by David Alric
‘What’s a slammer?’ asked Ben. Fred gave a slightly shamefaced grin.
‘The slammer? You know, the clink – jail – prison.’
Ben was enthralled.
‘You’ve been to jail? Really? You’re not kidding?’ Fred laughed again.
‘I bin lots of times. Brixton, Reading, Brixton again, Wandsworth, Singapore, Brazil – there’s not much I don’t know about jails.’
‘Wow!’ said Ben. He said “wow” several times again as they trudged along.
‘Were there like… robbers and murderers and pirates and stuff?’
‘Yeah, lots of ‘em,’ chuckled Fred, not adding that he had served time for all three of these offences in his action-filled criminal career. It was years since he had spoken to ten-year old children and he was beginning to enjoy the experience. It was the first time in countless years that anyone (with exception of law enforcement officers) had taken the slightest interest in his activities, much less looked up to him. The boy was now regarding him with something akin to hero worship and it was a novel experience for him.
‘Yeah,’ he added expansively, ‘I seen all types in prison. A terrible thing for an innocent man to go through.’ He suddenly felt the need to seem better in the children’s eyes.
‘You mean, you were wrongly imprisoned?’ asked Sarah, who had been listening intently to this little exchange.
‘Well, I obviously done some things not quite right,’ said Fred, feeling as though he was getting a little out of his depth. ‘But the cops and the beaks always ’ad it in for me – an’ I only ever did wot Sid told me.’
By now they had reached the camp. Fred laid a fire, then skinned the gazelle and started to fix up a spit to roast it. At Ben’s request he told Ben how to make the spit and let him do it unaided. Soon the little antelope was beginning to roast.
‘Don’t ever think I’m going to eat any of that,’ said Sarah.
‘Look, little Missie,’ said Fred, not unkindly. ‘This is wot we got. It’s dead anyway, so whether you eat any or not makes no odds. If you want sumthin’ else there’s tins in the truck.’
Later, when they had all eaten the gazelle, including Sarah, and the men were smoking and drinking beer and arguing, the Professor came and sat next to the children.
‘Listen, kids,’ he said, ‘I’ve been in touch with your tour operator and there’s a bit of a problem. You know these bush fires that are sweeping across this area?’ The children looked blank and shook their heads. ‘No? Well, anyway, there are serious fires and one of them has cut off the only two roads between here and the place your parents are staying. I forget the name’.
‘Arusha,’ said Ben innocently.
‘We never told you!’ cut in Sarah with a frown. ‘And it’s not our parents – they’re in the Congo. We’re with my sisters and their friend, and I’m sure they must be getting very worried about us.’
The professor gave her a reassuring smile. He started to put a comforting arm round her shoulders but, seeing the expression on her face, thought better of it.
‘Don’t fret, my dear, I’ve had a long chat with the tour guide and he’s keeping in constant touch with them. We’ve all agreed that the safest thing is for us to take you with us to the next big town with an airport and they’ll fly down and pick you up. They know you’re OK.’ He paused, then continued: ‘I suppose I should have told you this before but I’m a professor of zoology and we’re on an urgent scientific mission for the United Nations Organization to save an endangered species in the Congo. We can’t stop or divert from our planned route because of our visas.’ He gave them a genial smile.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll look after you. Just think of it as a special adventure and soon you’ll be back safe and sound with your family and have an amazing tale to tell.’ He patted them both comfortingly on the head, then made his way back to Sid.
‘I think they’re sorted for the time being. Just make sure those thugs of yours leave them alone. They’re only useful hostages to us as long as they are OK.’
Sid was beginning to feel that the professor had taken control of events.
‘Sure,’ he said, ‘but just remember, you’re not in charge round here.’
‘Of course not,’ said the Professor with a disarming smile. ‘But remember the old saying: “He who pays the piper calls the tune”. I am going to make you a millionaire and you’d do well to remember that it’s in your own best interests to listen to my suggestions.’
Meanwhile the children were discussing the latest developments. Both felt tearful but were determined not to appear weak in front of their rescuers.
