Fearless Master of the Jungle (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure

by J. T. Edson

As a precaution against a repetition of the ploy which had come very close to losing his first objective, the blond giant had arranged for lookouts to keep watch on the village. Others were left to guard against unwanted interlopers who might have evaded the first pair of watchers. Finally, after obtaining instructions on where to find their quarry, he and the girl had continued unescorted. The remainder of their helpers were to remain in concealment and without noise until they were called.

  After they had parted company with the Wurkas, the Earth couple moved in complete silence. For all the disturbance their movements caused, they might have been a pair of enormous cats on the prowl. Nor, under the circumstances, were they any less dangerous or savage than the wildest predatory creature in the jungle.

  Such was the measure of competence displayed by Dawn and Bunduki that they arrived at their destination without having been detected by either their prey or its avian consort. They came to a halt, still in the concealment of the bushes which fringed the water, and looked at a lagoon much like the one in which they had encountered their previous problem. There was one major difference, but it had been anticipated. With the heat of the afternoon sun, the saurian had left the water and was basking on the sand not more than twenty feet from them. Sprawled out with its head towards the lagoon, it was unaware that they were so close. Nor was the bird, a spur-winged plover on this occasion, any more conscious of their presence. While its attention was not diverted by an easily obtainable meal, it was engrossed in carrying out one of its symbiotic functions by picking debris from the teeth of the saurian’s open jaws.

  ‘It’s another alligator,’ Bunduki breathed and held his bow towards Dawn.

  ‘If it wasn’t, my lad,’ the girl replied, accepting the weapon and watching her husband very carefully removing his back-quiver. ‘You could forget it and use this damn thing.’

  ‘If it wasn’t and they sold life insurance on Zillikian, you’d say, “Go ahead”,’ the blond giant answered, laying the quiver down and freeing the boleadora to place on it. Still displaying excessive caution and hardly taking his eyes from the creatures on the sandbank, he discarded the bowie knife in a similar fashion. ‘Now all we have to do is settle down and wait.’

  Resting her husband’s bow against a bush, Dawn slipped an arrow free from the bow quiver and nocked it to her string. Then she stood as silently and immobile as he did in spite of her anxiety over what lay ahead. Not a hint of her feelings showed on her beautiful face, but she sensed that Bunduki was aware of them. So she turned her head to give him what she hoped would be a smile of reassurance.

  Quitting its work, the spur-winged plover took flight!

  Not in panic, however, or because the girl’s movement had been detected.

  Instead, the bird flew unhurriedly across the lagoon and passed out of sight beyond the river. Deprived of its consort’s attentions, the alligator slowly closed its powerful and awesomely equipped jaws. Wriggling its stomach against the sand, as if making its resting place softer, its eyes closed and it settled down for what the watchers hoped was a sleep.

  Although Bunduki adopted a crouching posture like that of a sprinter awaiting the starter’s pistol in a race that was taking place before the use of starting-blocks became fashionable, he did not move. Nor did Dawn offer to raise her bow into a position of greater readiness. However, she could feel her heart pounding like a trip hammer and she had a momentary fear that the noise it was making would frighten away the alligator. Appreciating the absurdity of the thought broke the tension a little and caused her to smile.

  ‘Damn it,’ Dawn told herself silently. ‘If that big lump of mine doesn’t know what he’s doing by now, our folks have wasted a lot of time and effort on teaching him.’

  ‘Go on, you big ugly bastard!’ Bunduki breathed, just audibly to the girl, watching the saurian open its eyes. Oblivious of her thoughts and wanting to reassure her, he went on, ‘Go to sleep, damn it. I’d ask Dawn to sing you a lullaby, but that would scare you so deep into the swamps we’d never reach you.’

  ‘Just you wait, my lad!’ Dawn threatened in a whisper, without turning her attention from the massive, scaly predator on the sandbank. ‘Wait until I get you home!’

  Seconds dragged by on leaden feet, to become a minute.

  Then two!

  Three!

  Four!

  Five!

