by David Alric
‘Oh, nothing too serious; it’s just something else I meant to say to José – boys’ talk!’ He grinned at Lucy as if to remind her of her own private chat with Helen at the crater. ‘I’ll nip back and call him again – back soon!’ Richard returned to the radio shack and made his call, then set off towards the airstrip.
As he hurried back along the path leading to the airstrip he passed the dynamite store, which was situated some distance from the main camp for obvious reasons. The men all called it the ‘gelly’ shack as it was packed with cases of gelignite – the explosive that was used for ground clearance and illegal mining. As Richard passed the hut he suddenly felt his neck completely encircled by sharp, cold steel. He stopped instantly as the grip of the instrument tightened and bit into his flesh.
‘What’s the big hurry, mate?’ A coarse cockney voice came from somewhere to the side. Turning his head as best he could to the direction of the sound he saw Pollard standing in the doorway of the store. A rucksack was slung over his shoulder and he was holding a four-metre polling hook, on the end of which Richard was trapped by its encircling blades as securely as a gaffed fish. Richard had a similar tool at home for pruning high branches but this was something different: it was a heavy-duty power tool capable of slicing through very large branches – branches as large as Richard’s neck in fact, and at the moment it sat snugly around it. Richard’s mouth ran dry as he felt the serrated edge of the massive blade millimetres from his windpipe. It was so sharp that he could feel the teeth tearing the surface of his skin just from the slight movement he had made to bring Pollard into view. The length of the pole meant it was of the question for him to try to grapple with the man.
‘Well, if I’m not mistaken, you seem to have a way with ants. This is the second time I’ve seen you strolling past as if they didn’t exist. What is it? Don’t they like the smell of your feet or something?’ His face cracked into a toothless grin at his own wit. Richard’s first thought was one of relief that the fellow obviously hadn’t seen him with Lucy on their first trip along the path together.
‘Well, whatever it is,’ Pollard continued, his face reverting to its natural scowl, ‘you’ve come at just the right time to see me over to the radio shack. I need to call up a spray plane to clobber this lot.’ He took his hand off the pruning hook to gesture at the sea of ants. He paused and looked at the unwieldy tool; it was going to be impossible for him to use it to control Richard while he went into the radio shack and operated the equipment. His face lit up as he thought of a hands-free solution to the problem.
‘I can’t hold on to this thing all the time so I think I’ll just take one little precaution to make sure you stay on your best behaviour. Oh, and I advise you to keep very still while I get things ready – you don’t want to go losing your head over this, do you?’ Once again he laughed at his own joke as he lowered the handle of the pruning tool to the floor. Richard winced as the blade bit deeper into his flesh with the change of angle. Pollard slid the rucksack off his shoulder to the ground and opened it.
‘Enough gelly in here to take out a plane, but this stick looks just your size.’ He took a stick of gelignite from the bag and grinned at Richard’s horrified expression.
‘I must say,’ he continued with obvious sadistic pleasure, ‘this could all be a bit of a blow for you.’
He fumbled in the bag again and withdrew a tiny electronic detonating device which he attached to the stick of explosive. He then moved behind Richard who felt him tie the little package to his belt. Pollard once again took hold of the hook, but this time it was to remove it from Richard’s neck. He laid it on the ground and, before Richard could move, he took a remote control from his bush-shirt pocket and waved it threateningly in the air.
‘Now,’ he said grimly, ‘we’re going for a little walk. Any attempt at heroics and I press this little button. And make sure you stay a polite distance away from me, I’ve got this thing about getting blood and guts on my clothes. Get moving!’ He picked up the rucksack and slung it over his shoulder.
Richard started back to the radio shack. The ants parted for him and immediately began to surge behind him to close the gap. Pollard stayed as far behind Richard as this gap would allow – about five paces – and behind him there was once again an uninterrupted sea of black. He was intent upon watching Richard and avoiding the ants, so was unaware of the jaguars silently patrolling the camp. They, of course, saw him, but assumed that he was accompanying Richard and left the pair unmolested.
