by T. M. Clark
Chloe could feel the warmth from him, but her shakes wouldn’t stop. ‘This could have been any of us. I’m not sure why it was Ethel. She was looking forward to her new life so much, loving the adventure. Do you know that other than going to Durban to train as a nurse, Ethel had never travelled? She’s never even been out of Natal and the Transkei. I once bought her some sea water and shells in a bottle from the ocean. Something so small, and yet when I gave it over, she reacted as if I had given her the moon. She was so humble. Never once did I hear her complain about what we asked her to do. Not even a single time. And this is what happens when she was so looking forward —’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Nick tried to comfort her.
‘She chose to come with us, and because of that she’s dead,’ Chloe said, just as a hiccup hit. Followed by another.
‘At least she died free,’ Enoch said. ‘She was not being dictated to about what she could do, or where she could live, or who she could sleep next to. Even though she has passed on, she was happy when she died. You were with her this morning when she was eager to climb back onto Pampero and face another day, because she knew that soon she would have a better life. You gave her that, Chloe, and that is what you need to focus on.’
A loud unladylike squeak escaped out of Chloe.
Nick smiled. ‘You sound like a cross between a bat and an annoyed tree squirrel.’
‘Thank-squeak-you very much,’ she said and stepped away from him. She felt his hand linger on her shoulder as a coldness of air and reality rushed between them again. She stepped back into Nick’s warmth and put her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart in the hope that it would help block out the scenes replaying inside her head.
‘None of what’s happened has been your fault,’ Nick said. ‘This monster needs to take responsibility for the harm he’s caused. Ethel’s death is squarely at his feet, no one else’s.’
Chloe leaned against Nick.
Enoch placed a rough cross into the ground as they began to pile stones onto Ethel’s grave. Chloe bent down and helped cover the grave as fresh tears flowed from her eyes.
‘I think Ethel would have appreciated you getting those at her graveside,’ Xo said. ‘Remember the time she was trying to get your dad to sleep and you got hiccups, and she eventually chased you out of his room because you couldn’t keep them quiet?’
‘I remember,’ Chloe said.
‘That’s what she would want, you guys to remember her, remember fun things that she did, not her death,’ Nick said.
‘You-squeak-might be right there,’ Chloe said as she threw another stone onto Ethel’s grave so that it was protected from wild dogs, leopards, hyenas and any other feral animal that wanted to dig her up. ‘As long as she doesn’t fade from memory, then she lives forever free, even if it’s just inside my heart.’
* * *
They pushed on for a couple more hours before they found a place that was okay to stop for the night. While Filipe scouted around and made sure they were totally alone, Khululani walked behind them all with the prisoner, his arms bound tightly, his mouth gagged. There was no need for any of them to deal with his abuse and taunting.
Enoch, Nick and Khululani had bandaged the Caçador Escuro’s wounds as best they could, but there was nothing they could do for his broken arm; it needed medical attention. They could keep the flies off it so that it didn’t fester and get maggots, but they were not exactly feeling hospitable and in a talkative mood towards their prisoner.
Khululani said that every step he took, the pain would remind him that he shouldn’t have been taking people’s lives and snuffing out precious souls. Chloe doubted that the Caçador Escuro would care about the pain that he’d caused others.
That night, Nick cooked the evening meal. A simple sadza and stew made with biltong and a few spices. There was very little conversation. Khululani took a plate and disappeared to where he had the hunter tied up against a tree—gagged once again, so that they didn’t have to listen to him shouting any obscenities and idle threats at them. Chloe chose to look in the opposite direction.
* * *
Douglas closed his eyes. Although he was tied with his hands and feet together, he decided he might as well get some much-needed rest and regain his strength. Heal as fast as he could. Escaping could happen another time. He still had much to learn about his captors.
So far, only the men looked after him. Brought him food and water, took his gag off for him to eat, and then put it back on. They would allow him one hand lose to go to the toilet so he didn’t piss in his pants, and gave him toilet paper to crap in the bush. As captives went, he couldn’t complain about his treatment, but, all the time he was silenced. He watched them. Studied them instead.
