Bunduki and Dawn (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure Book 2)

by J. T. Edson

  In spite of their deliberations, Charole and Dryaka could not select one of the suspects as being more likely than the others. Not even the way in which the gate had been opened supplied a clue. Although she and predecessors had always insisted upon the return of any key loaned to an admirer, there were craftsmen who—while lacking the knowledge to produce and install a new lock—could have made duplicates.

  There was one point upon which the Protectress and the High Priest were in full agreement. As long as the majority of the nation was in awe of them, not even the most powerful of their rivals could raise sufficient support to overthrow them; particularly if they stood together. However, they realized that the events at the hunting camp might have weakened their collective authority as much as it had their individual status.

  ‘Well have to reassert ourselves,’ Charole declared.

  ‘Have you any suggestions as to how we can do it?’ Dryaka inquired.

  ‘The best way would be to show them that we still have great power and favor in the eyes of the Quagga God,’ Charole replied and, after a brief pause, went on, ‘Perhaps the “Thunder Powder” can do it.’

  Even as she finished speaking, the Protectress wondered if she might be making an error in tactics. The ‘Thunder Powder’ was supposed to be her guest’s personal secret about which she was not supposed to know. What was more, it had been the acquisition of a small bag by one of her spies that had paved the way for the escape of Dawn and Bunduki of the Apes.

  A flicker of anger crossed the High Priest’s face at the reminder, then it died away. Galling as the thought might be, he knew that he must not let the theft of the powder ruin his chances of an alliance with Charole. Despite the loss of face which she had suffered, she still commanded a powerful faction. One, in fact, which could overthrow him if it was joined with that of a rival.

  ‘It might,’ Dryaka admitted. ‘Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find out how to make the most of it. It looks spectacular when fire is put to it, but I’m sure that there is a better way to use it than that.’

  ‘If there is,’ Charole remarked, ‘Bunduki might know.’

  ‘How do you mean? Dryaka demanded, lowering the silver goblet which he had raised to his lips. He had no intention of mentioning the experiments which he had suggested to Zongaffa.

  ‘He recognized the “Thunder Powder” as soon as he saw it,’ the Protectress explained. ‘Although he pretended it was some kind of poison, that wasn’t how he used it.’

  ‘Tell me what happened!’ Dryaka requested. After his hostess had concluded a fairly complete description of the events which had led to Bunduki’s escape, he nodded. ‘You’re right. He did know. Damn it, if I’d realized that while I had Dawn in my power—!’

  Watching the play of emotion on her guest’s normally expressionless face, as his words trailed off in anger over the lost opportunity, Charole sympathized with him. She too felt that the ‘Apes’ could have supplied useful information. Supplied!

  The word slammed into the Protectress’s mind and caused a disturbing thought.

  ‘Dryaka!’ Charole gasped. ‘What if the “Apes” are really the “Suppliers”?’

  ‘How do you mean?’ the High Priest demanded, although he had had the same idea.

  ‘We’ve never had anybody like them brought in,’ Charole elaborated. ‘And their weapons were made from better materials than any I’ve ever come across.’

  ‘You might be right,’ Dryaka conceded. ‘But we mustn’t let anybody else know what you think. If word gets out that we had two “Suppliers” in our hands and let them escape, it will be the end for both of us.’

  ‘Do you think we’ll ever see them again?’ the Protectress answered.

  ‘I don’t know,’ the High Priest answered and his tone was even grimmer. ‘But if I ever find out where they live, I’ll capture them—and when I do, I’ll have all their secrets even if I have to tear them limb from limb to make them talk.’

  Chapter Twelve – Turn and Fight, At-Vee

  Despite the anxiety which was assailing Dawn Drummond-Clayton as she saw first one, and then the second of the Mun-Gatah warriors starting to launch their attacks on Bunduki, she concentrated the majority of her attention upon the female member of the People-Taker’s small party. The girl realized that she must deal with Sarlio before she could be of any assistance to her adoptive cousin. The first problem to solve was how best to handle the situation. She had no desire to kill the woman if there was a way of avoiding it, but she doubted if her opponent felt as generous about her.

