by Sibel Hodge
The lioness on the ground jumped onto the trunk and began to climb, too.
I swallowed hard.
The lioness up the tree climbed awkwardly onto another branch and it snapped under her weight, sending her crashing to the ground. The other lioness jumped down and landed next to her, nudging at her face.
By the wildebeest carcass, I heard the roar of a male lion and the two lionesses’ ears flicked back. They gave us one last look up in the tree before rushing off back to their kill.
I exhaled a breath and realised I was shaking. Asha silently watched them retreat with an intense stare, and I buried my face in her fur.
As the dark night surrounded us, I could hear them feasting and knew it wouldn’t be safe to get down until they’d gone. We’d just have to wait it out.
I stroked Asha as my heartbeat slowed down and my breathing returned to normal. After what felt like at least an hour had passed, I had pins and needles in my legs and my head was aching with a post-adrenaline rush. I didn’t particularly relish the idea of spending the night out here. There could be hyenas attracted by the lion’s kill, or even other leopards roaming around. And they could definitely climb trees like a pro.
When the lionesses and the large male had gorged themselves, they lay on the ground, their bellies swollen, lying like sentries to guard what was left of the bone and flesh. Under the glint of the full moon rising I saw a hyena scout looking on before rushing off to fetch the scavenger party.
Asha had grown bored of watching the scene below and settled her head on her front paws, snoozing. I wished I had the same ability to switch off. It looked pretty likely that we might have to spend the night here.
More throaty roaring got my attention again as a group of hyenas circled the lions, snapping at them. The male lion lazily turned around and bared his teeth in a snarl at them but refused to move. A couple of the lionesses chased the hyenas away, but as soon as their backs were turned to walk off and rejoin the pride, the hyenas came back. After about three quarters of an hour of this, the lions seemed to get irritated with them, and with a throaty rasping cry, they slunk off into the night, deciding the carcass wasn’t worth the hassle and leaving the hyenas cackling away, crunching on the last of the bones.
I rubbed at my neck, which was aching with stiffness, and heard the distant sound of a Land Rover. It was probably Dad sending out a hunting party for me.
I saw the spotlights bouncing over the ground in the distance and shouted, ‘Over here!’ But I didn’t know if they’d be able to hear me.
The lights must’ve caught the hyenas feeding and settled on them as it came closer.
‘Over here!’ I cried repeatedly, not wanting to try and stand up to wave in case I fell out.
As the Land Rover reached the hyenas, they scattered, and I heard Zach’s voice yell, ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’
The Land Rover stopped beneath the tree and I scrambled down with Asha close behind and we sprinted towards the vehicle. I opened the door and picked Asha up, pushing her inside and jumping in, nearly sitting on top of her in the process.
He glared at me through hooded eyes. ‘What on earth were you thinking?’ he yelled.
It was the first time I’d ever seen him lose his temper, and it caught me off guard.
My mouth dropped open in shock and refused to work.
‘You could’ve been killed!’ he shouted, eyes bright with anger. He thrust the gear stick into first with enough force to pull it off and drove forward. ‘Don’t ever do that to me again,’ he barked.
Chapter 11
The next day I waited nervously for Zach to arrive for our early morning walk. He hadn’t spoken to me all the way home, and I didn’t know if he was even going to turn up.
I sat on the wooden steps of the veranda, arms locked around my knees, head resting on top of them. Asha was playing in her enclosure with the door open, launching herself at the old tyre I’d tied to the lower branches in one of the trees and hanging off it as she swung through the air. It would’ve been funny if I wasn’t in such a bad mood.
I’d done a stupid thing. It was all very well risking my own life, but what about Asha? I was supposed to be protecting her, and my stubbornness could’ve cost us our lives. I felt so stupid and disgusted with myself.
Dad hurried down the steps. ‘Have a good day, I’ll see you later.’ He stopped at the Land Rover and looked back at me. ‘Don’t worry, you two will make it up. I could’ve killed you myself last night, I was that worried about you. You had everyone out looking for you.’ He frowned.