As they neared the shack Lucy reappeared. Fearless of any animals, she had taken a short cut through the forest rather than the winding path past the dynamite hut. She had returned to see where Richard had got to, concerned that the drugs plane could arrive at any moment, and stopped in surprise and horror when she saw the two men. Pollard recognized her instantly: as site manager he had taken all the blame for Lucy’s escape and he felt he had a large score to settle with her. It was a task he was going to relish.
‘You!’ he exclaimed. ‘Couldn’t manage out there on your own any longer and came back to throw yourself on our mercy, eh?’ He glanced at the patch of ground on which she stood, seeing that it was completely clear of ants. ‘And I see you’ve got the magic bug repellent too. Well, I’ll see to you later. In the meantime, no funny business or this bloke gets it – in the back.’ He gestured with the remote control to the charge on Richard’s back.
They continued to the shack and, seeing it was free from ants, Pollard told Richard to stand to one side as he passed him and went in the door.
‘Come and stand where I can see you!’ he called, as he slipped the half-open rucksack off his shoulder, put it down near the doorway and went over to pick up the radio transmitter. Richard stood several paces from the open door facing Pollard. He glanced at Lucy who gave a nod and, pointing to her legs, stood with them close together so there was no gap between them. Richard immediately understood and did the same thing. Anything approaching him from behind was now concealed from Pollard. A few seconds later he felt a scrabbling behind his legs and then sharp teeth tugging at the ties fastening the gelignite to his belt. Pollard, glancing at him now and then, could not see the squirrel at work. Soon he was cursing as he realized that nobody was going to answer at the other end – he’d forgotten it was New Year’s Day – and, as he turned to slam the transmitter down in disgust, he didn’t see the squirrel replacing the primed gelignite stick in his rucksack.
Pollard came out of the hut, blinking as he emerged into the bright sunlight. He surveyed the impassable sea of ants once again, desperately trying to think of an alternative plan of action. As he went over the various possibilities in his mind he fiddled idly with the remote control device in his hands and, as he watched, Richard broke out in a cold sweat. There was enough gelignite in the rucksack to comfortably see them both off, and probably Lucy and half the camp as well. Suddenly a crafty look crossed Pollard’s face and he turned to Richard.
‘How did you get here?’
Richard saw no point in telling anything but the truth. ‘By boat,’ he replied.
‘Where is it?’
Richard pointed to the path leading through the forest to the little jetty. It was about a hundred and fifty yards to the river, which was completely invisible from the camp. ‘Down there,’ he said simply.
Pollard picked up the rucksack and disappeared along the path to the creek.
‘I’ll be back!’ he shouted through the trees. As soon as he was out of sight Lucy ran to Richard and hugged him.
‘What a ghastly man!’ she said, her voice trembling with relief. ‘I really do believe he would have killed you if necessary – he’s a complete psycho.’
‘He may yet try,’ said Richard, who had formed the same opinion of his erstwhile captor. ‘In fact …’ His face suddenly froze in alarm. ‘… quick, run! And tell the animals to run!’ He grabbed her arm and they ran across the camp and hid behind the storehouse on the far side. Animals and birds fled away from
the jetty path and their alarm cries resounded through the surrounding forest.
Pollard stopped about fifty yards down the path. The remote control had a long range but he wasn’t taking any chances. He grinned to himself.
‘Bye bye folks!’ he murmured as he pressed the button.
Even though Richard and Lucy were half expecting it, the explosion when it came was absolutely shattering. The entire camp trembled at the force of the blast and after a moment of eerie silence the forest creatures broke into a chorus of terrified noises. Lucy and Richard hugged each other tightly once again. Eventually she spoke:
‘Wow! Well done, Dad – just in time! What made you suddenly realize what he was going to do?’
Richard’s face was still deathly white but he pulled himself together.
