The Mystery of the Black Rhino (6 page)

“Joe—now's our chance!” Frank said. “We can see what's in that back room.”

Quickly the Hardy boys raced to the rear of the shop. Just as Frank opened the door, he saw someone leaving by another door at the back of the storage room.

“It's Jackson!” Joe said.

They started running.

Right before they got to the door to the outside, the shopkeeper shouted, “You have no right to be back here. I'm going to call the police. I'll have you arrested.”

Quickly Joe pushed on the door. It opened onto an alley. “There he is!”

Jackson was already at the end of the alley heading toward the crowd of demonstrators on Moi Avenue.

The boys raced after him. But by the time they reached Moi Avenue, Jackson had disappeared in the throng.

“What now?” Joe asked.

Before Frank could answer, someone thrust a sign into his hands.

“You can't demonstrate without a sign,” a girl shouted at him. “It isn't allowed.”

“But we're not really . . .,” Frank started to say.

“You're not really what?” the girl demanded. “You're not really in favor of keeping the animals in Kenya alive?”

“No, no, it's not that,” Joe intervened. “It's just that—”

“I know you. I saw your faces on television,” the girl interrupted him. “You're the Hardy boys from America. You saved all those passengers on the Kenya International Airways flight from New York this morning.”

Before Frank and Joe could tell the girl that she was right, a shoving match began—and Frank and Joe and the girl were in the middle of it. They were all getting battered with opposition signs.

“People have to eat! They're more important!” a demonstrator shouted. “Animals don't need the best land.”

“They're important, too!” Joe shouted back. “We can't let African animals die out!”

That set off two more of the opposition demonstrators. They started battering Joe with their placards.

Somewhere in the distance, Joe thought he heard the sound of police whistles.

Suddenly he felt himself being pulled out of the crowd. There was such mass confusion that none of the opposition demonstrators seemed to notice that he was leaving.

When Joe finally looked at who was pulling him, he saw Frank and the girl on the sidewalk. They all crouched behind a parked car.

“Thanks!” Joe said. “I guess I got carried away.”

The girl smiled. “Well, at least you found out what we're up against,” she said. She held out her hand. “I'm Lilly Mtito. I'm a student at the University of Kenya.”

The Hardy boys shook hands with her.

“We're having another rally on campus,” Lilly said. “Would you care to come?”

“After all of this?” Frank said. “You mean the police will allow it?”

“Oh, yes. These demonstrations are a weekly event in Nairobi. The police don't interfere too much. They more or less let us take out our frustrations on each other,” Lilly said. “Of course, they'll step in if things get really out of hand, but they know it's
important for each side to vent its anger at the other, and they don't consider hitting someone on the head with a placard to be much of a crime.”

Frank looked at Joe. “I'd like to find out more about the plight of the wild animals in Kenya,” he said. “Dad will be busy putting the final preparations on his talk, so he won't want us disturbing him. How about it?”

Joe nodded. “And when we get back to Bayport, we can—”

“Lilly! Lilly! The farmers have Professor Makadara!” a voice shouted. They turned to see a slender young man running their way. When he reached them, out of breath, he continued, “They're beating him up. They blame him for everything!”

“Joseph! How could they? He's an old man!” Lilly cried. She looked at Frank and Joe. “Professor Makadara is one of the most respected educators in Kenya!”

Without waiting to be asked to help, Frank and Joe followed Lilly and Joseph back into the crowd on Moi Avenue. A block away, they saw two men with what looked like bicycle chains whipping another man who was lying on the street. The man was curled up, trying to keep his head and face covered. Joe could see that the chains had drawn blood.

In the distance he heard the wail of a police siren. Joe knew it was headed in their direction.

Frank and Joe dove at the men's backs, causing them to buckle to the ground. Lilly and the young man picked up the bicycle chains and shook them threateningly.

The police sirens were getting closer.

“You have to help us get Professor Makadara out of here,” Lilly said frantically. “The police will arrest him. He's wanted for questioning.”

