by Vered Ehsani
“You are very bloodthirsty,” Koki remarked as she rolled her shoulders to loosen them for the battle. “I do approve.”
The snout snapped its jaws again and pushed its way in farther. I could now just detect a pair of small, narrow and unfriendly eyes glaring down at me.
Frowning, I said, “I’m not in the least gratified that I meet your approval, and I don’t need the beast killed. Its removal from our vicinity will suffice.”
Koki laughed as if we weren’t in any danger of becoming a monster’s snack. “He’s Tompandrano.”
“Who?”
“That little beastie,” she said, waving at the snout. “Tompandrano is a supernaturally enhanced crocodile. At night, his head glows in the dark.”
I frowned. “How peculiar.”
Koki stepped to my side and peered up at the raging beast. “Oh, yes. And if we’re really lucky, we will not only survive this encounter but we might get one of his scales in the bargain. They make very strong fire- and bullet-proof shields. He’s legendary.”
“I prefer my legends long dead and only found in stories,” I said as I attempted to see beyond the snorting snout.
All that was visible was scaly skin covering the sky. Based on the size of the head, the creature was ginormous, at least thirty feet long. I wondered how many villagers it needed to fill its gut. I doubted that one diminutive paranormal investigator would suffice.
“Can’t you turn into your insect self and chase the beast away?” I demanded, trying not to breathe too deeply. The stench of fish infiltrated every pore of my being.
The snout retreated and then angled itself so that one beady eye studied the situation. Upon observing not one but two meals, it snapped its jaws and hissed.
“For a start,” Koki said, huffing (presumably at my insolence or ignorance or both), “I’d be far too big to fit in this place. And Tompandrano won’t be put off by a Mantis.”
As if in agreement, the giant croc snapped its maw with a loud crash and began to paw at the ground with hefty claws.
“I didn’t know crocodiles could dig,” I mused.
Glancing about, perhaps searching for another exit, Koki said, “What you don’t know—”
“Could fill volumes,” I finished for her. “Yes, Koki, that’s all well and good but hardly very helpful. What is this creature’s weakness? How do we either defeat it or chase it away?”
Leaning against the empty sarcophagus and crossing her arms over her chest, Koki stared at me, her dark eyes unfathomable. “I don’t know.”
“You? You don’t know?” I demanded as a chunk of coral and earth crashed onto the stairs. “Brilliant.” I tapped my walking stick against my boot, mentally cataloging the usefulness of the various tools hidden within. Thus far, there was little of use. Even the protruding blade would do little but scratch at the scales.
“Perhaps the darts,” I said, finishing my mental meanderings aloud. “Would those work? Can we blind it?”
Koki clucked, a mocking disapprobation ringing in the sound. “Poor Tompandrano. The greatest beast in these waters, and you want to blind him?”
Gawking at her, I retorted as more chunks of the ceiling fell around us, “I want to live and preferably do so with all my remaining limbs attached.”
“Since you put it that way,” Koki said, “I suppose one blind reptile is a worthwhile sacrifice.”
The giant head of the beast smashed against the enlarged opening. I marveled that he didn’t start tearing chunks of the earth out with his jaws. Just as I reached for the lever that would release the little drawer hiding the dart gun, Tompandrano jerked his head upward, allowing more of the sky to be visible. Distracted, he raised his front half and snapped at the air before falling down with a resounding thud.
“What ever could it be now?” I muttered as I slipped the loaded dart gun into my pocket.
My answer came in the form of a cheerful neigh, followed by a belch. “Oh, Nelly, you wonderful horse,” I said.
“You have the oddest taste in companions,” Koki said.
“I suppose I do,” I agreed as I prepared to run up the stairs the next time the crocodile moved. “After all, I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time with you.”
“Lucky you,” she said.
Gritting my teeth, I glared at the belly of Tompandrano, willing him to move away. While I doubt my mental entreaties had any direct effect, the creature did jerk to one side, snapping at a set of hooves that hovered precariously close to the large set of teeth.
