by M A Moore
Rhinos had terrible eye sight, but their hearing was exceptional. These are bloody amateurs, thought Reynolds. He reconsidered his strategy. The first poacher held his gun in a careless manner considering how close they were to their targets. The other had the machete for removing the horn. They might have gotten only one of the adults, but that was one too many for Reynolds.
Reynolds came down from his perch. He leaned against the trunk to steady his arm. He took aim, not at the men, but at a small pile of stones about ten feet in front of them. Reynolds was an excellent shot. When the bullet rang out, Desi pricked up his ears and took an aggressive stance. The ricochet off the rocks pointed Desi in the right direction, and he began his charge. The poachers scanned the area in terror and ran for their jeep as if the dogs of hell were after them.
“Go get ‘em, Desi!” Reynolds said under his breath.
Lucy and Little Ricky ran and hid themselves in some trees. The would-be poachers hopped in their vehicle and fled the area. Desi only chased them for a short distance. When he stopped he looked in the direction of the initial shot. Reynolds knew he was too far away for Desi to see him.
“You’re welcome, friend,” Reynolds said aloud.
He had only won a small battle in a very large war. But it was still a victory, and he would savor it and sleep well tonight.
Chapter 10
All eight of them on the tour could have fit into one jeep, but Mike thought it would be too crowded. He also knew that both local guides counted on earning a bit of cash. Good paying jobs were not plentiful in Botswana, and Mike liked to spread the tourist dollars around.
Debra and Maxine and Paul and Linda boarded the lead jeep driven by Niles. Climbing in was a literal necessity. The two rows of tiered bench seats behind the driver gave passengers better forward viewing. The drawback was that it was hard get up there. Each person had to find footholds along the side of the jeep, grab the poles to the canopy or handholds on the back of a seat, and pull their bodies up. Mike feared that it might be too challenging for some of them. He supervised as Paul found his way, ready to assist with advice as to where to place his foot or to give a gentle boost if and when needed. Paul was amazingly agile for man of his girth and Linda had no difficulty climbing in next to him. Debra and Maxine took their time figuring out footholds, but once they had, no further help was necessary. Niles was a crusty middle-aged Afrikaner with shaggy graying hair and a mustache to match. He wore the standard uniform of the African bush guide -khaki camp shirt and cargo pants.
James and Lily along with Amy and Mike had the second jeep to themselves. James and Lily sat in the seat just behind their driver, Andrew, to minimize the amount of climbing James needed to do. His knees gave him trouble and he was breathing hard by the time he fell into his seat. Amy and Mike sat in the rear. Andrew was a sturdy black man with a wide grin and closely cropped hair. He explained that his own jeep was in the shop, so this particular jeep was on loan for a couple of days. Amy hoped the transmission was robust because Andrew kept grinding gears when he had to put the jeep into reverse.
Mike had warned that morning game drives would be chilly, but Amy shivered she was so cold. After all they were on the southern end of the tropics. She wished she had another layer under her cargo pants and her fleece jacket was soon zipped up over her neck. Her hat, gloves and scarf were welcome additions. James seemed to suffer from the low temperature more than any of them, and Lily fussed over him like a mother hen pulling up the hood of his coat and tying it under his chin. When the jeep started moving and the wind hit her in the face, Amy developed a new appreciation for wind chill factors. Mike seemed impervious to the frigid air, and Amy envied him.
There weren’t many mammals moving around this early, just a few impala grazing close to the road. Most animals were probably too cold to get out of bed yet, Amy reflected in a frozen grump. But the lack of detraction gave her some time to consider how she might follow the instructions for meeting her cousin. It didn't help. She had no idea what the terrain was like at the rest stop. She would just have to improvise when the time came.
