Rhamin

by Bryce THOMAS

  Another vehicle behind drew nearer for its occupants to look at this black wolf, the focal point of the safari park. It stopped alongside Raymond’s station wagon waiting for the celebrity wolf to emerge from behind it. Raymond remained where he was and Rasci could sense the farmer was anxious. Beads of sweat bubbled up on his cheeks and forehead. He slipped the vehicle into gear.

  ‘Wait dad,’ cried Ben.

  Raymond’s hand hovered over the hand brake. ‘Damn these sight seers!’ He relaxed a little. ‘What do you think, Ben?’

  Ben shrugged. But his father couldn’t see him. His eyes were fixed on the people in the other car. ‘They can’t make us move, can they Daddy?’

  ‘Like to see them get out and try,’ Raymond said with a dry crackling chuckle. He took his hand off the brake and picked up his bottle of water. He slowly unscrewed the cap and took a long swig. Rasci squeaked and the wolf outside pricked up his ears. Rhamin remained at the verge side of the station wagon. Stepping a little closer he sniffed at the glass.

  ‘Rhamin. It’s me.’

  Rhamin lifted his head. There, inside the vehicle, was the little boy from the farm; the courageous young man kind that had pushed Rhamin away from his little sibling that night in the farmhouse when the wolf had reached past him to pick up the dog pups. The boy’s eyes were wide, but not with fear. Rhamin tried to read the look. The boy seemed excited, perhaps a little anxious. His little lips were parted as he looked around at the vehicle outside. Slowly, still watching what was going on outside, the little boy lifted the edge of a blanket. Rhamin was perplexed. But then, slowly, from beneath the edge of the sheet, a black button nose poked out at the end of a grey snout. Two long canine teeth showed as the figure spoke again. ‘Rhamin, it’s me!’

  ‘Rasci?’ Rhamin leaned his head to one side. This was not what he had been conditioned to expect. ‘Rasci, is that you? Is it really you?’

  The adjacent car pulled forward and stopped a little ahead to try and get a better view. The occupants could no longer see inside the back of the station wagon. The blanket lifted a little more as a face appeared behind the nose.

  ‘Well who else do I look like for goodness sake?’

  Rhamin couldn’t speak. Instead, his ears went forward, and his tail began to wag uncontrollably. But his head began to shake as his pleasure was overtaken by despair.

  ‘But what are you doing here? I’m in a prison. Don’t you realise? You are in a prison!’

  ‘So, do you want a ride or not,’ Rasci repeated.

  A small flame rekindled in Rhamin’s eyes. ‘Oh, Rasci. You fabulous little brother of mine! It’s so good to see your ugly face!’

  ‘Right.’

  Rhamin looked around. The spark of hope in his eyes suddenly dulled. ‘It’s impossible, Rasci. There’s no way out. I know. I’ve looked at every corner of this pen.’

  ‘But we can get out. You can come with us.’

  Rhamin backed away as another two cars pulled closer. Rasci dropped down beneath the blanket again as Rhamin spoke. ‘I can’t, not without Yeltsa.’

  ‘Yeltsa? Is she here?’ But the other cars had stopped. They too seemed to want their money’s worth. It was early in the day, but already the drive through traffic was building up.

  ‘She’s not very well,’ Rhamin said as he stepped away from the vehicle.

  Rasci’s face disappeared. A zebra-painted patrol vehicle drove closer from across the grass.

  ‘You’ll have to move on,’ the driver stated.

  ‘I’ve paid to look at the wolves,’ Raymond shouted back, remaining exactly where he was.

  ‘So have the others,’ replied the patrolman.

  Raymond took another swig of his water. ‘Give us a minute,’ he said as he fumbled with a camera.

  The patrolman nodded and drove away.

  ‘It’s too busy,’ Raymond stated dejectedly. ‘We’ll never do it.’ Margo looked towards her father. ‘Daddy, we can drive through again can’t we?’

  Raymond turned his head and looked at his little daughter. ‘That’s a good idea. Why not?’ he said with a determined grin. Ben and Margo looked down at Rasci who was trying to remain below the edge of the back windows. For a moment, Ben slipped the blanket to one side and patted him. Nobody saw Rasci. He was too low down. And Ben thought that even if Rasci had sat up in the back, nobody would have seen him because all eyes were on Rhamin, standing so close to the station wagon.

