| Chapter Five |
Silas “Wolf” Carlsbad carefully reached into the cage with a thickly gloved hand. The panther had retreated to the back
wall, but the hyena pup was just staring at him. He halted his hand in front of her nose. The pup sniffed a few times and
actually took a step forward. Young, but fearless. Or stupid. Slowly and gently, Wolf scooped up the baby hyena up and
out into the light. He held her like a baby and scratched between her ears. “There now, little one. That’s not so bad, is
it?” A native of the African world by birth himself, Wolf felt a certain connection with its creatures. All the better to hunt
them.
The other man, an Asian in suit and tie and armed with palm pilot, inquired, “So, what’s the story with this one?”
Wolf smiled. “Story is, she’s the leader of a pack. Forty-two bloodthirsty beasts all followed and obeyed this three-and-a-
half month old puppy.”
“So?”
“So, Master Kang, she’s unique. Hyenas, like most animals, follow the one that’s best suited to lead their pack. So I
wonder how come them seasoned hunters and warriors were loyal to something smaller than their typical lunch?”
“No idea. But why bring her in?” Adam Kang stopped taking notes for a moment. “And why do you keep calling me
‘Master Kang’?”
Wolf raised an eyebrow. “You got a Master’s degree, right? You call all them which have Doctorate’s degrees ‘Doctor’,
right? Just ‘cause I didn’t get much schooling doesn’t mean I don’t respect the idea.”
“Very well, Wolf. Now then, the pup. Regardless of your impression of her, physically she’s a regular hyena. She does
not fit the boss’s outline of a menagerie specimen.”
“That’s ‘cause she’s not going to the menagerie. Boss said part of my pay for hunting down his little freak show circus
could be one for myself. This little lady’s mine.”
“That makes a bit more sense. Now, then, the black leopard?”
Wolf chuckled as he put the pup back and dragged out the feline. This one he held a bit differently, draping it longwise
along his protected forearm, its legs hanging on either side. He began to stroke its head with his bare hand. Previously
scared out of its little mind, the cat began to relax a bit. “Black leopard, Master Kang? No such beast. This here cat’s from
a different jungle altogether. An Indian panther.”
“Panther? How in the world…”
“Exactly. A while back there was an exposition in a neighboring country. ‘Big Cats of the World’ it was called, happens
every couple of years in different places. ‘Cept this time a couple of more…zealous protesters bought tickets. Set the
whole place free, it was hilarious. Lions, tigers and panthers, oh my.”
Missing the joke or perhaps not finding it funny, Adam responded, “I think I heard about this on the news in Seoul. We
lost Minji, one of our prized tigers.”
“That’s the one, Master. The best part in my mind was when the main attraction, a huge African lion called Babylon,
maimed one of the protesters and killed the rarest cat there, an albino North American catamount. Bet that wasn’t in the
protesters’ plan. Anyway, among the few cats that weren’t recovered later was a local lioness named Dinah and a
newborn Indian panther (here he gestured to the cub in his arms) named Shadow. Now, African lionesses have no
problem caring for lion cubs that aren’t their own, but no one was guessing that Dinah would take care of Shadow. It’s a
good thing she did, though; this sweetie wouldn’t have stood a chance on her own.”
“So, so far we have a pet hyena and a somewhat displaced panther. I hope you and your men have more in mind than
this, Wolf, or the boss will definitely not be pleased. What about this naturally born liger you keep bragging about?”
Wolf sighed as he removed the now quite content panther cub and but her back in the cage. “Well, we truly have been
tracking one, that’s for sure. Your tiger Minji went and ran off with Babylon and had a little cub. They weren’t too difficult
to track, them having the only set of tiger tracks in Africa, after all. Unfortunately, two or three days ago they were found
by poachers. Lesser quality poachers than us of course, they just got lucky. I’ve never seen pelts disappear into the
black market as quickly as big bad Babylon and Minji the freak African tiger.”
“Minji was killed?”
“’Fraid so, Master Kang. Still got a couple of my people looking for the cub, but I’m honestly not real hopeful.”
“And in the meantime?”
