Darkness

by David Fletcher

  There was no guarantee that Dan, Mike and Bruce would either, but by the time they had set off with Connor and David, they had convinced each other that they would. This was just as well, because it would provide all three of them with the motivation required to meet the demands of their task, demands that became apparent soon after leaving camp.

  Tracking, it appeared, was not performed at a stroll. Instead it was conducted at more the pace of a route march and it entailed some dedicated and sustained striding. David had led his little group out of camp and immediately Dan had concluded that he would have to apply himself in order to keep up with its other members. Although, there again, Bruce was possibly having exactly the same thoughts. Only Connor and Mike, thought Dan, would have had any idea of just how much effort David demanded of his victims, but they too must have quickly had to come to terms with the strenuous nature of their chosen activity. They were certainly both looking a little preoccupied with their task and they were soon sweating profusely – just as Dan was.

  Nevertheless, all three visitors were coping. They were managing the forced pace over the undulating ground with no real problems at all, and this was helped to no small degree by the texture of this ground. Because this forest – and the tracks that had been cut through it – had an underlay of literally centuries of fallen vegetation. This provided David and his accompanying entourage with a soft and springy surface which helped them immensely with their progress. It even enabled them to raise their pace when David advised Connor that he and his charges were going too slowly. If they didn’t all get a move on, he informed him, then they would see no gorillas at all. Didn’t they know how far away these gorillas were and how much time would be needed to reach them and then to return to camp?

  Dan could only keep thinking of Svetlana and how Connor would have dealt with her having a full-blown nervous breakdown. She had definitely made the right choice for her – just as Dan and his companions had made the right choice for themselves. This tracking stuff might be demanding but it was also exciting, and it did allow all of them to savour what was the unique and beguiling atmosphere of a tropical forest. It was unsurpassable and it even threatened to lift Dan from his chronic and all-consuming gloom. And he had yet to see any gorillas…

  That, however, would soon change. Because after forty-five minutes of yomping through the forest, David had suddenly stopped and was now signalling to his retinue that they needed to stop as well – and to remain very quiet. Dan knew what this meant: that David had reached that area of the forest where his previous sorties had told him that there might be gorillas. Indeed, such was the level of his tracking abilities that he would have been very confident that the particular troop of gorillas he was seeking was somewhere very close by, and it was now just a matter of finding precisely where it was.

  Nothing happened for more than a minute. David just stood and listened, and Dan just stood and wondered quite what he was listening for. He had no idea what sounds might betray the presence of large primates. Then David indicated that they should all move forward – slowly – and make their way along what was now a very narrow path through the ubiquitous marantacaea. This they did for no more than fifty yards, at which point David pointed towards the branch of a tree. And there she was: a mature and very languid lady gorilla, stretched out along the branch and giving every impression that observing humans was now so passé that they were barely worth a look. She had clearly seen these creatures on numerous occasions before and, as well as being habituated to them, she was now plainly underwhelmed by them. And it showed. This, Dan decided, was good. It was the payoff for all that work conducted by the queen primatologist back at camp, work that would now allow David to locate the lady’s companions and present a whole group of gorillas to his delighted band of beginners. Just as soon, that is, as they had all donned their masks…

  These were the surgical masks that had been handed out back in Ngaga. As with the excavation of latrines, they were vital in protecting the vulnerable gorillas against introduced germs. And there was no question. They now had to be worn by all in the party. Accordingly, five masked humans were soon on the move again, this time not further along the track but along a tunnel that David was creating through the marantaceae with his machete. It would take them to where he reckoned the rest of the troop was located.

  This didn’t entail further dedicated striding. It entailed squeezing oneself between the stems of marantaceae while at the same time attempting not to fall over other stems or otherwise come to grief. It was difficult and, with surgical masks in place, more sweat-inducing than ever. However, within a surprisingly short time it worked. Where the marantacaea surrounded a huge kapok tree, David was signalling that he had found his quarry, and as the others joined him there they could see that he had. No more than twenty yards away was a huge silverback wedged into a fork of a tree and all around him were a host of other gorillas. Some were idling away their day and, like the first gorilla, they looked entirely uninterested in their observers. And some others, whilst equally unconcerned with the presence of visitors, were being just a little more active. They were either helping themselves to food on the surrounding trees or, if they were very young gorillas, they were playing on the trees. They were swinging between branches, running along branches or sliding down the trunks of the trees, either to provoke other youngsters or to annoy their elders. It was captivating – even when observed through a head-net.

  It hadn’t been brought to Dan’s attention before he’d come to the Congo, but its northern forests are teeming with sweat bees. These little insects, which are the size of midges and buzz like midges, have a flight capability that means that they cannot keep pace with even the slowest of striders. However, as soon as these striders slow down to move through a tangle of marantacaea and then come to a stop to observe wildlife, these tiny critters are able to gather around and cause some considerable consternation. They do this not by stinging – as they do not sting. But instead they do it through the sheer weight of their numbers and their tendency to take an interest in nostrils, ears and the corners of eyes. They are simply intolerable, and even an old hand like David did not hesitate to don a head-net without delay. Dan had his on even before the party had drawn to a halt by the kapok tree, and whilst it did significantly impair his view, it did allow him to retain his sanity. How the local Pygmies or the guys back at Mbomo coped without these things, he could not imagine.

