by T. M. Clark
Filipe was small for a black guy, really short compared to Enoch and Xo. He almost looked like a schoolboy, except for the telltale signs of ageing around his eyes and the white in his hair. He was wiry and as nimble as anything. And bossy.
She’d seen him with the fence; this was work that he was used to. Despite his AK-47 hanging from his shoulder, he wielded wire cutters like a professional. Ordering everyone around to go faster, work harder. Even telling Nick and her what to do. That was something she wasn’t used to.
It amused her to watch Nick bristle.
‘Don’t react,’ Chloe reminded him, ‘he’s not doing it to be nasty, but because he wants us to succeed, to get through into Zimbabwe no matter what. He’ll have to answer to General Vareya personally if he fails.’
She knew that they needed him to guide them through a quicker journey. But Filipe was just so … military.
‘We are clear, drive her through,’ Enoch called, breaking into her thoughts.
She breathed a small sigh of relief and released the brake, put her truck in gear and slowly edged forward, through the narrow gap between the two poles. She knew that she would fit, but making sure the whole truck kept true and didn’t scratch if she went at an angle was taxing her skills.
Finally, she let out her breath; she was through. She stopped a little distance away and made sure that the handbrake was on. She was so tired.
Looking in the big side mirror, she could see that her bruising was at last going yellow and fading. A good thing as her pain meds had run out. Her lip itched from the internal stitching the doctors had sutured, but the line on the outside was neat and given time the scar would fade. As for her orange hair, that would grow out thank goodness, because she didn’t like that one bit. She pulled her jungle hat back on her head, covering it.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and jumped out to rejoin the others.
Nick swore. ‘I never thought I’d see the day I was cutting a hole in the same fence I’ve helped mend so many times before.’
Chloe smiled. She hadn’t heard him swear often, so it added weight to him doing it now. She knew that he was as angry and tired as she was. Frustrated with their situation.
‘Relax, Nick, we are going to restring,’ Khululani said.
Filipe looked at them, shaking his head. ‘That’s a waste of time.’
‘Not a waste. It will keep the elephants inside the park,’ Khululani said. ‘Better on the South African side. They might die to poachers, and sometimes they get culled, but still, they die fast. Not like getting massacred in Mozambique for meat for the troops, with no care if they suffer or not.’
Filipe turned away to avoid an argument, but he clearly was irritated that he wasn’t being obeyed.
Chloe chewed on her lip as she watched him. While he’d shown he was a peacemaker at heart, Filipe obviously was not happy about the talk of his people massacring animals for food.
‘Fixing it would be great, even making it almost fixed, but it is not happening,’ Enoch said. ‘We do not have wire pullers with us.’
‘But we can at least try to pull in a few of the strands,’ Nick said.
Filipe turned back to them. This time his voice was more forceful. Cold. Military once again. ‘This needs to look like a vehicle theft, that you have come through and driven deep into Mozambique. Only a ranger would fix an elephant fence. A hijacker would not stop to fix it—they cut it and drive through. If you try to fix it in any way, it’ll make your crossing different to the hundreds before you. The SAP will know it was you who came this way, and not someone stealing a vehicle. General Vareya told me that Miss Chloe is wanted by the SAP for saving a black man’s life. If you make this crossing about the elephants, then we’ll have the SAP joined by the SADF and the FRELIMO soldiers will follow too. They will all know that someone who is travelling this way belongs to the Parks Board. They might want to question you all. Only if this looks like a stolen vehicle, will you be safe from the SAP. This is Mozambique, and the South African law no longer holds here. But if they want you badly enough, then they will send the soldiers from the SADF after you: the Recces. You are not safe till you’re in Zimbabwe, where even they do not dare tread because of the Red Brigade. You must do everything not to let them know we crossed here.’
They all stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
‘Fair point,’ Chloe said. ‘I vote we leave it. I can think of nothing worse than anyone from the South African military catching up with us now that we’ve crossed into Mozambique.’