‘He’s more cunning than he looks – though that’s not saying much!’ He managed a weak smile. ‘I always suspected that he might kill me, but that would have left you free as a witness. He knew he couldn’t catch you because of the ants and he didn’t have a gun. He guessed that as soon as you judged the remote control unit was out of range you would disconnect the gelignite from me, and he thought he’d blow us both up as you were doing it. He had to pretend to get out of range, which is why he didn’t set it off as soon as he was hidden by the trees. If he’d done it too soon he couldn’t have been sure of getting you as well. Those vital moments gave us and the animals the opportunity to get out of range. I must say,’ he added, ‘life is certainly never dull with you around!’
‘We should be getting back to the airstrip,’ said Lucy, ‘but before we go I need to give you a big kiss!’ She stretched up and planted a kiss on his cheek.
‘My,’ said Richard, laughing, ‘a kiss as well as a hug! What’s that for?’
‘It’s for thinking about the animals as well as us. Your quick thinking must have saved hundreds and hundreds of little lives. You’re a really cool dad and I love you!’
Lucy suddenly stiffened and cocked her head.
‘Listen!’
Richard listened but could hear nothing but the gradually fading cries of the animals disturbed by the blast. He shrugged his shoulders. Lucy laughed. ‘We are getting old, aren’t we? Never mind, you’ll eventually hear it; it’s a plane and we’d better move. Come on!’
They ran to the airstrip and soon even Richard could hear the distant drone of a light aircraft. They knew that the police were coming in three planes, so if it was a single plane it would be the drug carriers. Shading their eyes they peered into the brilliant sky until they spotted the incoming plane. Once they were certain it was on its own, Lucy sprang into action.
‘Now, Dad,’ she said, ‘I know you’ve had a boring few weeks and I know you feel a bit left out when I’m talking to Michelle and Katy and Queenie, so now’s your big moment.’ She turned, and taking two palm fronds off Queenie gave them to him. ‘You’ve got to go out and wave them into their parking spot.’ She pointed to a space near the trees where Richard now saw two tapirs waiting quietly in the bushes.
‘Quick, off you go. Don’t be a wimp, Dad,’ she said, giving him a little push in the back. Richard went out into the field feeling as if he were back at school, but what Lucy had said made perfect sense. It was the most natural thing in the world for one of the men at the camp to guide the plane in.
As the plane approached for landing Richard waved the fronds with arms outstretched, just like a member of the ground staff at a large airport, and the pilot obediently taxied to the spot to which Richard guided him and the aircraft came to a stop. As it did so the tapirs came out and sat, one just in front of the wheels and one just behind.
‘Run, Dad!’ Lucy shouted.
Richard needed no second bidding. He ran into the adjacent bushes and then circled back under cover to where Lucy sat. When he got back Lucy was staring into the jungle with an expression he was now very familiar with: the faraway look she adopted when she was communing with animals. At that moment there was another droning sound and Richard glanced up, concerned that more planes were coming in and that he had just misdirected the first police plane. He heaved a sign of relief as the noise grew louder and its source became clear. A massive swarm of hornets swept out of the jungle and zoomed like a squadron of fighter planes towards the trapped aircraft. The cockpit door was just opening and as the cloud of hornets reached the plane it was hurriedly shut again. The swarm filled the air around the plane, so dense that it looked as though the plane was sitting in a bank of dark-brown fog.
They heard the engine start up again and saw the plane trying unsuccessfully to move against the dead weight of the tapirs obstructing the wheels. The animals were invisible to the occupants of the plane and through occasional gaps in the hornet cloud Lucy and Richard got fleeting glimpses of the anger and bewilderment on their faces as the plane refused to budge. Once again the door started to open and then it shut even more quickly than before. No human being on earth could have survived for more than a few seconds in that living, buzzing maelstrom and it was clear that those inside the aircraft were not about to put their survival chances to the test.
Now an anaconda’s tail appeared from the bushes and coiled itself neatly around the tail fin of the little plane. It took over the job of immobilizing it from the tapirs, who moved away from the wheels, making way for four giant armadillos who emerged from the bushes and started to dig at breathtaking speed at the ground around the wheels.
