Fearless Master of the Jungle (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure (2 page)

Having carried out a successful
approach through a clump of bushes, Dawn Drummond-Clayton and
Bunduki came to a halt while still in concealment.
Gazing at the
animals which had caused them to break their journey, they decided
that the delay and the trouble they had taken to reach their point
of vantage was worthwhile. In fact, although there was plenty more
for them to see, they had eyes for nothing else.

Rolling away to the distant
horizon in every direction, the plains of Zillikian were a nature
lover
’s
paradise. The terrain was typical savannah of the kind which white
settlers had jokingly and lovingly referred to as the M.M.B.A.A.;
the Miles And Miles Of Bloody Awful Africa. Well watered, lush of
vegetation, bespeckled at intervals by clumps of bushes and groves
or individual trees, the area offered sustenance for a great
variety of creatures. Some of them, such as nilgai or blackbuck
from India, would not have been present in Africa; but they, along
with whitetail deer and bison from America, mingled with zebra,
gazelle and antelope of many kinds from various parts of that
continent. They were preyed upon by carnivores other than those
with which they would have had to contend in their native lands on
Earth, but so carefully and wisely had the ‘Suppliers’ stocked the
planet that the balance of nature was maintained.

Being knowledgeable about such
matters, the very diversity of animal life had warned Dawn and
Bunduki
from
the beginning that they could not be on Earth. If they had had any
doubts on the matter, the animals at which they were now looking
with such rapt attention would have been convincing proof that they
could not be in any part of Twentieth Century Africa. There was
nowhere on that continent, or any other, in which one could find a
band of quagga. That particular sub-species of zebra—the name being
onomatopoeic and derived from the animal’s snort of alarm—had
become extinct in the early 1870s.

Even if, by some miracle, a
small breeding nucleus of the species
Equus Quagga Quagga
had contrived to
survive undetected, they would not have had the same appearance as
the animals grazing close to the girl’s and the blond giant’s
hiding place. The coloration was correct, variations of brown with
the black and cream stripes confined to the head, neck and
shoulders. However, the group of animals bore the same resemblance
in conformation to wild zebras as a well-bred riding horse would to
the tarpan and Przewalski’s horse which were the progenitors of the
domestic breeds.

Two of the band stood out and it was
at them that Dawn and Bunduki devoted the majority of attention.
Each was suggestive of careful selective breeding for some other
purpose than survival in the wild.

Standing a good seventeen
hands,
^xi
the stallion being examined by
Bunduki had a chestnut ground color and its physical development
showed that it was up to carrying a big rider.

Large in the shoe, with the
concave soles open at the heels and provided with a big, flexible
frog, the hooves narrowed only slightly to the coronets. Such feet
were perfectly adapted to withstand the strains thrown upon them
when running while bearing a rider
’s added weight. Above the coronets, the
pasterns were at neither too straight nor too sloping an angle.
Short in proportion to the forearms, the cannon bones had an almost
razor-like flatness. Long, not too horizontal forearms joined the
sloping and powerful shoulders so as to cause the withers to lie
farther to the rear than the elbows.

With the rib cage well sprung
and offering plenty of room for the development of the vital
organs, the short and sturdy back carried smoothly to long and
slightly slipping hips. Being the most important portions of the
animal
’s
propulsive apparatus, the stifles had a muscular excellence
indicative of tremendous power. Set high on the body, the long tail
arched proudly as the stallion moved.

Of perfect proportions, the
neck made a graceful curve, being fine and flexible at the junction
with the head. Slightly large, but not donkey-like, the ears were
carried upright upon a skull of an almost faultless diamond
configuration that gave ample room for plenty of brain. Set well
out on the sides of the head, the eyes glinted brightly and
commanded a wide range of vision. Despite the face narrowing at the
muzzle, the jaws were wide at the junction of the neck,
giving ample space
for the windpipe. The lips closed firmly over the teeth. Fine at
the edges, the nostrils flared open for easy respiration. One major
difference between the quagga and a horse showed in the forelock
and mane. The latter rose in a crest instead of falling alongside
the neck.

Perhaps four inches smaller
than the stallion, the animal at which Dawn was looking was an
equally fine isabelline colored mare. Just as the pair stood out as
magnificent examples of their kind, the watchers were superlative
specimens of the genus
Homo Sapien.

Kept cut short for convenience,
Dawn
’s curly
tawny hair formed a halo for a classically beautiful face which
denoted breeding, strength of will, and intelligence above average
in its lines. Tanned to a golden bronze, her five foot eight height
was graced by a figure that would have turned many a ‘sex symbol’
movie actress on Earth green with envy. Its thirty-eight inch bust,
twenty-inch waist and thirty-six inch hips supplied contours which
had no need of artificial aids. Her body was encased in a short,
sleeveless, one piece dress made from the soft hide of a cow eland.
Connected by leather thongs, the extremely low cut neckline left no
doubt that what lay beneath was just as nature had formed it.
Enhancing rather than detracting from her femininity, power packed
muscles rippled under her smooth skin. Everything about her
suggested that she could move with the fluid speed, grace and
precision of a highly trained gymnast, or athlete, and she was
both.

The simple garment, a pair
of
leopard
skin briefs and a brown leather archer’s armguard around her left
wrist comprised the girl’s entire raiment. About her waist was a
belt on the left side of which hung a sheathed Randall Model 1 ‘All
Purpose’ fighting knife with an eight inches long blade and a
‘finger grip’ hilt made from the horn of a sambur
^xii
stag. Nor did her armament end there.
In her left hand, she grasped a recurved
^xiii
Ben Pearson Marauder Take-Down
hunting bow. It drew seventy pounds and there were eight fiberglass
Micro-Flite arrows armed with Bear 4-Blade Razorhead points in the
quiver attached to its right side. She had several more of the
arrows in a shoulder quiver, but had left it with the
banar-gatahs
upon which she and
Bunduki had been travelling since their departure from the
Mun-Gatahs’ capital city. When taken with their surroundings and
the primitive attire she was wearing, none of the weapons seemed
out of place and she was highly skilled in their use.