‘I’m sorry,’ I apologised to him for what must’ve been the hundredth time since I arrived home last night. He’d been so angry I thought his head was going to explode.
‘Well, maybe you’ll realise now why we keep telling you not to go out into the bush on your own.’ He frowned.
I nodded glumly.
His face softened and he blew me a kiss and drove off, leaving me mentally kicking myself.
Maybe Zach wouldn’t even speak to me again. He’d been so annoyed with me I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. He hadn’t even said goodbye when he’d dropped me off. How could I jeopardise a friendship that had become so special to me?
I went inside to get a glass of water and heard a Land Rover pull up. Rushing to the window, I saw Zach get out and then lean back inside, reaching for something.
I set the glass back on the kitchen worktop, my heart racing, and rushed outside. By the time I’d got down the steps, he was walking towards me with a rifle slung over his shoulder on a strap and a box of ammunition in his hands.
‘I know I’m a pain in the arse but there’s no need to shoot me,’ I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
He didn’t laugh.
I searched his face, looking for signs that his anger had dissipated. It wasn’t looking good.
I glanced down at the floor, kicking the dirt with the toe of my boot. ‘I’m sorry about last night.’
‘It’s not a game out here, Jazz.’
‘I know, and I’m sorry.’
‘Well, if you’re not going to listen and go off and do stupid things on your own, then I think you’d better learn how to shoot.’
I glanced up, meeting his admonishing gaze. ‘I’m not going to shoot an animal.’
‘You don’t have to shoot an animal. But you can fire a warning shot if you get cornered and most of the animals will run away.’
I looked at the gun. Maybe it would be a good idea to learn some kind of protection. And at least it meant he’d still have to talk to me.
‘Shut Asha in her enclosure and we’ll go,’ he said.
I stared at him. ‘Can’t she come too? She’s never been shut in there without me.’
‘No. The way you go about things you’ll probably end up shooting her. Plus, if she hears the shot, she’ll probably bolt. In the wild her mum would be busy hunting and leaving her to her own devices, so you’ve got to get her used to being without you some of the time.’
I glanced at Asha playing in the tree.
‘In a few weeks time she’ll have to sleep in the enclosure on her own. Let her get used to you being away gradually.’ His tone softened.
I walked up to the enclosure, closed the door and locked the padlock, slipping the key into my pocket. Asha rushed up to the door and pushed against it with her head, making a whining noise. She looked up through the iron bars with an expression of sadness.
I slid my fingers through and stroked her nose and under her chin. ‘Don’t worry, Asha, I’ll be back before you know it.’
And as Zach led me away from the enclosure and into the bush I kept glancing behind me, seeing Asha’s forlorn face and feeling the guilt suffocating me.
‘It’s for her own good,’ Zach said.
‘I know.’
He draped an arm casually around my shoulder as we walked, and I felt my mood lifting. ‘Don’t worry about her. She’ll be fine. I know what I’m
talking about.’
After we’d walked to a deserted area near the edge of the reserve, he stopped and looked around.
‘Here’s a good place to learn. There aren’t many animals around here at the moment.’
I breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted to do was accidentally shoot one.
There was a large tree to our right and a cluster of rocks straight ahead.
‘I’m not sure about this.’ I glanced at the rifle.
He swung the strap off his shoulder and held it out. ‘It’s for your own safety. You never know what will happen out here, and you always have to be prepared for the unexpected. Don’t worry, it’s not loaded. Yet.’
I took it. It felt heavy and cumbersome.
‘It’s heavier than I thought,’ I said.
‘That’s a lighter one than the rangers carry. It doesn’t have any kickback, either, so you shouldn’t suffer from any pain in your shoulder when you use it.’
