Aging Tiger Rescue - Hawk's Heart, Part 1 - An Original Short Story and Sketch Renderings
The Range Rover squealed to a stop aside the dirt road. Marc LeMasters stood up from the passenger side, leaned over the front window and put binoculars to his eyes. Scanning to the south, he spotted the exact location of their tagged tiger.
"There she is, lying under that tree," Marc conveyed to the other passengers in the Range Rover, pointing to a range of trees 100 meters away.
Doctor Rachael Hawk sat in the back seat, her attention fixated to a tablet computer, "Her vital signs are still registering, just barely though. We're going to have to get her back to the operating tent soon though."
The animal in question was an aging female royal bengal tiger that had been tagged three months ago by the World Animal Conservation Foundation. The WACF was the driving force behind Dr. Hawk's research into studying the lifespans of India's protected wildlife. The bengal they've been tracking is slightly over twelve years and is showing signs of deterioration. This morning though, her vital signs went haywire all of a sudden and she relocated to an area in the wide open, unfamiliar and dangerous surroundings for an elderly tiger.
"She shouldn't be in the wide open like this if there's something wrong with her Marc. The damn dogs will figure it out sooner or later!" Rachael urges Marc.
"Do you see what I see Marco?" questioned Advik, the local guide the WACF hired to escort Dr. Hawk and LeMasters through the Indian back country.
"Yeah Mate, I see it, and it looks bad," Marc replied.
"What's wrong with her?" Rachael asks with urgency.
"She's bleeding, top side of her left hip from what I can spot so far. Looks like someone's took a pot shot at her and chickened out once they realized she wasn't put down," Marc declared.
"Then we better get down there and get her loaded into the Rover. There isn't much time," Rachel pleads.
"I want to save her as much as you Doc, but now that blood's in the air, it's too dangerous. Besides, with her being shot like that, she's as much a risk as the dogs. If we drive down to her, she may get spooked and attack us out of fear," Marc replies with angst.
"I'll go. Sneak down and use the big tranquilizer rifle. It's my job anyway," Advik announced, pulling the rifle from the holster mounted to the side of the Range Rover.
"I can't let you do that Mate. I'm the tough guy in this group. That's what I get paid for, Marc said with a hand on Advik's shoulder.
"But you haven't been sneaking up on tigers your whole life, Advik said with a grin, I'll slither in, pop the old girl and be back out before you know it."
"Maybe you better let Advik go, Mark. I may need you here with me to help with the equipment," Rachael sheepishly stated; her growing feelings for Marc being the true reason to keep him from danger.
Marc LeMasters turned and smiled at Dr. Rachel Hawk through mirrored sunglasses, "Alright Advik, better get after it before I change my mind. But I'm driving down as close as I can after you. Give you a shorter distance to run once that wounded bengal scratches your arse, Marc jokes, reaching a hand out to Rachael. She grasps it with a soft smile.
Advik dismounts the Range Rover swiftly, carrying the long, tranquilizer rifle with him. Walking briskly down the dirt road, he shoulders the rifle and pulls out his sidearm, checking the load. After a short distance he slowly leaves the road to right and disappears into the tall brush.
Marc gets out of the vehicle and walks around to the drivers side and gets in. Rachel replaces him in the passenger seat. They quietly hold hands in the middle.
"You know love, you can't keep undermining my authority here just because we're sleeping together," Marc teases pulling her close to him.
"I hope she can handle the tranquilizers in such a weakened state," Rachael replies softly nestling her head into his chest and still watching the tablet's vital signs.
The long silence is broken by a sharp crack in the wind, then another; Advik firing the tranquilizer rifle. After a minute of silence, his head begins to appear atop the brush. He waves and his voice echoes in seconds later, "Come on down, all's good!"
Instantly, Marc rises upward, unholstering his pistol, taking aim into the distance he fires two shots, startling Rachel. Advik responds in turn with his own weapon firing to the east where Marc had. Off in the distant brush, a wild dog bolts quickly in the opposite direction, then a second. Both Marc and Advik fire away scaring what seems to be five or six waves of grass, stopping once in unison, then disappearing into the wild.
"Damn scavengers. They'll be back soon enough. We better get that tiger loaded and out of here quick like," Marc exhales, sitting back down and firing up the Range Rover. Bouncing in their seats, Rachael and Marc go off-road to where the wounded tiger lies.
The Bengal Tiger, aka as The Royal Tiger, hails as The national Animal of both India and Bangladesh. The bengal is considered the most populous tiger species in the world, with a 2011 estimate set at 2500 approximately. Unfortunately the Bengal's numbers are decreasing annually. Please consider supporting the following charities to help the Bengal Tiger:
NationalTigerSanctuary.org
BigCatRescue.org
I posted this disclaimer starting with a previous post: A Sketch Rendering of a Ferocious Bengal Tiger - Plus Animated GIF. I really like this method of image creation as it simply makes cool looking images of beautiful animals. Now and forever, any wildlife images I create will be posted with full usage rights for anyone a member of Steemit.