Before I could process the opportunity, Koki leaped past me, grabbing my arm as she did, and dashed up the stairs into blinding light. Seeing us, the thirty-foot long crocodile swiveled his head away from the prancing, flying pony and lurched toward us. Snarling, Koki pushed me to the ground and fell beside me.
“Roll!” she yelled through a mouthful of dust.
Ignoring the stinging of rocky bits and broken coral digging into my exposed skin, I twisted my body out of the way just as the large jaws snapped at the space I’d occupied seconds before. Pushing myself up, I dodged the swaying head and ran out of the tomb’s enclosure, all thoughts of propriety forgotten as I pulled my skirt up to my knees in order to avoid tripping over the damp material.
The crocodile wasn’t quite as agile and he roared his disapproval at the escaping meal. The volume of his growl caused the nearby coconut trees to quiver. Dodging behind one of the slim trees, I glanced around the trunk. Tompandrano had maneuvered past the tomb so that he was facing my general direction. His sizable belly had obliterated the coral wall, and his large nostrils flared as he swung his head back and forth.
I could see no indication of Nelly or Koki, and I didn’t dare call out, for my knowledge of crocodiles and their sensory abilities was sorely lacking.
Growling and hissing, Tompandrano stalked across the cemetery, crushing gravestones beneath his giant form. He passed my hiding place and, to my astonishment, he didn’t pause or sniff.
Relief eased the tension in my shoulders. I studied him closely, intending to add his details to my sketchbook. His scales, while impressive in size, were a dull green with no shine or beauty. Then again, I mused, a bit of polish and oil might do the trick. A couple scales lay amongst the broken tombstones, and I eyed them as I remembered Koki’s words regarding their usefulness as shields.
As I pondered the wisdom (of which there was none) in dashing out to collect one of the scales, a small pebble landed against my cheek. I jerked my head to the side and saw amongst a cluster of coconut trees Koki sitting on Nelly. She waved me over while Nelly chewed on a clump of seagrass.
The tail of the giant crocodile swept past me, swishing languidly amongst the rubble. The growling and hissing had abated. I slipped from my hiding place and began to tiptoe toward Nelly but paused halfway there. I held up my hand and turned toward the scales.
Ignoring Koki’s gestures and incredulous expression, I tucked my walking stick under one arm and picked my way around the graves, taking into consideration the need to not dislodge any stones. After all, I had promised Mr. Timmons to be careful.
Crouching beside the closest of the scales, I readjusted my initial assessment. Close up, the surface of the scale contained rich veins of color that crisscrossed the olive green surface. I slipped my sweaty fingers under the edges and lifted it.
Despite its reputed strength and size — it could cover my entire torso and then some — it was remarkably light. I had anticipated a greater weight and so had hefted it up with some force. The result unbalanced me, and I stumbled backward. Stones crunched under my boots.
I glanced toward Tompandrano. He stood still, one great claw hovering in the air. His giant head slowly swiveled until one eye stared back at me.
“Oh, bother,” I muttered just as the crocodile hissed and Nelly neighed.
Rather than waste time turning around to face my horse, I ran toward the other side of the cemetery where the village was, hoping to confuse the beast amidst
the narrow alleys. The snarling growl behind me sounded far too close, and I wondered what story Koki would tell my family and friends about my unfortunate demise.
Before I could pray for a quick and tidy death, something thundered to my side and plucked me into the air. I swung my stick around, hoping to thwack the beast, and felt the blade at the end of my walking stick connect with something soft.
The crocodile roared, its bloody eye socket appearing at the edge of my vision just as I was flung over a hairy neck.
“Nelly!” I cried, overjoyed despite the pieces of mane that were caught up in my mouth.
Applying herself, the horse burst into hyper-speed, and before the enraged, one-eyed crocodile could pluck a hair from any of our heads, we were on the other side of the village facing the mainland. Nelly skidded to a stop and in the process covered us all with a fine layer of sand.
