As she neared the cabin, she saw the blood trail coming from it that had been left by her daughter.  The door to the cabin was still slightly ajar, and the housekeeping cart still sat in the front room.  As Sylvia entered she quietly said “Mr. VanAnkat, are you here?”  There was no response, but she could hear what sounded like muffled sobs coming from the bedroom.  The scene that she found in there was as her daughter had described to her.  The huge tiger was on the far side of the bed, kneeling on the floor amongst the broken glass of the picture frame, still crying.  The fur on his face lay matted down against his skin from the tears.  He stared vacantly at the picture he held in his large paws.

“Mr. VanAnkat, can you tell me what happened?” Sylvia gently asked him.  There was no response, but for the sobs.  She was starting to get concerned.  The last time she had seen anyone in a state similar to this was when Kari had lost her family.  And if that episode was anything to go by, this could be the start of a dangerous situation.  She was NOT going to let things get out of control this time though.

“Mr. VanAnkat, I have to get the glass cleaned up,” she said to him, hoping to get his attention.  There was no response whatsoever from the man.   Sylvia went to the cart and retrieved a broom and dustpan, and proceeded to clean up the glass around him as best she could.  As she swept near the tiger’s fur, she noticed the streaks of red that the broom was leaving on the floor.  After emptying the glass into the wastebasket, she returned with a wet cloth to wipe up the mess.

As she got near the tiger’s legs, the source of the red streaking became evident.  There was blood puddling under the legs of the still crying man, and blood dripping from his hands as they tightly clutched the broken photo frame.  “Goodness, your bleeding sir!” she said to him somewhat surprised.  She grabbed him by his elbow and as she tried to help lift him up said, “Come now!  Let’s get you onto the bed so I can get you fixed up and stop the bleeding!”

As she said this and applied upward pressure to his elbow, he turned his massive head and stared at her through tear filled eyes.  Sylvia was somewhat taken aback by this, and stared back into his huge blue eyes, a sudden sense of fear quickly rising up in her.  She had a feeling she knew what her daughter had experienced earlier.  After a moment he uttered the word “Mommy?” and tilted his head a bit, giving Sylvia a questioning look.

She was not quite ready for this turn of events, but decided she would deal with it a little later.  First she had to get his bleeding stopped.  “Come on”, she said as she pulled at his arm with all her strength, “Get up and sit on the edge of the bed here.”

As the large man rose he simple said “Yes, Mommy”, and did as she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.  As he did this Sylvia saw the multiple shards of glass that were protruding from both of the tiger’s knees.  Bright red blood contrasted sharply against the white fur on his legs.  There were small pools of the red liquid on the floor where he had been kneeling.  Sylvia just gasped at the scene in front of her.

She snapped out of her dismay quickly though and sprang into action.  She ran to the bathroom and got the first aid kit and a warm damp washcloth.  As she returned she observed that the tiger was still sobbing, though somewhat less than when she had first arrived.  He was still clutching and staring at the broken picture.  Sylvia laid out the kit on the bed next to James, and using the tweezers, began to remove the shards of glass.  It surprised her that the man never even winced or showed any feelings, as she did what she thought must have been a very painful procedure to him.

After removing the glass and wiping up as much blood from his leg fur as she could, Sylvia applied some antibiotic ointment to the cuts and wrapped them up with gauze from the kit.  She then cleaned up the puddles of blood and remaining glass that had been under the tiger on the floor.  She was very careful as she did this, as she did not want to get any cuts herself.

There was still the matter of the man’s hands.  There was blood on them as well, and Sylvia knew that there must also be glass embedded in one if not both of them.  But from the looks of him, it was not going to be easy to get the tiger to part with the object.  “Mr. VanAnkat, give me the picture so I can check your hands over” she asked him as calmly as she could.  There was no response at all.  She reached for the frame and tried to pull it away, but he would not release it.  An idea came to her.  In a very firm and loud tone she said “JAMES!”

The tiger immediately released the picture into her grasp.  As he did so though, he immediately fell back down on the bed and curled up into a fetal position with his hands protecting his face and screamed at her “Don’t hit me Mommy!”

Sylvia was at the foot of the bed on her knees, holding the broken and bloody photo frame, and stared at the huge tiger as he shivered in fear in front of her on the bed.  She now knew she was in WAY over her head.  It was obvious to her that the man must be having some kind of “nervous breakdown”.  He seemed to have regressed back to his childhood.  “What the hell am I going to do?” she thought to herself as she stared at the gigantic form on the bed.  She wondered if any one else had seen evidence that something like this was going to happen.  In fact, the children all seemed rather reluctant to discuss much about him, which was odd to say the least.  Most guests were discussed at length, but little was said about the man by the children, except for the occasional jokes and snide remarks.

She had to get his hands checked over, that was the first thing to do.  She got up and walked over to the edge of the bed and said in a quiet but firm voice “James, give me your hands.”  The tiger meekly offered them to her.  He had a look of fear on his face as he cowered beneath her.  Sylvia took the cloth and wiped the blood away to find some cuts, but no glass embedded in them.  She treated these as she had the others, and after finishing said, “There.  Doesn’t that feel better now?”

James just nodded weakly at her.  She looked at him and he turned his eyes submissively to the ground.  Now came the hard part.  She had to try and reach out to him.  To get him back to the present.  She sat next to him on the bed and took his large paw into her much smaller one and said “Mr. VanAnkat, do you know where you are?”  Without looking directly at her he simply nodded his head.  “So tell me where you are then,” she said calmly.