  He could, however, imagine staying with these gorillas for a very long time. He found them quite magical and more uplifting than he could ever have hoped for. For a few minutes, he even thought that they might make his life worth living again. But then this thought was swept away. David had just announced that it was time to leave these wonderful creatures and to make their way back to camp. They were over an hour away now, and legs on the return trip, he advised, never worked quite as well as they did on the way out.

  So that was it. Dan – and Mike and Bruce – had been privileged enough to witness a sight that was witnessed by only a very few. It would no doubt stay in their minds forever, or at least for as long as they lived, however long, for each of them, that might be…

  However, for now their experience would sustain them as they made their way back to Ngaga, after which a large lunch would probably sustain them some more. Albeit for Dan… well, the benefits of both a unique experience and another fine meal would soon be overtaken by events.

  seventeen

  The lunch had been good, although Dan had thought that Mike had been unusually quiet. The Spaniards had been off to see another troop of gorillas, and their own enchanting rendezvous with these animals had encouraged them to use some surprisingly good English in sharing their experience with the other diners. Then Bruce had been very vocal – not necessarily to Svetlana’s liking – and even Dan himself had contributed to the round-table celebration of gorillas. But Mike had held back. It was almost as though he had something else on his mind. Or
maybe he was just whacked from the morning’s exertions, or even just not feeling very well. Dan could not tell, no more than he could figure out who might be the postman…

  The instructions had indicated that it would be sometime this afternoon. This he had translated as being sometime between lunch and four o’clock, a time when all those who wished to would be taken on a ramble. This, it was promised, would furnish all those who joined it with a good selection of new birds, and it wouldn’t be too demanding. It would entail just a slow walk along some of the tracks that fanned out from camp – and it would be led by Kate. Meanwhile, there was nothing to do. So Dan was now in his cabin, propped up on his bed and just gazing out of its front opening – and wondering who the postman would be. He’d seen no new guests in camp, so his money was on Olivier or on one of his helpers, possibly the elegant young woman whose name he had yet to catch. She had made only fleeting appearances since the present group of visitors had arrived, but she had caught Dan’s eye on more than one occasion, and she had radiated “furtive”. In fact, she was Dan’s odds-on favourite, which is why when the footsteps he’d heard on the walkway to his cabin finally revealed Mike as their owner he was truly shocked.

  ‘Mike…’ he managed. ‘I… I…’

  ‘…didn’t think it would be me,’ finished Mike. ‘Well, old boy, I’m afraid it is. I am… well, that fourth horseman you were promised. You know, the one you asked for…’

  Dan found himself sliding off the bed to stand up, but not really knowing what he should do next or what he should say next. But it didn’t matter. Mike was already pulling a package from the rucksack he’d had on his shoulder, and then he placed this on the foot of the bed.

  ‘That’s it,’ he announced in a rather matter-of-fact manner. ‘And, for God’s sake, look after it. There won’t be another.’

  ‘So…’ managed Dan, ‘when we were in Mbomo…’

  ‘Yep. I did know we’d be stopping there, because I’d checked we’d be stopping there. And if we hadn’t been… well, we would have been. Although, let me assure you, neither Kate nor Connor have a clue. They’re not part of this at all.’

  ‘It’s just you?’

  ‘And David.’

  ‘David!’

  ‘Well, he’s no idea what it’s all about, but he’ll be taking you to Gabon. He’s due to leave on a week’s gorilla reccy, but he’ll be doing that in the second part of the week. For the first couple of days he’ll be guiding you across the border.’

  Dan looked horrified.

  ‘But he’ll kill me…’

  Mike snorted. He clearly couldn’t help himself. And then Dan saw the irony of his comment and he joined in the merriment himself.

  ‘Fucking hell,’ he announced. ‘What a stupid thing to say. But what I meant…’

  ‘…was that he’d finish you off with his route marching before you’d…’

  ‘Yeah, something like that,’ interrupted Dan. ‘And you have to admit, that’s not what we’d planned.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ assured Mike. ‘He’s under strict instructions to deliver you in one piece. And he’s well aware of your age and your abilities. I’ve made very sure of that.’

  ‘You lot don’t leave anything to chance, do you?’ observed Dan. ‘But there again, I suppose you can’t afford to…’

  Mike’s expression changed. There was no hint of merriment there anymore, but just a look of uttermost pain. And then he spoke.

  ‘Dan,’ he started, ‘I have a… unique job. Imagine, if you will, being asked to… well, let’s say, confirm the credentials of another individual whilst, at the same time, becoming his friend…’

  ‘You mean all those conversations, all those opinions of mine…’

  ‘It’s what we always do, Dan. And the idea was not to dupe you. Far from it. It was to make absolutely bloody sure that we – and you – were not making one terrible mistake…’

  Dan nodded his head slowly. It was a lot to take in.

