Scapulimancist (Seven Forbidden Arts Book 7)

by Charmaine Pauls

  * * * *

  Two days later, Sara spotted Thinus’s Land Rover outside Woodcutters on her way home from a hike. Back at her cabin, she had a quick shower and dressed in cut-off denim shorts and a tank top before heading back to the bar.

  Jack gave her the same sour look as before. Thinus and Nelis were at the table in the corner. Their chameleon eyes turned in their sockets as they followed her progress.

  “Hey,” she said to the bartender, “it’s Jack, right?”

  He didn’t answer.

  She drummed her nails on the counter. “Diet Coke, please.”

  He took a can from the fridge and slammed it down in front of her. She opened it, took a sip, and sauntered over to the men’s table.

  Both stared at her in surprise.

  “Hello, boys.”

  “SAN made a mistake, sending you here,” Nelis said. “This ain’t no job for a woman. Many accidents happen in the forest.”

  “Yeah,” Thinus chirped in. “Go back to your flower garden back home. You ain’t man enough for the forest.”

  “Funny you should mention that,” she said, taking a seat. “I have been thinking of looking for flowers and herbs while I’m here. I could mix a few lotions and potions, real girlie stuff, you know? I could even mix you an ointment for that nasty attitude.”

  “Go mix your potions,” Nelis said with a smirk, “or I’ll find another use for you.”

  “You know everyone around here, don’t you?”

  “Shut up, woman,” Nelis said. “I won’t tell you again.”

  “Why?” Thinus leaned forward.

  “If I need clients for my products, can you help me out?”

  Nelis snorted. “Go sell your products at the flea market.”

  “Not sure that’s going to work,” she said. “It’s kind of a sexual thing.”

  Thinus pumped Nelis in the ribs and cackled. His eyes twinkled even as he said, “Like we give a damn.” Then he added, “What sexual thing?”

  She lowered her voice. “An orgasm cream. I haven’t tested it yet, so I’d appreciate your discretion.”

  The two men exchanged a glance. A series of snort laughs came from Nelis.

  “What’s in this cream?” Thinus asked.

  “I can’t say. It’s a secret formula. It should stimulate the genitalia and cause a rush of blood that’ll make the orgasm more powerful.”

  They gaped at her. Nelis’s jaw hung on his chest. Thinus’s face turned a shade darker, the skin on his bony cheeks taut.

  “I already have a name,” she continued. “Hot.”

  “Hot?” they said in unison.

  “What do you think? Will it sell?”

  Nelis snorted again and looked away.

  “I’ve got it here in my bag. Want to try?”

  Nelis took a sip of his beer. “Does it look like we’ve got cunts?”

  “No need to be so crass. I was only trying to be nice.” She got up. “Well, if you change your minds…” She winked, left her drink by her bag on the counter, and walked to the toilet.

  When she returned, Thinus and Nelis were watching the game.

  “I’ll have another,” she said to Jack, motioning at her drink. “And you can throw this one out. It’s warm.” She wasn’t taking another chance on getting drugged.

  It didn’t take Thinus a minute to disappear to the back. He was so predictable. Going through her bag for her purse to pay, she confirmed that the chili cream had been nicked. She checked her watch. She gave him half a minute. Twenty seconds later chilling cries sounded from the toilet.

  Nelis jumped to his feet with a flabbergasted expression. Both Nelis and Jack gave her questioning stares, but before either of them could react, Thinus came sprinting down the corridor, screaming like a pig being slaughtered.

  He jumped up and down on the spot. “Burns. Burns. It fucking burns!”

  “What’s wrong?” she said with a mock expression of concern.

  Thinus grabbed his crotch and ran around the table. “Fuck. Shit. Ai. Aijaijai. Hospital.”

  Jack crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes on her.

  She lifted her shoulders up to her ears. “What’s wrong with him?”

  Johannes, the kitchen help, came from the toilet with big eyes, the tub of cream in his hands.

