Elephant Song

by Wilbur Smith

  Apart from her lack of fear, Bonny showed a physical stamina that impressed Daniel. He was unburdened by the equipment which she carried, and yet he was tiring in the heat and the dust while she seemed quite unaffected.

  Suddenly the bull swirled without warning. Perhaps he had detected a breath of their body smell through the clouds of love perfume with which the female was filling his wide flaring nostrils. He charged straight at them and Daniel grabbed her arm. Freeze! he whispered urgently, and they sank to their knees and froze into utter stillness.

  From a distance of twenty feet the big, creature confronted them, blowing and buffing and snorting. His piggy eyes bloodshot with passion and fury, he peered myopically at them, waiting for some small movement that would convince him that they were neither a rock nor a bush, and thus worthy of the full weight of his jealous wrath.

  Daniel tried to hold his breath, but his lungs were scalding from his exertions and he choked to breathe. Suddenly he was aware of a faint electric whirring sound close to his left Ear, and he swivelled his eyes in their sockets without moving his head.

  To his astonishment and incredulity, Bonny was still filming.

  The lens of the Sony was only feet from the rhino's nose. They could see right up his wide nostrils to the shiny wet pinkness of his nasal mucosa, and she was filming it. That impressed Daniel as nothing before had done.

  I've got myself one hell of a camera jockey, he thought. Jock would have been on the next plane home by now.

  Suddenly the rhino switched around, a movement so quick and agile that it seemed impossible in such a massive creature.

  Love had triumphed over aggression. He rushed back to his paramour, buffing and puffing with eagerness.

  Bonny was laughing. Daniel could not believe what he was hearing.

  Come on! She was on her feet again with a lithe bound.

  By the time they caught up with the couple in a glade of pale grass beside the rocky watercourse, the cow had at last succumbed to the bull's persistent courtship. She allowed him to place his chin on her rump, and she stood quiescent and submissive under this significant caress. Get ready, Daniel warned Bonny. It's going to happen at any moment.

  Suddenly the bull reared up over the female.

  Bonny captured every titanic convulse on, every straining, thrusting drive of the enormous bodies. And then very swiftly it was over, and the bull -dropped off the cow and stood heaving and blowing from the effort.

  You got it, and we've taken too many risks already, Daniel whispered.

  Let's get out of here. He took her arm and drew her away.

  They retreated carefully, a pace at a time, watching the bull all the way.

  A hundred yards from the two rhino, Daniel deemed them well out of harm's way and they set off towards the combi, still elated by the thrill and the danger, laughing and chatting, not bothering to look backwards, until Daniel snapped abruptly, Look out!

  He's coming again. The bull was charging straight at them, an ungainly gallop that did not swerve or deviate, glaring malevolently at them over the wickedly curved horn. I think he's got our wind. Daniel grabbed Bonny's arm. He looked about them quickly. The nearest cover was a small thorn bush twenty paces ahead. Come on. They ran for it together and crawled under the outstretched branches. The hooked thorns raked their shirts and exposed skin.

  He's still coming. Bonny's voice was hoarse with dust and exertion.

  Get down. Keep still. They crouched on the stony ground and watched in helpless horror as the rhino rushed straight at their hiding-place.

  This time, he's not going to stop. For the first time Bonny showed signs of fear.

  Four tons of prehistoric monster, horned and menacing, towered over them.

  It sniffed the thorn leaves that gave them such flimsy shelter and its breath rattled the branches and blew into their faces.

  Then abruptly and unexpectedly, the bull switched around and presented them, at a range of only a few feet, with its fat rounded hindquarters.

  They stared in horror as its penis unsheathed from between its back legs.

  We are on his boundary, Daniel breathed. He's going to mark this bush!

  Us!

  It pointed at them like a pink fire-hose.

  We're trapped, Bonny wailed. The thorns hemmed them in. What can we do?