They traveled the trails through the park and along the Chobe River. The few birds they saw sat on tree branches facing east trying to warm up in the first rays of the sun. Amy spotted a Lilac-Breasted Roller fluffed up looking twice its normal size. The name did not do it justice. In addition to the lilac chest and cheeks, it had blue underparts and a greenish neck. Royal blue primary feathers on the wings and yellow-green legs and feet completed its harlequin appearance. It was a gorgeous creature and it was no wonder both Kenya and Botswana chose it as their national bird.
The highlight of the morning came after Amy noticed a dead tree filled with white-backed vultures. More than two dozen of them sat on the denuded branches silhouetted against the cloudless sky. Andrew pulled the jeep closer to the shoreline. On the sandy beach next to the river was a large carcass with a lone tusk sticking up. The heap of gray flesh and the ivory were the only indications that it actually had been an elephant - killed by anthrax or lions. Andrew wasn’t sure which.
Looking with her binoculars Amy saw two, then three lion cubs feasting on the repugnant mass. She watched a lioness, their mother she assumed, stroll over to take a few bites and see how the children were getting on. After she had enough of the grisly sight Amy passed her binoculars to Mike sitting next to her.
At first he declined but Amy said, “If I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t have offered.”
The vultures were waiting for the lioness and her cubs to move on before approaching the carcass and feasting themselves. How much would be left for them wasn't clear. The legs of the elephant were already gone, and the remainder was a gray heap of unrecognizable flesh with the protruding tusk standing like a sentinel.
Mike took the binoculars and watched as the lioness set herself in the shade of a nearby bush keeping guard over her charges. Something nagged at Amy.
“Why is there only one tusk?” she asked Mike.
Mike handed back the binoculars and furled his brow in anger. “Could be poachers were caught in the act and scared off before they got the second one.”
Mike shouted over James’ and Lily’s heads to Andrew. “Have you heard anything?”
Andrew shrugged his shoulders and continued looking straight ahead. Mike was sure he wouldn’t tell him even if he knew. A single good-sized tusk of ivory could bring thousands of dollars on the black market and the people in this region were poor -sometimes desperately so. That kind of activity this close to the river was rare. Less reliable waterholes in other areas of the park had not dried up yet. As they did, the elephants would move together in large numbers to reach the river and a water supply that didn’t disappear when the rains stopped. Chobe Park had forty-thousand more elephants than the park could support, and the surplus was destroying the ecosystem. They lived in close knit extended families and were difficult to impossible to relocate. It was a dilemma that seemed to have no solution.
If it weren’t for the odor of decaying flesh that wafted over them when the breeze shifted, the jeeps would have stayed longer. But Andrew was anxious to move on.
They saw lots of impala, or cheetah fast food as some called them. The markings on their hindquarters outlined what looked like the “M” logo for MacDonald’s. They were too quick for animals such as lions or hyenas to catch, but cheetahs, the fastest land mammals on the planet, feasted on them as a regular part of their diet.
Amy marveled that giraffes, so tall, were impossible to detect when they stood still in a grove of trees. At one point Amy realized that the spindly trunks she looked at were actually legs. She followed them up to catch a glimpse of a female giraffe, her head just clearing the bushy top of an acacia.
The next three hours passed quickly. Amy let Mike share her binoculars, and Mike reciprocated by sharing his extensive knowledge of the local animals with her. A kudu, an antelope bigger than a moose, sported massive spiraling horns and thin white stripes along its dust
y brown hindquarters. He guarded his small harem of does against roving males seeking mates of their own. Andrew let them watch until the kudu moved into the brush and out of sight. Further down the trail, three black rhinos took umbrage as Nile’s jeep got a little too close for their liking. The dominant bull chased the jeep several yards along the road, with Amy and her crew watching with some concern and a great deal of amusement.
At last it warmed up sufficiently to put the gloves and scarves away. Andrew pulled the jeep into a packed-dirt and gravel parking lot surrounded by trees and the Chobe River. He announced it was time for coffee. The rest area was large enough to hold thirty or more vehicles. A cinder block structure sat at one end that Amy assumed were bathrooms. She surveyed the parking lot with a mixed attitude of anticipation and resignation, her heart beating just a trace faster. It would happen here.