‘Fuck it. Let’s get out of here,’ Nick said.
Filipe nodded. ‘Enoch needs to drive now. Nick, you must go in the back with Miss Chloe, Mike and Ethel. You and Xo need to keep the woman and Mike safe. I have Khululani and Enoch in Parks Board overalls, and me looking like a FRELIMO, but you and Miss Chloe and Mike, you are white, and no one will expect you to be here. This is not your war on this side of the border.’
Nick nodded, as did Chloe.
Nick put his hand gently on the small of her back to guide her towards the truck, and she didn’t immediately step away. It felt like a motion done without thought, but it brought him close enough to her and she found that she liked that. A lot.
As the tail of the truck closed her in with the horses, she sat on the feed bags and wondered how she was going to get through another two days cooped up inside the box. Xo and Enoch had managed so far and refused to switch with her when she’d suggested it. Now she watched the unchanging inside of the truck, instead of the scenery and the wildlife as they passed it by. The time was measured by how many sweat droplets rolled from her arms and dripped into the hay spread across the floor.
The truck groaned and creaked under them as they pushed further into Mozambique. She thought about how little they knew of Filipe, and yet they all had had to put their trust in him.
He was RENAMO, sworn enemy of FRELIMO, but he seemed to be able to move between the two as if he belonged to both factions. At least she hoped he did; they had yet to test his disguise. Filipe’s bag was tucked away under the truck, where—hopefully—no one would find it. His RENAMO and Parks Board uniforms were directly below her feet.
She supposed she needed to believe that he was on their side and trust him.
* * *
Nick and Chloe looked up and over the metal through the breathing holes in the truck, as they came to a stop at a roadblock in the middle of nowhere.
‘This is the safari company road to their camp. I need to speak with these men, tell them that I’m transporting something important. Then we’ll have no more stops,’ Filipe said into the radio.
‘Leave your weapon,’ Enoch suggested. ‘It makes you look hostile.’
‘That would be like stripping me naked,’ Filipe said, then the radio cut out.
Chloe could hear him climb out and slam the door, and she adjusted her height to try to see better. Nick helped her gain her balance a little higher up on a bale. Despite him taking his hand away once she was steady, she could still feel the lingering warmth.
Her heart pounded as Filipe appeared in front while he walked closer to the roadblock. She looked at Xo. He was still. Composed. Watching the happenings, but she noticed that he’d got one of the hunting rifles ready while she’d been dozing, and it was pointed at the guards, just in case. Sweat ran down his face in rivulets. He was clearly more anxious than he looked.
Nick was also ready. The intense expression on his face as he watched the goings-on outside made her wonder again what it was that he and Enoch still had to settle. She adored Enoch, and as she became reacquainted with Nick a little more every day, she was coming to realise that they were very much the same. Both were determined men. They had obviously put aside whatever it was for the journey, so she wouldn’t ask either of them, but she was very curious. She remembered that there had been a closeness between Enoch, her father and Nick when she was a teenager, and yet now he seemed to tolerate their presence rather than be h
appy with their company.
She also chose not to ask why they hadn’t got a rifle out for her. After all, she needed to be silent and ensure that she didn’t give any reasons for the guards to come and look inside the truck.
Turning away, she slid carefully down the bale to check on her dad, but Ethel already had her one hand on Mike’s arm and her other showing him to be quiet with her finger over her lips. Chloe hoped that her dad still understood that sign. But given that he was not known for making much noise, she wasn’t that worried about the sounds, more that he would want to move.
Thankfully, she’d noticed that since he’d sat on the hay bale near Diablo, they had travelled better. It was as if the man and the horse—which he’d bottle-fed as a foal after its mother had died in transit after being captured in the Matopos, and had grown old together—were taking comfort from each other. Diablo had carried Mike through his war years. Now the horse rested his velvety-soft nose in his hand and blew gently, as if comforting her father.
She climbed back onto her bale and watched as Filipe spoke with the men, shaking their hands one by one.