  Still Bunduki watched his prey, wanting to make sure that it was fast asleep before making his move. At the end of the fifth minute, he felt that the time had come and was on the point of giving a warning nod to Dawn. Before he could do so, a fish at the far side of the lagoon sprang into the air to snap at an insect flying incautiously by. At the loud splash caused by the attack, the alligator’s eyes snapped open. They closed again almost immediately, but the blond giant resigned himself to a further period of waiting.

  Another four minutes crawled into oblivion.

  ‘Oh come on, darling!’ Dawn screamed, but only mentally. It’s fast asleep. Get it!’

  Sensing rather than glancing to find out that she was looking his way, Bunduki’s head made a brief inclination as though he had heard his wife’s entreaty. Then, giving a thunderous bellow like that of a male Australopithecus launching an attack, he hurtled from his place of concealment and across the sandbank.

  Awakened by the commotion, the alligator seemed to be confused and hesitated for a vital couple of seconds. Nor were the species Alligator Mississipiensis, or the Asiatic variety, A. Sinensis, as agile as a crocodile on land.

  With the sand being flung up by his racing feet, the blond giant converged with the alligator. Swiftly as he sprinted, it was obvious that it could not be prevented from reaching its natural element, the water. Nor did he intend to try bringing it to a halt on dry land. Rather he was hoping to make the initial contact just before it entered the lagoon.

  Watched by Dawn, who was turning her bow into the shooting position, Bunduki covered the remaining distance between himself and the alligator like a rugby player performing a tackle. Alighting on the scaly back of the wriggling saurian, as its nose was almost touching the water, he secured holds with both hands. The left enfolded the jaws in such a manner that his palm was covering the nostrils, tightened into a vice-like grip. At the same time, passing around the massive and knobbly body, the right obtained an equally secure hold of the off-side foreleg. Even as he was securing himself, drawing the saurian’s close to twelve foot bulk tightly against the right side of his enormously muscled frame, they plunged head first from the sandbank. As he had anticipated, the shoreline fell away sharply beyond the resting place and they came down in a deep pool. They made a complete somersault as soon as they went under. Running forward and shouting—screaming almost—for the Wurkas to join them, Dawn saw nothing of Bunduki but the soles of his bare feet for almost a minute.

  Staring in anxiety as the alligator’s tail appeared briefly, to make a great arc and return beneath the surface of the amber-colored water of the lagoon, Dawn tried to comfort herself with the thought of how its physical make-up would result in Bunduki’s task—while being anything but a sinecure—being less hazardous than it appeared. For one thing, the muscles of the saurian’s jaws supplied the majority of their power for closing rather than opening. So a strong man could keep the mouth shut with one hand, provided of course that he was able to obtain such a hold. Secondly, as well as being more cumbersome on land, the alligator was less adept in the water than a crocodile and not nearly so dangerous a proposition. Lastly, although the blond giant had not yet found an opportunity to avail himself of it, there was a means by which the alligator could be subdued and rendered harmless with comparative ease.

  For all her knowledge, the girl was deeply perturbed as the seconds ticked away. The only sign she had of where her husband might be was given by the way in which the now muddy water boiled and swirled in concert with the struggle going on below the surface. Just as she was wondering if the alligator had dragged him off, his blond head appeare
d. He had time, she noticed with relief, to suck in a deep breath of air before being taken underneath again.

  Panting with their exertions, Hav-Bart and some of the Wurkas arrived. As they had not been told of the blond giant’s intentions, they stared in amazement on being informed by Dawn that he had deliberately tackled the ‘crocodile’ so as to capture it alive. Although they dwelt in terrain that had many of the Crocodilia as co-residents, they had never duplicated the Seminole Indians of Florida’s methods of capturing the creatures. lxvii So they could barely believe their eyes and ears. But they still affirmed that they would do all they could to help.

  Five more times, Bunduki’s head and, twice, shoulders came into view. On each occasion, he was granted an opportunity to replenish his lungs. Following every appearance, the alligator’s tail would lash in fury at the surface and then the blunt, rounded, pike-like head would shoot above the water and disappear again still locked in his unrelenting grasp.

