Letting out his breath, Griff pushed himself to his feet. “Apparently not,” he murmured.
CHAPTER TWO
Hayley
As a single mom, Hayley Parker was used to having to handle every parenting challenge on her own. With no one else to back her up, she’d always tried to make sure she was prepared for anything. She’d borrowed and read every child development book in the library. She’d scoured the internet for tips on raising a son without a father figure present. She’d even spent uncounted hours plowing through her old college textbooks, making sure she was up-to-date on Early Years literacy and numeracy educational strategies.
None of these, however, had given her any hint on what to do when your five-year-old unexpectedly turns into a lion cub and shoots up a tree.
“Okay, Danny,” she said, fighting to keep her voice calm and steady. It was important to always give the appearance of being in control, she knew, so that your child could feel safe and secure. No doubt that was doubly important if your child happened to be a lion. Animals could smell weakness, couldn’t they?
Oh God, this can’t be happening.
“The fire trucks are a little busy right now,” she continued, clasping her hands together so that he wouldn’t be able to see how they were shaking. “So we’re just gonna get you down ourselves, okay? Now, do you think you could scoot back a little? Just move one foot…um, one paw at a time. Nice and slow.”
She could just make out Danny’s round, fuzzy face, peering down at her through the leaves. He let out another tiny, desperate mew, and her heart broke. She knew, just knew, that he was calling for her. Calling for Mommy to rescue him.
“Don’t worry, baby,” she forced out past the tightness in her throat. Her heart hammered at every slight sway of the branch. “You just keep your, your nice sharp claws locked tight in that tree, okay? That’s my big, brave boy.”
Hayley fought down a hysterical giggle. Big brave lion.
My boy turned into a lion.
Please, I’d really like to wake up now.
She looked wildly around their small backyard, hoping against hope that some inspiration would strike. Her gaze snagged on her discarded cellphone, and she flinched. Her ears still burned from the blistering sarcasm of the emergency call handler.
How was I supposed to know that the fire services in England don’t deal with cats stuck in trees?
To be fair, Hayley wasn’t sure they did back home in California, either, but with her baby thirty feet off the ground and squalling in panic, her first reflex had been to dial emergency. Thank Heaven the dispatcher hadn’t believed her. Halfway through the call, she’d had a sudden horrific vision of what could happen if firefighters turned up and discovered that she really did have a lion cub in her backyard. Her little boy could have ended up in the local pound. Or the zoo.
Or some secret government lab, being sliced apart to discover how he transforms…
Hayley jammed a fist in her mouth, stifling the whimper that wanted to rise in her throat. She hadn’t had the luxury of weakness since Danny’s father had left, in the early days of her pregnancy. She definitely couldn’t afford to fall apart now.
Taking a deep breath, she straightened her spine. Just another unexpected crisis, she told herself firmly. Pull it together, Hayley. Danny needs you. It’s not like anyone else is going to come to the rescue.
“Hello?” called a strange male voice, and Hayley nearly leapt out of her skin. Someone knocked on the side gate, which led from the backyard to the narrow alleyway that ran alongside her house. “Ms. Parker? Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, but you weren’t answering the doorbell.”
Of all the times for a door-to-door salesman or charity collector to come round!
“Th-this isn’t a good time!” Hayley yelled over her shoulder.
“I know it isn’t,” the unseen man said. His warm, rolling Scottish accent wrapped round her like a comforter on a cold night. “That’s why I’m here. My name’s Griffin MacCormick, and I work for the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. May I come in?”
Oh no, they sent a firefighter after all!
Visions of secret labs and gleaming scalpels flashed through Hayley’s mind. “No! I…it was just a prank call. I’m really sorry. I swear I’ll never do it again.”
Danny had gone very still and quiet up in the tree, his small round ears pricked toward the sound of the man’s voice. She prayed he wouldn’t meow again.
“It wasn’t a prank call,” the man said, his voice a deep, reassuring rumble. “Your son turned into a lion cub, and now he’s up a tree and can’t get down.”
He knows Danny’s a lion? But he can’t see the tree from the alleyway. And I said ‘cat’ to the fire dispatcher.
“How…?” Hayley whispered to herself.
“I can smell him,” the man added, as if he’d heard her.