  ‘Anyway, as I was saying, after I’ve made this new friend… I have to give him his ticket to oblivion. Well, that I can just about manage. And I mean “just about”. But if I ever thought that there was any possibility of anything going wrong, and I mean any possibility of anything going wrong because we’d left something to chance – or we hadn’t done everything we could to confirm that we should let this… friend… carry on – I’d give it up tomorrow. It would become an unbearable job that quickly, and I’d just have to jack it all in.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ responded Dan in almost a whisper. ‘I didn’t mean…’

  ‘Oh, come on,’ interrupted Mike. ‘I know that and, more to the point, don’t lose sight of the fact that whatever I’m called upon to do – and whatever we are called upon to do – are as nothing compared to what you’re taking on. I was only reacting to… well, I’m not sure I know what I was reacting to. Maybe it’s just because I’m a fellow human being and I’ve just given you… that stuff. And I know what it’s for…’

  Dan smiled.

  ‘You know,’ he said, ‘I think I’ve got the easier job. I certainly won’t be haunted by what I’ve done.’

  Mike grinned a huge grin.

  ‘You think I might be haunted?’

  ‘No,’ said Dan emphatically. ‘That was the wrong word to use. But you won’t forget this, will you? And… well, let’s just say that it will “persist in your consciousness”, and that has to be some sort of haunting…’

  ‘Yes, it will,’ confirmed Mike, ‘as will my admiration…’

  ‘Sorry?’

  Mike again looked to be in pain.

  ‘Dan, you could have taken some pills back in England, lain on your bed and made a quiet and dignified departure in the comfort of your own home. And nobody would have thought the less of you. But instead, you’ve decided to come out here, march into the middle of a jungle in a foreign land and… Well, what I’m trying to say is that I couldn’t have done that. No way…’

  ‘That’s because you’re not me, Mike. You’re not dead already. And I hope you never are – until your body dies, maybe sometime in your nineties.’

  Mike looked uncomfortable. It was clear that he needed to take this exchange in another direction, and he did this immediately.

  ‘OK, Dan, let’s not make this more difficult for either of us. How about I fill you in on what happens next?’

  ‘Sounds like a good idea. I’d hate not to know the script.’

  ‘Right. Well, this afternoon, all you need do,’ said Mike, pointing to Dan’s undersized rucksack, ‘is pack that with whatever clothes you think you’ll need – and I mean not many – and then report for the birding at four…’

  ‘What about food?’

  ‘David will be carrying everything you need. Food and water and even a couple of bog rolls.’

  ‘And when…?’

  ‘After birding, dinner as normal and then as early a return to your cabin as seems reasonable, after which David will come and collect you.’

  ‘I’m going this evening?’

  ‘’Fraid so. David will already have left the camp – officially – and then it won’t be until morning that anybody notices you’re missing. By then, David should have got you literally miles away, and that means even if they’re able to assemble anything like a proper search party, they’ll never be able to find you. In fact, I suspect they’ll be really slow off the mark and they won’t be too upset if they have to call it all off pretty soon. Olivier might prove me wrong on that one. He’s a really good guy. But he’s got so few resources that I reckon it’ll soon be decided that attempting to find a missing Englishman in the middle of an ocean of forest is pretty well futile. And… well, pardon my saying this, but it’s not as though you’ve got a band of close relatives back in Blighty who’ll be screaming for results…’

  Dan smiled again.

&nbs
p; ‘Mike, you have a lovely turn of phrase. But tell me – how long does David stay with me?’

  ‘Good question. To which the answer is until he gets you to the Lodié River.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘And that’s when he’ll leave you. Or at least, when he’s quite sure that you can use a canoe.’

  ‘Where does one buy a canoe in the Congo?’ enquired Dan. ‘Or in Gabon, come to that?’

  ‘You’d be surprised,’ responded Mike. ‘But if you can get fresh Roquefort out here, getting a canoe, I can assure you, is a bloody doddle.’

  ‘As easy as falling off this mortal coil,’ suggested Dan.

  ‘A fuck sight easier than that, old man. And well you know it.’

  Dan nodded.

  ‘Yeah, I don’t suppose what I’m doing is necessarily that easy – for anybody. But let me assure you, Mike – and then you can reassure your guys back at HQ – I really am decided. And by that I mean that I am content that I have no further use for my future. None whatsoever.’

  ‘I’ll let them know,’ responded Mike. ‘Although, of course…’

  ‘…they already do,’ finished Dan. ‘But anyway, please pass on my thanks. I know I couldn’t be doing any of this on my own.’

  ‘I will do,’ managed a now forlorn-looking Mike. And then he gave some final advice to his friend.

  ‘Dan, don’t forget anything you’ve been told – about anything – and I know this might be difficult, but for the next few hours, just try to act normal. Until I see you again, just be your normal miserable self…’