Andrew parked the jeep in the shade of a couple of large acacia trees as far away from the restrooms as he could get. Niles’ jeep pulled in behind. The two of them set up folding tables stored under the rear seats. Breakfast was a long time ago and the hot coffee and biscuits were welcome.
The tour group chatted about the morning’s adventures. The rhino charge was the main topic of conversation with the people in Niles’ jeep less amused than those in Andrew’s. The women wandered off in pairs to use the facilities and, one by one, the men headed for the gents. Amy finished her coffee, keeping the parking lot under constant, but surreptitious surveillance. She hoped her heightened vigilance would be enough to warn her when the time came. She took her backpack from the jeep, and headed towards the bathrooms.
No one approached her as yet, and she wasn’t sure how she should proceed. After washing her hands and drying them on her pants, she exited the ladies room. She stood a moment at the door and surveyed the parking lot again. Nothing and no one seemed suspiciously out of place. Instead of heading back to the jeep she went in the opposite direction and walked down to the lonely end of the parking lot that overlooked the river. She scanned the shore with her binoculars, but saw no one. She headed back towards Andrew’s jeep.
Her breath quickened and a surreal calm descended over her. A man stared straight at her and deliberately approached. She spun on her heel as his partner came up behind and grabbed her arm. Reacting by instinct alone she jammed her elbow into the man’s stomach and twisted out of his grip.
“Do you want to see your cousin or not, Dr. Mohr?” her attacker whispered angrily as he fought to catch his breath.
Amy stood up straight. Her glare warned his accomplice not to put his hands on her again. She retrieved her purple back pack that she let fall to the ground. Her would-be assailant, still doubled over, scowled at her maliciously. They flanked her, each grabbing an arm, and she let them lead her to their vehicle parked nearby. James, just coming out of the men’s bathroom, spotted them shoving her not very gently into the back seat of a black SUV with dark tinted glass.
James hurried over just in time to see them take off out of the parking lot. In a panic he rushed back to Andrew’s jeep and pulled on Mike’s arm.
“They grabbed her, and drove away!” he shouted gasping as he tried to catch his breath.
“Grabbed who?” Mike asked, his brows furrowing in concern.
“Amy!”
Mike scanned the area around the jeeps. Amy was not there. “Tell me what you saw,” he demanded, eyes intent on James’ face.
James, still trying to catch his breath, held on to the side of the jeep and the words poured out of him in staccato bursts. “Two men…. I was leaving the gents…. I saw two men shove her into the back of a black SUV. “
Mike struggled to keep his voice even. “Which direction?”
“Out that way!” James pointed -his fear for her pulsating in his ruddy cheeks.
Mike barked orders. “You and Lily get in the other jeep. Niles, take them back to the lodge.” He did not want the rest of the group to panic, but for some it was already too late. Kidnapping was not unknown in this part of the world, and Mike had never had it happen on one of his tours before.
While Niles rearranged people in his jeep to accommodate two more, Mike turned to Andrew, his jaw set. “I’ll drive.”
Andrew slid over into the passenger side. He took the rifle from under the front seat and made sure it was ready to fire. He laid it across his knees and held on as they careened out of the parking lot raising a cloud of dust behind them. If the SUV got onto a main road in the park they would have little chance in catching up to it before it turned off on some side trail and was lost.
Chapter 11
SOUTHERN AFRICAN LITHIUM MINING is a Private Company business incorporated in South Africa in 2010. Its business is recorded as “In Business”. The activity is registered as GENERAL MINING AND MINERAL PROCESSING AND RELATED ACTIVITIES. It is not part of a group. The company has no filed accounts. The company was incorporated 4 years ago. -Government listing of companies in Zimbabwe
Amy could not see where they took her. Her sense of direction had never been good, and the tinted windows were too dark for her to make out landmarks or read signs. The rough ride told her that they traveled along unimproved roads for a while. They crossed a stream somewhere, and then sped up as they turned onto a paved highway. Amy forced herself to calm down by regulating her breathing pattern. Inhale through the nose to the count of five, exhale to the count of ten. After a few minutes her senses were still heightened, but the adrenaline rush had abated. Amy didn’t know if James had seen them push her into the vehicle. She wasn’t sure whether she hoped he did or did not.
