Vet Tech Tales: The Early Years (14 page)

Instead, the dart nosed into the snow several yards short of its target.

“What the —” Lim stared at the dart, grimacing at the naked cartridge. A quick scan of the white ground turned up its bright red tailpiece about 40 feet away. Darts didn’t often fail, but even tailpieces from the best manufacturers were known to occasionally break apart from the hypodermics they were supposed to be guiding.

This, Lim decided, was setting up to be a perfect storm.

Agitated, the cat bounded across the pen, leaping at the fence, looking for a weakness, a break. It hit the unlatched gate and the timbers bounced on their hinges.

For a tantalizing moment, a sliver of an opening appeared.

Lim grabbed another dart to load.

In the blind, safe behind stout bars that kept hunter and prey apart,
Vikram
swore in frustration. Knowing the cat was beyond the range of his rifle, he raised the stock to his shoulder anyway, drew in a steadying breath and sighted.

The big cat swatted at the gate, causing it to bounce again. This time the cat hooked a paw through the narrow space that appeared between the gate and the fence. Then it froze, holding the gate partially open, unsure what to do next.

In the center of the pen, a rifle cracked. A single bullet ricocheted against the gate’s iron frame and fell harmlessly away. Startled, the tiger flinched, snatching back its outstretched leg. A claw caught in the frame, dragging the gate open along the arc of its retreating paw.

Without hesitation, it shouldered past the gate and sprang beyond it. A heavy dart flew after the fleeing cat, catching on the edge of the gate that swung closed behind it.

By the time Lim hit the gate at a run with his third dart loaded, the white tiger had disappeared into the Dakota hills.

~~~

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