by Karen Rispin
Dr. Field grinned at me. "Don't want to be left out? I don't blame you. OK, we'll try."
He climbed back in the Range Rover.
I hugged my knees. Why did parents have to worry so much anyway, I wondered. I glanced at Rick. He was leaning back on the windshield with his eyes closed. There was a smear of dirt over the strong bones of his cheek.
"You're really lucky!" I blurted.
He raised his eyebrows without opening his eyes.
"You can just do whatever. Nobody worries about you."
He laughed and sat up. "I don't know about that. I'm going back to see if I can help with the elephant. Want to come?"
Rick asked if we couldn't try to get some fluid into the baby elephant.
"Go ahead," Dr. Webb said. "It can't hurt."
"Fluid?" I asked.
"He's probably very dehydrated," Rick said. "He could die of thirst. The best thing would be a balanced electrolyte, to replace the salts he's lost. Water is better than nothing."
He got a cup full of water from the Thermos and tried to get the baby elephant to swallow it. The baby struggled and wouldn't open its V-shaped mouth. When he forced its mouth open the water just ran out. He didn't do it again. The little elephant was getting too upset.
"Maybe he'd suck on a cloth," I said. I felt like crying.
The radio crackled and started talking. It was a plane. The plane for the baby elephant was coming already.
The engine droned louder and louder. It came down low right over us. I could see the numbers and letters underneath the wing. It went up looking small and white in the blue sky. Then it landed. The plane turned around and came taxiing toward us. The big propeller on the front was slicing through the air.
A man leapt out and ran across the grass. His bush hat flipped off, and the wind from the propeller blew his grey hair.
"Margaret!" he said, putting down a medical bag to stick out his hand. "So sorry about your elephants. Elanor Hales asked me to come get this baby as I was already in Tsavo."
A minute later they were walking the baby toward the plane. I walked alongside praying in my head, Don't let him die. Please don't let him die. At the plane Rick crowded in to watch the man put an intravenous needle into the baby elephant. That was to replace the fluid the baby had lost.
A few minutes later the plane disappeared into the sky. Stillness and bright sun surrounded us.
Dr. Webb said matter-of-factly, "Well, we'd better get you two home."
Partway down the road we met Mom, Daddy, and Sandy coming to pick us up.
"Thank you for letting us come," I said as we climbed out of the Range Rover. "It was awesome! I'd really like to do your kind of job."
Dr. Field laughed, "I wouldn't call today a typical day. Would you, Margaret?"
"I should hope not, she said. "It's usually hours and hours of recording boring details."
"It wouldn't be boring to me!" I said.
It felt good to get into our own safe, familiar car. I suddenly realized I was filthy dirty, tired, and starving.
"Hey!" Sandy blurted before anybody had a chance to say anything, "Know what? The Geislers left a message for Daddy to call, and you know what happened when he did? The mission said Rick being here is OK!"
"All right!" I yelled.
"Wait a minute," Daddy said, "it's not that simple. We can discuss this later."
"Yes," Mom cut in. "First you have to tell us hut wappened to you."
Everybody laughed at Mom's mixed-up words. Rick and I both started talking at once. He didn't tell about how he'd burned the note so I didn't either.
I guess Daddy figured there was something wrong. He said, "Margaret Webb left and asked you to give directions to the antipoaching squad?"
Neither of us answered his question. Rick just kept on telling what happened.
But Daddy gave me a look in the rearview mirror that said he was going to want to hear more about it, later. I knew I'd have to tell what really happened.
"You actually touched a baby elephant?" Sandy blurted. She kept asking and asking everything about it. Sweat trickled down my stomach in a ticklish line. I rubbed my hand against it. My hand left a dirty smear on my shirt.
"Mom," I said, interrupting Sandy. "Can't we go somewhere to get clean and eat, maybe at Amboseli Lodge? The tub at the cabin is gross. Besides, there's a pool at the lodge. I'm roasting."
There was a silence and Daddy said slowly, "You know we can't afford—"
"I'll treat," Rick cut in. "Just say I want to buy my African family a meal. Besides I feel like I could eat—"
"An elephant?" Sandy asked with a grin on her face.
"Gross!" I yelled, remembering the dead elephants I'd seen that day. "No way!"
That afternoon was the best. We ordered our food by the pool. It felt so good to stand under the shower and get clean, then dive into the cool pool. We raced and splashed and dunked each other. Daddy even played keep-away with us. Rick was a really good swimmer. The muscles on his back and shoulders shone in the sun. He did the butterfly stroke. Sandy and I tried to copy him, but we ended up in giggles. It wasn't as easy as he made it look.
