by Amber Hart
There’s no quiver in Clovis’s voice. Though I’d like to do the noble thing and offer to shoot, I cannot. I nod instead, so very grateful for the escape.
I picture Leahcim and know I absolutely cannot kill his kind.
Clovis has killed before. It will be easier for him than for me, I reason.
Clovis runs a hand down my hair. “Stay strong. Act the part. For Jospin,” he says. “For Leahcim too.”
My breath catches. Beautiful Leahcim.
This time when I look Mattius’s way, I pin him with a withering stare. I hate that he enjoys this. I hate the killer that he is, the way he thinks he has the right.
To my surprise, Mattius’s face falls, a slightly shocked expression on it. But as quickly as the look appeared, it vanishes. And then he smirks. His stare travels to my injured arm, as though he’d like to remind me just how weak I am.
“What if you pretended that your gun jammed?” I say, keeping my voice low. “Then you wouldn’t have to shoot either.”
Clovis’s dreads fall into his face, but I can tell from his expression that he will shoot anyway. “We cannot take the risk, Raven. I will not expose us. I don’t want to do this, you know, but if I don’t, even more gorillas will die.”
And I do know exactly what he means. So I grab his hand, the only support I know how to offer.
Snap.
A sound echoes, and this time it is just outside the clearing. Our time is up. Mattius eyes Clovis and signals for us to raise our guns. He is leading the hunt, giving the go-ahead when the moment is right. I try not to think about the apes. I try not to make a noise, though I want desperately to somehow warn the gorillas to switch direction, to abandon this place.
I raise my gun. I am skilled at using it, but I’d like to use it only to hunt meat that I need to eat, meat that is not endangered. I’d like to use it for protection, for target practice on inanimate objects. Just because I can shoot doesn’t mean that I have to.
I know how to aim close, a couple of inches off target. So I place my trajectory where the bushes are beginning to rustle, where I know the ape will soon emerge. I glance at Mattius, then at Hervé. They, like Clovis and me, are ready.
The gorilla appears. He is majestic. Larger than Leahcim. Silver on his back. He walks on his hands and feet toward the center of the clearing. For a moment, he looks around. Then he makes a sound that I haven’t heard before. A few seconds pass and other apes emerge too. Four females and a smaller ape. One of the females has a baby attached to her chest. I watch the way the baby feeds. My composure wavers. My good hand, the one holding the gun, trembles.
I cannot watch this.
There’s a baby gorilla.
And then Mattius gives the hand signal to click off our safeties.
I’m wishing I could do the smallest thing. Cough, clear my throat, snap a twig. Maybe then they would look up and see the danger they’re in. But even that was discussed on our way here; Mattius ran through every possible scenario in which I might mess up this hunt for them. He expects me to ruin it, so I can’t.
Pop, pop, pop.
Someone is shooting, and it isn’t us. Clovis and I look in the same direction at the same time to see two poachers on foot on the ground, firing at the apes. Before I have a chance to react, Hervé fires twice at the other poachers. They’re hit, but they manage to run.
I try to stand to get a better look at where they have gone.
“Get down,” Clovis whispers.
The apes are running now, aware of the danger. It is too late for two of them. One of the males has collapsed onto a female gorilla. Blood pools around them, thick and fast.
Clovis climbs down the tree and tells me to stay put. And then he’s gone with Mattius to track down the poachers who are illegally hunting in territory that doesn’t belong to them.
I want to worry about Clovis. I need to tell him that he too should stay put. But I say nothing, because I cannot take my eyes off the slain gorillas. So he disappears into the trees with Mattius and Hervé.
It’s a full five minutes before they return. And when they do, they find me sitting on the forest floor, staring at the gorillas that I could not save.
I’ve failed Dad.
“Raven,” Clovis says. I don’t look up. He comes to me. “Raven,” he repeats.
I watch the way Mattius and Hervé grunt and push against the fallen gorilla.
“Did you get them?” I ask, still not meeting Clovis’s stare. “Did you get the poachers who shot them?”