  Studying Sarlio while advancing to meet her, Dawn drew rapid conclusions. There was not a great deal in it, but the woman had size and weight in her favor. What was more, although she had not as yet drawn her sword, the heavy leather riding quirt in her right hand would be an effective weapon. A blow from it, whether to the top of the head, across the face, or even on a shoulder, would cause severe and numbing pain if nothing worse.

  For her part, Sarlio was confident that she would have no great difficulty in subduing the foreign girl. Even noticing that Dawn was approaching instead of cowering or backing away as a Telonga maiden would have done, did not cause her to revise her opinion. Twice in the past she had fought with and defeated female warriors of the Gruziak nation and she had emerged victorious in more than one brawl with other Mun-Gatah women. So she felt sure that she could deal with the beautiful foreigner.

  On drawing near enough to strike, Sarlio whipped her raised right hand forward and around horizontally. She intended to propel the lash of the quirt across the girl’s left cheek hard enough to lay open the flesh and mar her good looks. After that, pain would leave her helpless and at Sarlio’s mercy.

  Having delivered his warning to Dawn, Bunduki was unable to watch how she was faring against the larger woman. Not only had his adoptive cousin moved aside and beyond his range of vision, but he had to devote his full attention to the male Mun-Gatahs.

  What the blond giant saw and deduced was not comforting. While the two warriors with the lances were galloping towards him, their leaders did not offer to accompany them. Clearly he considered that his help would not be required. That reduced the odds from three, to two to one, but Bunduki did not doubt the third man would be ready to support his companions if it should become necessary.

  Crouching slightly on the balls of his feet, but giving no other sign of being at instant readiness to take action, Bunduki watched the charging pair of grar-gatah riders and planned his strategy. He knew that only by moving at his greatest possible speed and by taking them unawares could he hope to survive their attacks. Even if he succeeded, unless his defiance gave At-Vee the necessary inducement to come to his aid, he might easily find himself in desperate circumstances.

  Cradling the nine-foot long male bamboo shaft of the lance between his right elbow and ribs, with the leather loop attached at the point of balance around his right wrist for greater security, Traug was directing its twelve inches long, two and a half inches at its widest, diamond section head towards the centre of the blond giant’s chest.

  As the young warrior’s grar-gatah stallion was carrying him across the Dancing Circle at an ever increasing pace, he wondered what the big foreigner intended to do. The huge knife was still in its sheath and he showed no sign of starting to draw it. He might be bluffing, or perhaps petrified with fear and ready to turn away at the last moment. Traug hoped the fear would not keep him immobile. Although it would do nothing to save his life, it would take most of the fun out of killing him.

  Following his companion, Brarat was silently cursing his luck. With the two lengths lead that Traug had gained, there was no hope of catching, much less passing, him. The only chance for Brarat was when the white haired foreigner sprang aside and Traug missed his aim. The grar-gatah gelding’s rider watched to see what would happen next, tightening his grip on his lance in order to take every advantage of whatever might occur.

  There was little enough time for either rider to in
dulge in lengthy speculations. Not only were the distances between them and their victim rapidly decreasing, but they saw something which had the effect of diverting their mutual attentions.

  Timing her movements perfectly, Dawn bent her legs and crouched with her arms reaching forward. The quirt passed so close above her head that its lash stirred her hair, but it failed to contact its intended mark. An instant later, her hands had encircled and were snapping the woman’s legs together at knee level. Before Sarlio could resist, or even think, the girl straightened up to lift and hurl her backwards.

  Taken completely unawares, Sarlio was unable to do anything in her defense. The quirt left her hand as she found herself being thrown with considerable force through the air. Then she came down, landing awkwardly on the hard-packed surface of the Dancing Circle. Pain bit into her as her left ankle buckled under her weight, numbing the rider’s reflexes which might otherwise have helped her to partly break her fall. Shrieking in a mixture of agony and alarm as she toppled backwards, she landed supine with a bone-jarring thud which drove most of the breath from her lungs.

