Danger in the Dust

by Sally Grindley

  He quickly left the track, heading towards an area in the distance where there was a greater density of trees and bushes and where the landscape looked more rugged.

  Joe held on to the sides of his seat as the truck bounced up and down on the uneven ground. He began to feel exhilarated now that they had left the grassland and were ploughing through much thicker vegetation, turning this way and that to negotiate round rocks and other obstacles.

  Wow! This is a real adventure!

  He was delighted when they came across a troop of baboons and Matunde stopped to allow them to take photographs. Within minutes, the baboons were clambering all over the truck, peering through the windows and trying to find a way in. Aesha screamed when a large male tried to wriggle through the viewing gap at the top of the truck before Matunde had moved to close it, and then cooed when she saw that one of the baboons was carrying a baby.

  ‘They’re so funny!’ cried Joe, as a young baboon stared at itself in a wing mirror and tried to groom its image.

  Disaster struck when one of the baboons, encouraged by Matunde to take a piece of bread from his hand, leant through his open window and, quick as a flash, grabbed his mobile phone instead. The baboon jumped down from the truck, mobile in hand. Triumphant, it ran off with its prize, the rest of the troop scattering, as though fearful of repercussions.

  Matunde shrugged. ‘Now nobody knows where we are,’ he said lightly, ‘and nobody can tell us if they see a leopard. But it’s not a worry. I will find one for you.’

  Joe didn’t know whether or not to believe him and thought he saw an anxious glance pass between his mother and his father.

  Do they think we might not get to see a leopard now? Is it too late?

  The sun was just beginning to set as Matunde turned the truck sharply across an area of scrub in the direction of a bank of tall trees. He had been particularly quiet during the past half hour, his eyes scouring every last scrap of landscape, his ears alert to the slightest sounds. Something had obviously caught his attention, because he put his foot on the accelerator, taking the Brook family by surprise and throwing them sideways in their seats.

  ‘Whoa, steady!’ said Peter. ‘Hold on, everyone.’

  Joe could feel the wheels spinning on the wet undergrowth and the surge of the engine, straining to make them grip. The truck lurched forward and began to eat up the ground as Matunde urged it on – but the guide failed to see an overgrown ditch ahead. Seconds later, the truck had plunged into it, landing bonnet first against the far side, its rear bumper in the air.

  Silence followed. It was as if the whole of the savannah was holding its breath in shock.

  Chapter 10

  ‘Are you all right, Joe? Aesha?’ Binti’s anxious voice broke through the silence.

  Joe struggled to his feet from the floor of the truck. ‘I think so,’ he said. He felt something wet and warm trickle down his face and touched it with his hand. ‘I’ve cut my forehead,’ he added, ‘but it’s nothing much.’

  ‘I banged my knee.’ Aesha groaned. ‘What happened?’

  ‘We’ve skidded into a ditch.’ Peter’s head appeared over the back of his seat. ‘No broken bones?’

  ‘Matunde isn’t moving.’ Binti leant over the driver’s seat, from where Matunde had been thrown forward – he was now prostrate over the steering wheel. The glass of the windscreen had shattered and there was a gaping hole in it.

  Peter climbed over the back of the passenger seat into the cab and checked Matunde’s pulse.

  ‘His pulse is fine,’ he reported. ‘It looks as if he knocked himself unconscious on the steering wheel – there’s a big bump on his forehead.’

  Peter wound down a window and looked out. ‘The ditch isn’t deep, but I’m not sure how we’re going to get the truck out. It’s wedged nose-down at an angle of forty-five degrees and the back wheels are in the air.’

  Binti opened a bottle of water, tipped some on to a small bandanna she had brought with her and handed the bandanna to Peter. He tried to lift Matunde away from the steering wheel in order to apply it to his forehead, but it was difficult because of the angle of the truck. Instead, he tried to revive him by holding the bandanna against the guide’s neck, reapplying fresh water when it became too warm. Meanwhile, Binti saw to the cut on Joe’s forehead with a plaster she found in a first-aid tin that was stowed in the pocket of the truck door.

  ‘Will Matunde be all right?’ Joe asked.

  ‘I’m sure he will,’ Binti replied. ‘He must have taken quite a bump, though.’

