by J. T. Edson
‘I don’t know,’ Bunduki admitted. ‘The hunters are willing enough, but they’re in a minority and used to yielding to the will of the Elders. What’s more, because of the “putting away”, they’ve never fought against other human beings.’
‘There’s one thing in our favor, at any rate,’ Dawn declared. ‘The People-Taker hasn’t sent anybody to see if Joar-Fane has come back.’
‘No,’ Bunduki agreed. ‘According to Guildo, he only had about twenty men and a dozen women with him. And as he took away double the number of people, I can’t see him weakening his escort any more by sending a second party to look for her. Even if he guesses that something has happened to four of his party, I can’t imagine him thinking that the Telongas have anything to do with it. You know how little regard the Mun-Gatahs have for them.’
‘If the size of the People-Taker’s escort is any criterion,’ Dawn conceded, ‘they certainly don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of while they’re making the collections.’
‘As Cousin Brad would say,’ Bunduki answered, ‘That’s for sure.’
‘Let’s confine ourselves to the local barbarians, shall we?’ the girl requested with a smile, thinking back to the various escapades Bunduki and his Texas-born maternal cousin xxxviii had involved her in when they were vacationing together as children. Then she became serious again and went on, ‘You’re right. There’s no reason why the People-Taker should blame the Telongas, even if he suspects his party are dead. From what you told me about the reaction of the four when At-Vee arrived, they’d never seen a Telonga carrying a weapon.’
‘Apart from the hunters, none of them do,’ the blond giant pointed out. ‘And they’re always “put away” whatever that might be, before the People-Taker’s escort reaches the village.’
‘I hate to admit it, but you could be right and there’s not likely to be any further danger until his next visit,’ Dawn said. ‘By which time, providing the hunters can get permission, we ought to be able to teach them how to defend themselves. Do you think the hunters will face up to them even then?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Bunduki replied. ‘They seem keen enough and, if they’re all like At-Vee, they’ve got the courage. But there’s a difference between—’ His words came to an end and he stared ahead, then continued in a different, harder tone, ‘Hello. What’s this?’
While the conversation had been taking place, the girl and the blond giant had been strolling along one of the paths between the rows of trees. They were approaching the hundred yards’ wide strip of open ground that separated the cultivated area from the jungle and supplied grazing for some of the villagers’ livestock.
As the animals had not yet been released from their overnight pens, the grassland ought to have been devoid of life. It was not. A sturdily built Telonga boy of about fifteen years of age, clad in an ocelot-skin loincloth and carrying a lightweight hunting spear, had entered it from the jungle. Looking behind him as though expecting to be followed, he started to run across. When he turned to face the front again, he caught sight of the Earth couple and swerved in their direction. If the expression on his face was anything to go by, something very disturbing and important had happened.
‘It’s Joar-Fane’s brother, Mo-Han!’ Dawn ejaculated, recognizing the youngster whom she had met briefly soon after their arrival the previous afternoon. ‘I wonder what’s wrong?’
‘We’ll soon find out!’ Bunduki stated, striding forward faster.
‘Elephants!’ Mo-Han yelled, pointing to his rear.
‘Whereabouts?’ the blond giant demanded, guessing what was causing the youngster’s consternation.
‘Coming this way!’ Mo-Han answered, skidding to a halt before the couple. ‘Unless they’re driven back, they’ll come over here and start feeding. It’s my time to keep watch for them. I was supposed to cry the warning if I saw them. But, with the meeting this morning, none of our people are outside the walls to pass it on. Unless the hunters come quickly, it will be too late.’
Dawn and Bunduki exchanged glances that were pregnant with understanding. Neither of them needed any further explanation. While accompanying Joar-Fane and At-Vee home, they had learned much about the Telongas’ way of life and their problems other than those caused by the People-Taker’s abductions. Among other things, At-Vee had described the recurrent attempts by a herd of elephants to reach the fruit trees. It happened at least once every season and constant vigilance followed by prompt action was required to ward off the invasion.