I slid off Nelly’s neck, pleased that I’d suffered nothing more than a mouthful of sand and horsehair. Lowering the large scale to the ground, I breathed deeply to soothe my nerves.
Koki stared down at me. “Have you no sense of self-preservation?” she demanded, gesturing to my trophy.
“Simon asks me that from time to time,” I said. “And I find it somewhat insulting, for I have a heightened desire to preserve life and limb, particularly my own. Then again, everything should be practiced in moderation, for how else are we to progress?”
“Progress may be overrated,” she mused.
“Hardly,” I protested as I pulled my shirt away from my back and fluttered the material in the vain hope I could cool myself. “There are people who, oddly enough, would content themselves with mediocrity if it means avoiding even the hint of risk. Fortunately, I am not one of them.”
Shaking her head, Koki smiled, her countenance shining with a rare joy. “While I think there was more than a hint of risk in that situation, I do approve, Miss Knight.”
“Be careful, Koki,” I said as I held my shield up to better appreciate it. “You might begin to like me.”
“And whatever would you do if I did?” she said as she assisted me into the saddle.
Leaning the scale against Nelly’s neck, I said, “Fortunately for both of us, that’s unlikely to transpire.”
“What will you do with your new trinket?” Koki asked as Nelly prepared to return us to Nairobi.
I tapped the scale with my nails, creating a slightly metallic twang. “A dependable shield is always a useful item to carry about in my line of work,” I said, then remembered Jonas’ failure to find wood for my picnic project. Smiling, I added, “And if nothing else, it can always double as a picnic table.”
Chapter Eleven
APART FROM A few bug splatters and some unidentified substance landing precariously near to my firmly closed mouth, the flight back was uneventful and mercifully swift. When Nelly landed, I wiped my face, grateful to be both alive and away from the unbearable humidity.
I glanced up, expecting to see the Hardinge mansion with my little cottage across the garden from it. Instead, I had a delightful view of the backside of an elephant.
“Where are we?” I asked, staring about the unfamiliar terrain.
Koki gracefully slid off Nelly, and I followed with slightly less grace and an armful of paraphernalia. The air had the relative coolness and dryness of the highlands where Nairobi was located, but the only indication of the town was a dark smudge on the horizon. Otherwise, we were surrounded by waist high grass and a smattering of thorn trees.
My immediate reaction to the realization that we weren’t where we had intended to be was to sniff for lions. Lions love tall grass. They also love petite Englishwomen who are devoid of claws, long canines and thick skin.
Given that she was an apex predator, Koki was unperturbed by the potential for hungry carnivores lurking in the grass. She sauntered around Nelly and asked in a bored tone, “Now why would you bring us here, horse?”
The horse in question had little to say on the matter as her nose was firmly buried amongst the vegetation, contentedly chomping at the richness therein.
I studied our immediate environment. The elephant was not alone. In fact, there was a small grouping of the mammoth beasts clustered around something I couldn’t see. Further away were herds of the usual creatures one would expect to see on the savannah, and none of them thus far were carnivorous. Unseen insects trilled and hummed while a soft breeze rustled the tall grass.
A bellow from the elephants caused me to swivel around. The creatures were milling amongst themselves, their ears flapping with gentle thumps against their wrinkled sides. Large feet pummeled the grass into submission, and restless trunks swayed and trumpeted.
“I wonder what has agitated them?” I asked, my investigator’s curiosity not limited to the paranormal society.
Koki shrugged, her expression disinterested. “It’s not our business, girl. Let’s depart. I have other matters to attend to, and we still have the issue of a missing corpse.”
I had entirely forgotten about the poet, so distracting had been the giant crocodile and the debilitating heat.
“I detest leaving a mystery unresolved,” I said, “even one so trivial as this.”
“You’ll recover,” Koki said, her mouth twisting in the sneer that often graced her beautiful features when she was obliged to interact with humans.
We mounted Nelly, and I tugged at the reins. Her lips peeled back from her teeth, the obstinate nag shook her head, her mane flopping about her, her ears laid back against her head. She then resumed her meal, having made it clear that she wasn’t moving.
