Love's Golden Spell

by William Maltese

  “His work team,” Craig said. “I’m sorry. I thought he would have told you. I thought that’s what you meant when you said his people would be looking into ‘it.’” Noticing Janet’s blank expression, he elucidated, “From V.H.A.M.” He pronounced V.H.A.M. to rhyme with WHAM, leaving Janet confused—until the implication became clear.

  “Van Hoon Afrikaner Minerals has a work team at Great Zimbabwe?” she asked, a chill creeping over her. There had been a team with her father’s party, too, although that was more undercover than this one apparently was. There was a V.H.A.M. team at Great Zimbabwe, and that’s why Christopher was there. Oh, what a fool she was! He hadn’t chased her. As usual, his actions had been profit-motivated. He was doing business, taking advantage of the coincidence that had her there, too. He had sensed how close she had been to surrendering to him in Johannesburg, and he had decided to use a more subtle approach. It had fooled her. How he must have enjoyed the success of his little speech about childhood memories, so expertly delivered on the brink of the gorge. No woman, not even Janet, could resist an admission of vulnerability by he-man Christopher Van Hoon against such a stirring backdrop.

  “What exactly is this team from V.H.A.M. doing?” Janet asked. The question was superfluous, she realized. They were out for something in the ground that could be removed and sold for a profit. They were after the same thing that they had wanted—and had found—on the property that had been slated for the Lackland Animal Preserve.

  “Gold,” Craig said. The chilling of Janet’s blood was complete. “The area around Great Zimbabwe is riddled with old workings,” he continued. “The economy of Great Zimbabwe was once based on the gold trade, remember.”

  “And the city was left to ruin when the gold sources dried up,” Janet recalled. She had done her homework.

  “They couldn’t get it all out with their primitive techniques,” Craig said. “Taking into account modern methods and higher gold prices, V.H.A.M. is checking out the possibilities.”

  “What happens to what’s left of the Great Zimbabwe Reserve if and when V.H.A.M. finds gold there?” Janet asked.

  “The same thing that happens whenever the prerogatives of men take precedence over the prerogatives of animals,” Craig said. “It will go industrial, too. But I thought Van Hoon was reconsidering, Janet. Wasn’t that the point of your discussion at the falls?”

  “It’s obvious he was just soft-soaping me,” Janet replied grimly. The nightmare was starting over. Last time, it had been the Lackland Preserve. Her father had died of a heart attack after that failure. Well, Janet’s heart was sound, no matter how much Christopher’s betrayal pained her at the moment. She wasn’t going to take this sitting down, although she was probably as powerless in the face of the Van Hoon resolve as her father had been.

  “It’s not just Christopher and V.H.A.M., Janet,” Craig reminded her. “If it were that simple, we’d have a fighting chance. All third-world countries are striving to advantage the twentieth-first century but are finding the entrance fee damned expensive. Gold is better currency than wildlife—an unfortunate fact of life. Our best weapons are cooperation and compromise. Surrender a piece of land here—better protect a piece elsewhere.”

  “And when gold, or something else, is discovered in those places elsewhere?” Janet asked cynically. “I’ll tell you what happens. Goodbye to that land and those animals, too—that’s what!”

  “There is land that is unsuitable for mining, farming or settling,” Craig remarked.

  “And not fit for animals, either, I’ll bet you!” Janet said, angry that Craig was giving her these arguments. They were more what she expected from Christopher.

  “There has to be cooperation and compromise, Janet,” Craig repeated. “That’s the only way, believe me. That’s why it’s important to persuade men like Christopher to join us. They have the clout to deal successfully with their own kind. Without them, the animals don’t have a chance.”

  “Animals bring in tourist dollars,” Janet argued.

  “Granted,” Craig conceded, calm and objective, “and how much do you suppose Wankie and Kruger bring in a day, combined? On the other hand, how much is brought in daily by one of the Van Hoon gold mines?”

  “Something in the order of eleven-million rand a month,” Christopher had boasted at the Van Hoon Deep Levels Mine. She could imagine what that must round off to per day.