He got to know who was who in their hierarchy.
It was Chloe who ruled the roost, and had every man in the group doing everything for her, although it didn’t appear that way at first. He had already learned that each man still appeared to have his allocated place.
Filipe was the outsider. The one who was guiding them. He was also a fanatic and totally loyal to his general somewhere, and wouldn’t be the weakest in the pyramid.
Enoch appeared to be a second father figure to Chloe, but it was Nick-the-game-ranger who held her heart.
Xo was quiet compared to the rest, and the unknown in the group. He kept close to Chloe all the time, but allowed Nick into his space. Much like a young lion who hadn’t yet fought for his mating rights in a pride, or one that was about to fight and be tossed out into the wilderness on its own. Other than Chloe, with her obvious lack of strength being a female, he looked to be the next youngest, and the weakest of them all. He was the one to watch, the one who would make a mistake, if any of them did. And when he did, Douglas would be ready.
Khululani was a seasoned bushman and Douglas still admired the way he walked, the way he knew what was happening around him by the sounds of the birds, the whisper of the wind, but he seemed to be dedicated to Nick. He was also the arsehole that had shot his rifle to shit and broken his arm.
The invalid, spastic old man, as he now knew him to be, was Chloe’s father, Mike, and everyone except Filipe would help him.
Nick and Khululani were going to be the first to die. Without them, the others were nothing. And next would be that Mozambique freedom fighter Filipe.
He adjusted his body to fit more comfortably, and knew that while he slept, one of those other suckers had to now stay awake to watch him.
Life was a bitch if you took a prisoner instead of killing them.
* * *
The caravan continued to push through the bush, with Chloe, Enoch and Xo taking turns riding with Mike. Sometimes the Caçador Escuro was in front with one of the men, sometimes they had him trailing behind. Never the same routine.
The next day, they smelled the cooking fires. Filipe ran ahead to investigate, while the rest of the group remained hidden under the tall trees that surrounded the banks of the river. Ready to cross into it, if they needed to.
When Filipe returned, he was smiling. ‘We’re in Zimbabwe,’ he said. ‘The people, they are from a village called Malipati, but they belong to a hunting safari company who have a camp along the river. They are looking for some men who went hunting for kudu from their small village outside of that area but did not return when they should have. The men are three days late.’
‘Do they have a vehicle?’ Enoch asked.
‘They do, it’s old, but they’ll take you to the nearest telephone,’ Filipe said. ‘They asked that we keep an eye out for their missing hunters in a blue Mazda bakkie.’
‘Of course we will,’ Nick said. ‘Please tell me you didn’t mention that we have the Caçador Escuro in our custody.’
‘I didn’t, but they don’t know how lucky they are that they don’t have to worry about him shooting their guys,’ Filipe said. ‘Hopefully, they are just having vehicle trouble.’
‘I will go and call Grace, once I find out
exactly where we are. I think for now we should stay in this area, so I can find you when I come back. Chloe, you stay out of sight no matter what. Promise me,’ Enoch said.
‘I promise,’ she said as she hugged Enoch. ‘Take some of the money; you’ll need to pay them for their help. Please buy us a Coke when you come back; I’d kill for one right now.’
Enoch smiled. ‘I will do that for you. Nick, make sure that our prisoner does not get away.’
Nick nodded.
Xo shook his dad’s hand, and then both Enoch and Filipe made their way back into the bushes towards the village.
‘If we’re staying here, we’ll need another strong boma to protect the horses. Those there are lion tracks if I’m not mistaken,’ Chloe said.
Nick looked at where she was pointing and nodded. ‘Right you are. Boma first—then sort out our new camp. Xo, you with me or looking after that piece of shit so Khululani can haul thorn trees?’
‘I’m with you and Chloe. Sorry, Khululani, he’s all yours. I’d rather cut boma bushes than have to spend a minute alone with that snake.’
