a pet. The vet couldn’t fix his sight, so he’ll never be released into the wild again. He’d die out there, so we let him stay here.”

“That’s so cool!” said Bailey. “I want a bobcat!”

“Well, some people do keep them as pets, but it’s dangerous. They are wild, no matter how sweet and fluffy they look. See Bubbles’s poufy paws? The claws in them are three inches long and could cut your throat in seconds.”

Bailey backed slowly away and coughed.

“Oh, don’t worry,” said Karen. “He won’t hurt you. We’ve had him for years. But that is something you need to remember while you’re around the other animals in our sanctuary. No matter how cute they are, they’re wild. They will react according to their instincts, no matter what your intentions are. Things like bats and raccoons can give you rabies, not to mention nasty scars. The owls’ talons aren’t very friendly either. If you’re going to do this documentary, you have to remember to follow our rules, and never—
never—
approach any animal without us. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am!” said Alexis. Bailey nodded her head so fast Alexis thought it might pop off. Alexis dug her little pink notebook out of her backpack. She wanted to write down the rules Karen gave her, as well as any information that might be great for the documentary.

Bang!
Suddenly the door behind the desk burst open. A tall man in a flannel shirt stumbled into the room, his eyes bulging.

“Karen! The deal’s off! Call those kids, and tell them that they can’t film here! The mountain lions are out of their cages!”

It was obvious from the look on the man’s face that he hadn’t known the girls were there. He glanced around frantically.

“It’s okay, Jake,” said Karen. “Let’s go get those cats back in their cages!” The two owners turned and ran out a back door.

“Wait!” said Alexis. “We can help!”

“What?” shouted Bailey, glancing at Bubbles nervously. “Didn’t you hear? They said
mountain lions!”

“I know! Come on!”

Before her father could stop her, Alexis followed Karen and Jake out the back door. Bailey was just behind. They followed a trail in the snow to a small barn structure not far away. Alexis reached out to open the door, but her father’s large hand pushed it shut again.

“Dad!”

“Listen first, then open,” said Mr. Howell. “The last thing we want to do is let a sick mountain lion out of this barn.”

Alexis was shocked. She thought for sure he was going to keep her from going in.

She and Bailey crept closer and put their ears against a small crack in the wood. They only heard the tramping of heavy boots and Jake’s and Karen’s panicked voices.

“Get that one! He’s by your elbow!”

“No! Ow! The other one! She’s too high up. You’re going to have to get the ladder!”

But Alexis couldn’t figure something out. She couldn’t hear the mountain lions at all. Bailey seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“What? No ripping of claws? No earth-shattering roars?” she asked. Alexis shrugged and pushed the door open enough for the three of them to slide through. Just as she entered, something landed on her head and leaped ten feet to the top of one of the cages. It looked like a ball of fur with a tail.

There were six of them, and they were everywhere.

“They’re kittens!” cried Bailey. “How cute! Come here, kitty, kitty. Come here.”

Another ball of fluff tore by them, snagging Bailey’s shoelace with a tiny, sharp claw.

“Oops. I forgot they had those things,” said Bailey.

Alexis watched as Karen and Jake chased the litter of mountain lion cubs around and around the barn. They managed to get one back in the cage, but when they opened it again to put in another one, the first one escaped.

“It’s useless!” cried Karen. “We’ll be doing this all day!”

Another cub leaped from a rafter onto Alexis’s head. This time it tried to stay put, but it was too heavy and slid to the floor instead.

“Ouch!” Alexis cried. “What’s the deal?”

Bailey, who was reaching behind a barrel for one of the cubs, looked around.

“Lexi!” she cried. “It’s your hat! The kittens like your hat!”

She was right! Alexis had forgotten about her hat. She had picked it out especially for this trip. It was a cozy striped winter hat with a huge fluff-ball pom-pom attached to a string at the top. Of course the lions would like it! The way the pom-pom bobbed, it looked like a huge cat toy!

Alexis studied the cage. She thought she could get the kittens in with her big pom-pom hat. If she walked in the cage, they would probably bound after her to get the fuzzy cap. But she couldn’t figure out how she’d get out again without releasing them.

The cages in this barn were for larger animals. They were made of simple chain-link fencing—something Alexis could easily reach her arm through. Before anyone noticed, Alexis was climbing up the side of the mountain lion cage.

“What are you doing, Alexis?” asked her dad. He was following Jake around the barn trying to help. Instead, he ran into Jake every time he stopped, causing him to miss a kitten more than once.

“Don’t worry, Dad! I think I have an idea!” Alexis reached the top of the cage and crawled carefully to one of the back corners. Then she took her hat off and shoved it through the chain link into the cage. She held it by the rim, allowing the huge fluff ball to dangle and swing.