‘I think we’ve been kidnapped,’ said Sarah.
‘But they saved us from the lions,’ said Ben.
‘I know that but I think they then decided to kidnap us. I think they’re crooks.’
‘Will they kill us?’ said Ben, his voice quavering a little.
‘No, they’ll want a ransom,’ said Sarah confidently. ‘I’ve read about things like this. If they were going to kill us they’d have done it already. We just have to stay calm and pretend to be their friends. Then one day we’ll be ransomed – or we can escape when we get somewhere we can escape to.’
‘But what about the Professor,’ asked Ben. ‘Professors aren’t villains are they? Maybe what he said is all true – though,’ he added, scanning the crystal clear horizon, ‘I don’t see any smoke from those fires. And…,’ he stopped for a moment, gathering his thoughts, ‘… and one minute he thought we were here with our parents and the next minute he was saying that the tour operator was in constant touch with our family. If that were true, and he has been speaking to the tour people, surely he would have known we weren’t here with our parents.’ Sarah nodded in agreement; everything Ben had said made good sense.
‘Anyway,’ he continued, ‘whether they’re telling the truth or not, you’re quite right. We just have to keep going until we can escape or get rescued. And don’t worry, I’ll look after you whatever happens.’ And with that they hugged each other and went back to spend the night in the corner that had been allocated to them in one of the trucks.
11
African Pursuit
In the hotel at Arusha Lucy was feeling a little better, but although her upset stomach was settling she was very weak and still couldn’t eat anything. Just as she was discussing how she felt with Clare, Clive burst into their hotel bedroom with his dreadful news. After hearing his story Lucy, tears streaming down her face, went out on to the little verandah belonging to their room and looked up into the sky. Before long a bird fluttered down and perched on the railings in front of her. Soon Clare saw the look in her face that meant she was communing with animals.
‘Greetings, O Promised One,’ said the bird. ‘I heard thy call and am here to do thy bidding’.
‘Greetings,’ said Lucy. ‘I seek urgent tidings about my kin, two young Tailless Ones. Go thou to the great plains where the clovenkin roam and seek out the carrionquills who soar above. Ask if any of the manefangs or fleetfangs,’ she paused and thought, ‘or cacklekin or wolfkin, have killed any Tailless Ones this day. If the young Tailless Ones are found, none is to harm them. Now go, and return in haste with any tidings.’
The bird sped off with a clatter of wings and Lucy returned to where Clare and Clive sat hugging one another in their grief.
All we can do now is wait,’ she said. ‘There’s no point in ringing Mum and Dad or…,’ she gave a sob at the thought of telling Ben’s mother, ‘… or Auntie Jane until we know exactly what’s happened.’ The others agreed. ‘If only I hadn’t been ill,’ sobbed Lucy. ‘If I’d been there I could’ve told all the animals to keep an eye on them straight away.’
‘There are always lots of “if onlys” whenever anything bad happens,’ said Clive putting a comforting arm round her shoulders. ‘“If only” that man on the tour hadn’t been taken ill. “If only” that women hadn’t fallen asleep. “If only” there hadn’t been any lions around. We c
ould go on and on, but all we can really do is hope and pray that by some miracle they’re still alive.’
They switched on the TV to a local station in case there was any news, but there was no mention of the incident. They then sat in misery for the next hour trying to console one another and looking every few seconds towards the balcony. Eventually Clare pointed.
‘Look!’ she said. There in the blue sky was a tiny dark spot which rapidly grew larger and larger. A few minutes later a vulture settled clumsily on the verandah. They had all seen the vultures high in the sky ever since they had arrived, but they were astonished to see just how large one was at close quarters. It raised its ugly naked neck and spoke to Lucy.