* * *
The fire was still banked high, and they had collected enough wood to see them through the next few days just in case Enoch and Filipe took a while to get back. They weren’t too worried about rhino coming in to try to stamp out the fire; they were all too painfully aware that the attempt to reintroduce black rhino into Gonarezhou in the 1960s had failed horribly with all the rhino being poached for their horns, so there were none left to come blundering out of the bush.
Khululani had set up the Caçador Escuro a little away from the campfire, as had become the norm since the first night when he had become abusive when the gag was taken off to sleep. Now it stayed on.
Nick threw a small stick he’d been whittling away during the final watch for the night into the fire and watched it burn. The noises of the bush surrounded him in predawn quietness. The shrieks of both grey and brown-headed parrots flying down to the river for some early-morning water; the frogs calling, trying desperately to mate and get their breeding in the shallow ponds completed before the water dried up and the riverbed became an empty desert once more. A spotted hyena grunted close by, and then the chilling roar of a lion, too close for comfort, followed by an answering call from another in the pride.
He stilled, putting his head to the side, and listened carefully. The horses whinnied, safe in their boma.
‘Darn,’ Nick muttered. ‘Perhaps it would have been wiser to all be inside the boma again tonight with the horses, instead of out here where we can have a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view around the camp with these lions so close. But I didn’t want the horses near the Caçador Escuro.’
‘Can you see them?’ Khululani asked, already climbing out of his sleeping bag not far from the fire. No matter how many times Nick told him to use a pup tent to protect himself against animals, Khululani still avoided them whenever he could.
‘No, but they’re around,’ Nick said, getting his torch and beginning to sweep it along the bush line they had near their camp. No eyes reflected back at him, but that didn’t mean they were not there.
‘How close?’ Chloe asked as she unzipped her tent. ‘That sounded almost on top of us.’
‘It gave me chills, even in my sleep,’ Xo said as he emerged from his tent, and lifted his rifle from where it had lain next to him, before re-zipping his tent closed behind him.
The horses whinnied again.
‘I need to check on them,’ Chloe said.
‘Where’s your rifle?’ Xo asked her.
Chloe reached back into her tent for it. ‘Got it now. Are you coming with me, Xo?’
‘Xo will need to watch both Mike’s and the Caçador Escuro’s tents. Khululani and I are going to walk a perimeter check, so don’t shoot us.’
‘I’ll try not to … today. But I can’t promise about the Caçador Escuro. I have had enough of him and his foul mouth every time Khululani takes his gag off,’ Chloe said.
‘Just don’t, he isn’t worth having his blood on your conscience forever. Believe me, it’s not worth killing him,’ Nick said.
‘We’ll walk you to the boma—but don’t come out till we come fetch you again, Chloe,’ Nick said.
‘I don’t plan to,’ Chloe said. ‘You guys saw the size of those footprints. The lions here look massive.’
* * *
The horses neighed again, louder this time. ‘Come on, guys, walk faster,’ Chloe said, ‘those horses are not happy.’
Nick shone his torch back and forth over the area as they approached the boma, and Khululani moved some of the branches aside to gain access. They scanned inside first, with Chloe still behind them. But there was nothing there.
‘Right, Chloe, you’re armed, and you have my torch, be safe,’ Nick said and touched her arm as he came out.
She nodded and walked inside. Scanning quickly away from the horses with the torch, ensuring that there was nothing in the boma with them, double-checking the men.
‘Can’t see anything either,’ she said loudly as she walked to where the horses were bunched together.
‘Hey, guys,’ Chloe spoke softly. ‘What’s going on? The lions are outside the boma; they can’t get to you.’
She heard the scraping of the thornbushes on the ground as Khululani closed the boma back up behind her.
Chloe shone the light on the floor, not into the horses’ eyes. They were skittish. She walked up to Diablo and stroked him. ‘Come on, boy, help me settle the others. You know that we’ll always protect you.’
The lions roared again. Chloe stopped to listen. They sounded strained, hoarse, then louder, an almost hollow sound carrying clearly in the quiet night.