“How singular,” I murmured.
“Infuriating, you mean,” Koki said.
“That too,” I said, staring at the disconcerted elephants. “Well, since we’re not leaving anytime soon, let’s find out what’s causing all the commotion.”
I slid off Nelly and took two paces before glancing over my shoulder at Koki. As I did so, I frowned at my behavior. Was I waiting for her to accompany me? Why would I even bother caring if she came or scuttled off into the horizon?
“I can understand why your man is concerned for your safety,” Koki said, shaking her head in mock astonishment. “Elephants aren’t always peaceful creatures, you know.”
“Nothing on this continent is,” I retorted and set my new shield / picnic table onto the ground. I twirled about and marched toward the herd even as a little voice somewhere in the recesses of my mind whispered, “This is a bad idea.” The voice sounded suspiciously like Mr. Timmons.
“Shut it,” I muttered.
“I didn’t say anything,” Koki said in a bored tone as she strolled by my side.
Using utmost restraint, I resisted twitching at her sudden appearance. Instead, I said, “So glad you decided to join me.”
Tossing her head back, Koki smirked. “You will be when those behemoths try to stampede over you, and I save your sorry little self once again.”
Bristling at the suggestion that I would need her to rescue me, I demanded, “Since when have you bothered yourself over me?”
Gazing up at the sky, Koki counted off on her fingers. “Let’s see. When we exited the tomb, I pushed you out of the crocodile’s way. And shortly thereafter, I plucked you out of the jaws of death while you were playing with your new acquisition.”
“Well, need I remind you that if it wasn’t for me, you’d still be in a cage,” I said, emphasizing the last five words.
Koki snarled at the memory of our recent adventure in which we’d traveled to the Underworld to rescue Jonas’ kidnapped daughter. In the process, a ludicrously tall vampire had taken a fancy to Koki and had locked her in a cage in order to woo her. Fortunately, the creature’s height was in inverse proportion to his intellect. Jonas and Yao had urged me to leave the Mantis to her fate but I hadn’t.
“I’m still one up on you,” she said, her features softening into a smirk.
“I didn’t know you cared,” I said acerbically.
“Neither did I.”
Before I could ponder the significance of our interaction, we’d reached the edge of the herd. The elephants were paying us no attention. Koki tugged on my sleeve and led me behind the animals until we had a clear view of the drama.
A baby elephant was stuck in a muddy sink.
Compared to the adults surrounding the edge of the deep hole, the baby was tiny, its legs and sides skinny, its trunk no longer than my arm and about as thick. Its diminutive ears were flapping as it struggled to pull itself out of the heavy mud, its efforts weakening before us.
An elephant with only one tusk stroked the baby’s back with her trunk. Judging by her size, she was the matriarch. Her bulk hindered her from entering the hole, and she couldn’t create sufficient leverage to push or hoist the baby out.
“Poor dear,” I whispered. “What can we do?”
“Do?” Koki ogled at me, bewildered. “There’s nothing to do.”
I gestured to the struggle before us. “Surely we can’t abandon the little one.”
“Surely we can,” Koki stated. “And we shall. What is it with you and baby animals? Are you trying to compensate for your lack of human offspring? They are grossly overrated, you know.”
“I am not,” I snapped, my cheeks flushing. “And I do know.”
“Hm.” Koki shifted her scornful gaze to the elephants.
Despite our proximity, the animals ignored us. Either they were far too absorbed in their dilemma or they didn’t perceive us as a threat.
Koki turned to go and said, “Now what?”
Before I could query her, the source of her question trotted into view. Weaving through the elephants, Nelly stopped at the edge of the hole, standing right beside an elephant that had tusks as long as the horse’s body. Not perturbed in the least, Nelly flung her head in our direction and neighed at us.
“So,” I said, “how do we help it?”
Still gawking at the scene, Koki breathed out, “I never thought I’d meet another creature as insolent and …” She paused to identify a suitable word.
