He finally arrived at the top during the late afternoon hours.  The climb had been exhilarating.  He was quite tired, but otherwise felt great.  The "mountain" as it were, was not really very large relative to "real" mountains, but more of a steep hill.  It was not really a dangerous climb, but one did have to be somewhat careful, and it did take some time to get all the way to the summit.  Once there, the view was phenomenal.  This was the highest point on the island, and one could see for miles in every direction.  James marveled at the birds that were actually flying below him instead of above.  He looked down and could see the waves as they pounded the beaches of the islands lengthy shores. 

The peak was not so much a peak, but more of a flat area surrounded by steep drop-offs. There was only a little vegetation, mostly tall grasses and some scrubby brush.  There were a few short trees, but nothing much taller than him.  He walked around the summit, enjoying the views.  He decided to spend the night here. 

In the evening James was rewarded with the most spectacular sunset that he had ever seen.  So many colors and hues mixed in with what few clouds there were framed the sinking orb.  He sat in the soft windblown grasses transfixed at the show that nature was presenting for him and only him.  It was as if he was the only person in the world.  A smile gradually made its was to his face.  For the first time in a very long time James VanAnkat was actually happy and at peace.  He wanted this moment to last forever, but all too soon, the sun faded behind the horizon, and darkness crept over the landscape. 

He reached into the pouch at his waist and pulled out the snack bars and water.  There was no game this far up, so these would have to do until tomorrow.  He  slowly ate the bars, making them last as long as possible.  He washed them down with half of the water that was in the bottle he had brought.  Slowly lying back until his head lay amongst the tall grasses, he stared up into the cool black night sky.  The moon was just beginning to rise off of the horizon.  He stared directly up into the billions of twinkling lights that shone above him.  James marveled at how much more detail and how many more were visible at this location.  He knew that it was just the lights from the city that he had lived in that had obscured them before, but in relation to that, it seemed as if he had been transported to another world.  It all just seemed so very different.  So very peaceful.  He was sure that it was because there were no people around.  He was consoled by this thought as he fell asleep under the stars. 

He awoke somewhat early and covered with the morning dew.  As his thick fur had only just started its thinning process, he was quite warm throughout most of the night.  He had started to get a bit of a chill as he had been out in the open and not under cover.  This is what woke him from his deep slumber.  In fact, James could not remember when he had slept so well as he had since arriving to the island.  It was worth coming here just for that. 

The morning air was cool, but was warming quickly as the sun steadily rose into the sky.  James was quite hungry.  His body was making quite a racket as his stomach growled and his bowels churned.  "Time to get up and get moving" he thought.  He went over to a ledge with some brush and squatted down, thinking about what to do next as he relieved himself.  He decided he had to get back to the lodge, to at least get some food if nothing else.  Actually, he thought he would take an alternate route down the mountain to return to the resort this morning.  After getting something to eat and cleaning up from his little excursion, he would rest up the remainder of the day, and start out again in the morning exploring the area. 

James looked over the edge of the summit.  He could make out the island of Buck’s Rump in the Lagoon off in the distance.  He knew the main lodge was across the lagoon from it, so that gave him his headings to work from for his descent.  As he looked over at the small island in the lagoon, he remembered what Sylvia had said, how two of her sons camped out there.  A mischievous idea flashed into his head.  He grinned widely as the plan formed and fleshed out in his mind.  "I think I know where I will be exploring tomorrow!" he thought.  With that he started out down the mountain, at a somewhat faster pace and more direct route than his ascent had been. 

Janet woke early that morning also.  She had a plan of sorts - to find this mysterious tiger that everyone had been talking about and she had yet to even see.  She was going to track him down, stalk him like the animal everyone said he was.  And when she finally found him, well time would only tell, but she wanted him.  She would mate with him.  No one could resist her feminine charms, and she undertook this as a personal quest.  She didn’t care how grumpy or nasty he was - she was going to tame this wild beast. 

And perhaps more importantly, she was finally going to get some!  It had been nearly a month since her last sexual encounter, and this was one horny kitty!  Janet was as near to a nymphomaniac as the island had.  But the family business came first.  And it had been quite busy of late.  Now that the guests were nearly gone, she finally had some time to herself.  And she was going to take advantage of that time.  And Mr. VanAnkat as well. 

After lunch the previous day she cornered her youngest brother and grilled him in detail about what he had seen out in the woods.  She asked him exactly where he had seen the tiger and how to get there.  She asked Rale about what he had seen the man doing and what the man looked like.  She needed as much information as possible if her plan was to come to fruition. 

Starting out early in the day, Janet made her way towards the pond on the hill.  She had told her sister Beth a little of her plan as she put on her backpack.  She wanted someone to know where she would be in case mother started to get concerned.  About halfway to her destination she paused in the middle of the forest.  She smelled something out of the ordinary.  Her senses were nowhere near as advanced as fauves, but better than most civics.  A pungent scent was accosting her nose. 

She stood and took a deep inhale, then walked a little and did the same.  It was stronger.  She repeated this process until she came upon a tree that had fresh claw scrapes marking it about 6-7 feet up the trunk.  A quick smell assured her that this tree was were the scent was coming from.  What kind of animal had done this she pondered.  Then it hit her - it had to be him - VanAnkat!  Only he was tall enough to make those scratches.  But they were so deep!  And what was that smell?  There was definitely a "urine" component to the scent, but there was more. 

A shiver went through her.  What was she doing?  Was she getting in over her head?  It quickly became obvious to her that if this man was capable of this, then perhaps her brother was right - maybe this guy was more animal than person.  She had read of people having delusions of being animals.  It was not that common, and was treated as a mental illness.  With treatment they usually recovered.  But due to this mans size, he could really be dangerous.  Janet almost turned back with that thought, but her ego and libido got the better of her.  She felt that she would be able to "tame" him! 