Nothing ever tasted as good as the hamburger I ate. I was on my last bite when Rick said, "Hey, um, there's something I've got to say." We all looked at him. He ducked his head. Then he looked up with his dark blue eyes. "This isn't easy, but, ah, I was wrong to get mad at you yesterday." He looked at Mom. "I realize that you're a separate person with a whole separate life from me. Sorry I tried to jerk you around and make you change. You haven't done that to me."
There was a little silence. I could feel my heart beating. A huge smile was starting somewhere deep inside me.
Daddy said, "It hasn't been an easy time for any of us. I'm sorry if I wasn't as sensitive as I should have been."
"Hey man, no sweat," Rick said. "You all have been great, even my kid sisters."
"Does this mean you aren't going away?" Sandy said, grinning happily. "You're staying, right?"
Rick was shaking his head. "I've got to get back," he said.
"Could you stay a few more days?" Daddy asked. "The mission has asked us to make a public statement about what has happened in our family. We'll do that in church this Sunday. It would be good if you could stay until then."
"If you can't, don't worry," Mom said.
"If you stay we could maybe get permission to visit the baby elephant," I cut in. "Right, Daddy? I mean, we helped catch it and everything."
Rick laughed and said, "OK, but I can't stay long. My real life is still back in Oregon."
"Are the Geislers still mad at us?" I asked. "Is that why you have to do this public statement thing?"
"Anika, you know they were never mad at us," Mom said in a shame-on-you voice. "They just saw things differently. They aren't happy with the mission's ruling, but they've agreed to accept it."
"Will they stop being friends with us?" I asked. "I thought they were really nice at first." I was watching a boy with an ice-cream cone walk by.
"We'll just have to wait and see," Mom said. "It may be awkward for a while—"
"Can we have some ice cream?" Sandy asked. "Please! Please! I'm still starving!"
The next couple of days were fun. Even the hot drive back to Mumbuni wasn't bad. Everybody was friendly, relaxed, and normal. The only thing was, Rick still didn't stick around for family devotions.
I don't think I've ever been so nervous as I was that Sunday. Mom came into my room looking for something while I was getting dressed.
"How come we have to go into Nairobi?" I asked, pulling my dress straight. Suddenly I hated the peachy color of the dress I had on. I yanked at it again and repeated, "Why can't we just do it here?"
Mom sighed and said, "Anika, don't make trouble now. We've agreed to do what they said. They want us where most of the African church council can come and listen. The whole point is to tell the truth openly in public. That way no gossip can start. Also it's a chance to clearly state that w
e do not think sex outside marriage is acceptable. Besides, Rick is leaving in the evening, so we'd have to go into Nairobi today anyway."
I bit my lip. Mom looked white and worried. "Are you scared, too?" I asked.
She nodded. We ended up hugging each other. Then Mom prayed, "Please, God, let this be a day where everything works together to honor you. Keep us from doing anything that would hurt your work in the church, or in Rick's life, or in our family's life."
"At least we got permission to visit Elanor Hales in the afternoon," I said. "She said the baby elephant was still alive, right?"
Mom nodded. "She said if he lives till this weekend he has a good chance. I guess you'll find out when we get there, Anika. Just remember, unfair things happen sometimes."
We drove into the parking lot by Nairobi Bethel Church. People in bright Sunday clothes were coming from all directions. I swallowed hard and glanced at Rick. He looked like he wished he could disappear.
We got out of the car. Jane Njiru and her family came over to greet us. I liked Jane because she was friendly and smiled a lot. Also she had gorgeous clothes and hairstyles. Today her hair was done in thousands of little braids.
"Welcome! Welcome," she said, shaking Rick's hand. Then she looked at Mom and Daddy and said, "We are with you all the way. We have been praying and praying for you. I know God will work for everyone's good in this."
After that I felt better. Still, sitting and waiting until it was time for Mom and Daddy to talk was scary. I looked around. These people were educated people, city people. Three more people oozed onto the end of our bench. We moved over. The youth group sang. They did a call-and-answer song that was really African. Usually I would have loved the complicated rhythm. Now I didn't even smile.
Finally Mom and Daddy went up. I could feel my heart beat in my ears. Please just help them. Help Mom, I prayed frantically over and over in my head.