  Having had experience of how tough and capable a Mun-Gatah woman could be in a fight, Dawn knew that Sarlio must be rendered decisively hors-de-combat before she could even consider doing anything to help Bunduki. Nor was it a time to be held back by misguided conceptions of fair play. With that in mind, advancing a couple of strides until she was alongside her sprawled-out opponent, she raised and stamped down as hard as she could with her right foot.

  Although Sarlio saw what was coming and made an ineffectual attempt to grab the girl’s ankle, she moved far too slowly to stop Dawn’s heel driving into the pit of her stomach. Croaking in torment as what little air remained was driven from her, the woman jerked involuntarily into a semi sitting position. Still balancing on her left leg, Dawn continued the attack.

  Ever since the fictional genealogist, Philip Jose Farmer—whom she had met while visiting the Counter family’s ranch in Texas—had told Dawn that Lady Greystoke was related to the legendary Confederate States’ Secret Service agent, Belle Boyd, xlvii she had taken an interest in savate, French foot boxing, which had been that celebrated lady’s favorite form of self defense. Studying the subject and combining its techniques with karate, she had learned the best ways to kick either with shoes or with her bare feet.

  So, instead of using her toes, the girl swung the edge of her right foot to catch Sarlio at the side of the head. Even as the woman’s shoulders were slammed back to the ground, Dawn became conscious of the proximity of drumming hooves. She threw a look in her adoptive cousin’s direction. What she saw caused her to sink swiftly down until she was kneeling astride Sarlio’s ample bosom. Gripping the ponytail with her right hand, she drew the woman’s head upwards and threw her clenched left fist across it in a coup-de-grace. Being unaware of the injury to Sarlio’s ankle, Dawn delivered a power-packed blow to the side of her jaw so that she would be unable to intervene as Dawn went to Bunduki’s assistance.

  Watching his attackers’ methods, the blond giant concluded that his first impressions of them were correct. His previous dealings with the Mun-Gatahs had suggested that, while capable enough warriors, they tended to be individualists whose desire for personal acclaim reduced teamwork to a minimum. Certainly there was no sign of his assailants cooperating as they were rushing across the Dancing Circle. Instead, each of them was obviously acting on his own initiative. Bunduki intended to make the most of the opportunities that were being presented by such behavior. In addition, however, there was a bonus arising from the manner in which Dawn must be tackling the female warrior.

  The two garar-gatah riders had had confidence in Sarlio’s ability. So the way in which Dawn was dealing with her came as a shock. Staring at the sight of the woman being lifted and flung backwards with such apparent ease, Traug grunted in astonishment. Startled, he allowed the lance’s tip to waver from its erstwhile steady alignment and at a moment when he could least afford to commit such an error in tactics.

  Instantly, Bunduki went into action!

  The blond giant moved with all the speed that his powerful and well-tuned muscles could command. Darting forward, concentrating his gaze on his objective, he thrust out his hands. Allowing the head of the lance to pass between them, he closed his thumbs and fingers around the languets xlviii which secured it to the shaft. Having obtained the vital hold on the weapon, he pulled with all his might and sprang to the left passing in front of Traug’s grar-gatah stallion.

  Feeling the immensely savage tug, the young warrior belatedly returned his gaze to where it should have stayed all the time. To his horror, he watched his would-be victim disappearing to his right. He was only just able to snatch his hand from the leather loop as the lance was wrenched from his grasp with a force that almost unseated him. Swaying awkwardly on his saddle, he let out a yell of alarm which caused the grar-gatah to increase its speed. Although he saw that he was being beaten by the big foreigner, for the moment he was incapable of doing anything other than struggling to stay astride his mount. Taking the bit between its teeth, it bolted onwards completely uncontrolled.