  ‘There will be fewer vehicles just before the park closes for the night,’ Raymond stated, as he began to move slowly away.

  Rasci thought their opportunity to save Rhamin had passed as the station wagon left the compound. Whining, and noticeably distressed, he lifted his head and looked back as his friend disappeared from view.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Ben said, patting him confidently. ‘We’re going back.’

  But Rasci didn’t understand and a sense of despair began to overtake him.

  Steadily, Raymond drove through the remainder of the park, stopping in the animal locks and waiting for the gates to close behind him before the ones up ahead opened to let them through. The lion enclosure was next. Ben and Margo’s preoccupation trying to calm Rasci prevented them from noticing anything. The drive through the lion enclosure took seventeen minutes. All the time Ben and Margo spoke soothingly to their companion. What Raymond didn’t want, was for Rasci to see the lions or the lions to see Rasci. The wolf ’s reaction to the tiger had been provocative to say the least, and he knew that the lions were used to seeing humans behind their glass windows of their vehicles but he wasn’t sure if that would stop them noticing another animal. Consequently, with Ben and Margo in charge of the unenviable situation in the back of the station wagon, there were strict instructions not to let Rasci lift his head under any circumstances.

  Eventually, they left the last enclosure and arrived at a large open green where many cars were already stopping for their occupants to enjoy a picnic or simply to enjoy sitting in the sun. Raymond picked a remote corner, under the shade of the branches of a big spruce tree. Nobody seemed to want to be in the shade, so by being there, they maintained a respectable distance between the station wagon and the nearest vehicle; and that must have been over fifty yards away.

  Calmed a little now, realising that they had not completely abandoned their mission, Rasci settled down to wait and see what was happening. Raymond lifted the back door slightly, to enable air to circulate, and Ben opened all the windows, got out a sandwich box and a flask, and shared out some food. There was little else to do on a hot mid-day in August. The group dined, slept and waited. They offered to share some of their sandwiches with Rasci, but he couldn’t eat. His mind was not turned towards food.

  Margo was the first to drop into a deep slumber. Later, Raymond managed to get half an hour’s sleep, but Ben stayed wide awake and fidgeted constantly. Rasci, although too stressed at first, relaxed enough to go into one of his trances. It was then, reassured by Ben that they were returning to the wolf enclosure, that he realised that the mission had only just begun.

  It was a long wait. Raymond knew that Rasci was a liability if anyone saw him in the back of the Station wagon, and he wouldn’t exactly class as a pet. But he needed to keep Ben and Margo occupied. It was still only eleven thirty in the morning. The safari park accepted last vehicles to drive through an hour before closure. But, with a definite plan in mind, now it seemed a little more of an adventure and less like grand larceny. Ben fidgeted when Rasci awoke. Margo had not emerged from her deep sleep. Raymond tapped his fingers, hummed and was clearly having trouble relaxing and Rasci, who had no urge to give the plot away, now he knew they were returning to the wolf enclosure, and who was used to spending long hours resting and sleeping in the shade, of all the station wagon’s occupants, was the coolest and the calmest.

  But they all began to feel the rush of adrenalin as the sun began to drop from its highest point. Each one seemed to be counting the minutes and the seconds. Rasci, somewhat in the
dark regarding the time that their mission was to commence, began to lift his head and peer at Ben with questioning eyes.

  ‘Won’t be long now,’ Ben kept saying soothingly, stroking Rasci’s head, for he too was not yet able to tell the time by the station wagon clock, and was just waiting for something to happen; waiting for a sign from his father.

  As closing time approached, Raymond started the engine, let off his parking brake and slipped the vehicle into gear. ‘Are we ready then?’ he asked with a final look at his watch. No one answered. They were all too nervous. Slowly he drove past the remaining picnickers and headed to the massive mesh gate that led to the enclosures. The first enclosure they had to go through was inhabited by water buffalo, grazing beside a large man made lake. Rasci thought that if circumstances had been different, the animals would not have been so calm. Slowly, they approached the next big mesh gate, letting cars pass them as they drove through the compound at a leisurely pace. Then they came to the next enclosure, the first with a double gate lock. As the second gate closed behind them, Raymond drove slowly forward, but the enclosure seemed empty the second time around. The huge tiger that they had seen in the morning was now nowhere to be seen, nor were any other similar animals, if there had been any others in there in the first place.

