Saving The Game

by Constance Bright

  "Thank you," Karen said

  Julian said nothing and took his seat, laying his hunting rifle across his lap. Karen looked at him.

  "We can't be too careful," Julian answered her unasked question.

  "Oh, I know. But, I mean, across your lap while we eat? Can't you lay it on the ground or something?"

  "I could, but at night split seconds count. I'll drop to the number two spot as guide if something happens to you on my watch," he smiled wryly, wanting to throw up.

  "Oh, so my safety is a matter of ego to you," Karen teased.

  "Try the meat." Julian replied.

  Karen looked at him then took up her knife and fork. She cut a slice, popped it in her mouth and chewed. "Oh. My. God." She managed to say after swallowing. "It is better than venison. And that sauce is amazing."

  Julian started on his own joint. "No beans and jerky for us. We're dining African style--al fresco at that."

  Karen laughed and they had a pleasant dinner. Julian almost forgot what he was here to do. They talked about hunting in Africa and Julian instructed her on keeping downwind and being quiet as a mouse when they'd go after the wildebeest the next day. Karen still thought he ate his meat like a boor, but otherwise, he could be very charming.

  After they'd finished their bush roasts, Karen got up and motioned for Julian to come over to the fire. There was a big patch of embers to one side. "Perfect," she said. She made him roast some marshmallows until they were brown and crispy on the outside. Then she assembled the s'mores. "This," she said triumphantly, "is what we eat when we go camping in the US. Shove it into your mouth. It's best hot."

  Julian was a stranger to the searing temperature of roast marshmallows and followed Karen's instructions.

  "Oh, fuck!" he cried out through a sticky, burning mouthful of crackers and melted chocolate and marshmallows.

  Karen threw her head back and laughed. "Sorry. It's just a little initiation thing we do to first time s'morers." Karen handed him the canteen of water.

  Poking at the marshmallows still burning the roof of his mouth with a finger, Julian said, "The burning aside I can see why you like these Smore things. They actually are very tasty. There's something about the overwhelming creaminess and sweetness. It's almost narcotic."

  "Want another one?" Karen asked, chewing on hers carefully.

  "Yes, please, Miss Stevens. I like this Afro-American fusion bush diet."

  "Yeah," Karen agreed, crouching over the embers and skewering more marshmallows. "Couldn't you just eat like this forever?"

  "For as long as I can," Julian answered cryptically, feeling the pang of guilt again.

  ******

  After dinner and the s'mores, Karen asked Julian more about hunting and what they would do the next day. Julian had never actually taught anyone how to hunt. He wasn't a real guide, but he pretended as best he could. He taught Karen the basics from what he knew himself, trying to sound as if he'd done it a million times, and played his part. Then Karen started to talk about other things and she moved closer to Julian, saying that it really was cold after the sun went down.

  "So, um," Karen began, "You have a girlfriend here in Africa?"

  Julian had been against this from the start and he didn't need any more reason not to follow Van Meer's orders. Pretending to stifle a yawn, he stretched and tried to wrap up the evening so he could wrap up his task.

  "Well, we have to be up very early. I don't know about you but I need a full eight hours or I'm useless," he remarked, hoping Karen wouldn't insist on staying up--or that he answer her question." They actually were having a grand time and he needed to put an end to it.

  "That's kinda disappointing," Karen said, stoking the fire, then she smiled at Julian, "But I'm excited about tomorrow. I want to be well rested too so I bag the biggest Wildebeest you've ever seen."

  "You bag it, I'll roast it," Julian stood up.

  "At least until next time--then I'll be sure to bring some A1. Then you'll try Wildebeest American style," she smiled. "Good night, Julian."

  "Yes, good night, Karen."

  Julian watched her enter her tent. His thoughts wandered. Wildebeest...Giraffes...He stopped himself. Van Meer would take pleasure in castrating me himself. I have to do this. Are you falling for her? No. She's just a child. But you like her. She's just like any other kid, one among millions. Hell, she'll probably be horrible once I get to know her. Really? Ach! Just shut up and do it!