Joe began to wonder just what he and Frank had gotten themselves into. He picked up the professor's legs, Frank grabbed the professor under his arms, and they quickly carried him in the direction that Lilly and Joseph were headed.

They wound their way through back alleys and several dimly lit shops, where no one seemed to think there was anything unusual about the Hardy boys carrying a bleeding elderly man.

Finally just when Joe thought he couldn't go any farther, they entered a covered passage that smelled of rotting garbage and stopped in front of a scarred wooden door.

Lilly took a key from one of her pockets, inserted it into the ancient lock, and opened the door.

Once inside, she lit a lamp, allowing the Hardy boys to see where they were: the professor's apartment.

Joe looked around. There were books stacked everywhere. Faded prints of some of the magnificent wildlife of Kenya adorned the walls.

“We need to put him to bed,” Lilly said. “Bring him this way.”

The professor's bedroom was at the back of the small apartment. Frank and Joe laid him gently on the bed.

“We'll need hot water, Joseph,” Lilly said. “The kettle is on the stove. Please get it ready.”

Joseph left the bedroom to do what Lilly had asked.

“Is there anything that we can do?” Joe asked.

Lilly had begun to undo the professor's shirt. “Well, yes, you can check the medicine cabinet in the bathroom,” she said. “Bring whatever salves you can find.”

But before the Hardy boys could react to Lilly's request, there was a loud pounding on the door.

“Police!” a voice shouted. “Open up!”

“Oh, no!” Lilly moaned. She looked at Frank and Joe. “They can't find you here. They won't believe you're not involved. You have to forget what you've seen!” She nodded toward the window. “Out that way! Just start running!”

“What about you?” Frank asked.

“I'm not going to leave Professor Makadara,” Lilly said. “Now, go!”

In the front of the apartment, Frank and Joe could hear the door splinter. They raced to the window, opened it, and climbed out onto the ground. Lilly was standing there to close the window after
them and to pull the curtains. With luck, no one would know they had been there.

“As much as I'd like to help,” Frank said to Joe as they raced down the alley, “I don't think I'm ready to spend several years in a Kenyan jail.”

“I wonder what Lilly meant, that Professor Makadara was wanted for questioning,” Joe said.

“Maybe he's some sort of a fanatic, Joe,” Frank replied. “We probably believe in some of the same things he believes in, but we follow the laws in our country. I'm thinking that maybe he didn't.”

Without Lilly and Joseph leading the way for them, Frank and Joe had no idea where they were headed. Now people who hadn't paid any attention to them before were giving them strange looks. The Hardy boys weren't sure they were in a part of Nairobi where people cared about the Hardy name.

Frank and Joe quickened their pace and soon reached a street. A sign identified it as Haile Selassie Avenue. For a moment they didn't know which direction to take. Joe thought that going left would get them back to the hotel. It turned out that he was right. It led them back to Moi Avenue. Just as they were about to cross, a police car sped by, forcing them to jump back onto the sidewalk.

“Lilly!” Frank called.

Joe looked around. “Where?” he asked.

“In that police car. I'm sure it was her,” Frank
said. “She had her face pressed against the window, looking in our direction.”

“Lilly was worried that they were going to arrest Professor Makadara,” Joe said. “I wonder why they arrested her.”

“We need to talk to Dad about this, Joe,” Frank said. “Maybe he can think of some way we can help Lilly, or at least figure out why this happened.”

They crossed Moi Avenue and headed to the New Stanley Hotel. As they entered the lobby, they saw Jackson standing at the reception desk.

The Hardy boys ducked into the gift shop.

“I don't like this,” Joe said. “Every time we see him, there's trouble!”

“I know,” Frank agreed.

From where they were, they could see the reception area. The desk clerk who had been talking to Jackson looked at the mailboxes, then shook his head. Jackson stood for a minute, obviously thinking about something, then turned and left the hotel.

Frank and Joe went to the reception desk to get the key to their room.

“Ah, it's you,” the desk clerk said. “You just missed your friend from America.”