“Here, kitty, kitty!” she called. It didn’t work. The mountain lion cubs were way too interested in terrorizing the rest of the barn. “Bailey, help me! Get their attention!”

“Okay!” Bailey picked up a broom and ran over to the lion cage. She began running the handle along the metal, making a huge ruckus.

“Come on, kitties! Over here! Come on, kitties!”

The cats started noticing the noise and looked toward the dangling hat. Then, as if by some secret command, all six of them charged toward Bailey as fast as they could.

“Ahhh!
Yikes!” Bailey screeched and lurched out of the way. “Lexi, it’s working! Here they come!”

“Wait, Bailey!” said Alexis. “You have to open the door. They can’t get in.”

“Oh, right,” said Bailey. She ran back over to the cage and struggled to open it against the tide of fluff and claws. Once it was cracked wide enough, the kittens pushed their way in. They dashed to the dangling hat and leaped, one after another, into the air. Their tiny paws reached over and over for Alexis’s hat, but she pulled it out of reach every time.

“Are they all in?” Alexis called to Karen. Karen counted out loud.

“Yes! They are. Close the door!”

Bailey slammed the door, and Jake rushed to lock it before the kittens could run out again.

Alexis yanked her hat back through the cage and climbed carefully down. The ordeal was over with only one minor casualty: Alexis had lost one long piece of red yarn from her hat, and all six of the mountain lion cubs fought for it.

“Wow, that was great!” said Karen. “Thanks for your help, girls!”

Mr. Howell was still trying to detangle himself from a stack of buckets he had knocked over.

“Yeah,” said Jake, pointing to Alexis’s hat. “I guess I need to get one of those.”

“Does this happen often?” asked Bailey.

“Well, it’s not supposed to,” said Karen.

“And it never used to,” said Jake.

Alexis pushed her hat back onto her head and straightened it. “What do you mean, it never
used to?”
she asked.

“Come back to the office, and we’ll tell you all about it,” said Karen. She led the guests back through the snow and toward the cozy office.

“What’s this?” Bailey asked. She stooped and dug something out of the snow. It was a small key ring with a few tiny golden keys on it.

“That’s funny,” Karen said. “I could have sworn those were in the office. Thanks!”

She took the keys and opened the office door.

“Looks like we need more firewood,” said Jake, looking at the dying fire.

“I can help you get it,” said Mr. Howell. Jake stepped right back out the door, looking scared.

“No, no, that’s all right. Why don’t you pour yourself some coffee over there?”

Mr. Howell fixed himself a cup of coffee. He brought the girls some hot cocoa, too, as well as a plate of doughnuts. Soon they were all circled around the living room fire. They could hear Jake splitting a few larger logs just outside.

“This has happened a lot lately,” said Karen. She stirred some more sugar into her coffee and tasted it.

“What has?” Alexis asked. “The mountain lions getting out?”

“Well, yes and no. They
do
keep getting out, but other things are happening, too. Animals are getting loose when they shouldn’t. But others have gotten sick or started acting strangely. One or two have escaped altogether, and that’s a nightmare. In weather like this, there are very few animals that can survive. If they’re not healthy or fully grown, they really don’t stand a chance.”

“So this is new?” Bailey asked, with her mouth full of doughnut. She swallowed, wiped frosting from her lips, and tried again. “I mean, it’s never happened before?”

“No, not until recently,” said Karen. “Jake’s mom and dad owned this place long before we came along. It’s been in the family forever, and nothing like this has ever happened. Jake feels like he’s failing and is afraid we’ll lose the family business. He just can’t figure out what’s going wrong.”

Jake came back through the door and dropped a pile of wood in a box near the fireplace. Bubbles the bobcat jumped up and glared at Jake through his misty eyes before moving to the other side of the rug.

“So you see,” Jake said, “it’s like I said before we ran to the barn. You girls can’t do your documentary here. It’s just too dangerous. We never know when this stuff is going to happen. This time it was the cute little guys, but what if it’s something bigger and more dangerous next time?”

Karen sighed. “That’s why we don’t give tours. If a visitor got hurt by a sick animal, that would be awful. We could get into a lot of trouble, not to mention the fact that we would feel horrible.”

Alexis was heartbroken. They couldn’t be serious, could they? She loved snowboarding, but she had really come here to do this documentary. Where else could she find a place like this reserve? This was the only one of its kind in all of California. And this was the only spring break she would get. She wouldn’t have time to shoot the video after school started again next week.

“But we’re not just anyone!” said Bailey. Alexis looked at her friend and smiled. She could tell that Bailey would not take no for an answer. “I mean, we helped you catch the baby mountain lions, right? And no one got hurt. We’re really smart, and we’re always careful! We’ve done all kinds of things that other kids haven’t, right, Lexi? Our club has solved all kinds of real mysteries, and if this isn’t a mystery, then I don’t know what is.”