  At last, the pace of the titanic struggle began to slow down. The spectators noticed with relief and delight that Bunduki was able to keep his head clear of the water and breathe more deeply. Also, the frenzied tail lashings of the alligator were growing proportionately weaker. Finally, after at least twenty minutes of continuous efforts, they were floating still locked together as tightly as two lovers and almost motionless on the surface of the lagoon.

  ‘Get ready!’ the blond giant called, raising his head clear of the water. I’m going to bring him in.’

  Having spoken, Bunduki and his captive sank from view. For close to a minute there was no sign of either, but Dawn calmed the Wurkas fears by explaining how he had deliberately submerged to walk along the bottom and pull the alligator after him. When he next appeared, it was obvious that he had justified his wife’s faith in him. Still retaining his double holds on the jaws and foreleg, he twisted around until laying on his back at the edge of the sandbank. Having hauled the alligator on top of him, he wrapped his legs around its body in a scissor-hold.

  ‘Wait!’ Dawn hissed, as the Wurkas—for all the consternation showing on their faces at the prospect—were starting to move forward.

  Obedient to the command, although they had never previously allowed a woman to dictate their actions, the men came to a halt. What they saw next would later be told by word of mouth and the ‘talking drums’ all through the Telonga nation. Because exactly what happened was not understood, it added tremendously to Bunduki’s already high reputation and caused him to be attributed with supernatural powers.

  Releasing the foreleg, the blond giant began to rub his captive’s chest and belly with his right hand. At the first touch, the alligator swung its tail viciously; but as he continued with the gentle massaging motion, it relaxed. lxviii

  Less than a minute later, it seemed to be sleeping peacefully. However, on Bunduki loosening the scissor-hold, the saurian made as if to struggle. A few more strokes of the hand brought the effort to an end and, satisfied, he nodded to his wife.

  ‘Now!’ Dawn said.

  Running forward, discarding her bow and arrow in her haste, the girl was the first to touch the huge alligator. Not that the Wurkas were tardy in following her. Eager hands grasped and hauled the limp burden ashore. Not until they were doing so did the blond giant relax. Even then, he kept his hold on the jaws until they were fastened by a length of rope. Having done all he could to ensure none of his assistants would be harmed, he lay where he was to recover from the great strain and exertions of the capture, leaving them to secure the trophy,

  ‘Now,’ Hav-Bart said with satisfaction, after the alligator had been bound and sturdy splints affixed to keep the deadly tail immobile. ‘Let’s see Tik-Felum claim that you haven’t dealt with this one, Bunduki!’

  ~*~

  ‘Dapan-Dankara!’ gasped the attractive, tall and slender Wurka-Telonga girl who came running into the bedroom of the house in which Dawn Gunn and her husband were spending the night. ‘I need your help. Four men have taken Hav-Bart to the Place Of Punishment and will kill him unless you go to save him.’

  Recognizing the visitor as Marn-Bara, the wife of their friend, the Earth couple—who had been sleeping fully clothed and who had left their bed quickly on being disturbed by her entry—lowered the knives they had kept close by in case there should be the need for weapons.

  As the young Wurka had predicted, Tik-Felum had not been willing to concede that Bunduki was any more successful in dealing with the second alligator. The viewpoint was in part induced by his having been told merely that the saurian was still alive, although ‘possibly’ unable to cause further trouble for the villagers. Stating that he intended to go and look for himself, he had gathered the other Elders and, followed by the rest of the population, made his way to the lagoon. His reaction at discovering the mighty predator bound and helpless had not been what an outsider would have expected from the sight of such a fortunate removal of a menace to the community. Nor had his mood been changed for the better on hearing of the way in which all but his coterie had greeted the sight.

  Although Hav-Bart and the other men who were involved in the capture had suggested a feast with the alligator cooked as the piece-de-resistance, Tik-Felum had refused. However, he had offered reasonable grounds for delaying the event. He had pointed out that the blond giant and Dawn had made a long journey and were too tired to enjoy the village’s hospitality to its fullest extent. Furthermore, his sons and Flant-Wlip had not yet returned from the coast. Tasty as the alligator might be, guests of such importance could only be accorded the honor that was their due by being offered the delicious green sea turtle cooked en casserole, as it would have been known on Earth. Finally, the women of the village would need at least a day in which to prepare a celebration of the magnitude the Dapan-Dankara deserved.

