African Pursuit (11 page)

‘We’ve got to see what it wants,’ Sarah said breathlessly. ‘Then we’ll grab some water and run.’ To their surprise and disappointment, however, the bird flew straight out again leaving no sign of a message.

‘Must have just been after some crumbs or something,’ said Ben. ‘Let’s go!’ Sarah peeped round the corner of the truck before jumping out to check on the professor. She saw him walk behind a tree and then he seemed simply to disappear.

‘Well, gives us more time to escape,’ she thought, and started to climb out over the tailgate. Just then there was a hiss and there immediately below her was a long black snake. Its head was already on the ground and its body continued to emerge from the chassis and suspension under the truck’s floorboards. She grabbed Ben and they shrank back into the truck. Then, to her horror she saw a second snake which came out of a tool compartment inside the back of the truck and slithered alongside herself and Ben, now huddled against the side. The mamba passed within inches of them but completely ignored them and reared up so that its head was looking out over the tailgate as if on guard. Then a strange thing happened. Suddenly the
snake on the ground reared up and its forked tongue flickered. Its head arched back and it was clearly preparing to strike – but as Sarah and Ben watched in fearful fascination, they could see nothing for the reptile to attack. They then heard a curse and Sarah suddenly saw a footprint in the sand in front of the snake that she was sure had not been there before.

The stand-off between the professor and the mamba was an interesting one. The mamba relied on its eyesight to follow movements of its prey and was disconcerted by the apparent absence of the professor; on the other hand it had felt the vibrations of his approach and its constantly flickering tongue was testing the air and informing it that the professor was certainly present. It waited, alert and head erect for the slightest movement. For his part, the professor had approached the truck to finish off the children, confident that he was completely invisible. The appearance of the snake had taken him completely by surprise and as he stood in front of the deadly, swaying reptile he suddenly remembered reading that some snakes had thermal imaging detectors – presumably unaffected by invisibility. As it happened, the species of snake he now confronted did not possess this imaging facility, but the professor’s herpetological knowledge did not extend far enough for him to be sure of this. He slowly inched his way backwards from the snake until he was far enough away to turn and run for the trees. Even then the snake could probably have caught him if it had seen him, for this was the fastest-moving snake on earth, capable of moving at twelve miles an hour, and one of the few snakes known deliberately to attack humans without provocation. Sarah, of course, was unaware of most of this drama but she heard the sound of running and saw the snake beginning to relax. Looking back at the group, she saw that the men had almost finished breaking camp and
Fred and the other two who shared the children’s truck were coming towards her carrying pots and camp stools. At that moment she saw the professor reappear from behind the tree. He looked white and shaken and Sarah wondered what he had seen in the bush that had terrified him. As Fred and the men came nearer to the truck Luke saw them and shouted to them to stop. There were loud hisses and the men stopped and looked at the mambas in horror. The snakes swayed threateningly and the men slowly retreated backwards towards the other truck – which the professor had already hurriedly climbed into. About halfway Fred stopped, reluctant to leave the children, but his two companions joined the professor and the rest of the men in the other vehicle.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Sid, who was already in the driving seat waiting impatiently for the loading to be completed.

‘It’s our truck,’ called Fred, ‘it’s swarming with snakes!’ Sid went white with fear. He and Fred both had a lifelong aversion to snakes. He thought briefly of getting out and trying to shoot them but the thought of shooting one and missing, or having another one streak towards his leg… he shuddered and made a quick decision.

‘Leave the other truck. We can cope with one. We’re nearly at the mines anyway.’

‘But the kids,’ said Fred, ‘they’re still in there with the snakes!’ He was torn between his phobia of snakes and his genuine concern for the children as he stood between the two trucks, full of indecision. He didn’t dare shoot at the snakes; for all he knew there were more than just two, and he might hit the children or hit the fuel tank of the lorry and incinerate them.

‘Stay completely still, kids, and they won’t hurt you,’ he called to comfort them, his voice hoarse with fear, ‘I’ll soon think of something.’

But he didn’t have time to think of anything for at that moment there was a coughing growl from the bushes and a leopard stalked towards Fred, its tail lashing angrily. Fred hurriedly scrambled into the back of the other truck and Sid threw it into gear and drove off.