  ‘How are we going to get out of here?’ Aesha asked the other question that was playing on Joe’s mind.

  ‘That’s a bit of a conundrum,’ said Peter.

  He turned to smile at them, but Joe could tell he was troubled. The light was fading fast and, as far as they knew, they were a long way from anywhere.

  ‘We can’t even phone anyone because of those stupid baboons,’ Aesha grumbled.

  Joe stared at her. Nobody knows where we are!

  In the driver’s seat, Matunde stirred and muttered something incomprehensible, before falling silent again.

  ‘When he comes to, we’ll have a go at seeing if we can shift the truck,’ said Peter, though he sounded extremely doubtful. ‘If we all get out and push –’

  ‘Looking at the angle of the truck,’ said Binti, ‘I don’t think there’s even the remotest chance we’ll be able to shift it.’

  ‘And I don’t want to get out,’ Aesha added. ‘What if an animal spots us?’

  Joe shivered. He was glad his parents were with them. He had wanted an African adventure, but this was turning out to be more than a little scary.

  How long will we have to stay here? he wondered. We can’t even sit properly without sliding off the seats.

  The only way he could stay in his seat was to put both feet against the seat in front, so that he was half-sitting, half-standing. Aesha had done the same, though she complained that it hurt her knee. Binti and Peter were half-standing up and half-leaning against the driver and front passenger seats, both of them deep in thought.

  They don’t know what to do! realised Joe. They always know what to do, but they don’t know what to do now!

  Joe was shocked to grasp that for once his parents were powerless to make things happen.

  Matunde stirred again. Peter applied the damp compress to his neck and reached forward to wipe his face.

  ‘I hope he’s all right,’ said Binti.

  ‘It’s his fault we’re in this mess,’ Aesha complained. ‘We should never have let him take us away from the tracks.’

  ‘We can’t blame him for doing his best for us,’ Peter replied. ‘He knew how much we wanted –’

  ‘Dad! Look behind you, Dad!’

  The urgency in Joe’s voice and the fear in his eyes made Peter stop what he was saying and spin round.

  ‘Where?’ he asked.

  ‘Just behind that boulder.’

  Joe pointed through the windscreen. Just visible above a large boulder was the head of a rhino, its eyes focused on the truck with its stranded passengers.

  Chapter 11

  ‘Let’s just keep calm,’ said Peter. ‘We’re safe in here.’

  ‘What about the hole in the windscreen?’ Binti pointed out.

  ‘The ditch will protect us from an attack from the front,’ Peter replied.

  ‘I thought black rhinos were supposed to be rare,’ Aesha whispered. ‘I can’t believe one has appeared just when we least want to see it!’

  They stared back out at the rhino, which flicked its ear to remove an irritating fly but continued to gaze in their direction.

  I wanted to see a rhino in the wild, thought Joe, but not like this.

  ‘It looks awesome with the sun setting in the background,’ Peter observed, picking up his camera.

  ‘Surely you’re not going to take a photo when we’re in danger of being crushed!’ protested Aesha.

  ‘It’s my job,’ Peter said sim
ply.

  He bent down, put his arm round the side of the driver’s seat and picked up Matunde’s shotgun.

  ‘I’ll only use it if I have to,’ he added, seeing Joe’s consternation.

  Joe hardly dared pick up his own camera, but it was too good an opportunity to miss.

  Imagine what my friends will say when I show them the photo and tell them the rhino could have attacked us!

  The rhino seemed quite happy to stand behind the boulder and pose while Joe and his father took one photograph after another. Binti and Aesha watched anxiously for any sign that it was developing anything more than a passing interest in its audience. When it took a few steps towards them, Aesha let out a scream, but it stopped, turned away from them and disappeared into some bushes.

  ‘Thank goodness for that.’ Binti sighed, after waiting for a few moments to see if it was going to reappear. ‘I might be used to dealing with large animals, but I prefer it to be on my terms.’

  The night was closing in fast when Matunde finally began to move again. He leant back awkwardly in his seat, swaying precariously, and tried to work out where he was.

  ‘What happened?’ he asked when Peter put a hand on his shoulder and told him everything was all right.