  Hearing Traug’s wail, Brarat snapped his gaze from where he too had been watching what was happening to Sarlio. There was no time for delight or derision over his rival’s discomfiture. Instead, he realized with considerable consternation that he was being swept very rapidly towards the blond giant. There was only one small consolation that Brarat could see. As yet, the foreigner was still holding Traug’s lance near its head. Before he could change his grip to a position which would allow him to wield the weapon, Brarat would be upon him.

  Even as the thought came to the young warrior’s head, he observed that the white haired stranger was preparing to evade the attack. From his actions, he clearly intended to repeat the trick of leaping to his right. By doing so, he obviously assumed that he would attain a position where Brarat’s lance could not reach him.

  Delighted at having received such a clear indication of the foreigner’s intentions Brarat began to raise his lance so that its tip passed over the grar-gatah’s head. He grinned at the thought of the stranger’s horror on discovering that he had anticipated and was countering the evasion.

  Still holding the captured lance so that its butt was extended to the right, Bunduki’s posture and attitude suggested that he was contemplating another leap that way. Such was not his intention. Instead, he was merely making a feint in the hope of distracting his assailant from his true purpose. As the other’s weapon was being raised so as to deal with a leap to the left, he thrust out his right leg for a long stride in the opposite direction to that which had been anticipated.

  Brarat’s delight turned to horror as his eyes followed Bunduki’s actions and he realized that he had been tricked. Desperately he tried to reverse the lance’s direction, but he was too late. Already his fast-moving grar-gatah gelding was carrying him past the blond giant.

  Halting on slightly flexed knees, Bunduki pivoted and wielded the lance in the manner of a club instead of as a thrusting weapon. Passing around and upwards over the grar-gatah’s black striped rump, driven with all the power of the blond giant’s enormously strong body behind it, the counter-weighted metal butt of the shaft struck the young Mun-Gatah at the base of the skull. Brarat’s helmet proved no protection against such a blow. There were two intermingled cracks as the bamboo of the shaft splintered and the warrior’s neck snapped like a rotten twig. Letting his weapon fall, he followed it to the ground.

  A wail of horror rose from the majority of the watching Telongas as they saw Bunduki strike and Brarat sliding lifeless from the grar-gatah’s saddle. Few of them had ever seen a human being meet a violent death. Although the hunters remained silent, they were staring in amazement as if unable to believe the evidence of their eyes.

  Flinging aside the ruined lance, knowing that it would be more of a hindrance than a help, Bunduki sent his right hand flashing across to the ivory hilt of the ‘Smithsonian’
bowie knife. Looking about him, he was more interested in what his enemies might be doing than in the reactions of the Telongas.

  One glance informed the blond giant that his adoptive cousin was in full control of her part in the affair. Turning away his gaze as she was pulling the woman’s head up for what he guessed would be an incapacitating blow, he soon learned that the fighting was far from over.

  Already Arat, drawing his sword, was starting to ride across the Dancing Circle. His hard face was set in lines of grim determination.

  In the other direction, having gone past At-Vee and into the alley between the two houses, Traug had recovered his equilibrium and was back in command of his grar-gatah stallion. Even as Bunduki watched, the warrior began to rein the animal in a turn that would bring him back into the fray.

  With the comforting feel of the forty-three ounce knife in his right hand, its massive blade protruding in front of the thumb and forefinger to permit a greater facility in its use, the blond giant devoted his attention to the enemy whom he considered was posing the greater immediate threat. He found that, as he had expected, the senior of the Mun-Gatah warriors was a more experienced and wary proposition than either of the younger men.

  Instead of attempting to charge in and ride down the white haired foreigner, Arat was springing to the ground about fifteen yards away. Due to the style of fighting which they had evolved, the type of sword carried by the Mun-Gatahs was poorly adapted for wielding from a gatah’s saddle. It was normally considered a secondary weapon to the lance, throwing spear, or axe. In fact, its main use was for personal defense when attacked whilst on foot. Knowing its limitations as a mounted weapon, the banar-gatah rider did not feel that it was a suitable implement for dealing with such an alert, fast moving and capable a foe as the big stranger was proving to be, unless he too was on foot.