‘Greetings, O Great One.’ Its voice was harsh and raucous and reminded her vividly of the condors she had spoken to when she had first discovered the valley of the Great Ones in the Amazon. ‘I bear good tidings.’ Lucy’s heart fluttered and she gave a thumbs-up sign to the others who were waiting breathlessly for some news. ‘The manefang saw your kin but, before she could harm them, they were taken by some bearded Tailless Ones. Many of them. They put the young ones in two great houses that move, and they now travel to where the Brilliant One goes to his rest near the edge of the great water.’
‘You have earned the everlasting gratitude of me and my kin,’ said Lucy wholeheartedly, her voice trembling with relief, ‘and now I have another boon to ask of thee. ‘Go back and tell thine own kin to watch the houses that move at all times. If the young Tailless Ones seem in any danger they must be protected by any creature who can assist. A Malevolent One should always be near them at all times. Send word to me when the Brilliant One rises once again.’
‘It shall be so,’ replied the vulture. ‘Naught shall harm them.’ It tried clumsily to take off from the narrow balcony and Clive eventually had to assist it. Once in the air it was transformed from a clumsy, stumbling, caricature of a bird into a graceful flying machine. It flapped its way into a rising thermal air current and then started to circle upwards until eventually it headed off into the brilliant sunset.
‘Well,’ said Clare. ‘I take it that was good news but now tell us the whole story – every detail, mind!’
‘As you gathered, they’re safe,’ said Lucy. ‘They’ve been picked up by some men in a couple of trucks. The funny thing is, though, they are heading west towards the edge of what sounds like a great lake. If they were tourists or rangers surely they would have brought them back to one of the rangers’ lodges or a police station. Oh, yes,’ she added. ‘There were several men and they all had beards.’
Clive pulled out a map and they clustered round.
‘Wow!’ Clare exclaimed.’ If the vulture’s right, the great lake must be Lake Victoria.’ *
‘Where are they going? What the hell’s going on?’ said Clive, suddenly sounding concerned and angry.
‘Well,’ said Clare, ‘to start with, the vulture may simply have been describing the general direction they were taking. They may already have changed direction and be heading for a ranger’s hut.’She paused. ‘Or…,’
‘Or what?’ said Clive impatiently.
‘…or,’ and I hate to say this, ‘they’ve been kidnapped.’ said Clare slowly. ‘I really didn’t like that bit about them all having beards. What group of tourists or rangers all have beards?’ The others thought for a moment in horrified silence. She was right, of course. Clare continued: ‘Remember all those stories we hear about terrorists targeting tourists? Maybe they are going to try and ransom them.’
‘Huh!’ said Lucy, scornfully. ‘We’ll soon put a stop to that. When my animals have finished with them they’ll wish they’d never been born!’
Clare and Clive suddenly looked relieved again. Despite all their experiences with Lucy, it was difficult always to remember the enormous extent of her power over the animal kingdom and the ability it gave her to manipulate events, even over great distances, in circumstances such as these.
‘If they have been kidnapped,’ asked Clive, ‘Shouldn’t we tell the authorities before they get too far?’
‘Absolutely not,’ said Clare firmly. The others looked at her in surprise. ‘First of all they’ll be suspicious about how we know what’s happened. There’s no possible normal way we could know unless we were in on a scam with the villains. Secondly, we might put the children in danger. If some gung-ho cops go rushing in with guns blazing who knows what might happen! We’re much better off using Lucy’s power to follow them, then to disable the villains and help the kids to escape when they’re near a village or a town where we can go and rescue them as soon as Lucy’s better.’
There was silence while the others digested what Clare had said. Then Clive nodded.
‘You’re right – as usual. That’s by far the best strategy. What do you think Lu?’ He looked questioningly at Lucy, who nodded in agreement.
‘There’s only one problem,’ she said after a moment’s thought. ‘What should we tell the others?’
‘It sounds awful,’ replied her sister after a moment’s thought, ‘but we don’t tell them anything until we’ve rescued the children. With any luck we can do it in a couple of days but if we tell them now they’ll be worried sick. Mum and Dad will rush back from the Congo, Auntie Jane will fly out from England and there’s nothing anyone can do anyway – except Lucy. And,’ she added, ‘in their panic they’ll probably tell the authorities, which we’ve all just agreed, could be disastrous.’
