Fearless Master of the Jungle (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure (28 page)

Looking over his shoulder when
the sound of the running feet finally made an impression on his
ears, Sraat-Challig was the first to become aware of the blond
giant
’s
arrival. At first, he thought that some form of evil spirit or
unknown kind of animal was bearing down upon him at great speed.
The traditional red ochre and white painted Masai heraldic device
gave the shield a most eerie appearance in the half-light of the
clearing. Even when he realized what it was and who was behind it,
he could not hold back a yell that was more than three parts’
fear.

‘
It’s
the
Dapan-Dankara!
’

Letting go of the rope as he
gave the warning, Sraat-Challig began to turn and his right hand
went to the hilt of the
dapur bener kris
he was wearing. Behind him, also emitting
shouts of alarm and consternation, the rest of his companions in
both groups released their holds simultaneously. The trees snapped
back to the perpendicular in a vicious whip-like motion that boded
ill for anybody who was fastened between them when they were put to
the function for which they had been prepared.

Before
Sraat-Challig
’s weapon was clear of its sheath, the blond giant had
reached him. Bunduki did not try to stop, nor slow his pace.
Instead, letting out a thunderous bellow like that of an
enraged
Mangani,
he continued his headlong and yet completely controlled
dash.

Thickset and burly though the
Wurka might be, his nerves were far from steady and his footing
insecure. So he was ill prepared to cope with the collision.
Propelled by the driving force and with the great weight of the
Herculean-thewed giant
’s frame behind it, the shield caved in the front
of his chest as if it had been an eggshell and flung him backwards.
He plunged towards the four men who had been helping him to pull
the rope, knocking three of them over. However, showing surprising
agility in his perturbed frame of mind, the Wurka who had been next
to him contrived to spring clear—but not quite far
enough.

For all the good his evasion
did, the man might as well have let himself become involved in the
collision. Keeping moving with hardly any reduction of speed,
Bunduki swung the bowie knife and
disemboweled him in passing.

Hurdling his
friend
’s
recumbent body and being spurred on by a gurgle from beneath the
gag, the mighty blond plunged towards the second group. Having seen
the deadly effect of his tactics, only two of them had the courage
to stand their ground. From the way one was producing his
kris,
he at least had not
neglected to acquire the ability which in the terminology of
Japanese
samurai
warriors was called
‘lai-jitsu
’
.
^lxxiii
While his only steadfast
companion was still extracting the undulating blade from its
sheath, he leapt and drove a blow at the approaching giant. Deftly
interposed, the shield showed its mettle once again. While the
assailing weapon was not shattered on this occasion, it rebounded
from the unyielding surface and caused the startled Wurka to
release the hilt.

Brushing aside the amazed and
suddenly terrified man as if he was merely a bothersome insect,
Bunduki delivered a backhand swing upwards with the bowie knife. In
doing so, he demonstrated one of the advantages offered by the clip
point. As sharp as and, in fact, forming an extension of the main
cutting surface, the concave arc of the
‘false edge’ proved equally effective
by slitting the second man’s throat to the bone and ending his
attempt to arm himself.

Even as the blond giant was
about to turn and start dealing with the men who he had felled by
knocking Sraat-Challig
’s dying body among them, he noticed something
which brought him to a halt. There was a glinting flicker as a
metallic object flashed from the bushes ahead of him. Converging
with one of the fleeing Wurkas, whatever it might be did more than
merely slit his throat. Nervous reaction alone kept him running for
a few more steps. His head was dangling alongside his shoulder by a
strip of uncut flesh.

An instant later, another of
the departing Wurkas was transfixed by an arrow. Sounds from
Bunduki
’s
rear suggested that the first party were also under attack from the
as yet unseen assailants. Guessing what the instrument of
decapitation must have been, he wondered who the newcomers might
be. No nation with whom he had yet come into contact used a weapon
similar to the kind the Karamajong and other tribes of Uganda used
as a bracelet-knife.
^lxxiv

The blond giant was not kept for long
before receiving the answer.

Carrying various types of
weapons, most of which
looked to be Oriental in origin, the mysterious
assailants burst into view from all around the clearing. With one
exception, he decided—from what Hav-Bart had told him during the
boat journey from Jey-Mat—they were a party of the seagoing
Cara-Buntes.
^lxxv

However, it was the exception which
gave Bunduki his greatest shock.

Even with her hair cut shorter
than on their last meeting, he recognized the tallest of the women
to appear. She definitely was
not
a Cara-Bunte. Clad in her gold lamé costume and
waving the ivory hilted sword he remembered so well, but with her
legs and feet bare, it was Charole, the Protectress of the Quagga
God.

Before Bunduki could begin to
wonder how the Mun-Gatah woman had come to be with the Cara-Buntes,
for he alone had managed to persuade members of two nations to work
in harmony, he heard a swishing hiss coming his direction. Then,
although he neither saw nor knew what it was at that moment, a
throwing stick caught him on the head and he went down
unconscious.

‘
Well,
Bunduki of the “Earths”,’ said Charole, the Protectress of the
Quagga God, looking down at the bound figure of the blond giant.
‘So we meet again.’

‘
If
you don’t mind me saying so,’ Bunduki replied. ‘The pleasure is
all
yours.
’

‘
You’d
do well to consider what I mind, or I do not mind,’ Charole warned,
kicking the helpless prisoner far from gently in the ribs. ‘I only
wish that damned bitch of yours was here for me to deal
with.’