‘That solves one of our problems,’ murmured Luke, who was sitting in front next to Sid. Sid grinned.

‘Yeah. And we needed the extra room now we’re down to one truck.’

After they had driven for about an hour the professor nudged Sid in the front seat, and leaned over so those in the back couldn’t hear.

‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said in a low voice. ‘We can’t leave the kids in that lorry. Even after the snakes have killed them, they’ll be found and everyone will know they were kidnapped. There’ll be such a hue and cry that our chances of quietly setting up an illegal mining outfit down the road will be zero.’ Sid frowned, then nodded.

‘You’re right. What do you suggest?’

‘We’ll have to go back and burn the lorry. As you know, there are burnt-out trucks all over the place. It won’t be looked at for months – if ever. Even if it is, a few bits of charred bone will never be linked with a fake lion kill in the Serengeti.’ Sid nodded slowly in agreement. It all made good sense.

‘What about Fred? He’ll never agree.’

The professor drew even nearer and they murmured for a while, then Sid drew into a clearing.

‘Let’s stop for a break,’ he said cheerfully. ‘The prof thinks he’s left his briefcase by a log at our last stop. It’s got stuff in it to do with the diamonds, so we gotta get it. I’ll take ’im back while you guys ’ave a coffee and a bite.’

The men jumped down to stretch their legs. Fred sullenly started to make coffee on a camp stove. He was still upset about what had happened to the children and hadn’t spoken to Sid or Luke since. Sid went over to him.

‘Look, Fred, you’re probably right about the kids. I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not risking myself with any snakes.’

‘Yeah!’ Fred replied tersely. He didn’t turn round. He knew his brother was lying and he was beginning to feel sickened by the whole expedition. Sid rejoined the professor in the truck, turned it round, and drove back up the track with the professor. Soon they arrived at the spot. The abandoned lorry stood by the side of the road. There was complete silence and no sign of any children, leopards or snakes. Sid briefly contemplated looking into the back for the children’s bodies but the thought of having a snake or snakes striking into his face from the dark interior was unthinkable. If the kids had got out of the lorry, he told himself, the leopard would have attacked them and that was fine, for they’d never be found. If their bodies were still in the lorry he needed to destroy the evidence. He pulled a safe distance away and fired his machine pistol at the fuel tanks. Within a few seconds there was an almighty “whoosh” and the lorry burst into flames. The heat, even at a distance, was quite incredible and when the ammunition boxes started to explode Sid had to pull further away. Within a few moments the vehicle had been reduced to a charred shell in which nothing could have survived or remained recognizable. Sid looked questioningly at the professor who surveyed the scene with satisfaction and smiled.

‘I think that wraps it all up rather neatly, don’t you?’ he murmured. Sid slid the lorry into gear and they drove off, leaving the wreck flickering with flames that would continue for several more hours.

Two hours earlier, after the villains had left, the children sat rigid with fear, eyes fixed in horror at the black mamba beside them. Once the rumble and vibrations of the departing lorry had faded the snake turned, casually slithered over Sarah’s legs and slid under the tarpaulin covering stores opposite where the children sat. Even as it disappeared the head of the other snake appeared over the tailgate and it too slithered down, passed within inches of the children and rejoined its companion. The leopard, which had disappeared into the trees following the departure of the other lorry, suddenly re-appeared and sauntered over to the children. He stood on his hindlegs and put his forepaws on the tailgate and dropped a freshly killed squirrel into the truck at the children’s feet. Then he dropped back to the ground and rolled on his back, legs in the air and purring deeply, for all the world like a domestic cat. Sarah looked at Ben. They had both relaxed a little with the disappearance of the snakes.

‘This must be Lucy’s leopard,’ Sarah said. ‘And he’s brought us the squirrel for food. Even though,’ she added wrinkling her nose, ‘I wouldn’t eat it in a trillion years. He’s obviously here to protect us but what do you think about the snakes?’

‘Well they could’ve bitten us ten times over,’ said Ben thoughtfully, ‘but they didn’t, and Lucy did say in her note that leopards
and
snakes might help us. All the same, I don’t feel very comfortable with them hidden just over there.’ He gestured across the truck.

