The See-Through Leopard

by Sibel Hodge

  Zach carried the cage to the Land Rover, and he lifted up the corner of the sheet for me to see. A small, furry, cuddly-looking animal with the hugest eyes and ears looked back at me, blinking. I quickly pulled the sheet back and jumped in.

  ‘It’s so cute!’

  ‘We had one relocated here about five years ago, and when we released it, it kept coming back to the lodge. It seemed to prefer the company of people over its own species. But it had a bit of a craving for wine. It would hang around the bar, and if the guests weren’t paying attention, they’d turn round to find its head in their wine glass.’ He chuckled. ‘Actually, in Swahili there’s a phrase called kama komba, which means to act like a bushbaby. The locals use it to describe someone who’s been drinking too much.’

  ‘So they’re actually sneaky alcoholic party animals.’ I raised an eyebrow. ‘And they look so sweet and innocent.’

  ‘This one was found near the river on the other side of the reserve, so that’s where we’re going to release it.’

  The sounds of the night filled the air as we drove in companionable silence. That was the thing with Zach, it never felt like I had to chat awkwardly about stuff all the time. The silence never felt uncomfortable.

  ‘This is the spot.’ He jumped out and went round to the back of the Land Rover to get the cage.

  The raucous sounds of frogs and crickets permeated the night air with their loud chirps and trills and rasps as Zach carried the cage to the bottom of the nearest tree. He set it down, removed the sheet, and undid the latch. The bushbaby’s eyes reflected in the moonlight. It blinked at us and turned its head slowly, looking around like it was stunned.

  We stood back next to the Land Rover and watched it gain courage before crawling out and climbing up the tree to freedom.

  Every time we released an animal that had been treated for illness or injury, I felt so privileged to watch something magical. And although I longed for the day that Asha would be released into her natural world, I was going to miss her like crazy.

  I wiped the corner of my eye with a fingertip.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Zach said.

  ‘I’m just happy for it.’

  ‘You might see it again if it works out there’s wine at the lodge.’ He grinned and jumped in the Land Rover.

  On the way back we saw the lion pride that had chased me up the tree that night and a couple of hippos that had left the river to feed on the newly sprouted grasses.

  Zach gave the hippos a wide berth. After the incident we’d had with the hippo, I never wanted to get too close to one again.

  We pulled to a stop outside our quarters, the vehicle lights shining on Asha’s enclosure. I knew immediately that something was wrong. The padlock on the door was lying on the ground, and the door was wide open.

  Asha was nowhere to be seen.

  Chapter 23

  We both sprinted towards the enclosure, my stomach churning with fear. The night air was suddenly still. Eerily still.

  Maybe she was hiding in the dark corners. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me and I wasn’t really seeing what I dreaded was true.

  We rushed inside.

  ‘Asha!’ I called out into the dark night.

  She wasn’t there. I spied the half-eaten carcass of a small gazelle and frowned, confused.

  ‘I didn’t feed Asha anything tonight. How did that get there?’

  Zach’s eyes widened with horror. ‘I hope it’s not what I’m thinking.’

  That was when I noticed her radio collar on the ground by her water bowl. It looked like it had been stamped on.

  I carried on calling out to her as Zach bent down and picked up the radio collar and the padlock. Then he looked on the ground around the entrance to the enclosure, examining it carefully.

  ‘Asha!’ I yelled out, looking around frantically.

  I rushed into the house, hoping somehow that she was inside, but there was no sign of her. Maybe Dad had come back from the lodge and brought her into the house for some reason. Yes, that was it. It had to be.

  But Dad wasn’t there, and neither was Asha.

  When I ran back outside Zach was on the radio. ‘Yes, she’s gone. There are fresh vehicle tracks here. The tyre tracks look like they’re from a large vehicle, maybe a truck or van. I can see two unknown male footprints. Her collar’s been removed, too.’

  Richard’s voice sounded strained as it crackled over the radio. ‘The poaching patrols are all back out in the reserve now. I’ll get in touch with them and ask them to search the area. Follow the vehicle tracks in the Land Rover. Nathan and I are on our way now and we’ll catch up.’