  At the next set of gates, leading to the wolf enclosure, they were next to last in the line of traffic. The first gate closed behind them, and nervously, they watched the gate up ahead. A minute or so passed while the guard lit a cigarette. Finally, the front gate rolled sideways. This was the moment they had been waiting for and Rasci could sense that they were all nervous, no one more than he. If this didn’t work then there probably would be no other chance. Raymond held back and let the one car that was behind them pass them by. He slowed almost to a standstill to let the other cars drift off ahead up a slope towards the main denning area of the wolves. Once again those people in the vehicles stopped to try and get a view of the wolves, but only six grey wolves wandered about, none with any particular purpose.

  Rasci was watching now, his head poking up above the window ledge. He thought how pointless the lives of these captives were. They had food, and plenty of it, but their lives had ended. Hunting in the wild needed cunning and courage, but there was none needed here. Rasci recalled a story that Zelda had told him a couple of years ago about a wolf pack that killed all the members of a trespassing pack, all except one. That one wolf they just left and they walked away. She had fought fearlessly and with courage. Rasci hoped that he would be fearless if the time came for him to fight for his life. That’s why he loved his leader. He had never once seen Rhamin show fear of anything. That’s why it saddened Rasci now. He had seen his leader broken and wilted; the fire of life now only embers glimmering dimly within him.

  Raymond still held back, and soon, the drivers of the cars in front drove off around a bend, and disappeared behind the tall oak trees that overhung the road, while the farmer pulled up close to the spot where he had stopped before.

  Rasci’s heart began to thump now. Where was his friend? Still there were only six grey wolves loping around. Surely Rhamin had understood that he was coming back. If he didn’t appear soon, a patrol vehicle was most likely to arrive. They would check that all the vehicles were out of the enclosure before locking the gates for the night.

  ‘Come on, Black Wolf,’ Raymond said aloud. ‘Come on boy. Where are you?’

  As if hearing the plea, a black face poked out from behind a thick, rotting tree stump. It looked each way, time being of no urgency to it. Then, slowly, Rhamin raised his body into view and turned around. He was speaking to another wolf, urging Yeltsa to come out from deep inside a hollow.

  Rasci couldn’t hold his nerve any longer. He threw off the blanket and barked at his leader. ‘Rhamin, be quick!’ But, although Rhamin must have heard him, his back remained turned towards the station wagon.

  ‘Open the back door, Ben,’ Rasci instructed. ‘Quickly!’ But Ben didn’t Understand.

  Rasci scratched frantically at the glass.

  Precious moments passed, while Margo and Ben considered the situation. ‘You have to open the back door, Ben,’ Rasci exclaimed, scratching now at the crack at the base of the door. His actions told the message. Without losing another second, Ben pushed past Rasci, pulled a lever and pushed. The back door swung open and upwards.

  ‘Come, Rhamin. Come quickly,’ Rasci pleaded. But Rhamin still had his back turned towards them. ‘Rhamin!’

  ‘Quiet!’ Rhamin called back softly. In the distance he could hear the patrol vehicle coming though the lock. So could Rasci; he heard it too. But Rhamin still hadn’t budged. With every nerve in his body tingling, Rasci pushed past Ben, leapt out of the back of the station wagon and loped towards Rhamin.

  ‘Rhamin! We must go now or we will all be prisoners.’ He looked down at Yeltsa, and his heart sank. She was unbelievably thin, her eyes were dull and she could hardly push herself up into a standing position. ‘Yeltsa!’ Rasci exclaimed. ‘You’re not going to let those few yards be the end of you, are you?’ He watched as she lifted her head, fresh spirit lifting her to her feet as she heard the sound of Rasci’s voice. ‘All the pack are waiting for you,’ he went on. ‘Your new cubs are expecting you!’

  It was the mention of her latest litter that gave her the surge of energy she had lacked.

  ‘Are they still alive?’ she asked, her drawn face showing total incredulity.