The sweat had started to roll down Chloe’s face, and she wiped her head on her shoulder. With the truck not moving, the back was quickly heating up even more than it had been while in transit. It seemed to be taking forever for Filipe to come back, although she knew that it was only a few moments.
As if knowing of their obvious discomfort in the hot parked truck, Filipe came to the back and opened up the small side door. She could only see the top of his head, but when he walked back to the men, she could see that the price for the talk was only a single bottle of whisky and a carton of cigarettes, both of which he handed over to the guards.
There was lots of back slapping going on, and finally he returned, and the men moved the barrier to the side of the road.
‘Drive, Dad, get us the hell out of here,’ Xo said quietly as the door closed, signalling that Filipe was back in the truck. ‘Don’t stop till we get to Mapai to cross the river.’ Slowly, he lowered his rifle and held it between his legs, not ready to let it go.
The breeze began circulating inside the truck again as they bounced slowly along the bush track.
‘That was tense,’ Chloe said.
‘Guess Filipe was convincing enough. Now we have to see how fast the news travels in this part and if we are going to get anyone else sniffing around us,’ Nick said as he put aside his rifle.
They continued to drive for another few hours, but they could see that the horses were tired, restless. They were kicking at flies and baring teeth at each other, not something they did often.
‘Dad, we need to find a place for the horses to walk around, they have had enough,’ Xo said into the radio.
‘We just passed a small abandoned village. It is probably a good place here,’ Enoch said as he slowed to a stop under a large tree.
Even though Chloe knew that no one was in the burnt-out shells of the kraals, it still upset her to see them as they drove past. Where once families had worked and played, the dirt was blackened from the flames that had ravaged the mud huts, easily destroying the thatch. The mud bricks still stood, despite the fire that had consumed the buildings. Only a few had crumbled and fallen inwards, bowing to the savagery that had befallen them. A row of pottery containers that had been used to store food or water for a family had exploded in the heat outside of one hut. Chloe turned away when she saw a pile of charred corrugated iron, too distressed to look anymore.
Enoch opened the back, dragging her thoughts away from the village. Khululani was standing with him, with Filipe to his left, a large grin on his face and his AK-47 slung on his shoulder.
‘I have no idea what you’re finding to smile at,’ Chloe said.
‘I’m looking at the real precious cargo, and I’m thinking that the men of FRELIMO will not believe it when word gets to them that this was only a lot of horses.’
She shook her head.
‘You just keep believing that’s the precious cargo and we’ll be fine,’ Nick mumbled as he helped Mike and Ethel out of the back.
‘It’s not the horses, it’s the people, isn’t it? Something else is special—your lady love, as Vareya called her. Other than the police chasing her, and her orange hair.’
Nick grinned back.
‘Hey the hair will grow out eventually, once I’m safe in Zimbabwe. But why do you insist that I’m anyone’s lady love?’ she asked. ‘Have you seen any of us do anything remotely romantic?’
He shook his head. ‘Just because a love is not in the open, does not mean it is not real, and not there.’
Enoch laughed as he led the first horse down the road. They each took their horses, and while Khululani kept watch for lions and leopards, they watered them and walked them for a good two hours under the trees.
Mike wandered around a little with Ethel watching him like a hawk, before she settled him into his sleeping bag under the vehicle, and he slept for almost all the time they were walking the horses. Ethel sat in the deck chair, constantly checking that he was still alright, and no ants or scorpions had crawled onto him.
‘We need to drive for another few hours, then make camp before dark. We cannot drive through this area at night; we will hit a landmine for sure,’ Filipe said. ‘I remember that there is another burnt-out, abandoned village about three, three and a half hours away up this track. If we can get there, at least we can have a solid wall behind the truck for better protection tonight.’
Nick nodded. ‘Let’s load up again and get moving.’
* * *
‘Can you smell the smoke?’ Filipe asked as they neared their destination.
Enoch and Khululani sniffed.
‘Cooking fires,’ Khululani said.
‘Perhaps the people have returned to the village?’ Enoch said.
