Disclaimer: See those that came before.
Yukio87: You're wearing out the door on the You'll See Room. Lol
Dondena: I think Leo's shell would be a bit bigger and thicker than those a jaguar would normally encounter. I'm sorry to say that yes we humans have a tendency to mess things up, all we can individually do is try to do more good than harm. As for Leo's leg, I was going more for an infection, not poisoning. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.
Sav: Thanks for your concern. I am getting better. I only hack up a lung a couple times a day now.
Loral: Again, so happy you're enjoying it.
WhoamI: dun dun dun indeed.
Another guest: Glad you like it.
Dragonflylj: Mwahahahaha!
Is there anything better on this site than finding yourself and/or your work on someone's short list of favourites?
The chirp of tree frogs, song of night birds, squeaking bugs, rustling leaves, crackling fires. These were the sounds that lulled Leo to sleep in the wee hours of the morning after a long night of working his leg. It was something very different that woke him in the daylight. It was a sound he hadn't heard in so long that it took some time for him to figure out what it was. Once he identified the "whumph, whumph, whumph" of a helicopter though, he was wide awake.
Men were scurrying back and forth across the compound like so many ants. The anxious looks on most of their faces ratcheted Leo's own nerves to high alert. Keeper came over and hurried to clean out the kennels, quickly checking over the dogs looking for any injury or dirt. There wasn't much for him to worry about, Leo may not approve of the man's choice in employers, but he was very good at his job. In short order the men lined up at the centre of the compound as the whirly bird finally came into view over the treetops and slowly settled to the ground.
Leonardo leveraged himself onto the roof of his little doghouse and craned his neck to get a better view as the obsidian blades wound down and several new men climbed out of the vehicle. They were different. For one thing, they were much cleaner than the growers and guards, for another they were wearing what to Leo's eye were very high end clothes. It wasn't hard to gather that they were higher up the totem pole then the men here, and the concern of the locals told him that this must be an inspection of some sort, the cartels ensuring that production was meeting their expectations. This was not to Leonardo's advantage. So long as these people were here security would be tighter, and they weren't the sort whose attention he would want. Even knowing that it would be out of character as he had rarely used the small shelter, the wary turtle slowly made his way into the doghouse. Better to wait for the visit to end out of sight, and hopefully out of mind. Escape would come later.
His plan worked for about a day. Obviously, the inspector's focus would be on the plants, production and security of the camp, curiosities found in the jungle wouldn't rate high in their concerns, but one was unfortunately curious enough. Oddly he happened upon the hapless turtle by accident. He had wandered over the following afternoon to see the dogs, closely shadowed by another man and Keeper. Leo watched from the shadows of his house and took the man's measure. He seemed to be the highest ranking of the visitors, the others deferred to him and appeared to guard him. Keeper was walking half a step behind him, trying and failing to not wring his hands. The leading man smiled as he got to the first cage and crouched to scratch the dog through the chain link. His tone of voice was that of a man greeting a pet, another "animal lover" perhaps? He worked his way down the line, petting each animal while taking care not to get hair or dirt on his clothes. Leo sank further into the shadows the closer he got.
Finally he reached what appeared to be an empty kennel, but the full bowls of water and fruit caught his eye. The man stopped and turned to Keeper. Soon an animated discussion in, whatever language they spoke, ensued, the man in charge getting more and more incredulous. Eventually he crouched in front of the door and peered carefully into the dark shelter at the back. His eyes widened as he spotted the large reptile lurking in the little wooden structure, he gestured to his guard and the other man circled around to the back. The beefy bodyguard reached through the fence and began to tip the house forward.
Leo braced himself as much as he could, but at nearly ninety degrees of tilt, slid through the opening onto the concrete. It wasn't really acting when he whirled and hissed at the man that had dumped him out but his attention was swiftly brought back to the instigator when the man loosed a low whistle. Dang. This is exactly what I didn't want. He gradually crabbed his way to the furthest corner of the enclosure, trying to put as much distance between himself and the men as he could.
Wide brown eyes followed his every move. A cautious hand reached to the bowl of fruit and tossed a morsel after him only to be met by a snarl. He shook his head and turned to Keeper again. A long conversation followed. Leonardo's heart sank as Keeper looked more and more resigned. The men nodded, shook hands and walked away. What was that all about?
A few more days past, the man in charge kept coming by and trying to tempt Leonardo to take any food from him, but the nervous terrapin would not oblige. One day various containers were being loaded into the chopper. Are they leaving? I hope so, with them gone the men will relax and I might finally get out of here. Then something unexpected and unwelcome, several men were walking in his direction, with a big wooden crate. No. No please no. They set it down in front of his kennel, quickly opened the door and shoved the open side of the crate up to it. If you think I'm going in there, you've got another thing coming. Keeper got close to the entrance and started calling Leo over. The young ninja was surprised to see tears in the man's eyes. Huh, guess I made more of an impression than I thought. Still he lingered at the rear of the kennel. Soon men gathered around and started prodding him forward with long sticks. Breaking the poles with either tooth or hand didn't deter them, they just grabbed more. It was decision time. I can't go in there, who knows where I'll wind up. I'll have to take my chances in the forest. Maybe I can double back and steal a jeep later. That tenuous plan in mind, Leo face the crate and tensed his muscles. The moment of truth. Let's see if they counted on a jumping turtle. He leapt as high and far as his bad leg would allow and landed on the top of the crate. Men lunged away, fearful after the damage he'd inflicted on one of their own before. He took full advantage of the opening and sprinted as fast as he could towards the green cover of the jungle. He didn't get far, several men had sterner nerves and intercepted him. They pinned him on his front as he writhed and snapped on the dusty ground. The others pulled over the crate and he was shoved inside into a mass of straw, the crate slammed shut behind him. Furious he pounded on the wood and screamed as they picked him up and loaded him with the rest of the cargo. Leo hadn't given vent to a full blown temper tantrum since he was a tot denied a coveted sweet, he made up for it now. It wasn't until they were in the air and likely far from the camp than he finally settled. Exhausted and heartbroken he slumped into the hay and wept. How am I gonna get home now?