Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) (23 page)

Brian said.
‘Yes but time is running out and we have to get across the park
before six p.m., as I understand it. Will there be enough time by
the Voi route?’

‘You’re
probably right. Listen I feel bad about messing up your trip. Here
is another idea, let’s have some fun. I can assemble the bike and
you can have a blast down the highway to Voi, and then Gem and I
can continue on the bike to Mombasa. You can always stay in a lodge
in Voi and then drive across the park tomorrow at your own pace, or
follow us to the coast. To be honest, I never planned to tow the
bike to Mombasa, the road is pretty bad after Voi, and I know it is
likely to get damaged.’

Brian looked
nervous. ‘I’m not sure.’

‘Come on, it
will be real fun on the bike.’ Doug urged.

‘You do know
how to ride don’t you?’ Gem challenged him.

He laughed
making up his mind. ‘Fireblade in Africa why not?’

They soon
reassembled the bike. Doug lent him Gem’s helmet, a leather jacket
and checked the fuel tank. ‘Take it easy until you get used to it
and if you can’t avoid any potholes, hit them with the bike in an
upright position and hold on tight.’

Brian climbed
on the bike ‘Ok, see you in Voi,’ he accelerated confidently
away.

*

The saloon car
had diligently kept the rover in sight. It was boring work and the
two men were not getting along. They had already argued over who
was going to drive.

Loda was
impatient. ‘Why don’t we overtake and get a couple of beers at the
next town. We know where they are going anyway.’

Titus was
adamant. ‘No. We follow instructions, not your buggered up
miraa
thinking.’ Once they got to the game park turn off,
Titus called Joe. ‘They have just turned into the park.’

‘Good work,’
Joe replied. ‘Now, I want you to stay put there for at least half
an hour, just in case there are any hitches. Then you are to drive
back to Mtito Andei, and call me from there.’

‘Very good
Sir.’

‘What did he
say?’ asked Loda. Titus told him.

‘What? Are we
just a damned escort? Fuck it.’ Loda opened the car door and walked
off to relieve himself. When he got back, he sat and fidgeted
irritably. ‘This is ridiculous,’ he muttered, ‘what the hell are we
waiting for? They’ve gone into the park. Let’s get back to Mtito,
those barmaids were giving me the eye.’

Titus was tired
of being cooped up with this ignoramus. ‘We were told to wait, and
that’s what we will do.’

‘Ok, let’s wait
ten minutes and then go. What do you say?’

Titus tired of
arguing. ‘Ok,’ he agreed, ‘but only if you don’t speak again until
we get to Mtito.’

‘Agreed,’ said
Loda, as a safari landcruiser with tourists in it turned off for
the park. ‘That’s a good job if you can get it. Those white women
get really hot to trot in the bush so I’m told.’

‘I thought we
had agreed you wouldn’t speak.’

‘The hell with
you, Mr Headmaster, come on let’s go. I’m not overjoyed to be stuck
with you either.’ Titus looked at his watch and started the car.
The sooner he was away from this fool the better. He turned the
saloon back towards Nairobi. Thirty minutes later at Mitito, Loda
pointed out the bar he wanted to go to. Titus’s mobile rang.

‘Where are
you?’ Joe demanded.

‘On the road,’
he lied.

‘The rover did
not go through the gate. Did they come back out?’

‘We didn’t see
them Sir,’ Titus glowered at Loda.

‘You fools. I
told you to wait!’ Joe yelled, guessing what had happened. ‘Find
them! And call me back immediately.’

‘Shit!’ Titus
swore. ‘I knew we should have waited, the rover did not go into the
park.’ He raced the car to the nearest pump. ‘Fill it up now!’ he
shouted.

The tank full,
Titus threw money at the attendant and accelerated onto the road,
racing back the way they had come.

‘How does the
boss know the rover didn’t go through the gate?’

Titus drove
fast, the car swaying dangerously on the uneven surface. ‘The hell
do I know? We should have waited like I said.’

Loda said. ‘No
need to kill us, we will catch up with them soon. That rangey isn’t
going fast with the bike in tow.’

‘Shut the blast
up. I’m driving.’ A few miles before Voi they caught up with the
rover. ‘Where’s the bike? Titus exclaimed. ‘And the
mzungu
is not in the car! Now what do we do?’ he asked Loda accusingly.
‘You had better call the boss.’

Loda sneered at
Titus. ‘And tell him what?’

‘Give him an
update, and ask what we do next, you idiot.’