‘Damn it to hell!’ Bunduki ejaculated. He had seen the amount of damage a herd of elephants could do when feeding and so was able to visualize what would happen if the great beasts reached the fruit trees. There was also, he realized, a possible secondary result that might occur. ‘If it happens, Guildo will claim that it’s a sign from the “Suppliers” that they shouldn’t resist the People-Taker.’
‘Then we’ll have to try and do something about it,’ Dawn replied, sharing her adoptive cousin’s appreciation of the situation. ‘And whatever we do, it will have to be before they come across here.’
The blond giant had already drawn a similar conclusion. If the elephants found themselves among so many of their favorite delicacies, they would be very difficult to dislodge. Normally the situation would not have arisen. At the periods when the herd might be expected, the apprentice hunters was sent out to keep watch for them. Whoever located them called a warning that was relayed by all who heard it and summoned the hunters. Unfortunately, as the youngster had said, that morning there was a marked reluctance among the population towards venturing beyond the palisade. In addition to wanting to attend the meeting, they were afraid that the People-Taker would return seeking revenge for Joar-Fane’s escape.
‘Run to the village, and fetch the hunters, Mo-Han!’ Bunduki ordered, ‘Tell them to come as quickly as they can!’
‘They won’t—’ the boy began, then nodded. ‘Yes, Bunduki!’
‘What are we going to do?’ Dawn asked, after the boy had darted away. She nodded to where the sounds of the elephants could be heard. They’ll be over here before he even reaches the village.’
‘Let’s go and take a look,’ Bunduki suggested, the beginnings of an idea forming at the back of his mind. ‘If we move fast, we’ll get there before they come out of the jungle.’
Following her adoptive cousin, Dawn wondered how they could prevent the destruction of the fruit trees. They wore their knives, but had not felt it necessary to carry any other weapons. Nor would the bows, or the m’kuki, offer an acceptable solution to the problem. She did not take kindly to the idea of having to slay any of the animals and knew that Bunduki shared her sentiments. While Tarzan had, for perfectly sound motives, once helped to hunt elephants, xxxix he and the other members of their family had too many reasons to be grateful to Tantor, xl for either of them to relish having to kill if there was any way of avoiding it.
By the time the girl and the blond giant were close to the strip of open land, they could tell from various sounds and from the disturbance of the foliage that the elephants were close to the other side. However, for the moment, they assumed they still might arrive before the animals came into sight of the cultivated ground.
‘Look out!’ Bunduki snapped, catching Dawn by the arm and thrusting her behind the thick trunk of a breadfruit tree.
Standing in concealment, the girl and the blond giant peered around the trunk. Although the rest of the herd was still beyond their range of vision, an elephant was coming towards the edge of the jungle. One glance told them which kind of creature they would be dealing with.
The enormous, rounded ears, the flattish forehead, the trunk roughened by ring like folds extending down its length with its tip forming twin protuberances that resembled lips but were actually nostrils, were proof that it was not of the comparatively harmless Indian, or Asiatic, species, Elphas Maximus. However, as its height was no more than nine foot at the shoulder, despite it obviously being a full grown a
nd mature bull, and despite the straighter tusks, a useful adaptation for living among closely growing vegetation, it was not the, type of elephant which roamed the open plains and bush country of Africa. While lacking some twenty-four inches of Loxodonta Africana Africana’s height, the ‘forest’ subspecies xli was still a large, powerful and potentially dangerous creature. Driving off a herd of them, armed only with primitive weapons, would be fraught with danger.
‘If only Tarzan was here,’ Dawn said quietly. ‘He could turn them back without the need to drive them off. I wish we had his way with elephants.’
‘Perhaps we have,’ Bunduki replied, sotto voce, putting his thoughts into words.
‘What do you mean?’ the girl asked, a hint of worry coming into her voice that suggested she knew what the answer was going to be.
