“How’s she doing?” Jack asked, walking inside the room. As Kohle gave him a perplexed look, he coughed: “Walker, that is.”
Colonel smiled. “Come and see for youself” he said, then turned again to the young vixen beyond the separating screen. “She’s talented” he simply stated, but a prideful note sounded loud and clear in those few words.
Walker’s talent was something the hare had nor right neither intention to question. “That was not what I meant…” Jack tried to say, but he stopped as soon as he realized he didn’t know how to continue the sentence — what did he mean, exactly? “However,” he quickly changed the topic, “how long has she been there?”
“Less than an hour” replied Kohle. “She’s working him like she was born for this.”
“To paint others into a corner? Yes, I agree with you.” Jack wanted to crack a joke, but he sounded more serious than he intended to. He hoped Kohle hadn’t noticed… but judging by the way he was now looking at him, the dog had felt the frustration behind his words. “You two… I still don’t know if you get along very well or hate each other. Which is it?”
Jack shrugged. “Half ‘n half, I suppose. Overall, we sort of… communicate.”
“You’d make a great duo.” Kohle called him over; then, when Jack was close enough, he pointed out the weasel Cynthia was questioning. “She’s got the dialectics you lack, and you have a self-confidence she can only dream of. You complete each other.”
“We fight each other” Jack replied. “Quite often, actually. I think she despises me for some reason.”
“She doesn’t, trust me. Cynthia is just a little… uncooperative? And shy, terribly shy.”
‘Shy? Walker?’ Jack frowned. “With all due respect, colonel… I wouldn’t call Walker shy not even by mistake. As for uncooperative, though, I think it suits her very well.”
“Oh, my boy!” Kohle gave him a vigorous pat on the back. “You’re so dense it’s almost heartwarming.”
At that moment, something happened in the interview room: the weasel suddenly jumped over Walker, showing his claws and teeth. Jack’s paw instinctively reached for his gun as his eyes were literally glued on the scene; he saw Cynthia dodging the mammal, grabbing him by the neck and ultimately pinning him down on the table. All in a blink of eye.
“Wow” said Kohle. “How fast.”
Jack was at loss for words; his body relaxed, but his vision had been sucked into the fight to the point his brain was still processing what had just happened, replaying the scene over and over again. Soon after the incident, a panther came in and took custody of the weasel. Cynthia said something to the feline, then left the room mumbling to herself. That was when Jack finally came back to his senses and honestly thought: ‘Walker, you’re really something.’
As soon as she looked up and acknowledged Jack’s and Kohle’s presence, her eyes widened. “Wha… what are you doing here?” she asked, quite surprised.
“Observing you” Gregory Kohle replied, giving her a warm smile. “Amazing speed and reflexes, my dear.”
Cynthia shook her head. “Not exactly; I… had a vague prediction of how he was going to attack me, judging by his attitude” she explained, massaging her eyebrows. “At some point I thought he was about to jump right on me, but they were just mere conjectures. I was nowhere ready to defend myself if he would have ended up assaulting me from another angle.”
“But… being able to make such a prediction, isn’t it proof you’re amazing?” Jack found himself saying, one second in advance of his own, poor brain. He blinked, a little confused. “What?”