  ‘Roger that.’ Zach handed me the radio and ran back to the Land Rover. ‘Come on. We’ve got no time to waste.’

  He took off and I slammed the door while we were moving.

  ‘Do you think they’ve killed her?’ I shrieked, an icy chill spreading through my veins. I couldn’t lose her. Not after she’d come so far.

  ‘I’m not sure. Poachers will normally just kill the animal where it is or remove whatever item they want from it in situ, but the enclosure is near to the house so they wouldn’t want to risk someone hearing the shot. The gazelle carcass is bothering me, though. Why feed Asha something unless it was drugged? Which means they may want her alive.’ He paused as my heart rate shot up. ‘It’s too much of a coincidence not to be something to do with that scout from the circus.’

  ‘Oh, no!’ I cried.

  ‘I can see the vehicle tracks. Looks like they’re headed towards the east side of the reserve. My guess is they’ll try and make it into Jito and either cross the border somewhere or fly her out from the airstrip in a private plane. Radio Dad and tell him where their tracks are heading.’

  I picked up the radio and relayed what Zach had said.

  ‘We’re a few minutes behind you,’ Richard shouted over the airwaves.

  We bumped along, dust flying in the air, as we followed the vehicle’s tracks and I held onto the door handle so hard my knuckles turned white. When we got to the electric fence we could see immediately how they’d got in. There was a massive gap, big enough for a large vehicle to fit through.

  ‘They rammed the fence. Bastards.’ Zach sped through the gap and onto a track that led through thick scrub. Bushes and branches scratched at the side of the Land Rover with a screeching noise, like nails on a blackboard.

  I picked up the radio again to update Richard, but he was already trying to contact us. There was a burst of static before Richard shouted, ‘Dammit! We’ve got a puncture! I’m going to put the spare on as quick as I can and follow you.’

  I told him about the fence.

  ‘I’ll get onto the patrols and ask them to patch the fence up. The last thing we need is some animals getting out,’ Richard said.

  We finally emerged through a large dip and bounced onto an animal track. I banged my head against the door in the process as the vehicle jerked around.

  ‘We’ll lose their tracks on the tarmac, but we’ll head into town and see if anyone’s spotted them.’ Zach said, manoeuvring onto the road.

  The lights of Jito flickered in the distance, creating a ghostly glow. Zach floored the Land Rover at top speed and it groaned in protest. As we reached the edge of town, some kids, who couldn’t have been more than five or six, were playing football in the road and Zach had to slam the brakes on to avoid them.

  ‘Have you seen a large van or truck come this way?’ he asked urgently.

  They all nodded.

  One of them pointed further down the road. ‘A van.’

  ‘What colour was it?’ Zach asked.

  ‘White,’ one of them said.

  I gave them a pained smile of gratitude and we sped off again.

  ‘Come in, Richard,’ I called down the radio.

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘They came into town in a white van, we think. We’re going to check around and see if we can find it.’

  We drove through the main street, eyes
scanning the side roads for any sign of a white van.

  Nothing.

  Further up the road some men were sitting outside a ramshackle café.

  ‘Has a white van come past?’ Zach asked them.

  ‘Yes,’ one of them said. ‘In a big hurry, too. Nearly knocked me over as I walked across the road.’ And he pointed further up the road in the direction the van went.

  Within a few minutes we were on the other side of town and there was no sighting of them.

  ‘OK, let’s check the airstrip,’ Zach said, turning off onto the small, dusty side track, the vehicle’s lights reflecting on the trees either side. ‘There, I can see the same type of tyre tracks again in the dust.’

  I took a shallow breath. Were we too late? Had they already got Asha on a plane to smuggle her out of the country?

  I sent up a silent prayer.

  Please, Mum, don’t let them take her away. I’ll do anything you want.

  Zach turned the engine off and got on the radio to tell Richard what was happening as my heart raced.

