The Osprey Man by Christopher Tuthill

Author:Christopher Tuthill [Tuthill, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DX Varos Publishing, Inc.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“That’s the bobcat I was talking about,” Jacob said.

“I don’t see him,” Kris said. He held a hand over his eyes and squinted into the cage. “It smells like skunk, dude.”

“That’s the bobcat,” Jacob explained.

“Well, I dunno what you’re pointing at. This is stupid. It’s just an empty cage.” He slapped at a mosquito on the back of his neck.

“Look all the way in back,” Jacob said.

“I just see a bunch of bushes and a hole in the ground.”

Jacob was starting to think maybe this field trip was a bad idea. His mom had been happy enough to drive them there, but Kris was sulking. It was hot and humid. Kris was sweating through his t-shirt and it was only ten in the morning.

“Look just beyond that tree on the little hill,” Jacob said.

Kris squinted again. “OH!” he said.

And there was the little bobcat, perched on the hill above the small hole. He blended in with the surrounding dirt and tree almost too well to be seen. Jacob could see dead mice around his feet—a feast left by his caretakers.

“C’mon and do something, bobcat!” Kris yelled. “Come over here and roar or something!”

“You can’t yell at him to do stuff,” Jacob said. “He can’t understand you.”

Kris was undeterred. “C’mon ya dumb cat! Hurry up and get over here, so we can put you in our comic.”

Now the cat took notice of them. He bounded down from his little perch and trotted over to the edge of the cage, where Kris and Jacob stood gawking at him.

The bobcat had a brown and grey coat beneath which his shoulder muscles moved like well-oiled engine cylinders. His legs were long and carried the bobcat over the ground effortlessly. His eyes were big and deep set, and he had small ears atop a large, inquisitive face. He stopped at the fence and eyed the two of them skeptically.

“Now that’s more like it!” Kris said. He held up the camera that was looped around his neck and snapped off a few photos.

“Roar for me, cat!” Kris yelled. He grabbed hold of the chain link fence and rattled it so that it shook all the way to the top. It was a tall fence, probably twelve feet, and at the top it connected to netting that kept the birds of prey in their respective cages. All of it—the chain link and the netting—began moving back and forth as Kris shook it. Pine needles and dead oak leaves fell off into the cage and down onto the boys.

“You ought not to do that,” Jacob warned.

“Ah, it’s no big deal. Maybe it’ll shake him up and make him do something.”

The bobcat opened his jaws at them, revealing two rows of razor sharp, yellow teeth and a blood red mouth. It looked like he might roar, but he just flexed his jaw in this way a couple of times.

“Nice!” Kris said, snapping off a few more shots.

The bobcat then turned and lifted a hind leg toward them. A long, steaming stream of urine came down and puddled up near the edge of the fence.

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