Janet looked up the hill into the dense forest.  This was not going to be an easy job.  She was not used to heavy physical exertion, but she would endure it.  It would make the ultimate goal all that much more precious when attained.  So up she went, following the stream, and the "marks" that had been left behind. 

It was early afternoon when she came to the pond with the waterfall.  She stopped and carefully listened.  Nothing, she heard nothing.  He was not here now, but he had been.  There was the campfire, with the "spit" still on it.  And all around the pond were his huge paw tracks.  Well, it was time for a break anyway, so she sat down and pulled out a sandwich she had brought with her.  She was hungry, having worked up quite an appetite on the ascent here.  She couldn’t linger here too long though, as her quarry was still out there. 

But she was warm and sticky, and the water looked so inviting.  Slipping off her shorts and halter top, she tested out the water, slowly walking out into it.  It was perfect, very refreshing.  She would have liked to linger, but she knew she had to get moving on.  She walked back to shore, and after shaking out most of the water, put her clothing back on.  It was not that she was in the least bit that modest, but the branches and undergrowth could be quite sharp, so it was the prudent thing to do.  With that she once again began her climb, following the obvious trail that the tiger had left. 

By mid-afternoon James had arrived at the section of forest behind his cabin.  Even though it was mostly downhill, be was still hot and tired from his trek.  His feet were killing him.  The small pond that lay behind his cabin beckoned him like siren’s song.  He threw off his waist pouch and waded in to test the water.  It was so cool and refreshing.  His overheated body could not hold out any longer, and he dove in head first.  It felt so good! 

As he lounged about in the water, his stomach suddenly made its presence know with a rather large growl.  "God am I hungry!" he thought.  He slowly made his way out of the pond, stopping at the edge to shake out most of the water from his fur.  He bent over and picked up his pouch, retrieving the cabin key from it.  Opening the door, he made a bee-line for the phone.  Picking it up he dialed the kitchen.  "I need a large dinner tray - lots of food.  Have it delivered and set outside my cabin in 20 minutes!" 

After hanging up the phone he went to the bathroom.  Even though he was still dripping wet from his dip into the pond, he still felt soiled from his trek.  He went into the shower and lathered up quickly, running his fingers through his matted fur as forcefully as possible, nearly making his skin raw in areas.  As he rinsed off, he noticed the shower filling up with water and suds.  thinking that something was over the drain, he reached down and felt over that area.  He grabbed something and brought it above the surface of the water.  He looked down at his hands and the huge wad of black and white fur he held in them.  "Just as I suspected," he thought to himself, "I am starting to lose my winter coat".  He dug the rest of it out and set the huge wad of fur in the corner of the tub, so that the water would drain. 

By late afternoon Janet had reached the summit.  As she explored the area she found the clues that meant that she was still on the right track.  Over in some bushes she found his toilet area.  The powerful odor made it hard to mistake.  And in the center was a large area of matted down grass.  She bent down to examine it.  There was a clump of white and black fur there.  "He was definitely here, probably slept here last night" she thought aloud.  "Well, if he can do it, so can I!"  With that she removed her pack.  She knew she would never make it down the mountain before dark, and thought that this would be as good a place to camp out as any. 

She unrolled her sleeping bag and unpacked another sandwich, and a container of fruit juice.  Watching the sun set over the islands while she ate, she was amazed at the view.  "I can see why he stayed here" she mused to herself.  She was quite tired, and as the dark came upon the summit, she crawled into her sleeping bag and made herself as comfortable as possible as she quietly drifted off to sleep. 

After finishing up with his shower and drying off, James went to the door of the cabin and opening it, retrieved the tray of food that waited for him.  He was so hungry.  "I’ll have to remember to pack more food for my next excursion" he thought.  Within minutes the food had disappeared.  James felt awkward for some odd reason for eating so quickly.  He thought back to his mother telling him not to eat so fast when he was younger.  He sat at the table for a moment, staring at the empty tray in front of him on the table, his mind far away. 

After dropping the tray back off on the chair outside he went back into the cabin.  He looked against the back wall of the living room.  There, sitting like some huge monolith lay the steamer trunk.  The one filled with items from his parents estate.  He had not looked through it since they had died all those years ago.  It lay in the spare room of his apartment in town, just gathering dust since the funeral.  For some reason, he had to open it. 

The heavy black lid creaked as he opened it up.  The smell of mothballs and old paper accosted his nostrils.  He wrinkled up his face in response, his whiskers twitching.  He reached in and pulled out the pile of framed items that lay on one side of the trunk.  The smell was so bad he immediately shut the lid back up. 

Going back to the table he set down the frames.  The top one was an old photo of his grandfather in his army uniform, taken just at the start of the war.  Then next was a similar shot, but of his father in his pilot’s uniform, that was taken towards the end of the war.  Then came the largest one, a deep set frame that included all his father’s medals and insignias, surrounding a photo of his father sitting in his fighter plane.  James remembered how his father used to stare at this, as it hung proudly in his father’s study at home.  Lastly, there was a smaller frame that held a photo of him and his mother seated on an old wooden swing in the backyard. 

As he looked at this last photo, his eyes began to tear up, and he remembered why he had not gone into the chest in all those years.  The memories where so strong and still so painful.  He took the frames into his bedroom, and set them up on the dresser.  It gave the place a much "homier" feel to it by having them there. 

He went back into the living room and quickly went through the few television channels.  Nothing attracted his attention, so he turned on his computer and went on-line.  Before he knew it he was nearly falling asleep, and shut off the unit, and crawled into bed.  He fell asleep almost immediately.