  Sara gasped, making a good show of it. “Thinus stole my cream?” She snatched it from Johannes’s hands. “You went through my bag?” She propped her hands on her hips and shook her head, looking between Nelis and a tap-dancing Thinus. “I’m so disappointed in you. I’m going to have to report the two of you to the police for theft.”

  By then, Thinus was crying like a baby, falling down on his knees with his hands cupped over his groin. “Gonna lose my dick, man.”

  She sighed and leaned back with her elbows on the counter. “Well, I suppose now we’re even.”

  “Johannes,” Jack thundered, “help Nelis to get Thinus in the truck. Nelis, you better drive him to the clinic.” He turned to Sara. “You’re playing a dangerous game, missy.”

  She pushed a bill over the counter and gave him a sweet smile. “Keep the tip.”

  * * * *

  The men took their break in the shade of the pines. Wayne walked away and sat down with his back against a log. He looked up when Christian approached.

  Christian wiped a gloved hand over his brow. “You put our names up for Saturday. It’s going to suck working on a Saturday when everyone else is watching the game with an ice cold beer.”

  “We need the overtime,” Wayne reminded him. Especially with the day he’d missed when he’d driven Sara to the clinic, and the work in his kitchen.

  Loud laughing from the men drew his attention.

  Christian stared at them. “What’s up with them?”

  The men were clutching their stomachs and rolling around on the ground.

  “Let’s go see,” Christian said.

  They made their way over to the party.

  “What’s the joke?” Christian said.

  “It’s Wayne’s woman,” someone said.

  Wayne stiffened. She wasn’t his woman, and she’d done something stupid again.

  “Priceless.” The man slammed his hands down on his thighs. “Don’t you know, West?”

  He wanted to say he couldn’t know because they weren’t an item. Somehow, he was reluctant to speak those words. Let the men think she was off-limits.

  “She tricked Thinus into rubbing chili on his dick because he spiked her food with mushrooms.”

  Wayne’s spine went rigid. “Where did you hear this?”

  “Jack just called Clive. Thinus is in hospital.”

  His first reaction was pride. She’d gotten her own back, and he admired that. He, too, wanted to burst out laughing, but fear for the consequences prevented him. She had no idea who she was messing with. Brave, naïve, amazing little girl.

  He glanced at Christian, who grinned from ear to ear.

  “West!” Clive howled from the open office door. “Inside!”

  Christian slapped him on the back. “She’s a lot of trouble, that one. Good luck.”

  He’d need more than luck.

  He walked to the office and closed the door. Crossing his arms, he took a wide stance. “You wanted to see me?”

  Clive took the chair behind his desk. “Had a call from the clinic. Thinus’s dick is on fire.”

  Thankfully, he managed to keep a straight face. “What has that got to do with me?”

  “I told you I wanted to know everything about the SAN woman.”

  “I told you I didn’t know shit.”

  “She didn’t say anything to you?”

  He considered how much he should reveal. “Says she’s here about the forest.”

  “Must be the yellowwood.”

  Wayne didn’t answer. Everyone suspected Clive was behind the smuggling, but no one would admit it, not if they valued their lives.

  “What’s this story Jack is telling about Thinus and Nel
is drugging the woman?”

  He scratched the back of his head. “They sneaked mushrooms into her food.”

  Clive slammed his fist on the desk. “God damn you, why didn’t you say something?”

  “You want me to be a tattle tale, now, Clive?”

  “Those idiots. Jack said Thinus stole a tub of cream from her bag that was spiked with chilies.”

  He wished he’d been there to see it.

  “The men said she came to see you. Are you fucking her?”

  He looked Clive straight in the eye. “No.”

  “She’s not your woman? Jack said she spent the night at your place.”

  He didn’t like where this was going. “No. I took her to the cabin because she was fucked and couldn’t drive. That’s all.”

  “In that case, you’re the man for the job.”

  “What job?”

  “I want you to scare her a bit, but scare her good. Make sure you drive her away.”