  Just close your eyes, and think of England. A steaming cloud engulfed them, blowing over them with the force of a tropical hurricane, not a simple jet but a storm of scalding liquid that sent Daniel's bush hat flying from his head and soaked them both to the skin. The bull wriggled his tail with satisfaction, stamped his back feet and then charged away with the same impetuosity with which he had arrived.

  Daniel and Bonny sat under the dripping thorn bush and stared at each other in horror. Their faces were running wet as though they had stood out in the monsoon rain and the dour was overpowering.

  Daniel moved first. He wiped his face with the palm of his hand, a slow theatrical gesture beginning at the top of his forehead and ending at his chin. Then he inspected his hand. Now that he said in a sepulchral tone, really pisses me off !

  For a moment Bonny continued to stare at him, and then she let out a shriek of wild mirth and they fell against each other and laughed.

  Clinging together, sodden and stinking, they laughed until they couldn't stand up, and then they laughed some more. Rhino urine had lacquered their hair into sticky dreadlocks, and stained their clothing with interesting patterns.

  They sneaked into the Norfolk Hotel through the rear entrance behind the kitchens and fled across the lawns to their cottage suite, where they stood under the shower for twenty minutes and, still giggling, shampooed and soaped each other until their bodies glowed.

  Later, in a towelling bathrobe, Daniel sat in front of the television set while Bonny connected up her equipment.

  He gave all his attention to the screen and, from the first minute, knew that he had made the right choice in hiring Bonny Mahon. Her technique was of superbly professional quality, and she had a fine eye and sense of timing. She knew when she needed to be close in and when to pull back, but more important, and infinitely rarer, she had a distinctive style, the style that he had first recognized in her Arctic film.

  You're good, he told her when the screen went blank. You're damn good.

  You don't know how good, she grinned at him. I'm only just starting to get the feel of the light here. It's different, you know. Each place is different. Give me another week and I'll show you just how good I am.

  An hour later, dressed in clean clothing, they sauntered across the courtyard in the coot Kenyan dusk and stopped for a minute beside the aviary of wild birds in the centre of the lawn to admire the brilliant colours of the turacos and the goldbreasted starlings behind the wire.

  Other guests were also drifting in the direction of the grill room.

  Daniel had paid no attention to the small figure standing near them, until she turned towards him and greeted him by name. Please forgive the intrusion. You are Daniel Armstrong, aren't you? Daniel started as he recognized her. Doctor Kinnear! The last time I saw you was at BOSS's annual general meeting. Oh, were you there? She laughed. I didn't notice you. No, you did seem to have other things on your mind at the time. Daniel smiled back at her. What happened to your bullhorn?

  Were you ever able to get it repaired? Japanese rubbish, Kelly Kinnear said. A couple of good shots to the head and it falls to pieces. She had a sense of humour of course'- he knew that from her writing, but her eyes were even lovelier than the photograph on the dust-jacket had suggested. He liked her instantly. It must have been obvious, for Bonny pulled her hand out of his, and he felt a twinge of guilt. May I introduce you to my assistant, Bonny Mahon? Actually, I'm a lighting cameraman, not an assistant, Bonny corrected him tartly.

  Yes, Kelly agreed. I know your work. You filmed "Arctic Dream". It was very good.

  She had a disarmingly direct gaze and Bonny looked slightly abashed by the prai
se. Thank you. But I must warn you, I haven't read your book, Doctor Kinnear. That puts you in a majority of several hundred million, Miss Mahon. Kelly sensed the antagonism in the other woman but showed no sign of offence, and turned back to Daniel. I think I have seen every one of your productions over the years. In fact, you are responsible for me being in Africa at all. When I graduated I was going to Borneo to work with the Penan tribe.

  Then I saw one of your earlier series on the lakes of the Rift Valley.

  That changed my mind. After that I just had to come to Africa.

  Kelly broke off and laughed softly with embarrassment. I know that this will sound terribly jejune, but I am a fan of yours. The truth is I've been hanging around here, just hoping to bump into you ever since I heard that you were in Nairobi. I just had to talk to you. You aren't staying here at the Norfolk, then?

