Hi Everyone!

Happy December. I'm back from NaNoWriMo and raring to go. Remember all those chapters I owe you? Well, get ready. You're about to get them. I'm going to be doing biweekly uploads all winter! I hope you all enjoy it. Please leave comments to let me know what you think!

Now I'm super excited, so I'm dropping you right into it. You didn't miss anything since that phone call, we're at the circus now and Kelsey has a plan.

Read and Review! See you all in a couple of weeks!


Chapter 35: The Rescue

I left Mr. Maurizio's office with the ringmaster close behind me. I was fully ready for a silent march to the enclosures, but Mr. Maurizio had other plans.

After a few minutes of walking, he began, "Kelsey." He had stopped calling me mi patatina. "There is one other matter I wish to discuss with you."

"What is it, Mr. Maurizio?" I glanced over at him, wary. The talk inside had been relatively smooth. Neither Mr. Maurizio nor the circus accountant, Mr. Odoso had had objections to my offer. The biggest inconvenience had been Mr. Maurizio's insistence on accompanying me to the enclosures.

"I know you had plans to pick up Dhiren for this afternoon, but would it be possible for him to stay for one last night show?"

I missed a step. I could not believe this. After what I had offered, he was still trying to get more out of me?

"It would mean so much to everyone," Mr. Maurizio pressed. "Please Kelsey, won't you please consider?"

I could have laughed. "No, I don't think so," I said evenly. I kept my focus straight ahead. I refused to look into his pleading eyes. I had been fooled by them too many times. "Dhiren has a plane to catch."

I began to walk a bit faster. I wanted this conversation to be over.

"A private plane, though, yes?" Mr. Maurizio said keeping up. "Surely, it could be delayed an hour or so."

"Not possible," I said. I was about to speed up again when Mr. Maurizio put a hand on my shoulder.

"Kelsey, please, let's talk about this," he said. His grip was tight.

I knocked his hand away and turned to face the man. "Fine!" I snapped. "You want to talk? Let's talk. How about we start with why people here believe that you fired me?"

Mr. Maurizio cringed. "That is a…misunderstanding."

This time I did laugh.

"Kelsey," he tried again.

"Let me clear up another misunderstanding," I said glaring up at him. He really did have a pleading look in his eyes. I did not care. "I am not compromising Maurizio. I said no and I mean no."

Before Maurizio could come up with another lame excuse of why I should listen to him, we heard a shout.

"MAURIZIO!"

We both turned.

It was Ruth.

I quickly moved so that Maurizio's large girth completely hid me from view. I was not eager for a reunion with the cook and the woman looked like a demon from hell as she barreled her way over to us. "Where the hell have you been!" she shouted right before she grabbed Maurizio's arm in a familiar death grip.

"Un momento, Ruth, I was..." Maurizio glanced back at me furtively. It seemed like he wasn't eager for Ruth to see me either.

Ruth didn't let him finish whatever lie he was about to tell. She was too busy dragging him away as she told him, "There's a giant truck in the parking lot blocking customers from leaving. You gotta go talk to those foreign suits…"

I didn't hear any more. With Maurizio occupied, I took the opportunity to run towards the enclosures and Dhiren.

It took a bit to get there. The Clark County fairgrounds were fairly big and the enclosures lay on the other side of a series of buildings. I ran across the open field and snaked my way through the building complex until I finally saw the familiar metal fencing of the enclosures.

There he was. And even better he was alone. There weren't even any dogs in the other enclosure. It was just him and me.

"Dhiren!" I cried out.

The tiger was sleeping in his usual corner. At the sound of my voice, his ears pricked up. I ran to the enclosure door and it rattled as I clung to it.

The rattling woke Dhiren up. He lifted his head. I don't think I'll ever forget the look he gave me. It was like watching a sunrise. The dull and tired beast transformed into one of my best friends. He rocketed over to me.

"Hey," I said. My voice was watery. It felt like we hadn't seen each other in ages.

Dhiren was inches from me. He lifted his left paw so that it touched one of my hands through the fence as he looked up at me with awe.

"Yes," I said, "It's really me."

He was still looking at me like I was some sort of angel. I knew the feeling.

I attempted to keep my voice light. "After you crossed hundreds of miles on foot to see me, you're acting surprised that I drove over to see you?"

Dhiren blinked and then he chuffed. His eyes were sparkling and I knew he was laughing.

I grinned back at him. If he was this excited about me showing up, I couldn't wait to tell him the rest, but first, "Dhiren, I need to go get the keys. Then we can have a proper reunion and I'll explain why I'm here."

Dhiren tilted his head to the side, obviously curious.

My smile broadened. "The story will be worth the wait. I promise. Just wait here," I said. Then I started towards the shed.

Dhiren whined at me as I walked over to the small building next to the enclosures.

When I got to the shed and opened the door, I turned and said, "I'll be right back."

The tiger watched me as I entered the shed. The space was dark and cramped, but I didn't let that stop me. Mr. Odoso had informed me that Matt kept an extra pair of keys in here and I was going to find them.

It took a while, but I found the pesky keychain under a flower pot. I grabbed them and one of Dhiren's leashes. Then I left the shed with a smile.

Dhiren wasn't looking at me as I came towards him. The tiger whined at the enclosure door.

"You're impatient," I teased, coming over with the keys in hand.

When I got to the door, I finally heard what Dhiren had been complaining about: Barking.

Damn.

I glanced down at him and asked, "That's Matt. Isn't it?"

The tiger nodded.

"Of course," I muttered. I had hoped to get out of here without having to talk to anybody else. I just wanted to be done with this place. Still, perhaps it was better this way.

I turned to face the buildings. Then I held up the key chain and started looking for the right key to open Dhiren's enclosure. There were way too many keys on the ring. It had to be one of the silver ones, right?