  ‘I’ll radio the police and let them know to meet us there,’ Richard said anxiously down the radio. ‘We’ve got the spare wheel on and we’ll be there soon. Please be careful, these men are probably armed and dangerous.’

  ‘If they’re down here, we should dump the Land Rover and approach on foot,’ Zach said, his voice echoing in the stillness. ‘It might give us the element of surprise.’

  Zach grabbed his rifle and we got out of the Land Rover, creeping through the trees towards the airstrip. The moon lit our way as we approached the long path of flattened grass where we’d landed in Kenya so long ago. I could hear the droning whirr of a plane engine start up.

  Please let us be in time, I repeated over and over in my head.

  Chapter 24

  Through the trees we could see one small, unmarked cargo plane parked up at the edge of the airstrip. There was a section in the side of the plane that was open, revealing a doorway for loading. A white van with a metal roller shutter door at the rear had been reversed up to a scissor lift platform, which was already set up level with the van’s door so they could transfer their cargo onto it and lift it easily up to the plane. On top of the lift platform there was a large metal cage.

  I gasped for breath. They hadn’t left yet. But would we be able to save Asha and get out of this alive?

  A tall black man emerged from inside of the plane and jumped down onto the scissor lift next to the cage, while a shorter, stockier black man jumped out from behind the steering wheel of the van and hurried round to the roller shutter door at the van’s rear.

  Zach grabbed my arm and stopped abruptly, his eyes quickly checking out the scene in front of us. He slid his rifle off his shoulder and pointed it through the trees towards the men. ‘You stay here,’ he whispered.

  ‘No.’ I shook my head vehemently. ‘I’m not letting them take her.’

  Zach glared at me but we didn’t have time to argue. Every second was a nail in Asha’s coffin.

  Zach walked towards them, aiming his gun steadily in front of him at the men as I followed behind. They wouldn’t be able to hear us over the noise of the engine, and they were too intent on their task to notice us yet.

  The tall man opened the cage door while the stockier man undid the padlock holding the roller shutter closed, releasing the catch on the door, lifting it about five centimetres before he noticed us and stopped suddenly, his eyes registering Zach’s rifle pointing at the centre of his chest.

  ‘Stay where you are,’ Zach shouted above the noise of the engine, glaring at both of them.

  The stocky man’s mouth dropped open and he raised his hands in the air. ‘OK, OK, don’t shoot.’

  Zach pointed the rifle at the tall man. ‘You, too. Hands up where I can see them.’

  The tall man raised his hands in the air, his lips curling into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. ‘It’s OK, boy, my hands are up, see?’

  My pulse roared in my ears as the tension permeated through the night air.

  I saw Asha’s paw poke through the five centimetre gap at the bottom of the roller shutter doors. ‘I want to check on Asha,’ I told Zach. ‘She might be injured.’ I rushed towards the van.

  ‘Wait, Jazz!’ Zach said.

  At the sound of his tone, I stopped suddenly about three metres in front of the van and the men, whipping my head round to face him.

  ‘You won’t shoot us, will you, boy?’ the tall man said to Zach. ‘Do you even know how to use that thing?’

  Zach pointed the gun above the tall man’s head and pulled the trigger to fire a warning shot.

  The gun jammed and nothing happened.

  Zach pulled the trigger again but it didn’t fire. His eyes widened with fear.

  The tall man’s smile became more manic, and in a swift movement he’d pulled a hand gun from the waist of his jeans behind his back and was pointing it straight at my forehead.

  ‘Your gun doesn’t work but mine does.’ The tall man narrowed his eyes at Zach. ‘Put your rifle on the ground and kick it towards me or I’ll kill her.’

  Zach gave me a worried look and sucked in a breath.

  ‘Do it!’ the tall man shouted.

  Zach slowly put his rifle on the ground and kicked it in front of him.

  I swallowed back a large lump in my throat.

  ‘Get some rope from the plane to tie them up,’ the tall man said to his accomplice.