Loda
tut-tutted. ‘Chill out bro’ there’s no problem,’ he drawled, and
called Joe. ‘We have found the rover, but the bike and the
mzungu
are missing. Just outside Voi, what do you want us to
do?’

Loda listened.
‘Ok boss, will do,’ and rang off.

Titus asked.
‘What did he say?’

‘He is very
angry. Told us to follow the rover, he will call us back.’

Titus swore.
‘You don’t know how nasty he can get. Why the hell did I listen to
you.’

‘Stop moaning,’
said Loda, chewing on his
miraa
contentedly. His mobile
rang. ‘Ok boss,’ he said and hung up. ‘Action at last! The boss
wants the car intact, he wants it to be taken through the park
gate, and we will look for the
mzungu
later.’

‘The car, you
mean the rover? What about the Indians?’

Loda drew his
finger across his throat, stuck his tongue out and hissed
delightedly, his eyes glistening. ‘Here’s what we will do. Her
window is open, so overtake the bugger - I will tell you when - and
then ram on your brakes hard. I will jump out and get the woman,
you grab the man ok?’

Titus nodded,
and did up his seat belt. ‘No shooting unless we have too. We can
finish them off later ok, there’s too much traffic on this road.
What a mess!’ he yelled psyching himself up.

Loda said. ‘No
problem brother,’ checking his rear view mirror, and kissing his
pistol lovingly. He did up his seat belt. ‘Ok, there’s no one
behind us. Let’s do it!’ Titus pulled out to overtake, accelerating
past the rover. Suddenly he turned in front of Doug and stood on
the brakes. The saloon sat squarely in the path of the speeding
four by four.

Doug scarcely
had time to react. He had seen the saloon in the rear view mirror
and slowed as it passed them. ‘Jesus!’ He shouted, as he slammed on
the brakes, at the same time desperately swerving off the road to
avoid a collision. Titus had anticipated the move and staying in
front skilfully also went off the road, leaving the rover nowhere
to go. Both cars stopped in a cloud of dust, the rover inches from
the rear of the saloon. Loda had his car door open, as the cars
slid to a halt. A few yards later, he had grabbed Gem by the hair
through the open window. He yanked her head backwards and sideways
into the rovers pillar post, stunning her. With his other hand he
levelled his gun at Doug and shouted. ‘Don’t move!’

Titus was out
of the driver’s side almost as fast. He pistol whipped Doug hard
across his face and ripped the car keys out of the ignition. Before
Doug could recover, he pulled his arm through the steering wheel
and handcuffed him. With Doug immobilised, he went round to help
Loda. Together they pulled Gem kicking and screaming out of the
car.

Loda hit her
over the head with his pistol and she passed out, crumpling at
their feet. Titus handcuffed her arm to her ankle and together they
carried her to the saloon and tossed her unconscious on to the back
seat. Breathing hard, they went back for Doug. He had recovered his
senses from the blow and had a nasty cut above his eye. Blood
poured down his face blinding him.

‘We don’t have
any money,’ he shouted ‘take the fucking car, we don’t care.’

Loda slapped
him. ‘Shut up, where is the
mzungu
?’

Doug
spluttered. ‘He is waiting for us at Voi, don’t kill us,’ he
pleaded with them, ‘take whatever you want, please.’

‘Get him out of
the car, he is bleeding all over it,’ Titus said. Loda yanked Doug
out of the driver’s seat onto his feet, arm still handcuffed
through the wheel. ‘Why didn’t you go through the park?’

‘They wouldn’t
let us in with the motorbike. Listen - whatever is going on, this
is nothing to do with us. I’m just a mechanic from Nairobi. Please
bwana, don’t kill us.’

‘Yes, yes, now
where are you meeting the
mzungu
in Voi?’

‘At the Caltex
Service station.’

Titus frowned
and motioned for Loda to join him round the back of the car, out of
Doug’s earshot. ‘What do you think?’

‘We can put
them in the boot of the saloon,’ Loda said eagerly, ‘I can take
care of them. You drive the rover back to Manyani.’

Titus frowned.
‘No way can I go back to that gate. The rangers know the car, and
will be suspicious. Let’s get these two organised, and then we can
call up the boss.’

They went back
to Doug. ‘Ok
muhindi
, we are going to spare you, if you
co-operate,’ Loda told him. ‘We are going to take you on a little
drive and then release you, provided you don’t cause any trouble,
understand?’

‘Yes, thank you
bwana. We won’t cause any trouble.’