‘Don’t you remember what the “Supplier” told us?’ Bunduki inquired, without taking his eyes from the approaching elephant. ‘He said we’d be everything here that Tarzan is on Earth. That could mean they’ve given us his empathy with Tantor.’
‘Would that be possible?’ Dawn gasped.
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ the blond giant answered. ‘Wait here, there’s no point in us both taking chances.’
‘If you’re wrong, you’ll be killed!’ the girl warned.
‘That’s right, nugu, fill me with confidence,’ Bunduki growled, but his right fingers found and gently squeezed her left hand, ‘Don’t worry. I’ve a feeling that I’m guessing correctly.’
‘Nugu yourself!’ Dawn sniffed, returning the pressure. Her tones gave the lie to her next comment. ‘Go ahead and get yourself trampled flat. I don’t care.’
Ever since their first night together in the jungle, the girl and the blond giant had been growing more and more forgetful of their adoptive relationship. While they had not yet entirely discarded it, they were closer and more intimate than they had been on Earth. In fact, their feelings were more those between a man and a woman than between cousins.
‘Wish me luck,’ Bunduki requested, then stepped from behind the tree,
As the blond giant walked forward, he forced himself to put all thoughts except one from his mind. He concentrated on remembering how he had seen Tarzan behave when approaching an elephant during an expedition in the depths of the Ituri Forest on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund. It was a technique which Bunduki had never had to emulate. While well endowed with many species of animals, there had been no elephants in the Ambagasali Wild life Reserve where he had been Chief Warden at the time of the accident which had brought him to Ziliikian. Nor had there been any need for such intimate contact when he had been involved with them in other parts of Africa and Asia.
The blond giant was almost half way across the open ground when the elephant reached the edge and located him. Up rose its head until the tusks were parallel to the ground, while the ears were spread and flapping like a boat’s sails. The trunk thrust forward and began to weave from side to side, its nostrils testing the air. Unable to pick up Bunduki’s scent because the gentle breeze was blowing from the wrong direction, the elephant turned its head sideways until it was gazing at him with only its right eye.
Behind the tree, Dawn clenched her hands until the knuckles showed white under the skin. She knew that it was a very dangerous sign when an elephant looked with only one eye. Such behavior was usually followed by a charge. However, she had too much understanding of wild creatures to either show herself or call advice. Either would alarm the beast and might cause it to do the very thing she was afraid of. All she could do was watch and hope that Bunduki’s theory would prove correct.
If it did not—!
Dawn could not restrain a shudder as she thought of the consequences. A charge from such close quarters might be pressed home with deadly determination instead of being a mere demonstration to frighten the intruder away. If it should be for real, by the time Bunduki realized the danger it would be too late. Even if he turned and ran, the fruit trees were too far away to offer him shelter.
Letting out a squeal, the elephant lumbered forward!
Sharing his adoptive cousin’s appreciation of the peril, Bunduki came to a halt at the bull’s first hostile gesture. With the great beast bearing down on him, he did not offer to run. Fast though he could move, the elephant’s twenty-five miles per hour pace would make the attempt futile. So he stood still and, without any conscious guidance on his part, found himself acting as Tarzan had in the Ituri Forest. Always an excellent mimic, a trait which was shared by Dawn and other members of his adoptive family, he started to duplicate the sound an elephant made when approaching another member of its herd.
Nearer thundered the bull, shaking the ground with the stamping of its great feet and close to four tons’ weight. It looked as menacing as fate and as unstoppable as a tank.
Then, not more than fifteen feet from the motionless blond giant, it came to a halt. For a few seconds, it remained in its threatening posture. Slowly the trunk lowered and the tusks sank downwards. Another twenty seconds dragged by. Once more the enormous beast moved, but it stepped forward at a walk.
Advancing until it was looming above Bunduki, so close that he could not have hoped to escape, it finally came to a stop. Out reached its trunk; an all-purpose implement capable of selecting and plucking an individual leaf or a single berry, uprooting bushes and young trees and, when swung with the power of the mighty body behind it, delivering a blow that could cripple the recipient.