  ‘You had better believe it,’ Rasci said, getting down into the hollow. He pushed her with his muzzle.

  Only yards away, Raymond waited, tapping his fingers nervously on the steering wheel, looking and watching for the patrol vehicle. He couldn’t hear it like the wolves could; they could hear it slowly coming around the bend beyond the trees. Soon it would come into full view. It would see the station wagon, and the game would be up.

  The other wolves were running towards them having spotted the stranger. ‘Quickly,’ Rhamin said to Yeltsa. ‘They are spoiling for another fight.’ There were more of them than before.

  Slowly, Yeltsa staggered forward, each step a laboured effort. One of her front legs hung loosely in front of her. She swayed but two wolves at her sides supported her. ‘Just don’t go down!’ Rhamin said to her, as he urged her forward.

  Up ahead, the patrol vehicle would soon appear. The sound was getting closer. Raymond could hear it now. Impatient, he got out of the driver’s door. He knew the patrol vehicle would appear, and he had seen the other wolves bounding towards them. Trusting Rhamin, without a second thought, he snatched Yeltsa up in his strong arms, and lifted her into the back of his vehicle. She yelped with pain as he let her down onto the floor of the station wagon. Quickly, he ran to the driver’s door to get back in, but the first of the other wolves were almost upon him. He stopped, ready to repel an attack, when Rasci came around from behind his legs to face them. These wolves were well fed, but no wolf in captivity can compare in fitness and strength to one that hunts and eats well in the wild. Rasci looked intimidating. And thin as he was, Rhamin was still bigger than any other wolf. Suddenly, he appeared at the other side of the vehicle. The thirteen attacking wolves skidded to a halt, none wanting to be first in the front line of attack. Raymond ducked inside and pulled the door closed behind him. He couldn’t be seen out of his vehicle, nor could he be seen fighting off the wolves. The patrol vehicle had stopped just before the brow of the hill; the top of its cab was clearly visible now. Had the driver seen Raymond? None of them knew, but they didn’t have chance to think of the consequences.

  Regaining their courage with the man out of the way, the other wolves went for Rasci. Rhamin ran between them. They must have fought with Rhamin before, because, once again they halted in their tracks. ‘Get going,’ Rhamin said as he turned his head to Rasci. ‘I’ll keep them off you. You can get away.’

  Rasci, of course, didn’t obey. He bounded past Rhamin’s shoulder and went for the throat of the leading attacker. It yelped and bounce
d out of the way. The other wolves scattered.

  ‘You are no match for the Rhamin wolves,’ Rasci barked as the fragmented pack began to reassemble, each waiting for another to take the lead. He bounded at them again, lashing at the wolves on each side and once again they dispersed. He turned to Rhamin. ‘Well, are you coming or not?’

  Rhamin didn’t speak. He looked at Rasci in admiration. His brother was magnificent. He obeyed. Shakily, he went around to the back of the station wagon and jumped in to join Yeltsa.

  Rasci bounded back around the vehicle and jumped in after him bouncing on top of Yeltsa as she lay panting. Ben squeezed past them and reached for the strap that he could use to pull down the door. His fingers slipped past it, unable to grasp. He looked down at the angry pack that was now searching around the back of the station wagon.

  The patrol vehicle was moving forward again, and was in full view now as Raymond released the hand brake and selected his gear. He let out the clutch too fast and stalled the engine, halting the station wagon with a jerk. The jerk made the back door oscillate and as it moved downwards, Ben caught the strap, but the momentum of the door returning up to its open position pulled him forward and made him lose his balance. He was falling head first towards the angry pack of resident wolves. Raymond spun his head around and watched helplessly as a huge mouth closed around Ben’s waist. It dragged him backwards as he clung desperately to the strap. The door closed with a thud at the little boy’s feet. Rhamin let him go and as he tumbled backwards over Rasci’s head, Rhamin lifted his face level with Ben’s and licked it with a damp shammy-leather tongue.

  The patrol vehicle was coming down the slope towards them. Desperately, Raymond turned the ignition key, the engine fired and he gunned it as the patrol vehicle drew up alongside.

  ‘Anything the matter?’ the patrolman asked through his half open window. He was watching the milling wolves at the back of Raymond’s station wagon.