  Normally, Julian would have piled the fire high with logs for safety. Tonight he would let it burn out. He crawled into his tent, rifle by his side and waited for Karen to fall asleep.

  "Law of the wild." He thought to himself. "If she gets killed, it will be an animal that does it and not me."

  It seemed like hours had passed when he poked his head out of his tent to see if he could place the bait. He had brought along a carefully wrapped piece of rotting meat to attract something that would do the job. Karen's tent was dark. Everything was still. Quietly, he crept out of his tent and went to retrieve the bait. He took the package out and slit the thick layers of plastic wrap open with his razor sharp hunting knife. Removing the pound of putrid meat he walked over to Karen's tent. He had set up her tent with her cot under the rear window--which he had tampered with so the thick safety flap wouldn't close. Karen hadn't noticed or she hadn't complained. She really had no idea how dangerous African nights were. It would be easy for a hungry animal that had its appetite whetted with a pound of meat to tear into her tent through the fine mosquito netting and do the job, especially if she heard it and made a fuss. After he hung the meat outside her window he would lock her tent zipper from the outside with a piece of wire, removing it and opening the zipper after the deed was done. He stalked his way behind the tent. As he turned the corner he saw Karen behind the tent, squatting with her pants around her ankles.

  "Jesus, Julian!"

  "Shit!" Julian cried, flinging the rotten meat behind him. Then turning away, "Oh God, sorry."

  Karen stood up behind him, zipping up her pants. "What the hell?"

  "I, I thought I heard a noise back here. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a dangerous animal." Julian eyed the piece of meat and thanked the stars the wind was blowing away from them. "You decent? I'm gonna turn around."

  "Yeah," Karen replied. "You mean animals come near camps even with a fire? I better move my bed away from this window. The flap won't shut; zipper's rusted or something."

  "I just wanted to be extra careful," Julian covered his tracks. "Why didn't you go to the latrine?"

  Karen looked guilty in the moonlight. "It looks so far away in the dark. I was scared to go out there."

  Julian led her around the other side of the tent. "I'll help you reposition your cot."

  They entered her tent and Julian pulled her cot near the entrance flaps. He went over to the zipper he'd intentionally corroded with a bit of acid. "Yeah, the zipper's stuck. You should have told me."

  "You mean animals will come into a tent?" Karen asked incredulously. "Aren't they afraid? Isn't that why they're so hard to track?"

  "It's just best to be safe. The fire will keep the predators away. I just didn't want a scavenger to go after our food supply." Julian was finding it hard to lie to Karen. "You should be all right now, good night, and my apologies again."

  "Julian, wait." Karen said anxiously. "I, I don't really feel safe. There's more than enough space here. Could you bring your sleeping bag in? I'm sure I'll be ok tomorrow night. I just don't think I can get back to sleep right now--if I were alone, I mean. Maybe we could sew up the flap tomorrow."

  Julian was hoping she wouldn't ask him to sleep there, but he half expected she would. He had no choice.

  "Ah, sure. Let me get my things."

  "Hey, where's your gun? I thought you were checking for animals." Karen asked after him.

  Julian thought hard. "Oh, it didn't sound like a large predator. I thought I heard a small nocturnal herbivore poking around. It's quite common, really.
I'll bring in the rifle with my stuff, of course."

  Julian walked to his tent cursing himself silently, "Just when I'd grown the balls to do it...This is getting complicated." He had more than one means of death planned, but he knew it would be harder the next time. When he crawled back out of his tent with his sleeping bag and rifle, he saw Karen piling up logs on the fire.

  "It was dying. I put more wood on." She said triumphantly.

  "You're thinking like a real African camper now." At least he would get one more good night's sleep, Julian thought to himself.

  They went into Karen's tent and Julian laid out his sleeping bag as far from her cot as possible. "I'll make sure nothing comes in from this side. They'll have to go through me first in any case. Zip up the canvas flaps to the doorway. You'll be safe over there." Julian was about to extinguish the lamp.

  "Julian," Karen was looking over at him.

  "Yeah?" He turned to her.