I’m surprised to find that I hope Clovis’s answer is yes. I do not want any poachers destroying more lives. I do not want those men hunting another day.
“Yes,” Clovis whispers.
I notice then the ragged sound to his voice, the way his breathing is tight.
“Are you all ri—” I begin, but I cannot finish, because I see Clovis has been shot. His arm is dripping blood. With one hand, he tightly squeezes his biceps.
“Let me tie it off,” I offer, getting to work immediately. I unbuckle my belt and make the tourniquet close to his shoulder. Clovis winces but doesn’t complain. I know right away when his hand drops from the wound that a major blood vessel hasn’t been hit, because the blood is slow to drip.
“Give me your shirt,” I say to Mattius.
Mattius, crouched low and trying to flip over the fully grown silverback, pauses to take off his shirt and throw it to me.
“Thanks,” I say.
I swiftly tie the shirt around Clovis’s arm and double-check my work.
“Will you be okay for the hike home?” I ask Clovis.
I know that, though he’s lost blood, it’s not the first time he’s been injured this badly.
“Yes,” Clovis says.
Mattius radios to inform the pack that there are wilds in the area and that the problem has been contained. He requests backup and hangs up. Together, he and Hervé manage to flip the gorilla over.
Clovis tries to shield me in time, but I’ve already seen it. And I nearly collapse. I choke on a sob and hide my face in Clovis’s shirt and wish I could scrub the image from my mind. Because under the male gorilla is a female. And on the female is the baby. Both mama gorilla and baby gorilla are dead.
Both shot through the heart.
Chapter 26
Jospin
“Kirk, I need your help today.” Chloe greets me in the hallway the way she always does when others are around, business as usual.
I’m not any closer to finding the habitat spy. I’ve thought it over, searched everywhere. The sanctuary is clean, nothing out of the ordinary. At least not that I can see. I cannot vouch for the places I haven’t been granted access to, like the lab.
Here’s what I’ve seen and heard: people taking care of gorillas, people talking about their families, people wishing the poaching would end. Nothing suspicious. I’ve decided that the only way I’ll find the spy is by waiting for a slip-up. I’m confident that it will come eventually. Until then, I’ll go by the name Kirk and follow orders as if I actually belong here.
“What do you need me to do?” I ask.
Chloe readjusts her ponytail, pulling a few escaped pieces back in. “We’re leaving the sanctuary.”
At this, I’m shocked. “We are?”
“Yes,” Chloe confirms. “I have a scheduled release and I thought maybe you could come along. Perhaps you can help me track down the best release spot, since you know this jungle so well.”
And now I understand. I hear all the things she’s not saying. There is a spy and neither of us knows who it is yet. She believes that I understand the jungle best, and I do. I know exactly where Father would look for a release. I also know areas where he wouldn’t look. The pack might hear of a scheduled release from their spy, but if Chloe and I go alone, the pack won’t know where the release takes place. It’s the gorilla’s best chance of survival.
“Sounds perfect.” And for once, my smile is genuine. I can’t wait to be out in the forest again
.
We’ll have to be careful. So many things could go wrong. But all I can think about is looking up at a sky of leaves and smelling rich soil and knowing that I’m where I belong.
“You ready now?” Chloe asks. Her stare slips to my waistband, which is covered by my shirt. Gun? she mouths.
Chloe has purposefully positioned herself so the other workers cannot see her mouth move.
I nod. “All set.” My gun is tucked into the waistband of my brown cargo pants. There’s a knife in one of the pockets too. There’s also extra ammo—of which I have a lot—in the remaining pockets. Even my boots hold knives. The only piece of clothing that doesn’t hide a weapon is my short-sleeved shirt, thin and moss green.
“Perfect,” Chloe says, and walks in front of me, leading the way.
Our boots thud with each step down the hallway. When we reach the sanctuary, Chloe and I are buzzed in through a door. There’s a sectioned-off area, where a tranquilized ape sleeps. Two workers, both male, wait with the ape, keeping an eye on its vitals.