After giving me a lesson about the different parts of the gun and how to load the cartridges, he stood next to me and rested it against his shoulder. ‘You need to get the most stable balance when aiming at a target. If your posture is off, your muscles will be taking the strain, and that can add wobble to the rifle.’ He held it steadily, pointing in front of him. ‘If you’re aiming from a standing position, you’ll need to find your centre of balance. Keep the balance of the rifle and your body vertical and directly over your feet. They should be planted at shoulder width apart to keep the gun steady, and you’ll probably find that keeping the pressure on the balls of your feet will give you more balance and control.’ He glanced at me to make sure I was listening. ‘Keep the butt of the gun into your shoulder, and find a comfortable position for your trigger hand on the gun.’ He glanced down at the rifle. ‘Your hand should be resting underneath it in a position that’s comfortable to hold its weight. Try a few arm hold positions and see what’s comfortable and stable for you.’ He held the gun out, lifted the butt up to my shoulder, and pointed it out into the distance. ‘Now you try.’
I looked down at my feet and moved them to shoulder-width distance. ‘That feels uncomfortable,’ I said.
‘Keep your legs straight but still relaxed. You don’t want to force your knees into a locked position. If you move your hips forward slightly, it will help your left elbow rest against you.’ He rested his hands on my hips and moved them forward a notch.
I raised the gun to my face again so he wouldn’t see me blushing or read the signs on my face that would surely give away how much I enjoyed his closeness.
‘How’s that?’ he asked.
‘Better,’ I managed to croak.
‘Your shoulders are tense.’
‘I’ve got a gun in my hands for the first time. Of course they’re tense!’
He rested his hands on my shoulders and pressed them down slightly, relaxing my muscles.
A tingling sensation travelled up my spine.
‘Lean your upper body slightly to the rear foot. That’s better.’ His hands stayed on my shoulders.
Oh, yes, that’s much better.
‘Now look down the sight and get used to seeing through it,’ he said.
I did as instructed and he removed his hands.
‘Lift it up a bit higher.’ He leaned his hard chest into my back and his arms came round me, resting on the outer side of my arms.
I leaned into him, feeling the heat from his body through his shirt. I could feel his breath on the back of my hair as he spoke and I felt goosebumps on my skin.
‘That’s right,’ he said.
He dropped his arms and stepped back, but even though he was no longer pressed into me, I could still feel the warm afterglow of his touch.
‘You see those rocks? I want you to aim for the centre of them.’ He took the gun off me and loaded some cartridges.
I jumped when I heard them click into place.
He looked up at me and smiled reassuringly. ‘You’ll be fine. It just takes a bit of getting used to.’
‘How old were you when you learned?’
‘Dad taught me when I was about six.’
‘You learned to shoot when you were six?’ I asked, jaw dropping open.
He shrugged. ‘It’s a different world out here from what you’re used to. What were you doing when you were six?’
‘Probably having princess parties and playing with my Barbie. I bet you’re going to tell me that you could repair a Land Rover with a piece of chewing gum and lasso a wildebeest at that age, too.’ I raised my eyebrows.
He chuckled and took the radio from its holster on his hip. ‘All units, I’ll be firing shots for the next half an hour. Repeat, I’ll be firing shots for the next half an hour.’ He rattled off his coordinates and the rangers confirmed they’d received his radio call.
‘We have to let each other know when any shots are fired, otherwise they’ll think there are poachers in the area.’ He handed me the gun, waiting until I was comfortable with my stance and rifle positioning.
‘That’s it. Look through the sight and aim in between the crosshairs at the rocks. Position it so the middle of the crosshairs is directly on what you want to shoot at.’
I inhaled a tense breath. Held it. I concentrated so hard on the crosshairs that my eyes started to water. I squeezed the trigger and saw a chunk of dry soil in front of the rocks fly up in the air as the gunshot echoed like a crash of thunder. A few birds scattered from their perches in the tree next to us.
I exhaled a loud breath and lowered the gun, frowning. ‘I wasn’t aiming for the ground.’
‘Don’t worry. Try again.’
I set up my stance and gun position and went through the same flow of movements. Inhale. Sight. Shoot. Exhale. This time I hit the base of the rocks.