Frank gave the desk clerk a puzzled look. “Did he give you a name?”

“No. He said you didn't know he was coming,” the desk clerk said. “He said he had a big surprise for you.”

The Hardy boys decided to take the stairs to their room, rather than wait for the elevators in the crowded lobby.

“I'm not sure I want to know what kind of surprise he has for us,” Joe said.

“I know,” Frank said. He thought for a minute. “Lilly saw our pictures on television. That's how she knew us,” he added. “Jackson doesn't strike me as the kind who'd spend much time watching television. He must have been watching us from the door of the shop.”

“You're right, Frank. I don't really think he knew we were on the plane. We pretty much kept out of sight,” Joe said. “He probably recognized us from
Fifth Avenue Africana and is now wondering what we're doing here.”

They had reached their floor and turned down the corridor toward the room. Frank and Joe had already decided that they wouldn't bother their father with the new information about Jackson. They were used to taking care of themselves in situations like this.

Fenton Hardy had dozed off, sitting in an armchair with one of his speeches on his lap. He woke up, though, when the boys entered the room.

“I take it you've been seeing the sights,” Mr. Hardy said.

“Yup,” Frank said. “We took a little tour of the area.”

“Did you get a lot of work done, Dad?” Joe asked.

Fenton Hardy nodded. “Surprisingly, yes,” he replied.

“Why ‘surprisingly,' Dad?” Frank asked.

“The telephone has been ringing off the hook. I think every journalist in Kenya wants to interview you,” Mr. Hardy explained. “You're quite the heroes!”

Joe yawned. “Do you think they'll call back? I want to go to bed.”

“I don't think so,” Mr. Hardy said. “By now, you're probably old news.”

“Well, we were almost new news again,” Frank said. “We got caught in a demonstration between
the farmers and the animal rights activists on Moi Avenue.”

Joe nodded. “The farmers were beating up an elderly professor—an animal rights activist. We met a girl named Lilly Mtito who needed help carrying him to his apartment. But then the police came and took Lilly and the professor away.”

“Joe and I made sure the professor was safely hidden, then escaped through a bedroom window,” Frank said. “Lilly didn't want us to get arrested.”

Fenton Hardy seemed to study the situation for a minute. “Was this man's name Makadara?” he asked.

“Yes!” Joe exclaimed. “How did you know?”

Mr. Hardy let out a big sigh. “Well, Professor Makadara may mean well, boys, but he's created a lot of problems for the Kenyan government.”

“How so, Dad?” Frank asked.

“It's a difficult problem to solve, and the government is really trying to appease both sides,” Mr. Hardy said. “They know that with an expanding population, the farmers will need more land on which to grow crops—but they also know how important it is to ensure the survival of the wildlife, not only for environmental reasons, but for economic reasons. The tourist industry is very important to Kenya, and most tourists come here to see the wild animals.”

“But how does Professor Makadara fit in to this?” Joe asked.

“Unfortunately, Professor Makadara sees only one side of the issue,” Fenton Hardy said. “He's been accused of destroying a lot of farmers' property. I've received several reports on him from the Kenya police. They've never been able to prove anything, but they feel they're close.”

“I can't believe that Lilly would do anything like that,” Joe said.

“Me, either,” Frank agreed. “We were wondering . . .”

“. . . if I could find out what the situation is with her,” Fenton Hardy finished the sentence.

Frank nodded.

Mr. Hardy dialed a number and asked to be connected to Lieutenant Kitale. After a few minutes the conversation ended, and Mr. Hardy hung up the phone. He told his sons that Professor Makadara would be put on trial for his crimes, but that Lilly Mtito had been released. The Hardy boys felt bad for the professor, but they were glad to learn that Lilly was going to be all right.

“I'll be busy all day tomorrow with the opening sessions of the conference,” Mr. Hardy said, “so I took the liberty of arranging a trip to the Nairobi National Park for you. I hope that's okay. You didn't have anything definite in mind to do, did you?”

Frank and Joe shook their heads.