  The stocky man climbed up the scissor lift and disappeared into the plane as the tall man jumped off the lift and walked closer to us, his gun still pointing at me. His back was now facing the plane and the van, and I saw Asha’s paw wriggling frantically through the gap. The roller shutter door slid up a fraction more.

  ‘Look, you can stop this now,’ Zach said to him, his voice pitching higher with anxiety. ‘Give us the leopard and you can just get out of here. No harm done.’

  The tall man shook his head. ‘I don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate. Do you?’ He sneered at us as the stocky man emerged from the plane’s doorway and jumped down to the ground with some pieces of rope in his hand.

  He looked to his partner for instructions.

  The tall man jerked his head at Zach. ‘Get him on the ground and tie him up, then do her.’

  As my heart pounded erratically in my chest, I prayed that Dad, Richard, and the police would get here soon. Surely by now they must be nearly here, but would it be too late to save us all?

  ‘Get on the ground face down and put your hands behind your back,’ the stocky man shouted to Zach.

  Zach gave me one last look, as if to say he was sorry, and lay down on his stomach, putting his hands behind his back as instructed. The stocky man knelt on his back and bound his wrists together before doing the same with his ankles.

  I saw Asha’s paw moving out of the corner of my eye, then her nose poked through the gap under the roller shutter door and she tried to nudge it open with her head. The engine was so loud that the men couldn’t hear her. I prayed they wouldn’t see her and shoot.

  When Zach had been tied up, the stocky man pushed me to the ground and started tying my wrists together.

  ‘You’re hurting me!’ I cried, struggling as he tried to pull the rope tight.

  The man with the gun walked towards me and slapped me hard across the face. ‘Shut up!’

  My head jerked to the side with the force of the blow and that’s when Asha managed to push the shutter door up with her head. It wasn’t much, but it was big enough for her to flatten her body down and slide through the gap.

  Asha charged towards the man with the gun and leaped onto his back before he knew what was happening. He fell forwards onto the floor, his gun flying from his hand onto the ground.

  Asha dug her claws into his back, growling, her eyes filled with angry determination.

  ‘Argh!’ he cried out in pain as Asha sank her teeth into the flesh on his right shoulder. ‘Help me!’ He writhed un
derneath her but that just made her more angry.

  Zach turned onto his side and struggled to try and stand up but couldn’t manage it.

  The stocky man looked on in horror. Then he turned around and ran towards the woods.

  The tall man’s screams filled the air as Asha clamped her jaws onto him tight, her claws holding him down on the ground while he struggled beneath her.

  No matter what this man had done, I couldn’t let Asha kill him, even if he deserved it.

  I ran towards them calling, ‘Asha, no. Asha!’

  At the sound of my voice she stopped growling and looked at me, her teeth still sunk into his flesh.

  ‘Come on, Asha,’ I said, undoing the rope wrapped around my wrists that, luckily, the poacher hadn’t managed to secure properly.

  Two police cars screeched towards us, their red lights flashing through the night sky and sending shadows dancing on the ground.

  I turned to the cars and saw four policemen jump out of their vehicles and run towards Asha and the tall man, hand guns trained on her.

  ‘Help me!’ the tall man’s muffled voice called out from the ground. He’d stopped struggling now, realising it made Asha bite down harder every time he moved.

  I looked at Asha, her frightened amber eyes reflected the red lights back at the policemen as she bared her teeth, growling, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder.

  The tall man moaned in pain. I heard one of the policemen talk into his radio to ask for an ambulance at the scene.

  ‘Please, don’t shoot her!’ I leaped in front of Asha. ‘That’s my leopard!’ I held my hands out to the policemen, palms up.

  The poacher on the ground yelled, ‘Shoot it, it’s attacking me. Shoot it! It’ll kill me! It jumped out of the woods and attacked me.’

  ‘It’s a very dangerous animal! Get out of the way!’ An older policemen had his handgun pointing towards me, waving with his other hand for me to move.

  But there was no way I was moving. Adrenaline coursing through my veins had obliterated all rational thought. All I could think about was saving Asha from a firing squad.