  “How can you be so complacent?” Janet demanded, striking out at Craig because Christopher wasn’t handy.

  “Because I saw the writing on the wall a long time ago,” Craig said. “I saw my father’s anguish as he watched an area of nineteen thousand square kilometers dwindle to what little there is of the Great Zimbabwe Reserve today. He wasn’t for compromise, either, and what did it get him? If one way doesn’t work, we have to be flexible enough to try another. It’s not doing the animals any good when marvelously intentioned people fight like hell for a losing cause. As for V.H.A.M., I’d rather they found gold here than at Wankie or Kruger.”

  Well, Janet had seen the proposed acreage for Lackland go for mining, had seen how that decision affected her father. That didn’t lull her into complacency—quite the contrary. She was more determined than ever to fight.

  “We’ve lost too many battles by beating our heads against brick walls, Janet,” Craig said.

  “I hate Christopher Van Hoon!” Janet said. “I hate what he and others like him are doing—not only in Africa but elsewhere.”

  “Don’t lose this chance to win him over, Janet,” Craig pleaded.

  She wasn’t moved. This wasn’t just about saving animals. Christopher had lied to her. He had used her, had tricked her into believing the present had possibilities to rival the past. She couldn’t forgive that. “He’s beyond helping us!” Janet said with finality. “He’s beyond helping himself!” Vincent would be proud of the creature he had created.

  “I’m sorry to hear that you feel that way,” Craig said. Maybe he now regretted letting out the information about the V.H.A.M. team, but Janet would have found out, even if left on her own. Her relationship with Christopher had been a bonus for Craig to explore. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

  Janet was not surprised at Craig’s sudden diplomatic silence. She shut her eyes, trying to tell herself Christopher’s lies didn’t hurt.

  “Our stomping grounds,” Craig said, announcing the appearance of Lake Kyle on the horizon. This time they put the lake on their left behind them. Vultures still flew in lazy circles in the distance.

  The plane touched down on the dirt road. It wasn’t as scary as the first time. A person’s system adjusted to certain things quickly, and to other things not at all, Janet reflected.

  Christopher had landed at Fort Victoria, probably gloating over how he had pulled the wool over her eyes. Or maybe he had beaten them to Great Zimbabwe and was waiting.

  It was the members of her camera crew who were waiting. “We’re ready for work whenever you get back from sight-seeing,” said the note slipped under her door. “I’m in Room 24. Where are you?” It was signed, “Roger.”

  There was no time like the present to begin some hard work. She needed the distraction it offered. She was in bad shape after her betrayal by Christopher at Victoria Falls. She went to Room 24 and knocked.

  “Can it be our boss?” Roger asked in mock wonder “Come on in, stranger” He stepped back to let her enter. Tim and Jill were inside, sitting on the bed.

  “I could swear you said you were anxious to get to Great Zimbabwe,” Tim said, his voice bubbling over with amusement. “Was it really Victoria Falls you said you were anxious to see?”

  “Did you take a commercial flight?” Jill asked gleefully. “Or did you utilize the volunteered services of our favorite pilot, Captain Sylo?”

  “Vacation is over, people!” Janet said, not bothering with answers. They had obviously asked around when they arrived. They knew who she had flown off with before dawn. “As soon as you get your things, we’ve
shooting to do in the field.”

  Dr. Nhari had arranged for a guide and Land Rover the night before. He had stopped by Janet’s room after learning she wasn’t feeling up to supper. When he knocked, Janet had thought he was Christopher, and she almost hadn’t let him in.

  She left Roger, Tim, and Jill to get organized on short notice, then went to the hotel office to ask for Arusha, the guide Dr. Nhari had promised. Arusha arrived in the Land Rover a few minutes after the corporal on the switchboard put through Janet’s call. Arusha was a middle-aged black man with pleasantly nondescript features and short-cropped hair. He spoke fairly fluent English with a clipped British accent.

  Their gear loaded, they headed out, stopping at the military encampment to report their intended movements to Craig. Craig instructed them to turn around at the first sign of anything suspicious. While he doubted the poachers would strike so close so soon after their brazen slaughter of the seven elephants, it was hard to second-guess them. They were dangerous if surprised in the middle of an operation. More than one inadvertent witness was dead to prove it. Craig added bitterly that the poachers probably knew where the camera crew was headed anyway and would steer clear.