‘Or soldiers,’ Filipe said. ‘We need to check it out before we drive in there. There could be danger for the truck.’
They stopped on the rough track and let the others out of the back.
‘That village isn’t abandoned anymore,’ Enoch said. ‘Filipe wants to go and have a look, make sure it’s safe to approach.’
‘I will go with,’ Khululani said, ‘it is better to have two sets of eyes and ears in the bush when you think you might be walking into danger.’
Nick nodded. ‘I agree, so while Khululani and Filipe go on reconnaissance on foot, we need to keep watch over the truck. There is no place to hide in the open bush, and while people could sneak up on us, if we sit on top, we should have a height advantage and will see anyone approaching.’
‘How am I getting my dad up on top and off again?’ Chloe asked.
‘You’re not. Ethel and Mike can make a small camp and get comfortable in the shade of the truck. I don’t expect them up here. We’ll watch in case something like a hyena comes sniffing around.’
Enoch nodded. ‘Right, let us get ourselves ready. I will see to Mike and help Ethel. Xo and Chloe, start your watch up there.’ He pointed to the roof. ‘Make sure you have extra ammo with you.’
Just as the sun set, Khululani reappeared. ‘We make camp here. The villagers, they have returned recently, but they are still shell-shocked from the last attack that happened. They have a few nguni in their boma, and they have horns. Putting the horses in with the cattle as a place to stay for the night is not a good idea. The cows do not know the horses; they might hurt them. And they have dogs; I doubt very much they are vaccinated; if one bites a horse they could get rabies. Better to stay out here than go into the village and share their fire.’
‘Agreed,’ Chloe said.
Khululani nodded. ‘Filipe has gone to check that the message he sent to the FRELIMO camp, just past the village, has got through. He said if he is not back by nine o’clock that we must take it that his message was not received and make ready for an ambush. He said this FRELIMO, they come in the night, so nobody sleeps.’
‘Shit,’ Enoch said.
�
�At least we can sort of prepare,’ Nick said. ‘If I was in their shoes, I would mortar the truck first, so we need to build a boma and get the horses out. Did you notice any ditches or gullies when you were walking?’ Nick asked.
‘About three hundred metres to the right, there is a small riverbed which is dry,’ Khululani said.
‘Let’s get the horses out and walk them there. Hopefully, we can find a place not too far away that we can corral them in. There are enough thornbushes to make the boma. It won’t be bulletproof, but it can keep out the predators,’ Nick said.
‘They will stay when instructed. They are all trained, except maybe the mare Pampero; she has not finished her training yet with Chloe and me,’ Enoch said.
Nick nodded. ‘Lucky they had you to train them, then, because if they bolt in this countryside, we’ll never catch them.’
‘It is mostly Chloe’s hard work. I help, but she is the horse whisperer now,’ Enoch said.
‘Really?’ Nick asked in surprise. ‘She’s better at training horses than you? I find that hard to believe. You were pretty spectacular in your day.’
Enoch said, ‘She inherited Mike’s soft touch, although he still stands there and somehow even without words commands them to calm down. It is amazing what he can still do.’
‘Once we’re finished making the boma, then what?’ Chloe asked.
‘You and Xo stay with the horses and out of sight,’ Nick said. ‘Take your dad and Ethel with you down to the river, and keep the horses quiet, then us three will protect the truck. That way you two women are together, which makes it easier to protect you both.’
‘I can do my share of protecting, thank you, Nick,’ Chloe said. ‘Ethel and I aren’t exactly useless.’
Nick shook his head. ‘You know that’s not what I meant. I know you’re capable of protecting yourself.’
‘Fine, but Chloe and I are taking the spark plug leads with us in case they come and try to steal the truck,’ Xo said. ‘I’m not walking if I can possibly help it. Not here in Mozambique. Too many landmines from what you guys say; I like my feet. I want to be much closer to home before I have to get on a horse and ride through the bush again. They are not taking our truck for a joy ride.’