Cut for Life

by Lucinda E Clarke

  A sudden harrumphing noise made them all start.

  “Gawd almighty, what wus that?” hissed Linda, while Winnie’s hold on Amie’s hand turned vicelike.

  “Possibly a hippo,” she whispered back. “Keep quite still, don’t talk, don’t move. It will probably go away when it’s finished eating. We’re up wind of it, so that’s a good thing.”

  “Why is it ...” a little girl called Anna began, but she was quickly shushed by the other children.

  It was nerve-wracking listening to the honking grunts as the lumbering beast stopped to nibble vegetation only metres from where they sat. Amie knew they had a good sense of hearing and smell but rather poor eyesight and the locals considered them the most dangerous animal in Africa responsible for more human deaths than any other species. They could easily outrun a man, getting up to thirty miles an hour over short distances. They might look big, fat and clumsy but they could move when they wanted to. They would not attack them for food being vegetarian, but simply because they were in the way. Hippos are notoriously bad tempered and will overturn boats for no other reason than they are too close. Once they targeted an enemy, they would charge and then trample it to death.

  This particular hippo was enjoying the vegetation close to their hiding place and Amie hoped its presence might even protect them from possible search parties. No sooner had the thought jumped into her head than she saw a human shape appear from the right. The man was carrying a gun and was walking stealthily, but when he skirted the trees the other side of the clearing, he was not stealthy enough and a troop of startled baboons let out a frightful racket.

  The monkeys had disturbed the hippo, and the grunting, honking noises drew nearer. Winnie’s little fingernails dug into Amie’s skin. They sat there, unmoving, terrified out of their wits. They had temporarily escaped one horror only to rush headlong into another.

  30 LINDA HAS AN ACCIDENT

  The sound of a massive explosion made Amie duck. At first she thought it was an extra loud thunderbolt, but hoped it was the fuel containers exploding, or maybe even the vehicles. For a brief moment her hopes soared and then were dashed when large drops of rain began to fall. Slow at first but then harder and harder. The drops bounced off the rocks, dripping from the trees, and the noise was so loud they couldn’t even hear the hippo. And still they sat like statues, allowing the sky water to run down their faces and bodies turning the ground around them into a shallow pond.

  It was unbelievable that fifteen young children could sit so still and so quiet for such a long time. Amie could only imagine they were in shock, or guided by some inner primitive knowledge that their lives depended on them not moving.

  The minutes dragged by but at last the rain eased off, and in the pre-dawn light they realised that the hippo had gone; so too the armed man. They rubbed their arms and legs as they crawled out of the spaces between the boulders which had afforded them such valuable shelter. They shivered in the cool breeze; a forlorn group of youngsters.

  The only plan that Amie had was to reach the first camp and take one of the vehicles. She turned to Linda. “Do you by any chance know how to drive?” she asked her.

  “Yeah, not legally like but I can. Why?”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, course I’m sure. Used to go with my brothers over to the posh estate and nick one now and again. Then we’d drive them around for a while and dump them or sell them off.” She stopped and widened her eyes at Amie.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not going to grass on you,” Amie replied. Why am I not surprised? She thought.

  She gathered the bedraggled group of children around her. “You have all been so brave and I’m proud of you, but now we need to be brave a little longer. This is what we are going to do. Over there,” she pointed to somewhere in the distance, “are two trucks. We’re going to walk to them, and then we can climb in and drive all the way back to the main town and get help. Think you can do that?”

  Most of them just stared at her, one or two nodded their heads.

  “Right, one behind the other in single file, after me. And if we walk quickly, we’ll soon be dry.”

  Amie remembered the tiny vial that Ouma Adede had given her at the orphanage. Was it still in the bottom pocket of her cargo pants? Yes. She fished it out and took a swig feeling a powerful life force pump into her body giving her instant strength. She now had enough energy to carry two of the little ones at the same time.