  The captain does look mighty good, doesn’t he?” Jill said as soon as Craig was out of hearing.

  Janet didn’t bother to reply.

  * * * * * * *

  VIEWED A THIRD TIME by Janet, the scene at the waterhole lost some of its shock value. There were fewer birds, and the elephant carcasses were quickly deteriorating.

  Jill, though, seeing it for the first time, got sick, hardly clearing the Land Rover in time. Janet ended up applying her own last-minute makeup.

  “Shoot it all,” Janet instructed, not mentioning the fact that she hadn’t been nearly as calm the last time. “Some of it might come across strong, but we can edit later.” She took up a position in front of one mountain of birds. The vultures were as jaded to her presence as she was to theirs. They hardly stirred. “These are seven of the ever dwindling population of elephants in Zimbabwe,” she said as the cameras rolled. “Not a very pretty picture but one becoming more common every day. The current round of killing has increased with the skyrocketing value of ivory over the past five years. The elephant—largest of the land mammals—might not survive. Out of the millions that once roamed this continent, there are less than one and a half million left—a number that present-day poachers are depleting by fifty thousand to one hundred thousand each year. A single pair of tusks can bring in thousands of dollars. Natives, earning less than a thousand dollars a year, are easily persuaded to supplement low incomes by killing elephants for ivory. But poachers aren’t just individuals. More and more, they’re highly organized groups, killing with poisons, snares, guns—even rockets. These seven elephants were mowed down by machine-guns.” On cue, Arusha fired his rifle and theatrically sent the vultures skyward.

  The wind changed, subjecting everyone to the stench that had escaped them until then. Jill was sick again, and Janet almost joined her. Masquerading behind facades of male bravura, even Roger and Tim looked green. No one complained when Janet wrapped the session.

  She wasn’t entirely through shooting, though. There was something she wanted before getting caught up in the everyday activities of the government work team. “Arusha, can you locate Melissa and Suzy for us?” she asked. She had watched for the two rhinos on the trip in and had seen no sign of them. She feared they had met the same fate as the seven elephants, although there were no new vulture swirls blackening the sky.

  “Maybe,” Arusha said. “I can try.” He expertly maneuvered the Land Rover through the gauntlet of acacias and left the dead elephants and the bloody water behind.

  “Who are Melissa and Suzy?” Roger asked. Jill wasn’t asking any questions. Janet felt guilty about not warning the other woman about what to expect. She had been too engrossed in eradicating thoughts of Christopher to pay attention to Jill’s sensibilities—which was a good sign that priorities were screwed. The members of her crew were her friends. She should be thinking of their welfare, not of Christopher, who was the enemy.

  “Jill, are you okay?” Janet asked before answering Roger.

  “Okay? No! Better? A little,” Jill said, leaning her head against Tim’s supportive shoulder. Janet turned to Roger.

  “They’re rhinos,” she said. “Two of them. One has the longest horns I’ve seen outside of the Van Hoon trophy room. Craig says it’s only a matter of time before the poachers get them.”

  “Planning before-and-after shots, are you?” Roger asked with all the acumen of a cameraman analyzing the possibilities of a story. The comment was cold-blooded, but Roger was being more objective and professional than Janet at the moment. Janet was disturbed by the thought that he might be right. Maybe she was setting the animals up for before-and-after shots. It would be dramatic to show rhinos peacefully grazing one minute and gruesomely dead and dehorned by poachers the next. Janet’s blood chilled. She didn’t want Melissa and Suzy dead. She was overjoyed when Arusha spotted the two animals among the trees. She had been heartbroken as a child when the rhino calf had died at the Seattle Zoo. She would be heartbroken if this calf died tragically in the wild. Since there were fewer rhinos now than when Janet had fought vainly as a girl to save the one born in captivity, Suzy’s death would be even more poignant.

