The Last Panther by Todd Mitchell

Author:Todd Mitchell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2017-08-22T04:00:00+00:00

Kiri’s thoughts blurred and melted into each other as she lay against the tree, waiting for her da to return. One second she was thinking of fishing with Paulo. Another, she was picturing the panther in the cage. Then she heard her mother singing. Then her da was telling her stories about the once-were creatures while the cubs played with her. Everything began to crash and swirl together like waves in a bad storm.

Kiri’s head spun when she closed her eyes, so she tried to keep them open, but she was so exhausted it was hard to stay awake. She needed to focus on something. Reaching over to her father’s pack, she pulled out his waller guidebook. It opened to the entry on the panther he’d referenced. The sun had set and it was getting dark. She could barely see the letters on the page.

“ ‘Puma concolor,’ ” read Kiri, sounding out the name written beneath the picture of the panther. “Is that who you are?”

She looked at the shadow in the cage. The panther lay on her side, panting, her tongue lolling out. Her eyes were half-open, but she didn’t move.

Kiri crawled closer, taking the book with her, and sat near the cage. Snowflake sniffed, clearly disapproving, but he didn’t leave her side. He curled up in her lap and groomed himself while she struggled to read more of the description.

There were several other names for the panther in the book. Mountain lion. Cougar. Catamount. Florida panther. Ghost cat. Yet none of the names seemed to fit the creature before her. Not entirely.

The description seemed right, though. Six to seven feet long. Tan coat. Black-tipped ears. Yellow-green eyes. Cubs were described as having spotted fur and blue eyes at birth, which also fit.

In the book, the panther was listed as “critically endangered.”

Information on how the panther lived and what it ate followed the description, but the words felt flat and irrelevant to Kiri. They didn’t explain why the creature in the cage called to her so powerfully, or what it had to do with her mother. And they didn’t explain why it had accepted her and let her play with its cubs. Or why its scratch was killing her now.

“Who are you?” whispered Kiri, leaning toward the cage.

Snowflake stirred and climbed onto Kiri’s shoulder. The little rat tugged her hair, as if trying to pull her back. He trembled and chittered, then burrowed into her hood.

Good idea, thought Kiri. Keep your distance.

Even as she thought this, she continued to lean closer to the cage.

The panther mother blinked, watching Kiri through slit eyes. She seemed awake, but barely. Kiri understood. She felt the same way—not awake, but not able to sleep either. Caught in a between place.

The panther took three deep breaths and Kiri matched them, syncing her breathing to the panther’s. She pictured herself the way the panther must see her—not just her tousled appearance, but her soap-scented hair and salty, feverish skin.

Reaching through the wires of the cage, she touched the panther’s shoulder.

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