  Daniel was feeling better disposed to her every minute. It is difficult to dislike someone who admits to being your fan.

  Good Lord, no. Kelly laughed again with surprising gusto.

  She had perfect teeth, even her molars were free of fillings. I'm not a successful TV producer. I'm just a poor disadvantaged field researcher without a sponsor. The Smithsonian pulled my grant after I was slung out of Ubomo by Taffari. Let me stand you a steak then, Daniel offered. A steak! I salivate at the thought. I've been living on groundnuts and dried lake-fish since I got back. Yes, why don't you join us, Doctor Kinnear? said Bonny in a voice of poisoned honey, placing emphasis on the plural pronoun. How sweet of you, Miss Mahon.

  Kelly glanced at her coolly, and hostility flashed between them like a discharge of static electricity. Their method of communication was too esoteric for Daniel to appreciate, and he smiled amiably. Let's go and find some food, he said, and led them towards the doors of the This grill room that opened on to the court.

  yard. Are you going to film in Kenya? Kelly asked. What are you doing in Nairobi, Doctor Armstrong? Danny, he invited her to drop the formalities. We are on our way to Ubomo, as a matter of fact. Ubomo!

  Kelly stopped dead and looked up at him. That's marvelous It's a perfect subject for you, a microcosm of emerging Africa. You are one of the few people who could do it properly. Your trust is flattering, but daunting. Daniel smiled down at her. For a moment he had forgotten Bonny, until she squeezed his arm to remind him that she was there. I'll pay for my supper by telling you all I know about the country, Kelly offered. Deal, Daniel agreed, and they went into the mellow lighting and flower's and tinkling piano of the This room.

  As the two women studied the menu, Daniel surreptitiously compared one with the other.

  The obvious difference between them was size. Bonny was almost six feet tall. Kelly was six inches shorter, and they were different in many other ways, from the colour of their hair and eyes to their skin tones.

  However, Daniel sensed that the differences extended far beyond physical characteristics.

  Bonny was bold, direct and almost mannish-in her attitude to life.

  Even from the earliest days of their relationship, Daniel had detected depths in her which he would rather leave unexplored. On the other hand Kelly Kinnear's manner seemed totally feminine, although he knew from her book that she was determined and fearless. It took a special kind of courage to live alone in the great forests with only the Bambuti for companions.

  He also knew from the book that she was intelligent and gentle, that her concern was for the spiritual rather than the material values of life, but in the ballroom at BOSS House he had witnessed a graphic demonstration of her contradictory, aggressive and warlike spirit.

  Both women were attractive in totally different ways. Bonny was brazen, she hit you in the eye at fifty paces, a copper-headed Valkyrie. Kelly was shaded with delicate nuances. She was softer and more discreet, with facets that changed when viewed from different angles. In repose her face was almost plain, her nose and mouth austere, but when she smiled her entire face softened.

  As he had first noted from the photograph on the dust-jacket of her book, her eyes were her best feature. They were large and dark and expressive.

  They could glow with a merry impish light, or burn with a passionate sincerity and intelligence. And something else that the photograph didn't show, Daniel grinned to himself. Her boobs were miniature works of art.

  Kelly looked up from the menu and caught the direction of his eyes.

  With a moue of disappointment, as though she had expected better of him, she moved the menu slightly to screen her bosom from his appraisal. When are you leaving for Ubomo? We are flying in tomorrow, Bonny answered for him, but Kelly did not acknowledge the interruption.

  She directed the next question at Daniel. Have you been in since the coup? No, I was last there four years ago. That was when Victor Omeru was president, Kelly stated. Yes, I met Omeru. I liked him. What happened to him?

  I heard that it was a heart attack? Kelly shrugged noncommittally, then changed the subject as the head-waiter came to take their orders.

  May I really order a steak, or were you just being cruel? Have the porterhouse, Daniel invited magnanimously. When the food was in front of them Daniel returned to the subject. I heard that you and Omeru got on particularly well together. Who told you that? Kelly looked up sharply, and Daniel caught himself just in time. Tug Harrison was not a name to bandy about in front of this lady. I think I read it in an article somewhere he hedged. It was some time ago. I Oh yes. Kelly gave him release. Probably the Sunday Telegraph.