  "Thanks. Sorry for being such a baby."

  "Really, it's ok. It gets easier." He managed a wry smile.

  Karen snuggled under her blanket and Julian got into his sleeping bag. In the dim glow of the moonlight, Julian saw Karen's eyes close. She was facing him. Soon she was asleep. She felt safe. Julian shoved his tumultuous thoughts aside and fell asleep listening to the whooping hyenas in the distance and the myriad other sounds of the African night.

  ******

  Julian awoke to a loud beeping noise. Looking around the tent he saw Karen's silhouette sit up on her cot and stretch as she yawned. It was still dark.

  "Was that an alarm clock?" Julian asked groggily.

  "Yup! It's 4 a.m. We were gonna get going early, right? I can never get up early without my trusty alarm clock app."

  "Four?!" Julian groaned. "Six would have been ok."

  "C'mon, sleepyhead." Karen coaxed. "I want to get a bath in before we go. I got all sticky under the covers last night."

  "I could. I could really shoot her now." Julian thought to himself.

  In a few minutes the pair were setting up for breakfast. After breakfast, Karen asked Julian to handle the cleaning up so she could have a bath. Karen said she'd take what needed to be washed to the watering hole and she promised to be quick. Julian told her to go. The sun was just giving some light to the eastern sky when Julian heard Karen complaining about something.

  "Hey! That hurts. No. You stay here." Julian heard Karen's voice from across the field. He began wondering what it was. It didn't seem dangerous from the way she was talking.

  "I said no! You, on the rock, here. Ow! Stop biting!"

  Julian decided he'd better check on her. He picked up his rifle and walked around to where the bushes grew beside the water. Karen was standing naked up to her thighs in the pool. Just as Julian got there he saw and heard a little splash in the water just beside her. The top of a small rock sticking out of the water seemed to have fallen off. It reappeared just behind Karen.

  "Ow! Hey! Now that really hurt! Bad turtle!"

  Julian saw her reach down and place the turtle on top of the rock.

  "Now stay," she said.

  Julian watched as the turtle repeatedly dove off the rock to bite Karen in the ass, and Karen would lift it up out of the water and place it gently back on the rock with a scolding.

  "Unbelievable," he said to himself. He had never seen anyone so eager to bring down a large animal with a gun but be so kind to a humble turtle. There was a duality about her that he had already noticed but had been pushing out of his mind. Yes, she was a child to him, but that notion seemed to fade with every second he watched her hands roaming all over her body--a woman's body--as she bathed. The turtle made one more dive and Karen finally lost it. With a curse she threw the little six-inch thing like a Frisbee away from the watering hole.

  "Serves you right you little pervert!" she cried before continuing to lather herself.

  At the same moment that he had made up his mind that he wanted her he saw something in the distance. In the new dawn light he made out the shape of a lioness stalking closer to the watering hole. She was hunting. She crouched low for a few moments then suddenly sprinted towards Karen. This was it. He didn't have to do anything, just sit and watch.

  Karen spotted the sudden movement and she froze for a second. Then she cried out, "Julian!"

  All Julian had to do was watch and his job would be done. And he would have only minutes earlier. He stepped out of the bushes and raised his rifle. Fuck Van Meer.

  Karen saw him and scrambled towards him up the muddy bank. "Shoot it! I don't want to die! Julian!" She pleaded.

  The lioness sprang from the opposite bank. Julian fired. The animal's head exploded just yards away and her body fell into the pool. Julian hardly noticed this. He waded into the water and reached out to Karen who was trembling violently. Julian grabbed her and held her close.

  "Thank you. Julian, thank you. I love you." Karen heard herself say.

  Julian responded with the reason he killed the lioness instead of letting it kill Karen. "I love you too. He cupped her muddy face and took her mouth with his.

  Karen pressed her body, still trembling, against Julian's muscular frame, "Take me. Take me right here."

  They lay down on the muddy bank, Karen's wet hair melting into the soft, wet earth as Julian pulled himself out of his pants and into her. They rolled over each other in the soft clay, covering themselves with the slick mixture, each thrust Julian made pushing Karen up the bank only to slide back down and envelop him with her folds again.