Despite his awareness of the trunk’s full and lethal potential, Bunduki stood as if turned to stone. He knew that any movement on his part would be fatal. Slowly the twin tips of the trunk moved over his torso, absorbing his aroma. Then, once more without willing himself to do it, he found that he was giving instructions in what he sensed was the simple word-sound language of the Mangani. Tarzan had claimed that Tantor understood the speech of the ‘Great Apes’ and the blond giant learned that he was correct. Passing under his right arm and behind his back, the bull’s trunk tightened gently and lifted, raising him from the ground.
Even as a startled gasp burst from Dawn, who had not been able to hear the blond giant’s quietly spoken words, she discovered that there was no cause for alarm. Bunduki was swung up to sit on the bull’s shoulders, with his legs dangling on either side of its neck. Turning, it carried him into the jungle and they disappeared towards the rest of the herd.
Never had time seemed to drag so slowly for Dawn as it did during the five minutes which elapsed before Bunduki returned. Although she tried continuously to assure herself that everything was all right she could not restrain her concern. Nor was her feeling of alarm caused by the realization that, if anything should happen to him, she would be left alone on Zillikian.
During the past few days, although she had avoided showing any signs of it, the girl had found herself thinking of the blond giant less as the adoptive cousin with whom she had grown up than as a desirable man who would be a worthy mate for the granddaughter of Korak. xlii
Seeing Bunduki strolling from the jungle, Dawn was hard put not to display her feelings. Holding down the cry of relief which she had been on the point of uttering, she advanced to meet him. From behind him, she could hear the sounds of the elephants departing. Clearly he had been successful in persuading them to turn back.
Approaching Dawn, the blond giant read the play of emotions on her face and they increased his awareness of her physical attractions. With feelings more suited to a brother than an adoptive cousin, he had watched her develop into an exceptionally beautiful and curvaceous young woman. However, since coming to Zillikian, he had grown ever more conscious of the fact that there was no blood link between them.
As yet, however, neither the girl nor Bunduki had taken the matter beyond that one kiss in the jungle. Sharing a bedroom at Tav-Han’s home the previous night, Dawn had used the bed while the blond giant had slept on the floor.
The sight of Dawn’s worried yet relieved expression triggered off
a response that Bunduki could not hold back. Opening his hands, he scooped her to him. Her arms went eagerly around him and their lips met. All restraints were put aside. They were no longer the kisses cousins might bestow upon each other, but the whole-hearted and passionate embraces of a virile man and a responsive woman.
‘Bunduki! Bunduki!’
The sound of Mo-Han’s excited, if somewhat breathless, voice came to the girl and the blond giant. There was a frightened urgency in the boy’s tone that penetrated the emotions which each was experiencing. Separating slightly, although still in each other’s arms, they looked at the youngster running through the trees. He did not even wait to reach them before starting to deliver the news which had brought him back in such haste.
‘Bunduki!’ Mo-Han yelled. ‘The Mun-Gatahs are coming! They will soon be at the village.’
‘How many of them?’ Bunduki demanded, releasing and moving away from the girl.
‘I don’t know,’ Mo-Han admitted, coming to a stop and gasping out the words as he struggled to replenish his lungs. ‘I saw one of the stay-at-homes xliii running along the north track and he said I should hurry home as they were coming. But I came to fetch you so that you could come and show us how to fight them.’
‘Good boy,’ Bunduki praised, realizing from the way the youngster had spoken that he was accepted as a hunter. ‘Come on, Dawn.’
With that, the blond giant started to lope in the direction of the village. Running as she had learned from Tarzan and Korak while they were instructing Bunduki, the girl kept pace with him. Although Mo-Han attempted to accompany them, he soon fell behind. Even if he had not been winded by his earlier exertions, he would have been hard put to stay alongside the Earth couple.
‘The gate’s closed,’ Dawn said, as they approached the south side of the village. ‘Probably only the one at the north has been opened as yet and the Mun-Gatahs will be using it.’
