Now, there are a great amount of Presidential Pets. In fact, it’s not an odd thing to not know all of the other animals that make up the group. They come from a vast array of years, and some of them aren’t able to enter the Room under normal conditions. As such, this is the first time that Ada and Tom Quartz are meeting.
But still, it seems like a strange way for the tiger to be acting. Tom Quartz looks around the room, but it doesn’t offer him any answers. “No? I’ve come to help you.”
“You’ve come to make yourself feel better,” responds Ada, closing her eyes. She looks exhausted. “Duty and interest aren’t the same thing. I don’t know you.”
“No,” says Tom Quartz, picking his words out carefully. He’s starting to regret not bringing Slippers along with him. “I suppose you don’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to help you, though.”
“Yes it does.”
“No, it really doesn’t. Ada – “
“I’m too tired to talk with you,” says Ada, with a put upon sigh. “Go away.”
Tom Quartz shakes his head. The fur on his tail is puffed up. “What? No, I’m not just going to leave! I worked very hard to find you, Ada! Your sister is worried about you!”
“Ebe is just lonely,” says Ada. “But she’ll get used to it. She’s going to have to get used to it.”
Unease washes over Tom Quartz. He asks, “what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Some pet you are, if you haven’t figured it out yet.”
“Do you have to speak in riddles? It’s been a very long day!”
“I’m not speaking in riddles,” huffs Ada. She still won’t open her eyes. Her whiskers twitch. “You just aren’t smart enough to figure it out.”
Tom Quartz paces in front of the cage. He demands, “are you sick?”
“No,” answers the tigress.
Tom Quartz asks, “than why are you in here? Why would Ebe have to get used to it?”
“Because they’re sending me away,” says Ada. “Or maybe they’re just going to get rid of me. They do that sometimes, you know.”
Tom Quartz is so startled that he trips over his own paws. He spins back around to face the cage. Aghast, he says, “what? No! Why would they do that?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I do,” responds Tom Quartz. He sits down in front of the cage. “I really, really do.”
When Tom Quartz finally gets back outside, he’s very shaken up. Slippers is very shaken up too. She runs over to Tom Quartz and rubs her side against the tom cat. Purring, she says, “there you are! I was so worried about you!”
“I found Ada,” says Tom Quartz, words spat out quick and fast. “I know what happened.”
Slippers asks, “are you okay? Is she okay?”
“For now, but she won’t be if we aren’t quick about it.” Tom Quartz head butts Slippers. He says, “there was a child that didn’t listen to his parent. He pet one of the monkeys when she wasn’t looking, and it bit him! But the kid didn’t want to get in trouble. He said Ada did it!”
Katelynn E Koontz – Author