  Karen looked into his eyes and gripped him tightly with her mud-slick thighs as she came. "Julian." She closed her eyes.

  Julian felt his come fill her and he collapsed on her in physical and emotional exhaustion.

  The howler monkeys started their morning chorus in the faraway trees.

  Chapter 4

  Karen rolled over onto Julian's chest. He was gazing at the sky.

  "You saved me. Thank you." She said softly.

  Julian sat up. "Don't look at me. I'm no good."

  "Julian, what's the matter?" Karen turned his face to hers. He tore it back.

  "I was supposed to take you on this hunting trip to kill you!"

  Karen was silent for a long time. She didn't run away. She just sat there, all muddy, still naked. Finally, she spoke, "You didn't. You could have let that lion kill me but you didn't. You killed it and you saved me. Do you still want to kill me?"

  "I never wanted to kill you," Julian said harshly. "Van Meer's orders. And no one says no to Van Meer."

  "You just did. You chose me over him." Karen said.

  Julian looked at her. "Now he will want me dead too."

  "Why me?" Karen asked frankly.

  Julian revealed the whole plot, including Lucille's role. Suddenly Karen was panicking.

  "Daddy! I have to call my Dad!"

  "Calm down, Karen. They won't make a move on him until I've given them confirmation that I've--He's safe as long as you are still alive. We have to get to Curacao; that's where your father is with Lucille. I need to get Lucille to tell me what the plans for your father are. I'll radio a friend of mine who is nearby. He'll fly us to the airport and we'll get tickets to Willemstad. They can't know we're coming. We--I won't be expected to check in for another day anyway. Quick. Get your things together. The rest we leave."

  Within twenty minutes they were cramming into a two-seater Cessna.

  "Ijoye, thank you." Julian grasped the pilot's hand. "You have the cash?" Ijoye nodded. Then Julian said something to his friend in Afrikaans. Ijoye motioned eagerly for them to climb in faster and as soon as Julian shut the door, Ijoye turned the plane into the wind and pulled the throttle knob out full for takeoff.

  ******

  At the airport, Julian paid cash for two tickets to Hato International. They did not check in any luggage and he asked Ijoye to bring the rest of their things to one of Julian's safe places, as he called them. He handed his friend a wad of hundred dollar bills and
soon he and Karen were on the next flight out. Julian outlined the plan to Karen.

  "First we have to make sure you are safe. Then I'll deal with whoever was sent to kill your father." Julian instructed.

  "I need to see him. What if he--I need to know he's safe." Karen was almost crying with anxiety.

  "No one can know you're alive, not even your father. It's too risky. He is sure to be being watched. Also, there's no telling who's looking for you and who it is that is watching your father. You have to trust me to take care of things. I've...I've been doing this for Van Meer for a long time. I know you don't have any reason to trust me. I was supposed to kill you..." Julian looked away, disgusted with himself.

  Karen looked at Julian, turning his face towards her. "You've proven that you are the only person I can trust now."

  Julian took Karen's hand. "I know what your father means to you. I never--I never really had what you have; and I too lost my mother long ago, also to Van Meer. When we get there you have to go somewhere safe. Your father can't have gone alone. Who did he bring that he didn't tell anyone about?"

  "Uncle Arthur would know," Karen replied. "He used to be Daddy's bodyguard but they have become best friends. I'll call him. He would be the only man Daddy would trust in a situation like this. He can tell me what to do when we land."

  "Good," Julian said, then hesitated. "If you tell your father about me..."

  "He doesn't need to know about what didn't happen." Karen said simply.

  "Thank you, Karen. I know I'm asking a lot but I swear I'm through with Van Meer and his shit."

  Karen laid her head on Julian's chest. "Will you be safe? Van Meer will be after you too."

  "We have the element of surprise. I have to use that to its full advantage. Van Meer may not be a hunter but whoever he sent for your father will be. I'm counting on the fact that whoever that is will be watching your father closely so I can slip in unnoticed and do what I need to do."