‘
Don’t
worry about
that,
’
the blond giant replied, thinking of certain sounds he had
heard while recovering from the blow that had knocked him
senseless. ‘She’s not too far away. And when she comes,
Protectress-of-the Quagga-God-who-failed-in-her-duty, she’ll make
you wish you’d gone the way of the High Priest of your accursed
nation.’

‘
Y
ou speak well, Bunduki of the “Earths”,’ praised War-Lord
Torisaki, pushing Charole aside as she tried to deliver another
kick to the prisoner. ‘Let us hope that your courage doesn’t make
you blind to your danger and suffering when we ask you to tell us
how to make the “Thunder Powder”.’

Despite a mutual eagerness on
the part of the Protectress, Torisaki, and War-Lady Shushi, to set
off in search of the
‘Earths’, they had been unable to do so for
several days. Having been sent by the Emperor of Cara-Bunte to have
the ‘honor’ of providing the large quantities of meat required for
a religious festival, and knowing that any failure would be used as
an excuse to depose them, the war-lord and his wife had been too
cautious to offer such an opportunity. So they had considered that
they must complete the task before embarking upon a private
mission. If they did not, on the pretence of investigating their
‘disappearance’, their ruler would send a strong enough force to
deal with them. There had been another benefit from attending to
their duty. Its completion had, by sending the others to deliver
the meat that was gathered, given them an excuse for parting
company with all but the crew of their own
zaruk.
Knowing their race’s inborn aptitude for
conspiracy, they were aware that the fewer people involved would
reduce the chance of betrayal. To attain the greatest effect from
the possession of ‘Thunder Powder’ and ‘Terrifiers’, they must be
kept a secret until brought into use.

There had also been benefits in
the delay for Charole. It had allowed her to recuperate
fr
om the
results of the two grueling fights. With the exception of the
‘Thunder Powder’ and ‘Terrifiers’, all her property had been
returned. Although she had been kept under observation, no
restrictions had been placed upon her movements around the camp.
Not that she had wanted to escape. She had never been on a ship,
but was sufficiently intelligent to appreciate how travelling in
such a manner would offer a better chance of locating the ‘Earths’.
It had been her belief that they would have organized lookouts
among the Telongas and, even if the latter would not fight, on
receiving a warning of enemies approaching the two of them would
disappear into the jungle. A force arriving unexpectedly by river,
which the Mun-Gatahs had never done, was more likely to catch them
unawares.

At last all had been ready for
the expedition. Charole had allowed herself, not without
trepidation, to be transported in a
‘bullboat’ to the warlord’s
zaruk.
Showing a
surprising compassion, Shushi had supplied her with a medication
that had quelled the sea-sickness that had assailed her. After the
first qualms had passed, she had enjoyed the novel sensation of
travelling in such a fashion. One thing she had learned early in
the journey. Useful though her sandals were when riding a horse,
they offered no such advantages on the deck of the
zaruk.
So she had adopted
the Cara-Buntes’ way of going barefoot.

Fortune had appeared to
favor the
expedition. After only one day’s searching along the coast, they
had captured the three surprisingly cooperative Wurka-Telongas and
were guided to their destination. When discussing the plan of
campaign, learning that this branch of the normally pacific nation
were noted for belligerence although she had seen no sign of it in
the trio who had fallen into their hands, Charole had suggested
that-being the only one who knew how to make them work—she should
carry along the ‘Terrifiers’. In this she had only been partially
successful. While Torisaki had allowed her to do so, he had
restricted her to only one of the devices. Bunduki had not noticed
it when he first saw her, but she was carrying her ‘fire box’ and a
bag containing the ‘Terrifier’ hanging across her
shoulders.

For his part, the blond giant
had been fortunate. Although the blow he had received knocked him
unconscious, the throwing stick had been sent his way at less than
full power. In fact, he had been felled by the warlord who was a
master in the use of the weapon and wanted to make sure that he was
taken alive. As Charole had done on the day of her capture, he had
managed to avoid allowing his captors to discover he was conscious
for several minutes. By the time the Protectress had come over
to
favor him
with her attentions, his head was clear if aching and he felt that
his strength had returned. He had drawn some small comfort from
there having been no sign of Dawn and in seeing that, still bound
hand and foot, Hav-Bart was alive.

‘
Why
should I need courage to answer questions?’ the blond giant asked,
despite having a good idea of the reason.

‘
We
wouldn’t ask questions from a warrior of
your
standing without putting him to torture
first and letting him display his courage,’ Torisaki explained,
confirming Bunduki’s suspicions. ‘Would you have it any other
way?’

‘
Even
if
I
knew how to make the “Thunder Powder”, you wouldn’t make me tell
you,’ the blond giant stated. ‘No matter what torture you
try.’

‘
You
don’t know how to make it?’ Shushi yelped, then turned an angry
glare at the Mun-Gatah woman. ‘Did you hear that?’

‘
I
heard,’ Charole agreed, just as indignantly. ‘He’s
lying!’

‘
Are
you lying, “Earth”?’ the warlord demanded.

‘
No,’
Bunduki said, his tone so convincing that he might have been
speaking the truth. ‘ And I’ve no desire to be tortured for
something that I don’t know. Our people have the secret of the
“Thunder Powder”, but no
man
knows how to make it.’

Unconsciously, the blond giant had
given an explanation that the Cara-Bunte couple at least could find
acceptable. Among their nation, only women took the profession of
herbalist and they were willing to assume the same applied with
other races.

‘
Does
your woman know how to make it?’ Shushi asked.

‘
No,’
Bunduki lied.