Mom explained how Rick was born. Then she had to explain about the adoption, because in Kenya it's different. Illegitimate babies are always raised by grandparents and aunts and things. Daddy told how he and Mom had become Christians. Then they had decided to be missionaries. He said they hadn't hidden anything from the mission.
Then Daddy said, "We always prayed for Hazel's son. Now he is a man. He has looked for and found the mother who carried him in her body. We pray that he will also look for and find his heavenly Father. I'd like to ask all of our children to come forward so that you may see them."
My knees felt like rubber while we walked to the front. I looked at Rick. He had his chin up, but his face was red. At the front Daddy said, "These are our daughters, Sandy and Anika, whom you know. This is Rick Shaw, Hazel's son. He is studying in Oregon to be a veterinarian."
The people started to clap. Several called out, "Welcome! Welcome!"
After church they crowded around to greet us and welcome Rick. A lot of the people Mom had taught at Bible school were there. For me it was a blur of bright clothes and hands reaching to shake mine. I kept thinking about the baby elephant. Would he still be alive?
At Elanor Hales's place I burst out of the car. I was going to ask the first person I saw if our baby elephant was still alive. Instead, I stopped and stared. An older woman was standing there with her arm around an eland. It wasn't a baby eland, either. Eland are the biggest antelopes in Africa. She was talking to some people and patting the eland.
She looked over at us, then walked over. She was barefoot. The eland followed her.
"You must be the Scotts," she said. "I'm Elanor Hales."
Her voice was very English, clipped, and no-nonsense. She had kind eyes.
Daddy started introducing us. Halfway through I couldn't stand it anymore. I blurted, "Is he still alive? Is the baby elephant still alive? Can we see him?"
"Anika!" Mom said, but Elanor Hales laughed and said, "Yes, he is. He's still weak, but he has a good chance of surviving. We've named him Kioko. Daniel will show you around."
Daniel was an African man who explained things to us in English. There were two other small elephants and a partly grown rhino. All of them were having a mud bath out front.
Kioko was there with his mother-man. Each baby elephant had one. The mother-man's whole job was to take care of Kioko. He even slept near Kioko. Right then he was rubbing cool, muddy water behind Kioko's ear. Kioko leaned against him and touched him with his trunk. I wanted to go pet Kioko, but Daniel said no. He said Kioko needed to feel peacefully secure. It wouldn't be good for strangers to pet him yet.
Daniel explained that baby elephants die unless they feel safe and get lots and lots of touching and attention. The tiny ones used to die, even with lots of attention. Finally Mrs. Hales figured out how to make elephant milk formula. Now some stayed alive.
We had tea on the veranda of the low stone house. My finger traced the pattern on my elegant china teacup. I glanced over at Elanor Hales, wondering what her life was like.
"Hey," Rick said suddenly, "I'm doing exotic animal veterinary science. Is there any chance I could work with you summers?"
Mrs. Hales raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean by work?" she asked.
"Anything there is to do. I could learn immense amounts from you," he said.
"Yes," she said in a dry voice, "I'm sure you could. But what good would you be to me? I have workers already who know the animals."
Rick shrugged and raised his hands.
She laughed, "Write to me. I'll consider it."
Before we knew it, it was time to head for the airport. We had just been there for a few minutes when we heard the intercom boom, "Flight 172, KLM Nairobi to Amsterdam now boarding at Gate 3."
"That's my flight," Rick said. "Hey, I want to tell you before I go, I'm going to do some serious thinking about this whole Christianity thing. You all have made me see that the Creator God may be someone to take seriously."
Mom was frantically digging in her purse. She came up with the New Testament she always carries. She pushed it into Rick's hands. "I wanted to give you a Bible," she said, "but I was afraid to seem pushy. But now it sounds like you might not mind. The words in this book are more valuable than anything else I could possibly give you." She paused and smiled. "This Bible is beat up and full of underlining, but maybe it will remind you of our love."
"Thanks!" he said. "I'll read it."
The intercom announced his flight again. He hugged Sandy, then me. I only came up to his chest. "Thanks for the adventure, Sis," he said. "Get some more poachers for me."
He shook Daddy's hand and gave Mom a bear hug. Mom was crying when he walked through the security gate and out of sight. Even though I was going to miss Rick, I was excited about what he told us. Maybe he would get to be a Christian after all! I knew we would all keep praying for him and look forward to seeing him again.
| Go to Table of Contents |
About this Title
This eBook was created using ReaderWorks™ Publisher, produced by OverDrive, Inc.
For more information on ReaderWorks, visit us on the Web at "www.readerworks.com"