  His vision went black and red and back to black again. “No,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “What’s the matter, West? It’s not like you’ve got a lilywhite record.”

  “Why?” he asked. “Do you feel threatened by a girl?”

  Clive got to his feet and planted his palms on the desk. “Are you questioning me, boy?”

  Wayne gritted his teeth.

  “Thought so,” Clive said. “Do what you have to, but make sure she leaves town, or I’ll get someone else to do it.”

  The two men stared each other down for a moment.

  “Must I get someone else to do it?” Clive said, his voice low and malicious.

  “I’ll handle it.”

  “May be harder than you think. Don’t underestimate her. This round, I agree Thinus got what he deserved, fucking around with drugs. He knows how I feel about that. The minute he gets home, burning dick or not, he’s going to feel the bite of my whip on his back. The next time she pulls a stunt like that, no matter who did what, she’s going to learn she can’t fuck with the Therons. You make sure she understands that. Got it?”

  Wayne turned to leave.

  “Not a word to anyone.”

  He was already out of the door. Outside in the bright sunshine he shuddered. This could only play out one way. Bad.

  * * * *

  Showered and changed, Wayne drove to Wilderness and arrived just before sunset. After asking around at the rental agencies, he’d obtained Sara’s address without much difficulty. He only hoped she’d listen to reason.

  The cabin she’d rented was on a peaceful stretch of riverbank. A few miles farther down the river ran into the sea. The surf was a pleasant background noise. An owl hooted when he made his way up the path to her door.

  He knocked only once before the door opened, as if she’d been expecting visitors.

  “You,” she said, looking flustered.

  Who else? Another man? He’d rather not go there in his thoughts.

  She was dressed in cut-off shorts and a cotton top with thin straps over her shoulders. Her brown hair hung loose and a bit wild. Long legs and smooth shoulders were bared to him for the first time in daylight. Her golden skin looked soft and warm. She didn’t wear a bra. The dark disks of her nipples were visible through the thin fabric. He swallowed.

  “Come in.” She opened the door wider.

  In the small living area, he stopped dead. A cobra lay stretched out on the floor, the reptile’s head lifted in a position to strike.

  “Sara!” He dived, pushing her out of the way.

  Both of them landed on the sofa with her underneath his body.

  “Don’t move,” he said, looking around for a weapon.

  “Wayne,” she touched his arm, “relax.”

  It was then he realized she wasn’t scared. He lifted off her and offered a hand to pull her to her feet. “What in God’s name is that?”

  “He’s cool. He won’t attack.”

  “He lives in your house?” Was she out of her mind?

  “Temporarily.”

  “Are his teeth pulled?”

  “Of course not,” she exclaimed. “I’d never do that!”

  “He can bite you. His venom is fatal.”

  “He won’t bite.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He’s hibernating.”

  “It’s summer, Sara.”

  “Look, I know how to handle reptiles.”

  “Obviously.”

  “This is a surprise,” she said. “I mean, after I shrunk your clothes. Would you like a drink?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Then, why are you here?”

  “Clive is upset about what happened to Thinus.”

  “He had it coming. The burning should’ve stopped by now. Took me much longer to come down from my high.”

  “I’m not going to ask how you managed.” He tried hard not to smile.

  “I saw Dumile today.”

  At the mention of the name, his body tensed.

  “He doesn’t want your land,” she continued.

  He didn’t know if he was happy or upset about that. He should’ve expected the old man didn’t want to touch anything with Wayne West’s name attached to it. It shouldn’t matter, but it did. Not that he wanted to lose that land. He just didn’t want to know how Dumile felt about him.

  “It won’t change anything,” she said, a warning in her voice.

  He took her hands. They were small in his, her injured hand still bandaged. “You have to leave.”

  She pulled from his grasp. “No.”

  “Sara, please. You’re going to get hurt.”

  “Is that why you came? To convince me to go?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you’ll be disappointed.”