“Everything good?” Chloe asks them.
The one with a clipboard nods. “Ready for transport.”
“On the count of three.” Chloe readies herself by squatting and taking one of the ape’s legs.
The two men follow suit, one taking an arm and one taking a leg. I assume I’m meant to grab the ape’s other arm, so I ready myself. The ape is big, sleeping on its stomach, face turned away from me. My fingers slip under its limb and into its fur. It’s warm and coarse. Usually when I feel a gorilla’s fur like this, the animal is already dead.
On the count of three, we’re lifting. The gorilla is easily three hundred pounds, which leads me to believe he’s a male, though he doesn’t have the signature silver hair on his back yet. The pack would definitely want this ape for bush meat. Chloe is smart to include no one but me on this release. I try not to think about how heavy the ape will be to lift when it’s just Chloe and me handling him.
We exit through a back door. Down a short hallway and another door and we’re outside in the midday sun, though the leaves dim the intensity of it. The ape’s head dangles as we move him to the waiting truck. When we bend his legs just right, he fits.
Chloe turns to me, breathing hard. “Good job.”
I wipe my hands on my pants to get the sweat off. Check the ape once more to make sure that his back is still rising and falling evenly, a deep sleep. Last thing we need is for the nearly full-grown male to wake up. But I can clearly see that he’s out.
“Thanks,” Chloe tells the others as she hops into the driver’s seat. She pulls keys from her pocket and starts the engine.
I jump into the passenger seat as one of the workers hands Chloe a clear case with a single syringe inside. The blue liquid reminds me of the kind of oceans I’ve seen only in pictures.
“To wake him up quickly,” Chloe says, noting my questioning stare. “Okay,” she says to the others. “See you soon.”
Only once we leave and are out of earshot does Chloe call me by my real name.
“Jospin, where should we go?”
“I know of this dense area, a place so thick with trees that not many poachers find it worth it to go there,” I explain. “But it’s impossible to get all the way there in the truck. We would have to lift the ape and carry him part of the way.”
“Do you think we could do it?” she asks, hopeful.
“I’m not sure,” I admit.
Gorillas are mostly muscle and are as heavy as a bag of stones, but I’m sure Chloe already knows that.
“Let’s at least try,” she says.
The truck with its big tires handles the terrain well, and it’s painted the perfect green and brown camouflage, blending nicely into the trees. I decide we can risk it.
“Drive east for about four kilometers,” I instruct.
I can only hope that poachers don’t spot us. I look around, scanning our environment. I spot birds and spiderwebs and a monkey in a tree. I hear jungle sounds and the soft hum of the truck.
Chloe doesn’t talk during the drive. Like me, she watches. There’s no one in sight, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. I keep my gun in my hand. Chloe’s gun rests on the cushioned seat between us.
“Left here,” I say. Then a few minutes later, “Now right.”
“I’ve never been around here,” she says.
“That’s probably best,” I reply. “When you get out, move slowly and watch for snakes.”
She cuts the engine and waits for my signal.
“Don’t hesitate to jump back in the truck if I say to.”
We step down and leave our doors open. The less noise the better.
“Oh, and watch for jaguars,” I warn.
Chloe meets me at the back of the truck, and together we lift the ape. I take his upper body and torso—the heaviest part—while Chloe grabs both of his legs. We begin to walk. The grass reaches my chest, and vines snag our clothing, our skin, and our hair. I’m bleeding already and we’ve only just started. I make sure to walk heavily, a warning to any lingering critters to move out of the way. Here, the trees are so thick that we barely fit through. At one point, we have to stop and tilt the ape to the side to make him fit.
The walk takes at least ten minutes. My legs ache and my arms tense, but we make it. Here the grass hugs us like a thick blanket. Flowers sprout and animals sound around us, though we cannot see them hidden amid the vegetation. As we lower the ape to the ground, his heavy body presses the grass down, forming a circle around where he lies. No one will see him here, protected by the forest.