Too soon, Matt's assortment of show dogs came around the corner followed by Cathleen and the trainer himself.

Here we go.

Cathleen was the one who noticed me first. She and Matt had been talking, but then she looked over at me and our eyes met. "Kelsey!" she cried. "What are you doing here?"

Matt whipped his head around to look at me. Though he wore makeup over his face, I could tell it was still misshapen with bruises. He looked like an ogre as he glowered at me.

I couldn't help looking smug as I informed them, "I'm here to pick up my tiger."

Cathleen and Matt just looked at me like I wasn't speaking English. Then Cathleen finally said, "Don't be ridiculous! Ren's not your tiger. He belongs to this circus. Right, Matt?" She looked up at him.

Matt was still silently glaring at me.

It seemed like Maurizio hadn't told them about my purchasing of Dhiren. Now that I thought about it. I don't think Ruth had known either. Knowing the ringmaster, he probably had hoped to break the news to the entire circus at tonight's show.

Typical.

"I'm serious," I told them. "As of this morning, I am Dhiren's official owner. I have the certificate in my pocket."

I thought I saw Matt go a shade paler. Cathleen just looked confused.

"I can show you if you like," I said.

"Matt?" Cathleen said uncertainly.

He hissed something at her.

"What?" she asked, clearly surprised.

"Go!" he snapped.

She looked between us before she set off at a run. I watched her go. Now it was just me, Matt, Dhiren, and the dogs.

I waited for a few moments for Matt to say something, but he seemed content to just glower at me, so I turned away from him and continued going through my key ring. I tried one of the keys. It didn't fit. I tried another and another. After the fourth key, Matt muttered something.

I glanced back at him. There was no way I could hear him over Dhiren's growling and the dogs' barking. "Did you say something?" I said archly.

"I won't let you ruin my life again," he said darkly.

Ruin his life?

I turned to face him. Matt had moved towards me so that he was a few yards away, but the dogs refused to let him come any closer than that. They were too put off by Dhiren who was growling at them. That left Matt standing in front of the hounds holding their leashes to stop them from bolting. The comedic position contrasted with the real fury on his face.

I couldn't believe this. "You're joking, right? After all that you've done to me, after you sabotaged me, you starved my bobcat, stole Cathleen, and were in general a complete jerk to me, you want to say that I'm the problem?" I stared at him in disbelief. "I've tried to be nice and professional since day one. What on earth do you think that I did to you?"

"Your family ruined my life!" he shouted.

His sudden vehemence surprised me. Matt said so little. I hadn't really expected an answer from him and this one made no sense.

"My family?" I echoed. What on earth was he talking about?

"Your parents got my old circus shut down. They waltzed in trying to buy Ren. But instead, they got themselves killed."

I stared at him. Even as I wanted to dismiss his words as nonsense, bits and pieces started to click into place. The elephant decorations on Mr. Davis's RV, my fight with Cathleen, the fact I had been stuck in the kitchen instead of getting properly apprenticed, Mr. Davis's limp, and of course the hatred both Matt and his father had shown me since I started at the circus. "It was your circus in Utah," I said as I slowly moved towards Matt.

He was still talking. His voice was filled with venom. "They ruined my life. Because of them, we had to kill our elephants, my dad got crippled for life, and my mom…" He swallowed. "They should have minded their own business instead of being nosy, preachy amateurs who had no idea what-"

Matt didn't get to finish that sentence because I did what I had wanted to do for months. I punched Matt with all my might.

My fist rammed into Matt's right cheek and to my immense satisfaction, Matt crumpled. Without Matt holding them back, the dogs scattered.

Matt rolled on the ground and moaned, "You bitch, when my father-"

I kicked Matt in the stomach. He stopped talking and cried out in pain.

That was better. I was done with Matt's talking. I never wanted to hear another word from him again. This jerk tried to ruin my life because his untrained elephants trampled my parents. They killed my parents. He tried to kill Lisa. And yet he still thought he was the victim. I'd make him the victim.

I kicked him again. However, this time, something happened and Matt screamed. The sound was almost inhuman and I took a step back. It sounded like I had shot him or something, but I hadn't kicked him that hard.

All the same, Matt was pale and sweating. His eyes were closed and he had stopped rolling around.

I nudged him experimentally. His body seized up and he let out a soft whimper, but he didn't open his eyes. Obviously, Matt's injuries must have been worse than I thought. He was in serious pain. I wasn't even sure he was still conscious.

I glared at him. It wasn't fair. This jerk had Cathleen, the circus, and a starring role. And he was still bitter as anything. He actually blamed my parents for their own deaths and for all his misfortunes. It was unforgivable. I wanted to pummel him, but I couldn't even do that. Someone else had beaten me to it.

In his current state, Matt was basically a helpless animal and unlike him, I didn't hurt helpless animals.

I forced myself to turn away from the pitiful creature before me and saw that Dhiren was watching me. I met his gaze. "I'm alright," I said to him.

I selected a new key and went back over to the door to try it. It worked. I opened the door.

Dhiren came out. I put the leash on him and said, "I know I told you that we'd have a proper reunion, but let's get out of here first." I wanted to get away from Matt before I gave into temptation and hurt him again.

Dhiren nuzzled against my free hand and nodded.

I sniffled and wiped some tears away with my forearm because of course, I was crying. Again. "Come on," I said.

Together the two of us went around Matt. I would let someone know that he was hurt once we got to the parking lot and out of the fairgrounds. Right now, I just wanted to get away from this place, from Matt and the enclosures and all the bad memories. Dhiren and I, we're going to leave all that behind us.

That's what I thought, but Dhiren and I only got a few paces from Matt before I heard someone shout, "Don't move!"

The command was followed by the sound of a gunshot.