‘I’ve got an idea,’ said Sarah after they had sat chatting for a while, both immensely relieved by the departure of the gang. ‘It doesn’t feel very safe in this lorry with the snakes and if some of those dreadful soldiers we keep seeing come past they’ll see the truck and find us. The leopard can protect us from other animals, but not from guns.
Why don’t we move into the truck that’s hidden over there behind the trees. No-one can see it from the road.’

‘But that one’s got a burst tyre,’ said Ben.

‘So what!’ laughed Sarah, ‘We can’t drive it, anyway.’

‘Good point,’ said Ben immediately, with a smile. He started to clamber over the tailgate then suddenly paused and looked at the leopard; even though it could easily have leapt into the lorry and devoured them if it had wanted to do so, it somehow seemed foolhardy to step right down beside it.

‘Come on, wimp!’ said Sarah, teasing him with a grin as she jumped down first.

‘Lucy said there’d be a leopard and here it is.’ As if to prove her words, as soon as she was on the ground the leopard came over and nuzzled her reassuringly.

‘It’s fine,’ she said. She unhooked the latches on the tailgate and let it swing down. ‘Now pass me the stuff down and we can take it to the other lorry.’

Ben handed down their sleeping things and a large carton of water bottles that was next to them. They looked back at the other stores of water and canned food covered with tarpaulins. The snakes had disappeared somewhere into the interior.

‘I daren’t touch that stuff,’ said Ben, ‘even though we need it.’

‘No,’ agreed Sarah. ‘We’ll have to think some more about how to get it – but bring the squirrel; we don’t want to offend the leopard!’

They trekked across the bushes with their bundles and the dead squirrel. The leopard prowled along after them looking from side to side. As they walked under the trees Ben looked up and saw two more leopards lying nonchalantly along branches, their tails hanging vertically down, so near that he could almost touch them. They let
down the tailgate of the concealed lorry and pushed their belongings in, putting the squirrel carefully to one side and climbed up. Just as they were about to close the tailgate Ben exclaimed and pointed.

‘Look!’ Sarah followed his finger and there she saw two mambas slithering along the ground. They stopped briefly in front of the leopard on the ground, then moved to the lorry the children had just put their things in. Sarah and Ben watched in fearful fascination as they wound their way up the back wheels, over the mudguards, and twisted themselves up into the lorry.

‘They’ve followed us,’ said Sarah.

‘They
must
be on our side,’ said Ben, ‘didn’t you see them talking to the leopard?’ She nodded. ‘That means we can go back and get the rest of the supplies,’ he said confidently. ‘Come on.’

They hurried back to the vehicle at the side of the road and Ben dragged the boxes to the back of the truck and handed them down to Sarah. When they had taken everything useful Ben jumped down and put up the tailgate, then the two of them started moving the provisions from the pile on the ground to the other truck. It was laborious work in the jungle heat and the entire job took the best part of an hour. As they carried the last box away Ben suddenly stopped and listened.

‘Shush!’ he said. ‘What’s that?’

They listened intently as, above the normal bird and animal sounds of the forest and the incessant dripping of water from the trees, a faint rumble became apparent.

‘It’s a lorry,’ said Sarah. ‘Quick!’ They pulled the last box into the lorry that was their new home, secured the tailgate, and crouched down behind it. They both jumped as there was a thud on the tarpaulin. Stretched over the poles above them a shape bulged down.

‘It’s only the leopard,’ whispered Ben. ‘He’s jumped up to hide from the lorry – and protect us.’

The noise of the lorry got louder, the engine note changing as it wound around the bends and tried to avoid potholes and dips in the dirt road. Eventually it came round a final bend and then, to the children’s horror, stopped beside the vehicle they had just vacated.

‘Good job you made us move,’ Ben whispered to Sarah. She nodded but she was sick with fear and put her finger to her lips.

Suddenly there was the clatter of automatic fire and the canvas above them trembled as the great cat lying there tensed for action. Then there was a massive “crump” as the fuel tank on the other lorry exploded. The birds and animals of the forest fell into a stunned silence for a moment, then burst into a cacophony of alarm calls. The burning vehicle hissed and crackled as it burnt and the ammunition boxes the children had left behind started to explode. They lay still, hardly daring to breathe for fear of what might happen next but eventually, to their intense relief, they heard the newly arrived lorry start up, do a series of noisy manoeuvres to turn on the narrow road, then disappear the way it had come.