 He was still crying somewhat.  “We are at home, Mommy” was his response.  This literally sent chills up and down Sylvia’s spine.  She wondered what to do next.  Having no formal training in Psychology, she was at a loss for how to proceed.  She had to buy some time.  Maybe he would come out of it a bit if given some time.

Before she had even thought about it much she found herself saying “It’s time for your nap” to the tiger.

“All right” came the meek response from the man.  As she got up to leave he grabbed her arm tightly and said “Mommy!  Please stay with me!”  His eyes looked at her pleadingly, full of sadness.

Sylvia knew she was not going to be allowed to go anywhere.  “Very good” she responded, approaching the bed.  “You just try and go to sleep.” She positioned his arm back over his extensive chest, and lay down behind him, putting her arm over his massive shoulder.  “Everything will be all right,” she said, trying to reassure both the tiger and herself.  “You just go to sleep and when you wake up everything will be all better.”

Sylvia’s mind raced as she lay next to James, listening to the sniffling sobs slowly die down over time to a slow even breathing.  Every so often he let out a large “sigh”.    Now that the tiger was dozing, she took some time to look him over carefully.  The man’s sheer size was really quite impressive as she lay next to him.  It reminded her of the lion friend she had in college, as their physical makeup and proportions were similar, excepting the fur and lack of a mane.  She watched as the man’s rounded, black tipped ears would occasionally twitch.  She wondered if his thick neck was muscle or just layers of fur and skin.  Either way, she felt that he was kind of handsome, even though he had a kind of “albino” look to him.

It was obvious, from both the black running shorts and the “aroma” that came from the man that he must have just come in from exercising when he interrupted her daughter. It was not an overpowering stench, but just that stale, musty smell that reminded Sylvia of the gyms at college.  He needed a shower, but in his present condition, that might not be an easy task to accomplish.  When he woke up, that would be the first item on the agenda.

It quickly became apparent to Sylvia that the tiger had fallen asleep.  She knew she had to stay with him, just to keep him calm whenever he woke up.  She prayed that he would not be any worse, and hopefully he would be better when that time came.  Carefully, she removed herself from the bed and went into the front room.

She sat at the desk, noting the computer and papers littering its surface.  She glanced over some of them, picking one up and looking it over.  It was a printout of a recent stock transaction.  The man had sold 5,000 shares of Amalgamated Old Country Mining.  It was currently running around 112 per share, and Sylvia’s mouth just dropped open when she realized this amounted to well over a half million!!  No wonder the tiger could afford to stay as long as he was.  And she thought that she was overcharging him!  This certainly changed her attitude towards him.

Putting down the papers, she picked up the phone, dialing the office.  Janet answered with the usual greeting.

“Janet, its mother.  Listen, I am going to be staying with Mr. VanAnkat for a while, as he is not feeling very well.  Could you please make up some sandwiches and soup for us and have someone bring it over here?  Tell them to be very quiet though, as he is asleep right now, and I want him to get as much rest as possible.  They can just put it right into the refrigerator here.”

“Sure thing, Mom” her eldest daughter responded.  “Is he going to be all right?”

“I am not sure.  I will know more by tomorrow I think, but I am going to stay with him for now to make sure everything is OK.”

“Listen Mother, I don’t want you to take this wrong, and please don’t get upset with me, but I have to ask you something...”

“Yes dear?”

“You aren’t, like, being held there by him against your will are you?”

“Heavens no child!  Whatever made you think that?!”

“Well, I was just somewhat concerned for your safety is all, especially after what I heard happened with Beth.”

“Well, everything is just fine here, at least with me.”

“Well, can I be nosy and ask another, ahhh, question of a more “personal” nature then?”

“You know you can ask me anything, dear”

“You and him have not been, like, “going at it” have you?”

“Now Janet, that’s awfully personal!!  But no, he is really not feeling well at all, and I don’t think he could even “function” in that way at this time.  Whatever made you ask that?!”

“Once again, I’m just concerned for your welfare, and want to make sure you’re safe and happy.”

“Well you know I can take care of myself quite well.  Are you sure there wasn’t some other reason behind your concern.  Perhaps I detect a little note of jealously rearing its ugly head?”

Now it was the young woman’s turn to be shocked.  How had her mother known she had planned on trying to seduce the tiger?  Was her mother just guessing, maybe grasping at straws?  Janet wasn’t going to let herself be drawn into her mother’s little trap though.  “Why mother!!  How could you ever think something like that!  I mean, the man is old enough to be my father!”

“Well, he is a tiger, as are you.   One never knows.....”

“Mother!  What kind of girl do you think I am?!”

“I know how strong your “drives” can be, dear.”

“Well, I will get busy with dinner and get it too you.”

“Thank you, and by the way - turn off incoming calls to the cabin here - I want nothing to wake him up.”

“Will do.”

After hanging up, Sylvia pondered the conversation for a moment.  She was now surer than ever that there was something going on that she was unaware of.  Something important, or her daughter would not have acted as she had or said the things she had said.  She was going to have to “casually” question all the children when she could, and see if she could find out the truth behind the situation.

She got up and stretched her body, yawning as she did.  Having not slept well over the last few nights, she was quite tired.  “Might as well get some rest while I can” she thought to herself.  “Who knows how long it will be before I get some more?”  She walked into the bedroom and stared at the tiger lying peacefully in the bed.  “Who knows?  Maybe in the future....” she thought.  Climbing onto the bed carefully, she snuggled up behind the man, wrapping her arm around his waist.  Within minutes she was as fast asleep as the tiger was.