Wolf was saved an immediate answer by the ring of his satellite phone. “Wolf. Yes, Charles. Mmhmm. Yeah, as long as it’
s not too old we could use one, I guess, what’s the deal? How fast?” Wolf’s eyes widened, the whites matching his bright
teeth as he grinned. “Bring it in. Good work.” He hung up and turned to leave the room with Kang. “Well, for starters, how
about a cheetah cub that just got clocked at seventy-two miles an hour?”
wall, but the hyena pup was just staring at him. He halted his hand in front of her nose. The pup sniffed a few times and
actually took a step forward. Young, but fearless. Or stupid. Slowly and gently, Wolf scooped up the baby hyena up and
out into the light. He held her like a baby and scratched between her ears. “There now, little one. That’s not so bad, is
it?” A native of the African world by birth himself, Wolf felt a certain connection with its creatures. All the better to hunt
them.
The other man, an Asian in suit and tie and armed with palm pilot, inquired, “So, what’s the story with this one?”
Wolf smiled. “Story is, she’s the leader of a pack. Forty-two bloodthirsty beasts all followed and obeyed this three-and-a-
half month old puppy.”
“So?”
“So, Master Kang, she’s unique. Hyenas, like most animals, follow the one that’s best suited to lead their pack. So I
wonder how come them seasoned hunters and warriors were loyal to something smaller than their typical lunch?”
“No idea. But why bring her in?” Adam Kang stopped taking notes for a moment. “And why do you keep calling me
‘Master Kang’?”
Wolf raised an eyebrow. “You got a Master’s degree, right? You call all them which have Doctorate’s degrees ‘Doctor’,
right? Just ‘cause I didn’t get much schooling doesn’t mean I don’t respect the idea.”
“Very well, Wolf. Now then, the pup. Regardless of your impression of her, physically she’s a regular hyena. She does
not fit the boss’s outline of a menagerie specimen.”
“That’s ‘cause she’s not going to the menagerie. Boss said part of my pay for hunting down his little freak show circus
could be one for myself. This little lady’s mine.”
“That makes a bit more sense. Now, then, the black leopard?”
Wolf chuckled as he put the pup back and dragged out the feline. This one he held a bit differently, draping it longwise
along his protected forearm, its legs hanging on either side. He began to stroke its head with his bare hand. Previously
scared out of its little mind, the cat began to relax a bit. “Black leopard, Master Kang? No such beast. This here cat’s from
a different jungle altogether. An Indian panther.”
“Panther? How in the world…”
“Exactly. A while back there was an exposition in a neighboring country. ‘Big Cats of the World’ it was called, happens
every couple of years in different places. ‘Cept this time a couple of more…zealous protesters bought tickets. Set the
whole place free, it was hilarious. Lions, tigers and panthers, oh my.”
Missing the joke or perhaps not finding it funny, Adam responded, “I think I heard about this on the news in Seoul. We
lost Minji, one of our prized tigers.”
“That’s the one, Master. The best part in my mind was when the main attraction, a huge African lion called Babylon,
maimed one of the protesters and killed the rarest cat there, an albino North American catamount. Bet that wasn’t in the
protesters’ plan. Anyway, among the few cats that weren’t recovered later was a local lioness named Dinah and a
newborn Indian panther (here he gestured to the cub in his arms) named Shadow. Now, African lionesses have no
problem caring for lion cubs that aren’t their own, but no one was guessing that Dinah would take care of Shadow. It’s a
good thing she did, though; this sweetie wouldn’t have stood a chance on her own.”
“So, so far we have a pet hyena and a somewhat displaced panther. I hope you and your men have more in mind than
this, Wolf, or the boss will definitely not be pleased. What about this naturally born liger you keep bragging about?”
Wolf sighed as he removed the now quite content panther cub and but her back in the cage. “Well, we truly have been
tracking one, that’s for sure. Your tiger Minji went and ran off with Babylon and had a little cub. They weren’t too difficult
to track, them having the only set of tiger tracks in Africa, after all. Unfortunately, two or three days ago they were found
by poachers. Lesser quality poachers than us of course, they just got lucky. I’ve never seen pelts disappear into the
black market as quickly as big bad Babylon and Minji the freak African tiger.”
“Minji was killed?”
“’Fraid so, Master Kang. Still got a couple of my people looking for the cub, but I’m honestly not real hopeful.”
“And in the meantime?”
Wolf was saved an immediate answer by the ring of his satellite phone. “Wolf. Yes, Charles. Mmhmm. Yeah, as long as it’
s not too old we could use one, I guess, what’s the deal? How fast?” Wolf’s eyes widened, the whites matching his bright
teeth as he grinned. “Bring it in. Good work.” He hung up and turned to leave the room with Kang. “Well, for starters, how
about a cheetah cub that just got clocked at seventy-two miles an hour?”
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