In every detail,
Bunduki
’s
appearance was complimentary to that of the beautiful young woman
at his side. However, while she conveyed the impression of a
lioness’s lithe and deadly grace, his was the imposing bulk and
majesty of a lion.

Six foot three from his bare
feet to the top of his head a curly golden blond hair,
Bunduki
’s
only garment-apart from his archer’s armguard—was a leopard skin
loincloth which left little to be imagined about his magnificent
physical development. Exceptionally handsome, his face denoted
similar qualities to those of the girl. He had a tremendous spread
to his shoulders, with massive biceps and forearms to augment the
strength they could put out when it was needed. Bronzed by long
exposure to the elements, his torso slimmed down to a lean waist
and a flat stomach ridged by cords of powerful muscles. His hips
sat on legs so perfectly proportioned and puissant that they could
carry his two hundred and twenty pounds’ weight with effortless
speed and agility. For all their bulk and quantity, due to the high
tone and quality of his muscles, there was nothing slow, clumsy or
awkward about him.

Like Dawn, the blond giant was
well—if primitively
—armed. Hanging in its sheath down his left thigh he was
equipped with a Randall Model 12 ‘Smithsonian’ bowie knife. The
concave ivory handle and brassed lugged hilt made Dawn’s efficient
weapon seem almost puny.
^xiv
He too could indulge in archery.
Custom built to his specifications, the recurved Fred Bear Super
Kodiak bow had a draw weight of one hundred pounds and was fitted
with an eight-capacity bow quiver. As in the case of his adoptive
cousin—although he no longer thought of the girl in that
relationship—he had left his back quiver with their off-saddled and
hobbled mounts in order to make stalking and observing the quaggas
less difficult. Nor had he brought the other piece of equipment
with which he had been helped to effect Dawn’s rescue.

Realizing that
Bunduki
’s
duties on Zillikian would call for him to be adequately armed, the
‘Suppliers’ had delivered his
m
’
kuki—
Masai
throwing spear—and his shield. Although he had decided
against encumbering himself with the
m
’
kuki
when setting out in search of Dawn, he had carried the
shield hanging from the horn of his captured mount’s saddle. The
shield was of the same elliptical shape and size as those carried
by Masai
moran,
warriors. However, beneath the convex outer cover—made from
the shoulder hide of a Cape buffalo bull, with all the wrinkles
smoothed out and decorated by a red and white paint heraldic
device—the saucer shaped interior was formed of the kind of light
weight, ultra strong fiberglass material used for the manufacture
of bullet proof protective garments and it had a rim of the finest
quality Swedish high carbon tool steel.

‘
Aren’t they magnificent?’ Dawn inquired, holding her voice
to little more than a whisper and turning her gaze from the
quaggas.

‘
They’re the finest mounts I’ve seen on Zillikian,’ Bunduki
answered, just as quietly. ‘Neither of the
banar-gatahs
you and I are riding comes anywhere
near to matching them for quality.’

‘
You
would insist on leaving the People-Taker’s quagga gelding
behind as a gesture of good will to whoever becomes High Priest,’
Dawn pointed out, blatantly disregarding the fact that she had
expressed complete agreement with the blond giant’s decision. ‘Not
that it was as good as either of them, if it comes to that. I
wonder how they come to be out here?”

‘
They
must have escaped from the Mun-Gatahs,’ Bunduki guessed. ‘If not,
they’ve been bred from a sire and dam that did.’

‘
My,
how clever of you to work that out,’ Dawn sniffed. ‘And there was
poor simple little me thinking they might be just ordinary,
run-of-the-mill wild stock.’ Then, becoming serious, she went on,
‘As they’re domesticated, or at least feral, they’ll be able to
survive in captivity and be trainable. If we can catch them, that
is.’

‘
I’m
all for trying,’ Bunduki declared, duplicating the girl’s
line of reasoning. ‘They’re just what we need, provided we can
catch and train them. Our work on Zillikian is far from finished
and, if we’re to do it properly in future, we’ll need to be able to
move around faster than we can on foot. That stallion looks as if
he can carry my weight far better than the
banar-gatah
I’m riding.’

‘
And
elephant would be better for doing
that
,’
Dawn stated, starting to turn around cautiously. ‘Come on,
you oversize lump, let’s go and see what we can do about catching
them. It shouldn’t be too difficult—providing that you leave all
the brainwork to me.’

‘
I’ll
give that a try first,’ the blond giant promised, pivoting
on his heel with an equal care to avoid making any unnecessary
noise. ‘Then, after you’ve made a fool of yourself as usual, I’ll
show you how to do it properly.’

While speaking, Bunduki was
watching the beautiful young woman he intended to make his wife.
She had only the previous day emerged from a very perilous
situation that had brought her close to death. So, despite knowing
her to be courageous, he had been wondering if the experience might
have had an adverse effect upon her nerves. But her
behavior gave no
sign that she had lost her usual high spirits.

‘
You
can do that easily enough,’ Dawn conceded, with the air of
conferring a favor. ‘Make a proper fool of yourself, I mean.
But—’

The words were brought to a halt as
the couple heard snorts of alarm from beyond the bushes in which
they were hiding. Each of them recognized the sounds as those made
by zebras which were being disturbed or frightened.