“We’ll need to hurry,” she says. “He’ll start to wake up in a few minutes. He’ll be fully alert in ten.”
I have no desire to face this gorilla when he wakes. I help Chloe quickly roll him over, face up.
Then I realize.
“Shit,” I say.
Chloe removes the plastic case from her pocket and uncaps the syringe. She thumps it a couple of times, forcing small air bubbles to the top, and then sticks it into the ape’s arm.
“We had to,” Chloe replies. “He was healthy enough to go. We don’t want to keep them out of the forest any longer than necessary.”
“Raven’s going to be devastated,” I say.
The ape is Leahcim.
Chapter 27
Raven
My nerves are as tight as a steel trap. I had a wonderful time with Jospin the other day. Everything I’ve been needing. But I’m not relaxed. I am the opposite of relaxed.
Maybe because being with Jospin made me realize how much I miss him.
And how much I need to speed things up.
I should have information on the pack by now.
I tune out the movie Clovis has put on. Being shot has given Clovis an excuse to not go on as many runs, to be with me more often, though he’s healing nicely. But more time together has not led us any closer to the evidence we desperately need. I should know something by now. I mentally go through a list of what I do know.
What I know…
There are close to thirty poachers in Mr. Tondjii’s pack. Most of them know only things a trained guard would know: Protect the compound and pull the trigger if needed. Then there are middlemen; they sometimes go on hunts and sometimes guard and sometimes skin and chop the kills. The top pack members are the ones I’m interested in. Mattius is the most dangerous, aside from Mr. Tondjii, simply because he watches me closely. Though, come to think of it, Simon might easily be as dangerous. Mrs. Tondjii is maybe the least threatening to me. She seems to be slowly pulling away from her husband. Lately she won’t speak to him, and if she does, it’s to mention that he should have let Jospin stay. I’ve seen the way she shoots him hardened stares, the way she doesn’t want him touching her. She is angry. She has every right to be. Her husband is the reason her son is gone.
I need a plan.
I know that Mr. Tondjii has eyes everywhere and that he will expect more information from me soon. It seems as if
me being here is backfiring. I have given him information on the habitat and he is giving me nothing.
“Clovis,” I say, interrupting our movie. “I need you to cause a distraction tonight.”
I have his attention.
“I have to talk to Mrs. Tondjii, uninterrupted, and I need your help,” I say. It’s extremely risky, what I plan to do. “You can say there’s been a trespasser. Get Mr. Tondjii and most of the men to leave the compound. You can do that, right?”
“I’m on watch tonight, so it wouldn’t be hard for me to get men to leave the compound,” Clovis says, easing my nerves. “But Mr. Tondjii won’t come. He’ll send others. You know this, Raven.”
“I do,” I admit. “Which is why you will make it worth his while to come. You will make it something so important that he has to come.”
“The only reason he would come is if it had to do with Jospin….” Clovis trails off. Eyes on me. I am not objecting. His thoughts and my thoughts are alike.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Raven?”
“It’s the only way, Clovis. Mr. Tondjii thinks Jospin is alive, anyway.” Plus, Jospin won’t actually be there. “You radio in that you’ve spotted him. Mr. Tondjii is sure to send all the guards. I’ll finally have a chance to speak with Mrs. Tondjii without everyone watching. Maybe she will feel free enough from the pack to give us information.”
“Are you absolutely certain you want to involve Mrs. Tondjii? I mean, it is hard to see her upset over Jospin, but she is still Mr. Tondjii’s wife.”
I understand why Clovis is anxious, why he’s double- and triple-checking. So much could go wrong, but I’m hoping for it to go right.
“We don’t have any other leads,” I reply. “This is our chance.”
Clovis watches me, hesitant. “There’s no turning back from here, Raven. We need a plan in case something goes wrong. In case she tells Mr. Tondjii. We will have to leave immediately.”
Clovis goes to his closet and pulls out a small black duffel bag. He begins to throw some of his clothes in it. “Pack a few things in here. Clothes or whatever you need. If something goes wrong, grab this bag and run to the cave.”