‘Good,’ said
Loda. ‘Now, I’m going to remove your hand cuffs and then we are
going over to the other car. We will put you and your woman in the
boot. After a while we will stop and let you out, ok.’ Doug nodded.
They moved Doug over to the boot and helped him climb in. Next
taking the cuffs of Gem they manhandled her unconscious body in
beside him. It was a tight fit. ‘Here is your woman.’ Loda said
laughing, as he slammed the lid shut.

The two
spontaneously slapped hands in a high five. ‘Good job bro’
masterful bit of driving!’

‘Better call up
the boss. You want to do it?’ Titus handed the honours to Loda.

‘Yes sure.’ He
made the call. ‘We have the car,’ he announced. Loda listened and
answered questions from Joe, and then turned to Titus.

‘Ok, this is
what he says. You are to drive the rover back to Manyani - he
doesn’t care how you get into the park, it’s your problem. I will
deal with the other details,’ he nodded at the boot. ‘And then
continue my surveillance of the
mzungu
, until the boss can
send a back-up team. He said what is most important, is that the
rangey gets into the park as soon as possible.’

‘So I get the
car into the park. Then what?’ asked Titus.

‘Then you call
the boss,’ said Loda, irritably.

Loda tapped his
mobile on the boot. ‘
muhindi
can you hear me?’

‘Yes,’ came the
muffled reply.

‘The bags in
the car - which is the
mzungu
s and which is yours?’

Doug called
out. ‘The backpack and a bag of tools are ours. The rest belongs to
the
mzungu
.’ Loda walked to the rover took out the backpack
and tools and put them in the saloon. Titus got his stuff out of
the saloon car, and with a bottle of water from Brian’s cool box,
started to clean up the more obvious signs of blood. Loda joyfully
found a beer and opened it, helping with perfunctory and
ineffective swipes with a damp cloth until Titus told him to
stop.

‘Look, you’re
making it worse. See if you can find pliers and a screwdriver in
the tool kit.’ Loda came back with the tools.

‘Undo the front
number plate and swap it with the one on the front of the
saloon.’

‘How will this
help?’ asked Loda puzzled.

‘Rangers will
only see the front number to begin with. Once I’m through, I will
swap it back. You will have to continue without a front number
plate, tell any traffic cops it must have fallen off.’

‘Oh thanks!
With two bodies in the boot,
mzuri sana
.’

Titus started
the rover. ‘Don’t mess up,’ was his parting shot.

‘I won’t,’ Loda
shot back grinning, ‘going to have some fun though. ‘He watched the
rover disappear out of sight as he chewed
miraa
, thinking
about what to do next. He had time he reasoned. The
mzungu
would wait in Voi, wondering where his friends were.

Loda decided he
would drive slowly towards Voi looking for a turn off and then deal
with his two captives. Tapping on the boot he called. ‘Are you
still alive in there?’

‘Yes,’ a
muffled shout from Doug.

‘Won’t be long
now,’ Loda shouted back, smiling.

The saloon
joined the highway. Doug could hardly breathe, Gem’s unconscious
weight pressing against him in the restricted space. He had managed
to peel away the carpeting from around the rear light, removed his
belt and wrapped it around his fist. He felt for the back of the
light fitting with his other hand and as the car moved off, punched
it as hard as he could in the restricted space; the fitting fell
outwards, flooding the boot with air. The cut over his eye was
still seeping blood.

‘Gem,’ he
called out as loud as he dared, ‘Gem.’ There was a small whimper in
response. ‘Listen hon, we are in great danger. You’re lying on my
leg, and I can’t reach my gun, sweetheart?’

Another
whimper. ‘Where are we?’ she asked weakly.

‘We are locked
in a car trunk; can you reach my gun? We don’t have much time,’ he
pleaded.

‘Ohhh my head,’
she moaned, but he could feel her hand exploring his leg.

‘The other
one,’ he encouraged her.

‘Oh I can’t
move,’ she said.

‘Please try
baby try, we are in serious trouble my love.’ Doug lifted his hips
up as far as he could. ‘Try now darling,’ Gem wailed in pain, a
deep muted sound. He felt her fingers on his ankle holster. ‘Yes
that’s it love, unsnap the cover.’ She carefully pulled the gun
out. Their hands found each other in the murky light and Doug
gratefully took the pistol. ‘Sweetie, I’m going to get us through
this, hang on baby.’ He heard the car slow and move onto the uneven
surface of a dirt road - bastard’s going to kill us for sure. He
felt his anger rising, overriding his fear.