‘The anaconda can’t stay there long,’ explained Lucy gleefully, ‘in case the villains dare to open the door and start shooting at it, but they don’t even know it’s there yet and by the time they do the flexishields – sorry, armadillos – will have finished; Queenie tells me they’re the world’s champion diggers.’ Lucy now thought she knew what had created the massive trenches through which the jaguars had escaped on her previous visit to the camp.
Sure enough, before their very eyes, the plane started sinking into the ground as its wheels disappeared into a trench. Earth and dust flew for yards as the armadillos worked and within a few minutes the bottom of the plane was sitting flat on the ground. The anaconda unwound its tail and disappeared.
‘We had to do this at the side of the strip,’ explained Lucy, ‘so the animals could hide, and the strip was left clear for the police planes to land safely. That’s why we had to get you to trick them into parking over there.’
Richard looked once more at his daughter in speechless amazement. There seemed to be no detail that she had left unattended.
19
Operation Jungle Sting
Later in the day, they once again heard the drone of aero-engines and three planes approached and landed. Richard and Lucy were standing at the side of the airstrip and waved to the planes as they taxied towards the camp. As the planes came to a stop armed police jumped out and, seeing Lucy pointing to the drugs plane, ran towards it to surround it. As they drew near, the hornets, still clustered in an angry crowd around the cockpit, disappeared as if by magic into the adjacent jungle. Soon the men in the plane clambered out and the police made them turn and lean with their hands on the plane fuselage while they frisked and disarmed them. It looked just like a scene from an American police movie. The men from the other planes, including the liaison officer from Scotland Yard, then went over and talked briefly to the villains before the Yard man detached himself from the group and came over to Richard and Lucy.
‘Hello, I’m Inspector Cockayne,’ he said as they shook hands. ‘Dr Bonaventure, I presume!’ He smiled as he turned to Lucy, ‘And you must be the intrepid Lucy. Thank heavens you’re safe, my dear. Everybody has been very worried about you.’ He turned and pointed to the drugs plane.
‘It looks as if we’ve got three of the most notorious drug dealers in the region and the biggest haul of cocaine I’ve seen in twenty years on the force. Their plane seems to have got stuck in some kind of a hole – I don’t know what the pilot was thinking of going anywhere near it. The extraordinary thing is t
hat the wheels seem to have disturbed a massive hornets’ nest – maybe it was in the hole – and the villains say it was impossible for them to get out. Funny thing is, when our men surrounded the plane the hornets flew off. Maybe they’re frightened of humans in this remote spot – it’s a good job the crooks didn’t realize they were so harmless. Another odd thing is that our code name for this operation is “Jungle Sting”. It turned out to be more appropriate than anyone could have guessed.’ They all laughed and the inspector continued. ‘You’ve been incredibly lucky. If it hadn’t been for the hole and the hornets I daren’t think what that lot would have done to you. They’re a bunch of really nasty characters.’
‘Well, we had a problem,’ said Richard. ‘We weren’t sure who was going to get here first, you or them, so we had to stay near the airstrip to check. When we saw it was them we were terrified,’ he glanced at Lucy who put on a suitably worried expression and nodded in agreement, ‘so we hid in the bushes until you came. We couldn’t understand why they didn’t get out but now you’ve solved the mystery for us.’ He felt the fib was justified in the circumstances. ‘Tell your men to be careful when they go into the camp,’ he continued. ‘It seems to have been invaded by an army of ants overnight and the men have all been trapped in their huts.’
‘Thanks for the warning,’ said the Inspector. ‘I’ll let them know immediately – they look as if they’re just on their way into the camp.’ He took Richard and Lucy over to the Brazilian officer in charge to introduce them. ‘This is Captain Colarinho. He’s in overall command of the operation.’ The captain was a charming man who greeted Lucy and Richard in flawless English and congratulated them on their resourcefulness in contacting José and in staying out of the clutches of the villains. Then he called two of his men over and talked to them in Portuguese, explaining about the ants. One of them crossed to the cabins and soon returned to give a brief report to the captain. He turned and courteously translated this for the benefit of his British colleague, Lucy and Richard.