  They did, a profile on Victor, on President Omeru and they gave me an honourable mention. That was it. What is happening in Ubomo? You promised to brief me. You said it was a microcosm of emerging Africa.

  Explain that. Ubomo has got all the major problems common to every other African state: tribalism, population explosion, poverty, illiteracy. And now that President Omeru has gone and that swine Taffari has taken over, it's got itself another set of problems, such as one-party tyranny, a president for life, foreign exploitation and corruption and incipient civil war. Sounds like the perfect society.

  Let's start with tribalism in Ubomo. Tell me about it. Tribalism, the single greatest curse of Africa! Kelly took a bite of underdone porterhouse and for a moment closed her eyes in ecstasy. Heaven, she whispered. Bliss! All right, tribalism in Ubomo. There are six tribes but only two really count for anything. The Uhali are the most numerous, almost three out of four million. Traditionally they are an agrarian and lakeside people, tillers of the soil and fishermen. They are gentle, industrious people. Yet for centuries they have been enslaved and in the thrall of the much smaller tribe, the Hita.

  The Hita are fierce, aristocratic people closely related to the Masai and Samburu of Kenya and Tanzania. They are pastoralists and warriors.

  They live with and for their cattle, and despise the rest of humanity, including us Europeans, I may add, as inferior animals. They are beautiful people, tall and willowy. Any Hita moram under six foot three is considered a midget. Their women arc magnificent with regal Nilotic faces; they would grace the catwalk at any Paris fashion show.

  Yet they are a cruel, arrogant and brutal people. You are taking sides.

  You are as much a tribalist as any of them, Kelly, Daniel accused.

  Live long enough in Africa, as you know, Danny, and you come to be like them, a tribalist. Kelly shook her head ruefully. But in this case, it's justified. Before the British pulled out of Ubomo back in 1969, they held a Westminster-style election and, of course, the Uhali by weight of numbers, took power and Victor Omeru became president. He was a good president.

  I'm not suggesting he was a saint, but he was as good as any other ruler in Africa, and a damned sight better than most. He tried to accommodate all his people, all the tribes, but the Hita were too proud and bloody-minded. As natural warriors and killers they gradually took over the army and, of course, the outcome was inevitable. Ephrem Taffari is now despot, tyrant and president for life. A million Hita totally dominate a majority of thr
ee million other tribes including the Uhali and my beloved little Bambuti. Tell me about your Bambuti, the "people of the tall trees", Daniel invited, and she smiled with pleasure. Oh, Danny, you know the title of my book! Not only do I know it, but I've actually read it.

  More than once. Three times in fact, the last time a week ago. He grinned at her. At the risk of sounding jejune, he teased her with her own phrase, I'm a fan. Yech! Bonny spoke for the first time in fifteen minutes. Excuse me while I throw up. Daniel had almost forgotten her existence, and now he reached out to take her freckled hand that lay on the table cloth beside him. Bonny pulled it away before he could touch it and placed it in her lap. I'd like some more wine, if anybody is interested, she pouted.

  Daniel dutifully refilled her glass while Kelly concentrated tactfully on the last morsels of her steak.

  At last Daniel broke the awkward silence. We were talking about the Bambuti. Tell me about them.

  Kelly looked up at him again, but did not answer immediately. She seemed to be struggling with a difficult decision.

  Daniel waited. Look here, Kelly said at last. You want to know about the Bambuti. All right, what would you say if instead of talking about them I actually took you into the forest and showed you?

  How would you like to film them in their natural surroundings?

  I could show you things that nobody else has ever filmed, sights that very few Westerners have ever seen. I'd jump at the chance, Kelly.

  Hell, I can't think of anything I'd like more, but isn't there just one little problem? President Taffari hates your guts and will hang you from the highest tree the moment you put one foot across the border.