‘That’s better. Keep going.’
I lifted the gun up again, trying hard to aim closer to the centre of the rocks. As I was just pulling the trigger, a flash of something black in the air shooting across my sightline distracted my attention and my arm jerked to the right unintentionally as the shot rang out.
‘Ow!’ Zach yelled, clutching the top of his backside and twisting around to look at it.
I dropped the gun on the floor as if it were on fire, my hands pressed to my cheeks. ‘Oh, my God, what did I do?’
‘I think you shot me.’ He twisted around to look at a hole about four centimetres long that had sliced through the back of his shorts.
All the blood in my body seemed to pool at the bottom of my feet in shock. ‘How could I shoot you? I wasn’t even pointing that way?’ I cried. ‘I’m so sorry. Does it hurt?’
‘Of course it hurts!’ He unbuttoned the top of his shorts and pulled the waistband down slightly, revealing the top curve of his right buttock, twisting around frantically to get a good look. ‘Damn. I can’t see it properly. It’s stinging like hell. I need to know if there’s a bullet in there or if it’s just grazed.’ He turned his back to me. ‘Have a look.’
Before I could even think about the fact that I was staring at his very well-toned behind, I took in the red, inch-long graze and the blood that trickled from it.
‘Well?’ he asked urgently. ‘How bad is it?’
‘Erm…it just looks like a graze to me.’
‘You can’t see a bullet in there?’ he said, eyes wild.
I peered a little closer. ‘Stop moving about, I can’t see properly with you wriggling.’
‘Is there a bullet in there, or not?’ he snapped.
I pressed two fingers onto his warm flesh, pulling the skin at the top of the graze taut and looking into the wound.
Oh, my God, I’m touching his bum!
If it wasn’t so serious, I’d probably have been dying of embarrassment.
‘Nope, there’s no bullet in there. It’s about half a centimetre deep and about two centimetres long.’
He nodded towards the Land Rover. ‘There’s a first aid kit in the glove box. Can you clean the wound wit
h antiseptic and stick a dressing over the top? Wounds can get infected pretty quick out here.’
I ran to the Land Rover in a flash and returned with the first aid kit. My hands were shaking so much that it took me a few goes to click open the catch. I found the antiseptic as Zach glanced from the rock to the tree on our right-hand side with an angry frown.
Ripping open a sterile packet of cotton wool, I poured some iodine onto it and wiped it against the wound.’
‘Argh!’ Zach cried.
‘Sorry! Is it stinging?’
‘Just do it.’ He held his breath.
When I was sure I’d wiped it down sufficiently, I opened a sterile dressing and pressed it to his buttock, making sure it was stuck down well. ‘There. It’s all done.’
He pulled up his shorts and buttoned them. Then he limped slowly to the tree and pointed to a nick in the bark before looking back at me. ‘Your shot flew off the rock and ricocheted against the tree. I’m guessing it was a bit of bark that shot off and sliced through me.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I repeated, beginning to sound like a stuck record.
He picked up the gun and slung the strap over his shoulder. ‘Come on, we’d better get back. There’s no point in doing any more today, I don’t know which other part of me you’re going to shoot.’ He winced as he walked off.
I gulped and caught up with him. ‘I feel really bad.’
‘Not as bad as I feel. I was going to teach you to drive, too, but now I’m not so sure. You’ll probably run over me, or something.’
We looked at each other and then both burst out laughing as the serious side of the situation wore off and the funny side registered with relief.
It felt good to laugh. So good.
‘I can’t believe you shot me in the arse!’ He chuckled.
‘It’s just a graze, you wimp!’ I laughed harder.
‘We’d probably better keep this between ourselves. Your Dad would be worried sick if he thought you’d shot someone.’
I mimed zipping up my lips and throwing away the key, trying not to laugh. When we arrived back at our quarters, Dad was sitting on the veranda with a sandwich and a glass of ice tea. ‘Hi, guys. How’s your day going?’