  ‘We seem to have landed in a ditch and we can’t get out of it,’ said Peter.

  ‘It’s my fault.’ Matunde shook his head. ‘It was too wet, but I wanted to find you a rhino and I know one lives here.’

  ‘We’ve seen it!’ piped up Joe. ‘It was behind that boulder there. We got some amazing photos!’

  Matunde pulled a torch from under the dashboard and switched it on, but then thought better of it and switched it off again.

  ‘I need to see if the truck will move,’ he muttered.

  He turned the key in the ignition, but Peter restrained him.

  ‘The truck’s not going anywhere,’ he said. ‘We need someone to come and rescue us.’

  He didn’t have time to say any more. There was a loud bang and the truck shook. Aesha yelped. Joe held his breath. Peter took hold of the shotgun. Matunde tried to grab it from him, but Peter refused to let go.

  ‘You’re still concussed,’ he hissed. ‘It’s better if I have it.’

  ‘Hold on tight to the seats and keep together in the middle of the truck,’ Binti told Joe and Aesha, as it shook again.

  ‘It’s the rhino!’ Joe whispered. ‘It’s barging us from behind the truck.’

  ‘Shhh!’ Binti warned him.

  ‘What if it tips the truck over?’ Aesha was terrified.

  ‘It won’t,’ Peter said firmly.

  They could hear the rhino snorting and the thump of its feet on the ground. There was another violent bang, and Joe lost his grip. He fell sideways on to Aesha, who lost her balance and landed in the well of the truck with Joe on top of her.

  ‘Mum told you to hold on,’ Aesha hissed, as he grappled to stand up.

  ‘Keep quiet,’ Peter warned them.

  Minutes passed by, with no one daring to move. Darkness settled around them, the last glowing cinders of the magnificent sunset extinguished by clouds and a fresh shower of rain dampening the air. The only light came from the intermittent rays of a three-quarter moon. Joe shivered as a chill wind blew through the broken windscreen.

  Something dark rammed the side of the truck. Aesha screamed. Matunde shouted. In a brief burst of moonlight, Joe saw the rhino’s face, tiny eyes staring, horn poised, ready to charge. He felt for his mother’s hand and Binti squeezed his hand in return.

  A loud bang ripped through the night, followed by another and another. Joe winced.

  Don’t kill it! Please don’t kill it . . .

  ‘He’s gone.’ Matunde spoke first. ‘That frightened him off. Shoot again to let the rangers know where we are. They’ll have noticed by now that we haven’t returned to the campsite.’

  Joe put his fingers in his ears as his father fired several more shots, this time leaning out through an open window and aiming the rifle upward.

  ‘I don’t think he’ll be back,’ said Peter. ‘I think he’ll decide there are better ways to spend the night.’

  ‘Let’s hope the rangers find us before something else comes along,’ said Binti.

  Chapter 12

  It was another half an hour before the Brook family’s exact whereabouts were discovered. A park ranger arrived in a four-wheel drive and took them back to their campsite, while calling for reinforcements to ferry Matunde to a clinic for a check-up and to pull his truck from the ditch in the morning.

  ‘Well, we managed to see four of the Big Five,’ said Peter, as they sat around the campfire after their evening meal. ‘I hope that was enough of an adventure for you, Joe.’

  ‘I was terrified!’ Aesha butted in. ‘That rhino was determined to make mincemeat of us.’

  ‘I thought you’d shot it when the gun went off, Dad,’ said Joe. ‘I’m so glad you didn’t. Aren’t you, Mum?’

  Binti nodded, adding, ‘But if it had been a choice between us and the rhino, I’m afraid I would have told your father to shoot the rhino.’

  ‘Too right!’ said Aesha.

  ‘I wish we’d seen a leopard in the wild, though,’ said Joe.

  Exhaustion was taking hold and they returned to their tents.

  Joe fell asleep with the face of the rhino staring at him, and woke the next morning from a dream where a rhino was about to charge at their car back home in England. He thought it was still early and lay for a moment, listening to the sound of birdsong and the occasional human voice, until he looked across to his father’s bed and saw that it was empty. He jumped up, dressed and hurried to find his family.