  Acceding to the Senior Elder’s wishes, the Earth couple had said they would prefer to rest overnight and so be better able to do justice to their hosts’ hospitality when all was prepared. With the point settled, leaving the butchering of the alligator to the villagers, Dawn and Bunduki had returned and were placed in a house set aside for notable visitors. Convention dictated that they occupied it, although they would have preferred to stay close to Hav-Bart. His support, they had realized, could put him in jeopardy. Tik-Felum would not lightly forget nor forgive his behavior. However, they had felt that the danger would not commence while they were close by.

  The arrival of Marn-Bara and the fright on her beautiful face warned the Earth couple that they had made an incorrect decision.

  ‘Take her back to her home and see she’s kept safe, darling!’ Bunduki ordered, scooping up the shield and slipping his left arm though its carrying loops without sheathing the knife. Then come after me with your bow and the m’kuki.’

  Appreciating the gravity of the situation, Dawn did not indulge in any of the bantering comments which would have greeted a command from her husband on less serious occasions. Instead, she sprang to where her weapons were placed.

  ‘Take care, you big lump!’ the girl called, snatching up her bow, as the blond giant plunged out of the door.

  Leaving the house, Bunduki started towards the main gates of the palisade around the village. As had been the case at Jey-Mat before he had taught the hunters there the value of security, no guard was kept on it: Nor was the small door in it kept locked, but was only bolted on the inside. So he knew that he would be able to get through and, once beyond, he knew where he would have to go. Hav-Bart had told him of the Place of Punishment and where it was located while they had been returning from hunting the first alligator.

  To reach the gate, the blond giant had to pass between two houses. Moving along the alley, he found—not that he was surprised—that his coming had been anticipated and preparations had been taken to deal with him. Two men appeared as he was approaching the rear ends of the buildings. Each held a dapur bener kris and he recognized them as Jomus-Takn and a lesser member of Tik-Felum’s coterie.

  There was no
time for the blond giant to congratulate himself upon his perception. He had suspected that the abduction of Hav-Bart had been carried out with the additional purpose of luring him into a trap. So, as well as intending to go to his friend’s assistance, he had meant to spring it. What the plotters had not realized, because they did not use such a device, was that his shield had very special properties. They were not kept in ignorance for many seconds.

  Coming from Bunduki’s left, having selected that side as being safer, Jomus- Takn swung a round-arm blow with his kris. On the right, the second man was launching a similar slice at the blond giant’s head.

  Neither attack made contact with human flesh!

  Driven with all the weight and power of a bulky body behind it, Jomus-Takn’s kris could not be halted although he saw that the shield was rising between it and his intended target. Nor did he think there was any need to pull back, but believed he could batter the protective device aside and reach the man behind it. When the contact was made, he learned just how wrong he had been. While the blade sliced through the hardened buffalo hide, it met and was shattered by a metal underneath that was of a far better temper than its own.

  Nor did the second assailant fare any better. At the same instant as Jomus-Takn’s blade was disintegrating, his kris’ passage was stopped by the proposed victim’s weapon. An arm of enormous strength held and deflected the blow.

  Disengaging the bowie knife as soon as it had pushed the kris aside, Bunduki whipped it across in a sweep that laid the man’s throat open to the bone. Then, giving Jomus-Takn no chance to recover from the shock of his weapon’s destruction, the great blade came around and its clip point passed between his ribs to impale his heart.

  Effectively as the blond giant was dealing with his would-be killers, he was far from out of danger. Having laid in concealment on the flat roof of the right side building’s porch, yet a third of Tik-Felum’s coterie had risen to watch how his companions were faring. Either he had not trusted the other two to carry out the ambush, or he merely did not believe in leaving things to the last minute. Whichever was the reason, he held his bow ready for use and was already drawing back the string ready to loose its arrow.