She could hear one was to the left of the boma, while the answering call came from the opposite side. A third one joined in. It was as if they were all checking in on each other, wanting to know where they were in the darkness. Coordinating an attack …
Kimberlite stood next to Diablo. His skin was twitching, and he neighed softly, as if trying to alert her to danger. He certainly knew what the lions were, and while she could see the white of his eyes, he was not prancing around like Marin.
‘Come on, Marin, you need to settle,’ Chloe said. Reaching out her hand towards him, she took hold of his halter. He reared up, and she let it go, stepping backwards out of the way. ‘No, Marin, that wasn’t necessary. Come on, come here.’
He backed away from her, his nostrils flared.
‘You know, it’s just a lion. You’re safe inside this boma. Come on, come here to my side, Marin,’ she said in her calmest voice.
Marin pawed the ground.
‘Don’t be stubborn, come here,’ she said a little firmer. ‘There’s no danger in here. Nick and Khululani are out there, and they’ll protect us. Xo is watching that totsie from near the fire to make sure they don’t eat him, because despite him deserving it, we do want him to rot in jail and think about what he did to Ethel for the rest of his miserable life. And any day now, Enoch and Filipe will come back with Aunty Grace, and she’ll bring the cattle truck and we’ll go home.’
Marin approached her, tossing his head, stepping closer.
The shot took her by surprise. She jumped at the loudness of the .303 in the night.
Marin thundered past her, running in circles around the inside of the boma. The other horses had their heads up, ears forward, attentive to the noise, but didn’t run. She could see they were unnerved. Except Diablo and Kimberlite, they looked like they understood that the sooner the fighting started, the sooner the danger would be over.
She heard Nick shout to Khululani and knew that they were both okay. She looked at the sky, hoping that dawn would lighten the darkness and make it easier to see what was going on.
‘What happened?’ she called out at the top of her voice.
‘Khululani gave them a warning shot. They were too close. They ran away,’ Nick said. ‘These lions are used to hunters; they know gunfire
enough to be afraid of it.’
She breathed a sigh of relief and began trying to get Marin under control again. ‘Come on, boy, steady. Steady now.’
He seemed to realise that the danger had passed, and he stopped running and came right up to her, tucking his head next to her body and breathing softly into her cupped palm. ‘You are too highly strung for your own good,’ she chastised him. ‘It was just Nick scaring away the lions.’
She patted the stallion, and could feel him settling. He still tossed his head, but his skin no longer shuddered, and he didn’t paw the ground. She moved away to check that the other horses were all okay, rubbing her hands over Pampero’s neck and tummy.
‘Hey, girl, you’re doing well protecting your baby from all this madness. Soon we’ll be home, and there’s a nice stable for you to have this little one in. I can see you already loving it there.’ She moved on to Sirocco. ‘Hey, boy, you know Xo wanted to come and be with you, but he’s watching that skelm so that I don’t have to face him at all,’ she said and gave him a hug.
Kimberlite and Diablo came to her, and she reassured them that she was still in the boma with them—she hadn’t abandoned them.
‘You okay in there?’ Nick asked from outside the boma entrance.
‘Some warning would have been nice,’ Chloe said. ‘I nearly jumped out of my jeans!’
She could hear the amusement in his voice when he said, ‘Khululani’s going to go make tea, you want?’
‘Please,’ Chloe said. ‘With lots of sugar!’
This time Nick actually laughed as he walked away.
The noises of the morning continued to grow as the birds once again chattered amongst themselves, and the cicadas screamed. The bush returned to normal around her, and as she breathed in the scent of Marin, she thanked the universe that they had got through one more night as the dawn at last began lightening the horizon.
* * *
Douglas waited for the men to leave, and realised that there was only Xo keeping watch. This could be his chance. He slipped out of his sleeping bag, and belly-crawled to the tent zip fastener. He used his teeth to begin unzipping the tent, only to find it was shut tight. Obviously closed with wire or something on the outside. He couldn’t get it to budge.