The man sitting next to her made it evident he was not in the mood for questions. After what seemed like a long time, but was probably less than a half hour, they turned off the highway onto a road with huge ruts. The driver stopped the vehicle and said something to Amy’s seat companion in a language she did not recognize. He got out and left his door slightly ajar. Amy took the opportunity to glimpse outside, but scrubby brush and sand gave her no indication as to her location. When he returned Amy slid across the seat and climbed out the vehicle with caution. A dilapidated log cabin with a water tank on top stood in front of her. Three stairs led up to a porch with a covered roof and two chairs.
A man waited for her on the steps. He was tall with light-colored hair and wore the khaki cargo pants, boots and camp shirt that seemed to be the uniform of most of the local white men she had met on this trip so far.
“Hello cuz,” his voice said.
Amy wouldn’t have known the man as her cousin Robert if she had passed him on the street. He had let his crew cut grow out and he was wearing a beard. She had never seen him with facial hair. It actually looked good. Amy checked him over with care. He appeared healthy enough. Although Amy doubted that even his mother would recognize him.
“So where have you been for the last three months?” Amy asked with an attitude that conveyed annoyance rather than concern.
“Working.” Her cousin Robert smiled at the directness of her question. “Have a seat and I will explain what I can.”
Amy climbed the steps to the porch and sat in a weathered rocker that creaked with age. Robert pulled the other chair around to face her, elbows on his knees, hands clasped in front of him. He leaned close to her.
“I assume Mother still worries about me.”
“When has she not in matters that concern her son, her only child."
“Never that I can recall,” Robert replied sitting back in his chair. “She loves me too much.”
“You are all she has left, Robert. What do you expect?”
“We would both be better off if she ….”
“Don’t say it, Robert. Just tell me what you can. It is unlikely that my tour manager is ignoring my disappearance. And I'm sure you want to get me back there with as little fuss as possible.”
"You’re right about that.” Robert nodded to the two men who brought her, and they got back in the SUV.
“As you have surmised, I do
more than just audit company books.”
Amy said nothing and started rocking gently in her chair. It creaked when she moved backwards, but she found the rhythmic sound somehow soothing to her nerves which were still a bit rattled.
“I cannot give you details, but I have been going over the finances of a powerful mining company in Zimbabwe. The wealth in that country is in its mineral deposits- mostly gold, platinum and chromium. However it’s lithium that my employers want right now.“
Robert sat back in his chair and paused as if considering how much he should tell her. Amy just looked at him not yet satisfied.
“For the last few years lithium mining has been limited to processing brines of lithium salts. Its concentration is too low in most other forms to make it economically profitable to extract. But with the demand for the metal on the rise, prices are going up.” Robert took another breath and looked at Amy still rocking and listening stone-faced to every word he said.
“A recently discovered deposit of lithium-rich clay sits on the border of Zimbabwe and South Africa called hectorite. This particular lode has a higher concentration of lithium than other hard rock sources in the world. An American company located in Utah has applied for patents for a process that removes the lithium from these types of deposits at considerably less expense than older technologies. My law firm represents them.”
This was a lot more information than she expected. Amy was suspicious as to why he felt the need to tell her all of this. “So what is your connection with it?” she asked.
“The Utah clay field only has a 1% lithium concentration. The new deposit in Zimbabwe has close to 4% -if the assays are right.”
“Much higher profits,” Amy replied.
Robert’s smile was almost imperceptible under his mustache. “It’s rather nice having a cousin who understands numbers.”