Once again they thought over Clare’s words and eventually, again, they all agreed.
‘What if they hear through the media?’ asked Clive.
‘It looks very much as if the authorities are keeping a lid on this for the moment,’ replied Clare, glancing at the TV which had been on throughout their discussion. ‘It’s now been several hours since the actual incident and there’s been nothing on the telly. I can’t say I’m surprised: if it gets out that two children have been eaten by lions it’ll kill the tourist trade stone dead.’
‘Never mind the authorities,’ said Lucy, ‘what about the other tourists who were on the truck with Ben and Sarah, won’t they be telling everyone?’
‘Actually, I don’t think so,’ Clive cut in before Clare could reply. ‘They, after all, should have been keeping an eye on the children. They’ll be the last ones to advertise the fact that because of their neglect and stupidity two children got eaten!’
‘Good point,’ said Clare, ‘No, I think that there’ll probably be a low-key article about children “lost on safari” in a few weeks time after they’ve had time to “tighten up” the guidelines for tourist companies. Anyway, if it does hit the headlines we can still ring the others immediately and explain we’ve got things under control.’ The others nodded. ‘And now,’ she continued, ‘I think it’s time we got some sleep. Lucy’s got to get fit as soon as possible so we can get into action.’
They went to bed, relieved beyond measure that the children were alive and apparently unhurt, but desperately worried about what the coming days would bring and whether they had made the right decisions so far.
The next morning Lucy felt well enough to try a little food. As she nibbled at some toast, they sat in her room awaiting further information. About mid-morning a pure white egret flew gracefully on to the verandah and gave an update.
‘The young Tailless Ones are well and have eaten. The houses that move are once again running in the direction the Brilliant One goes to rest. Two fellfangs travel with thy kin lest any should wish them harm and two more travel with the others, but none knows of their presence. There are also scurripods in the house that moves who can tell the fledgiquills all that passes within.’ Lucy thanked the bird who flew off towards the Serengeti, then turned to the others.
‘They’re fine and some kind of poisonous snakes will attack anyone who harms them. The mice in the truck are keeping the birds informed about any developments. They’re on the move again though, still heading west.’ Clive consulted his map again.
‘Definitely looks as if they’re leaving the country. They must be heading for Burundi or Rwanda. Our best chance would probably be to go into action at the border. We should try and get as near to them as possible. The trouble is, we’re running out of time. The country is absolutely massive and they’re already a day ahead of us.’ He paused and gazed at the map, drumming his fingers on the table. ‘Do you think you’ll be OK by tomorrow, Lucy?’ he asked.
‘I think so,’ she said. ‘I already feel stronger now I’ve had breakfast and there’s no sign of it coming back!’
‘Well, by tomorrow they’ll have nearly two days’ start on us. It’s going to be a long, hard drive and the roads are abysmal.’
‘Let’s fly,’ said Clare.
‘Good thinking,’ said Clive.
‘Cool,’ said Lucy.
Clive got the map out again and they all pored over it.
‘Looks like a choice between Shinyanga and Kigoma,’ said Clive. ‘It all really depends on where they’re really heading.’
‘I think they’re heading out into the rainforest,’ said Clare. ‘Once there, they can’t easily be seen from the air if a hunt starts up, and they’ll be beyond the reach of the Tanzanian authorities where the crime took place.’ The others nodded.
‘In that case it’s Kigoma,’ said Clive. ‘It’s close to Burundi and we might yet beat them to the border.’
The next morning they were up at dawn. Lucy, thankfully, was feeling much better. They hurriedly packed some basic requirements and before leaving their hotel Clare asked a helpful receptionist to tell her parents if they rang from the Congo that they had gone on tour. They then headed out to Arusha airport. Luckily they got a flight and by mid-afternoon they had reached Kigoma. Clive rented a Land Rover pick-up truck and headed north to Burundi. He stopped on the journey while Lucy received another update, this time from a large stork.
