Tiger in Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page A

the ground and climbed into the air. I continued to watch, trying to keep it safe, until it became smaller and smaller and finally disappeared.
    I turned around and saw Mr. McCurdy standing right there beside Nick. For a few seconds I’d forgotten he was even there, and I had a sudden rush of gratitude. I knew I didn’t really need him there, but it was nice just the same.
    “She’ll miss you, too,” Mr. McCurdy said. “Now let’s get you two over to your gate for boarding before you miss your plane.”
    “Missing our flight would be okay,” Nick said.
    “No, it wouldn’t,” I said.
    “We could stay at home, or even with Mr. McCurdy.”
    “Nick,” I cautioned.
    “Maybe we wouldn’t even have to tell Mom we didn’t go and then —”
    “Nick,” Mr. McCurdy growled, cutting him off.
    “Okay, okay, you can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?”
    “Don’t go worrying none, Nick.” Mr. McCurdy said. “Your girlfriend can do just fine without you for a week.”
    “You know he has a girlfriend?” I questioned.
    “I’ve met her.”
    “You have? When? Where?”
    “Oh, about a month or so ago. Nick brought her out to my place.”
    “Where was I?” I asked.
    “Band practice, or something silly like that,” Nick said. “Tori’s mother offered to drive me home from school, and on the way we stopped at Mr. McCurdy’s to see the animals.”
    “That was nice of her mother to drive out of the way like that.”
    Nick laughed. “She suggested it!”
    “But how did she know about …” I let the sentence trail off. There probably wasn’t anybody in our whole area who didn’t know about Mr. McCurdy and his animals. It had been such a big story in the newspapers, then an issue in the election for the mayor, and a big story again when he was finally given permission to keep his animals.
    “She’s a nice lady,” Mr. McCurdy said. “She really liked Buddha.”
    “She even wanted to go into the cage with him,” Nick added.
    “She did?” I asked.
    Mr. McCurdy shook his head. “Told her no. Until Buddha knows somebody well it isn’t bright to let them into the cage.”
    “But you let me in the cage when I didn’t know him very well,” I said.
    “That was different. I knew you and that tiger would get along fine. Now let’s get to that plane before Nick gets what he wants and the two of you have to stay here.”
    We started off across the terminal. Our flight was leaving from a gate on the far side of the building. Of course, it wasn’t a very big building, so it would only take a couple of minutes to cross the entire length.
    I dug my hand into the pocket of my jacket and pulled out our tickets. I’d already looked at them ten or twelve times. Two tickets, each reading flight 1336, gate 12, boarding 11:00, departure 11:30.
    We stopped directly in front of the security check by the gate. Mr. McCurdy couldn’t go any farther than this. There were people milling around, sitting in the seats, standing, waiting to go through.
    “Do you two have gum for the flight?” Mr. McCurdy asked.
    “I don’t,” I said.
    “Me neither,” Nick agreed.
    “Here,” Mr. McCurdy said, pulling some change out of his pocket. “Go and get you and your sister some gum while Sarah and I have us a little talk.”
    That made me suspicious. What did Mr. McCurdy want to talk to me about that he didn’t want Nick to hear? Nick took the money and went off to the store. I sat in the seat beside the one Mr. McCurdy had taken.
    “Now, Sarah, I want you to know everything’s going to be fine. There’s nothing for you to be worried about.”
    “I’m not worried … much.”
    “Are you nervous about taking care of Nick?”
    “A little.”
    “You know there’ll be staff people there to be in charge. All you’ve got to do is get the two of you off the plane at the other end and you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
    “I know,” I said, even though I knew that no matter how many staff there were at