  Amie was sure that the boulders which had been their refuge during the terrifying night were the same ones where Simon, Jabu and the others had split up to go in opposite directions some days before. So, she reasoned, if they took a sight on the far hills, sooner or later they should get back to where they’d set up the small camp.

  She set off walking as fast as she dared, turning back to see if the younger ones were keeping up. The ground was fairly level, although the grass was slippery and a couple of them tripped, but no one cried. Amie could only guess they were deeply traumatized. They moved like miniature robots in their thin cotton dresses, cardigans and sandals. The rain had washed them clean, but their shoulders were stooped in an attitude of defeat. They were all exhausted.

  Each time they passed a rocky outcrop or grove of trees, Amie scanned ahead hoping she would see the vehicles, but a couple of hours went by and she was beginning to wonder if she’d made a mistake. Perhaps those were not the same rocks, maybe she’d cut off at too sharp an angle, they might have walked past the trucks without even seeing them.

  She checked behind her. Several of the youngest ones were dropping further and further behind so she called a halt telling everyone to sit and wait for the stragglers to catch up. The humidity was steadily rising as the earth relinquished the moisture back into the air, but none of them were sweating, an early sign of dehydration. They had to reach help soon; she had no food or drink for them at all.

  It was hard to keep a positive attitude; Amie was anxious, worried she’d bypassed the vehicles. Would it be possible to walk as far as the road? She rather doubted it. Kilometres covered with ease in a vehicle took hours on foot, and these little ones had lived in Europe, they didn’t have the stamina of the locally born children. She despaired of ever leading them to safety.

  He appeared out of nowhere, one of those inexplicable occurrences that only happened in folk tales told round the camp fire at night. One moment the path was empty, the next, Jabu was standing right in front of her. Amie had to stop herself from giving him an enormous bear hug.

  “How ...?” she began then remembered he spoke no English. “The trucks, the Land Rover, the Toyota?” She mimed steering a vehicle and raised her eyebrows.

  He stared at her for a moment and then nodded. Turning, he set off at a trot.

  “No, no, wait Jabu,” Amie called after him. “We need to go slowly.”

  He came loping back to her and she pointed to the line of children behind her. He scratched his head shaking it from side to side. Then with a big sigh, he shrugged.

  “We must all come with you. Look, all of us.”

  Jabu looked at the dishevelled young girls and then shrugged his shoulders once more and set off again, this time at a more leisurely pace.

  “I can keep up with him Felicity,” said Linda.

  Amie peered at her and nodded then pulled Fazia to the back of the line to hurry the slower ones on and help them over the rocks and other obstacles. There were a few moans and groans which Amie hoped was a positive sign some may be recovering from their catatonic state.

  They had been walking for maybe another hour when, without any warning at all, they burst through a line of low shrubs and there in front of them were the vehicles just where Amie had last seen them. With a sudden spurt of energy, she dashed towards them before remembering that the soldiers had taken the keys to the Land Rover from her at the main camp. At least she could get into Simon’s Toyota – she’d left the keys on the top of the rear wheel arch for the guys if they came back. She paused, te
ars welling up in her eyes. There was no way she could cram fifteen children and two adults into one vehicle. She grabbed the Land Rover’s door handles and tugged but they were all firmly locked. She looked over at Jabu who gave her a slight smile, and shrugged, before removing a piece of wire from his pocket. Five minutes later the doors to both vehicles were wide open.

  It looked as if there would be enough water in the barrels to give everyone at least one good drink. Amie urged them all to hurry, while Linda used the Swiss Army knife to quickly cut up half a dozen energy bars and the dried meat. Fazia opened three cans of corned meat and passed spoonfuls of it to the ravenous children.

  Amie, meanwhile set about ripping out the casing behind the steering wheel to get at the cables to hotwire the Land Rover. She turned to Jabu. “Can you drive?” she asked him, pointing to the Toyota and him at the same time.

  “Oh no you don’t!” cried a voice from behind her. “You promised me I could drive.”