  Roger and Tim were delighted at the opportunity to turn their cameras on Melissa and her calf. Jill, who didn’t need to prepare either rhino with makeup, watched nervously as Roger and Tim carried portable cameras within a few feet of mother and child.

  “You sure they’re tame?” Roger joked, preparing to move closer.

  “Don’t believe it!” Janet warned. “You try anything funny, and I’ll get you if the rhinos don’t.” Roger, who had enough experience with wildlife to have a great deal of respect for it, wasn’t about to try anything funny. If Melissa and Suzy were docile at the moment that could change at any time. Rhinos weren’t known for their cheery dispositions, and a mother with a calf to protect wouldn’t stand for much nonsense.

  Janet wished Melissa was less obliging, despite the fantastic shots Roger and Tim were getting. The cameramen might be poachers carrying guns, for all the rhinos knew. It wasn’t good for them to become accustomed to men. That’s what had happened to the two big-horned rhinos in Amboseli. So many tourists had flocked to see them at close range that the rhinos weren’t in the least concerned when a few more men moved in to blow them away. “I think that’s plenty of footage, you guys!” Janet called as soon as Roger and Tim were out of immediate danger. The idea that because of this kind of exposure, Melissa and Suzy might allow poachers to sneak up more easily didn’t leave a pleasant taste in Janet’s mouth.

  They headed back to camp, stopping at Craig’s tent to let him know they’d returned. Craig reported on Christopher without Janet’s asking. “He went out with one of his team,” Craig said. “There’s a site close by that warranted a check.”

  “What he does is no concern of mine!” Janet said with finality.

  “Want me to offer moral support at supper?” Craig volunteered, changing the subject without really changing it.

  “That scene at the waterhole still kills my appetite,” Janet said. “I’ll skip supper tonight, thank you.”

  “You skipped supper last night,” he reminded her. You didn’t eat a big breakfast this morning. We missed out on lunch. I wouldn’t skip too many meals if I were you.” He knew as well as she did that she wasn’t missing this meal because she was a little queasy. She needed to get her thoughts together. She didn’t want to give vent to impulsive anger in front of Christopher, which she was going to do if she didn’t retreat from things for a while to calm herself down a bit.

  “I’ll be back to normal tomorrow,” Janet promised. It was a promise she doubted she could keep. After Victoria Falls, she would never be back to normal.

  “Well, if you change your mind, have the front desk ring my tent. I’ll willi
ngly play escort.”

  “Thanks, Craig—really,” Janet said, once again wishing she could respond to him the way she would have liked.

  “And you’re off tomorrow morning with Dr. Nhari, right?”

  “He’s filed his report, has he?” Janet asked.

  “He’s always good about it,” Craig admitted. “That is more than I can say for the men working for someone else we know.”

  “What are the chances that the informer sees those reports, too?” Janet asked. It was a logical question, although she was sure Craig must have thought of it before she’d brought it to his attention. She was right.

  “The reports are never out of my sight,” he assured her. “They go in a safe to which only I have the combination.”

  “Maybe the poachers have just been lucky up until now,” Janet said, suggesting that alternative. She couldn’t fault Craig for lack of caution.

  “No one can be that lucky,” he said. “And I promise you, I intend to find out how they manage it, if it’s the last thing I do.” He slapped the door of the Land Rover emphatically in emphasis. It was also Arusha’s signal to move on. Janet silently wished Craig luck. She didn’t want to cover another slaughter, no matter how well the footage emphasized how animals were being butchered to the brink of extinction.

  “Who’s out with one of his team checking on a nearby site?” Jill asked. Either she was on her way to recovering from the scene at the waterhole, or her curiosity conquered all. Janet suspected the latter.

  “Christopher Van Hoon is here,” Janet said. “There was no need to make a secret of something she couldn’t keep under wraps for long.

  “You don’t say?” Jill and Roger chimed in unison. Tim smiled at their impromptu response.

  “A team from Van Hoon Afrikaner Minerals is checking out the possibility of redeveloping mine sites left from the gold drain of a few centuries ago,” Janet explained. Her friends would accept Christopher’s lies about coming all this distance to see her if she told them. Damn, she wished she could!