  Binti and Peter were sitting in the sun, drinking coffee and eating pastries. There was no sign of Aesha, but Matunde was leaning against the wall of the eating area, a huge bump in the middle of his forehead. As soon as he saw the plaster on Joe’s forehead, he did a high five with him, apologised for the accident and said he was feeling just fine.

  ‘The truck is not so fine,’ he admitted.

  ‘When you said you would find us a rhino,’ said Joe, ‘I didn’t realise we were going to see one quite so close!’

  ‘I try my best for my customers,’ Matunde replied, grinning. ‘You’re very lucky, because now you’re off to help in the release of rhinos.’

  ‘And to take photos,’ said Joe, looking at Peter.

  ‘I don’t think any photo we take from now on will be as exciting as the ones we took last night,’ Peter remarked.

  ‘Unless the rhinos stampede,’ replied Joe. ‘That would be cool!’

  ‘Don’t!’ interjected Aesha, who had just joined them. ‘We’ve had enough drama for one trip.’

  Shortly afterwards, a minibus arrived to take them to Tsavo West, another game reserve. Joe was sorry to have to say goodbye to Matunde, and wished their guide could go with them. Matunde shook hands with him and slipped a bangle over his wrist.

  ‘Come back one day,’ he said, ‘and I will find you a leopard.’

  He gave a beaded necklace to Aesha, and promised Peter and Binti that if they returned he would introduce them to his family and cook them a traditional Maasai meal.

  ‘How could we possibly resist?’ Binti smiled. ‘It would be an honour.’

  They clambered into the minibus and turned to wave. As they left the Maasai Mara behind they were quiet for a while, all of them occupied with their own thoughts, until Peter began to talk about the project they would soon be involved with.

  ‘The rhinos live in a secure fenced community,’ he explained. ‘Ten of them are to be set free, each one into a different area of Tsavo West. We’ll only be able to watch one of the releases, so there’ll be no mass stampede.’

  He saw Joe’s face drop.

  ‘But there’ll still be plenty to photograph – you’ll see Mount Kilimanjaro on the horizon, and Tsavo West has lots of hippos and crocodiles.’

  Joe’s face lit up again at the mention of hippos and
crocodiles. He had forgotten all about them being on his list of animals he wanted to see.

  ‘Does that mean we’re going on safari again?’ he asked excitedly.

  ‘We certainly are,’ said Peter. ‘Not only that, but this time we’ll be able to leave our vehicle and wander round Mzima Springs, where we can get up close and personal with both crocodiles and hippos.’

  ‘Not me!’ cried Aesha. ‘You won’t catch me going near them.’

  ‘It’s safe enough,’ Peter replied. ‘They’re much happier wallowing in the springs than chasing after landlubbers like us. Unless you’re thinking of going for a swim.’

  ‘Funny, ha, ha, Dad,’ Aesha retorted.

  ‘One day with a rhino, one day with hippos and crocodiles, then off to Tanzania to relax with my family,’ said Binti. ‘I think we’ll need it by then.’

  Joe settled back in his seat. It was a long journey from the Maasai Mara to Tsavo West and would take the rest of the day. He was looking forward to arriving at the reserve, where they were going to stay at a lodge rather than a campsite, and where the toilets were inside. His walk in the middle of the night and the fright he had had on bumping into the Maasai patrolman seemed such a long time ago. So much has happened since then!

  Joe slept most of the way. On arrival at the lodge, he and Aesha were thrilled to discover that their parents had been keeping a secret from them. Only when they sat down to dinner and looked out at the brightly lit gardens did they see that there was a waterhole close by. Moreover, a herd of elephants was splashing around in it, the older ones spraying the youngsters with water, while a short distance behind them two giraffes awaited their turn.

  ‘This trip just gets better and better!’ exclaimed Joe.

  Chapter 13

  Joe could barely sleep for thinking about the wildlife just outside and kept going to the bedroom window to see what was there. In the course of the night he saw zebras and monkeys, gazelles and a group of motley hyenas.

  In the morning he leapt out of bed to find an elephant and calf drinking at the waterhole, the sun shining brightly behind them. He fetched his camera and took several shots of them, hoping he might have caught something on film that his father had missed.