  “I’m not sure I promised exactly,” Amie muttered, “but if you want to give it a try it’s OK by me. We just might get stopped on the main road, you honestly don’t look old enough to have a licence. You may be tall for your age, but ...”

  Linda approached the Toyota. “How fast can these things go anyway?”

  “Uh, uh. These are not the sort you take from posh areas for joyriding.” Amie tried to sound stern though she was very tempted to laugh as she fiddled desperately with the ignition wires. “We’ll be taking it steady and slow, looking out for potholes, rocks and fallen trees. You’re to keep behind me at all times, understand?”

  Linda nodded.

  Previously, Amie had hotwired a Land Rover, but this time it was not working. This vehicle was a much newer model and she had no idea how to activate the computerised set up. Jabu came to her rescue and within minutes he had it purring like a kitten. Once she’d hopped in, Amie made a note to herself to ask him for lessons before she left Togodo. Sometimes the Africans were way ahead of most people when it came to getting something to work in a way it was never intended.

  It took a lot of organizing to get all the children plus Jabu into the two trucks. Amie was forced to drive the Land Rover with Winnie sitting on her lap glad that the Health and Safety brigade was thousands of miles away.

  Jabu sat in the passenger seat with one small girl on his lap and showed Amie the way. She was sure he understood she wanted to get back to Apatu as quickly as possible. She couldn’t stop herself from looking in the rear view and side mirrors every few seconds, not only to see if Linda was still behind but also to see if anyone from the camp had caught up with them yet. It was unlikely the fire had killed them all, if any, and they wouldn’t just sit and twiddle their thumbs.

  Since the ground was still wet from last night’s rains, they would not get a dust cloud warning kicked up several miles away. Shivers ran down Amie’s spine as she imagined a convoy closing in on them, possibly firing on them, blocking their way. They were so close now, only a few hours to the main road and from there a straight run into the city and safety. This time she would take them all into the embassy herself and ensure they were properly taken care of.

  Amie drove as fast as she dared. There was a fine balance between driving too fast, hitting something and wrecking the vehicle or going too slowly and allowing the kidnappers to catch up.

  Jabu grunted, annoyed that the little girl on his lap had wet herself, but the rest of the passengers remained eerily silent, still numb. Considering they were crushed together like sardines, with some lying over the supplies behind the back seat not one of them was comfortable, but no one complained.

  There was a loud toot from behind, and Linda began flashing her lights. Oh hell, thought Amie, what now? In the wing mirrors she could see Linda pointing behind, waving her arm frantically. With her head craning out of the window Amie could see what had alarmed Linda.

  On the horizon behind them a line of trucks was hard on their heels and they were gaining steadily.

  “Just keep going!” shrieked Amie and put her foot down. There was no sign of the main road, and even if they reached it before they were caught it wasn’t a busy road. It was doubtful if anyone would stop to help them if they saw soldiers in fatigues; uniforms were best avoided, no one got involved with the authorities voluntarily.

  Amie was sweating now, her mind working overtime. She could see no way to escape. Jabu had seen them too and he looked worried. Linda had put her foot down, and swerving violently she came alongside Amie then raced off in front.

  It was a mistake.

  In her panic she wasn’t watching where she was going. The front nearside wheel hit a half-buried rock but the Toyota’s momentum kept it moving. When the back wheel mounted the same rock the truck was thrown up at a forty-five degree angle. It poised precariously for a moment then rolled onto its side. Shrieks rang out as the children inside clung on to each other. There was the sickening crunch of metal, the engine screamed then clattered to a stop.

  Amie pulled the Land Rover to a screeching, dust-creating halt and she and Jabu raced over to the crippled Toyota. She wasn’t sure if there was a chance it might burst into flames, did that only happen in the movies? Either way they needed to get the children out as quickly as possible.

  Amie yelled at the kids in the Land Rover to stay put while she and Jabu investigated the wreckage.

  They peered in the windows. The little ones were huddled together in the back seat. Amie and Jabu wrenched open the back door after a mammoth effort, but Linda and Fazia had already managed to scramble out of the front window and between them all they pulled the terrified youngsters out.

