Danger in the Dust (6 page)

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.

He found his parents on the viewing deck, talking to a young man with long hair, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt.

‘Ah, Joe,’ said Binti. ‘This is Jack White from the United States. He’s been telling us about his research work with the rhinos in the reserve.’

‘That’s right,’ said Jack. ‘I’m here as a volunteer for six weeks, monitoring their movements, checking where they feed, sleep, defecate – everything about them. Staying in this lodge for a night is a bonus – I can stretch my legs out! Mostly I’ve been sleeping in a teeny-tiny tent in the middle of the reserve.’

‘Jack’s coming with us today as part of his project,’ said Peter. ‘And he’ll be tracking the rhino that’s being released.’

‘Have you told him about the rhino that attacked us?’ Joe asked.

‘Yes, that must have been mighty scary,’ Jack said, nodding. ‘Rhinos like nothing better than a sitting target to charge at.’

After breakfast and while they waited for their guide to arrive, Jack sat at their table and showed them some of the photographs he had taken in the reserve. Joe was delighted when they came to one of a rhino calf.

‘He’s just like Rombo, the orphan rhino we’ve adopted,’ he explained.

‘This little guy was romping around and biffing everything in sight.’ Jack laughed. ‘Including his poor mother and a passing warthog!’

The most dramatic photograph was of a huge male rhino galloping towards the camera and throwing up a whirlwind of dust.

‘That was a dodgy moment.’ Jack grimaced. ‘I only just got out of the way in time!’

‘I think you should call the photo “Danger in the Dust”,’ suggested Joe.

Peter chuckled. ‘You can see my son is taking after his father with naming his photos,’ he said.

A few minutes later, a guide arrived in a four-by-four to take them to the location in the reserve where one of the rhinos was to be released. Joe insisted on sitting next to Jack. He wanted to ask him what it was like to sleep in a tent in the middle of the reserve. He was sure it must be terrifying, especially after the fright he had had. However, Jack said it was the best experience in the world and that listening to the sounds of the night was awesome and more than made up for any discomfort or fear.

It wasn’t too long before they reached the agreed meeting point. The lorry carrying the rhino had yet to arrive, which gave the Brook family time to stare in wonder at Mount Kilimanjaro, with its frozen peak.

‘My country is just over the other side of that mountain,’ Binti said wistfully. ‘I can’t wait to be there.’

Joe gave her a hug. ‘You will be soon, Mum,’ he said.

‘I’ll be going there in a few months’ time to work with elephants in the Serengeti National Park,’ said Jack.

‘Then you must call on my family,’ said Binti. ‘They’ll make you very welcome.’

A prolonged low rumble announced the arrival of a lorry, on the back of which was a huge metal crate. Joe felt his heart skip a beat. This was the main purpose of their trip and he wasn’t going to miss a moment of it. The lorry moved slowly towards them and stopped a short distance ahead, turning round so that it faced them. It was followed by a truck, which parked to the side and a little way behind it. As soon as the truck came to a halt, half a dozen men jumped out and shook hands with everyone. One of them introduced himself as Rajesh, the senior conservation biologist in charge of the rehabilitation project.

‘We have a rather perplexed and angry rhino in that crate – the effects of the sedation have nearly worn off,’ he observed.

‘Is it a male or a female?’ Joe asked.

‘Her name’s Harriet,’ Rajesh replied. ‘And the sooner we get her out the better, but first we need to make some preparations.’ He looked from Joe to Aesha. ‘I need you to stand well clear for the time being, but I might have a little job for you when we’re ready. Would you like to help?’

Joe nodded eagerly. He couldn’t wait to be part of what was about to happen. Aesha, less certain, nodded too.

Binti took them to sit inside the truck, while Peter stood beside it and set up his filming equipment and camera. Jack climbed into the back of the truck and started making notes.

‘I’ll get a chance to take some photos as well, won’t I, Mum?’ Joe asked, suddenly anxious that he wouldn’t be able to make the most of the opportunity.

‘I’m sure you will,’ Binti reassured him. ‘Just wait and see.’

Joe peered through the windscreen of the truck as two of the men fixed a ramp to the back of the lorry, the clang of metal against metal a violent intrusion of the peaceful natural surroundings. There was a loud bang from inside the crate.

‘Harriet’s making her feelings known,’ said Joe.

‘She sounds hopping mad, and I don’t blame her.’ Aesha pouted.

‘But in a few minutes, she’ll be as free as a bird,’ said Binti.

The two men carefully unlatched the crate as two others joined them. One shouted a signal to the rest, and together they pulled at the heavy doors until they were wide open. The men ran for cover.

Everyone watched with bated breath. Joe fully expected the rhino to come charging out and disappear into the distance, never to be seen again. Instead, nothing happened for what seemed like minutes on end.

Then, little by little, Harriet’s head appeared.

‘Here she comes!’ Joe could scarcely contain his excitement.

The rhino stepped cautiously on to the ramp and stood as though waiting for instructions. Just then, Joe spotted Rajesh holding up a rifle and aiming it towards Harriet.

‘What’s he doing?’ Joe cried.