The Gamblers by John Pearson

Author:John Pearson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781446494714
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2017-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

10

‘Tyger, Tyger…’

ONE MORNING IN the spring of 1970, Annabel Birley took her three children off on a secret excursion. They were in the middle of the Easter holidays and were beginning to get bored in London. Annabel knew quite well that, because of the rift between Aspinall and her husband, Mark might not approve of her taking their children to Howletts, but the children had been nagging her to take them just the same, and when she spoke to Aspinall on the telephone, he had joined them in their pleas. So on Easter Monday, having told Mark that she was taking the children to the New Forest for the day, they took the train to Littlebourne instead. The next stop after Canterbury, Littlebourne is the nearest station to Howletts. When they arrived, Min Aspinall was there to meet them with her car.

At Howletts the Aspinall family was out in force to greet them, Aspinall himself, his two children Amanda and Damian and his two half-brothers, James and Peter Osborne. The children were excited to see each other again, and they could hardly wait to visit Aspinall’s famous gorilla colony. Housed in a huge cage, which he called his gorillarium, they were the largest breeding colony of gorillas in captivity. As usual when Aspinall was present, the whole party entered the cage, and while the children played with the baby gorillas, he made a great performance of wrestling with the big silverback male. Aspinall and the gorilla were old friends, and there was apparently no danger for anyone. In spite of this, Robin Birley didn’t seem particularly at ease with what was going on.

After seeing the gorillas, Aspinall was anxious to take them all to see one of his young female tigers called Zorra. Annabel was not so keen on this and wouldn’t let her daughter, India Jane, enter the cage with the other children. Like Damian and Amanda, Rupert was used to the animals, but Robin was nervous, though Aspinall persuaded him to approach the tiger and stroke her. Aspinall turned his back for just one moment. In that split second the tiger, sensing Robin’s fear, rose on her hind legs, put her front paws on his shoulders and pushed him to the ground. Snarling, she took the boy’s head in her mouth.

Seeing what was happening, Aspinall leapt towards the tiger, and with a show of strength somehow prised her jaws apart. By doing this he undoubtedly saved Robin’s life. Min Aspinall, meanwhile, was tugging at the tiger’s tail trying to prevent its rear claws tearing at the boy’s body. Somehow, between the two of them they made the tiger drop her prey.

Rigid with fear at the nightmare taking place before her eyes, Annabel watched as James Osborne rushed forward and picked up her son, who was still conscious. Rupert and India Jane were terrified and screaming. As James carried Robin out of the cage to safety, Annabel could see that the lower left-hand side of his face was crushed past recognition, his mouth had disappeared and part of his jaw was hanging by a thread.

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