  From what Amie could see they were battered and bruised and one had a broken arm, but they were all alive. She herded them away from the wreck to the Land Rover. There was no way they would all fit into one vehicle and there seemed no other option but to sit and wait for the kidnappers who were closing in fast.

  Amie wanted to scream. They’d been so close to getting away and it had all been for nothing. She wiped her face on her sleeve and held back the tears of frustration. The chances of escaping a second time were nil.

  The five oncoming trucks were nearly upon them, close enough to see the drivers and passengers in the front seat. Some of the children began to cry, clinging to Amie, Linda and Fazia, trembling like little aspen leaves. There was no way out, nowhere to run; defeated and waiting to be taken back to the camp.

  All of a sudden the approaching vehicles skidded to a stop, and to the amazement of the quaking audience, they did a U-turn and drove off the way they’d come, even faster. Amie stared at them, what the hell was going on? Jabu nudged her arm and pointed over her shoulder. Everyone had been so fixated on the kidnappers’ approach they hadn’t seen the arrival of what looked like the whole Togodian army and police force in hot pursuit.

  Amie wept in relief, barely aware of the bullets flying in all directions as the official forces bounced over the ground after the kidnappers.

  “We’re safe,” cried Linda jumping up and down. “Yeah, go get ‘em! Give ‘em what for!”

  Two more open lorries roared up and stopped next to them and Beehive jumped out. He rushed over to Amie. “You good?” he asked.

  Amie looked at him wide-eyed. “Oh wow, Beehive, you’re here. Is this your doing?” She nodded at the cavalry chasing after the kidnappers.

  Beehive nodded, shook Jabu’s hand in the three directional shake and repeated. “You good, Miss Amie?”

  “Yes, Beehive, I’m good now. But why? Why did you leave me?”

  “Go help,” was the simple reply, then he joined Jabu who was loading the stunned children onto the government truck.

  The frightened girls were passed from hand to hand and up into the back of the lorries. Amie grinned, reassuring them these were the good guys. She squatted down next to Winnie and held her tight. “It’s all over,” she whispered. “You’re safe now. Soon be home.”

  Winnie didn’t reply, she just stood
there with the tears streaming down her face, her little body shaking, her knees buckling. Amie gathered her up and held her close.

  Several kilometres away Simon stumbled yet again, sprawling full length on the ground. He didn’t have the strength to go any further. His water had run out the day before and despite shedding his armoured vest and his backpack to lighten the load, every step he took was agony. His stomach rumbled, his tongue felt three times its normal size in his parched mouth and every gasp of air irritated his raw throat. The world spun around him in lazy circles, one range of hills blending in with another. He thought he could see a red glow over to his right but his confused mind couldn’t work out what it was.

  He’d lost track of the kilometres he’d walked but decided that he must have gone round in circles. He hadn’t found their first camp or the vehicles, nor had he stumbled across the tarred road back to Apatu. The further he went the more disorientated he became.

  This area of Togodo appeared to be deserted. He hadn’t seen one village, one wandering cattle herder; and even the wildlife was shy. A deep haze surrounded him, the earth rose up around him, and the clouds descended enfolding him in a warm, wet embrace. Amie’s face drifted before his eyes but he could not keep them open to see her clearly, and the words she was whispering were too soft for him to hear. His whole body relaxed as he waited for death to claim him.

  No one spoke on the ride back into town. It was much further to the main road than Amie had realised, and the jolting and jarring must have been agony for the brave little girl with the broken arm. Amie tapped the driver on the hand and said, “Hospital?” He nodded.

  When they drove through the hospital gates, the well-manicured grounds around the low level buildings, bright with flowers and green grass, reminded Amie of her first visit when she’d been filming for Colonel Mbanzi. It had been the only project which showed real progress, but the institution had been bombed during the civil war, so Amie was surprised to see it looking almost as good as new.