  “SAN can send someone else, armed guards, for God’s sake. Why you?”

  “You won’t understand,” she said softly.

  “Make me.”

  “I’ll go when I know the elephants are not in danger of becoming extinct.”

  “That’s all it’ll take for you to leave?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll help you find them.”

  A look of pain filtered into her eyes. “You want me gone that badly?”

  “For your own good.”

  She turned away from him, as if she couldn’t look him in the face any longer. “How will you find the elephants if no one else has managed?”

  “I grew up here. I know the forest. We’ll just have to go deeper than anyone else has gone.”

  “We?”

  “We’ll find them together, and then you go.”

  She hugged herself. “Will you at least listen to our offer? If you don’t accept what we propose in exchange for your land, the offer will expire, and you’ll get nothing more than the standard payout. At least listen, and if it doesn’t please you, negotiate for what you want.”

  He walked up to her, stopping so close he could smell the shampoo she’d used on her hair. “There’s nothing else I want.”

  She turned her face, her chin resting on her shoulder. “Nothing?”

  “No, Sara,” he said harshly, “Absolutely nothing.”

  His chest tightened painfully. That was the biggest untruth he’d ever spoken. He reached out, his hand hovering over the gentle indent between her shoulder blades, but then he let it fall back to his side. They weren’t on the same side. No matter how much he liked her, she was still the woman set on taking away his land.

  He hardened his heart and said in a businesslike manner, “I can get some time off next week. We’ll probably have to camp in the forest if we’re going in that deep. Try not to do anything stupid again until then.”

  She flung around, fire dancing in her eyes. “I’m not stupid.”

  “Prove it.” His eyes moved over her body, drinking in her image. “By staying out of trouble.”

  From the way his body reacted to her, he was the biggest trouble. There
was nothing left to do but to walk out of her house, promising himself he was walking away.

  * * * *

  On Friday, after three more days of trekking in all directions with still no traces of any elephants, Sara wished she could talk to animals instead of manipulating them. If only the birds could talk. She was at her wit’s end. Next week, Wayne would help, but could she trust him? Could she venture alone into a deep, dark forest with a convicted murderer? Nothing in her gut warned her—no tightening of her stomach, no pricking of her scalp. Wayne wasn’t the man Maggie had painted. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know the truth, but if Wayne himself couldn’t remember what had happened that night, the truth might never be known. In any event, Wayne wasn’t the mystery she was supposed to solve. It was finding the elephants and ensuring the land transition took place peacefully. The board couldn’t afford more wars. Enough lives had been lost in the name of conservation as it was. There had to be a way to convince Wayne to work with her. Maybe tonight would be the opportunity Christian had promised.

  She got ready for the oyster festival with mixed feelings. Pursuing her goal would come at a cost to Wayne, but not pursuing it would come at an even bigger cost to nature. It was so very conflicting. Dressed in jeans, Star trainers, and an off-shoulder blouse, she made Kojak comfortable in his bed with an order to protect the house, and drove to the waterfront.

  The parking was full. Every single inhabitant from Wilderness to Knysna had to be there. On the embankment next to the water were stalls with oysters from the farm at the harbor, a beer tent, wine tasting stands, champagne vendors, and a stage on which a local band was playing.

  Despite her heaviness of heart, the festive atmosphere lifted her mood. Fires were lit in iron pits at the edge of the water and torches were planted in the sand along the beach. Fairy lights spanned from stall to stall and were twisted around the trees. It was a beautiful night with a cool breeze coming in from the sea. The smell of salt and fynbos mingled in the air, and the couples who weren’t eating or dancing were sitting on picnic benches or blankets facing the lagoon.

  Sara stopped at the first stall for chocolate-dipped strawberries. In a far-off corner, close to the edge of the water, she spotted Bella. She sat on the picnic table, her feet propped up on the bench. Her hair was loose, hanging down to her shoulders, and in a floral summer dress, she looked young and understatedly sensual.