Poacher Peril (6 page)

They watched as the heavy, slow-moving rhinoceros lowered its head to the water. Its long, hairy ears twitched as it drank.

“To think it's killed for its horns,” Zoe whispered. “We must tell Uncle Stephen that there are some here.”

Gradually Silent Water came alive. Deer, wild pigs and tapirs emerged with their families to drink and swim. Zoe checked the time. To their amazement, two hours had passed since they'd arrived at the waterhole.

“I'm getting numb feet,” moaned Ben. “I've never stayed still for so long.”

“Maybe Tora doesn't come here after all,” said Zoe, stifling a yawn.

“Can't give up yet,” said Ben. “Let's take turns to sleep. You first.”

“I'll never nod off out here,” protested Zoe, leaning against a tree trunk.

The next thing Zoe knew she was being shaken awake.

“Don't say anything,” whispered Ben. “Something's happening.”

All the animals were standing alert. There was a faint rustling from the path.

Whoosh!
In an instant the animals fled as a sleek dark shape stepped out into the clearing. It moved steadily along in the dark, proud head held high and muscles rippling. The silky fur, with its distinctive narrow stripes, gleamed in the faint moonlight.

“It's Tora,” breathed Ben.

“She's beautiful.” Zoe sighed.

Tora padded silently towards the water, the black tip of her long tail curling up behind her.

All of a sudden, she stopped and sniffed the air. With a low growl she came straight for their hiding place.

They heard a sound like water spraying and a pungent smell filled the air. Then they felt a trickle of warm, stinky urine squirting over them through the bush. Tora was leaving her scent!

At last she finished and moved off towards the water.

“Gross!” gasped Ben under his breath.

“At least we know the scent disperser works!” whispered Zoe, trying not to make a sound as she wiped herself down on a leaf. “She didn't know we were here.”

“Wish it worked both ways,” Ben whispered back. “That stinks!”

They peered through the leaves at Tora, who was now further along the bank. She plunged into the water and swam strongly, head held high. Then she got out, shook herself and began drinking deeply at the edge of the water.

“I expect she'll go hunting next,” said Ben. “She'll have to take food back to the cubs. They'll be having a mixture of meat and mother's milk at six weeks.”

“If we follow her, she should lead us to her den,” agreed Zoe. “Then we'll know where to go to check on the cubs.”

Ben picked up his BUG. “I'll dart her.”

He targeted Tora and fired at her left haunch.
Pfft!
The tiger's skin rippled and she flicked her tail as if she was swatting a fly. Immediately, a satellite map of Silent Water showed on the screen and an orange light started flashing, showing the exact position of the tiger.

“What's that?” Zoe parted the leaves again. “There's something moving by Tora's legs.” She put her goggles to zoom. “It's too blurry to make anything out.” She adjusted her focus. Now she could see clearly.

Two little cubs were playing at the tiger's feet, padding each other and rolling together at the edge of the water. Ben gave a low whistle. “Uncle Stephen's got his dates wrong. It's Tora's cubs. They're older than we thought. They're out.”

“Then they're in terrible danger,” said Zoe. “And it's up to us to save them.”

CHAPTER
SEVEN

“Check where the poacher is,” whispered Ben urgently. “If he's on to this we've got to stop him.”

“He's not moved from the village,” answered Zoe, checking the green light. Then she put her BUG into communication mode.

“We must tell Erika immediately,” she murmured, as she pressed 2 – the hot key that would dial Erika direct. “No signal here!” She groaned in frustration. “I suppose there aren't many phone masts in the jungle.”

“We can't get a signal from our hut and we don't want to risk being heard in the village with this news,” said Ben, keeping his voice down. “We don't know who's in league with that poacher. We need to get higher.”

“Well, I'm not climbing trees in the middle of the night!” declared Zoe.

“Don't worry,” hissed Ben. “We'll just go to higher ground.”

“OK,” Zoe agreed. “But Tora will hear us if we leave now. We'll just have to wait till she goes.”

“That's lucky for you,” grinned Ben. “You can do some fluffy-wuffy little cub watching. I'm going to get some sleep.”

Zoe eagerly trained her goggles on the cubs. “Oh but they're sooo sweet,” she cooed softly. “Look at them suckling from their mum! Now one's biting the other one's ear. And listen to them mew, Ben. I could just hug them.”

Ben sighed and gave up trying to sleep. They watched Tora nudge her cubs towards the water. The cubs spluttered as they drank. Tora seemed to be keeping guard. She held her head high and gave off soft, deep growls.

“She's a good mum,” said Zoe. “She'll guard those babies with her life.”

“Freeze,” warned Ben. “She's on the move.”

Tora was padding silently towards the trail – and towards Ben and Zoe. They held their breath, hoping the scent dispersers were still working. Tora might be hungry. Zoe felt a mixture of thrill and terror as the beautiful tiger stalked along, her cubs padding at her heels. They looked as if they were trying to be as regal as their mother, but couldn't resist sniffing the ground or ambushing each other as they went. Zoe gave a regretful sigh as they disappeared.

“Let's go,” said Ben, stretching his stiff legs. “No time to lose.”

“First I'll find out exactly where the nearest high ground is,” Zoe told him as she checked her screen. “We can't wait forever for you to work it out. There it is. Cochoa Hill.”

It was a long walk through the dark forest to Cochoa Hill. By the time they had begun to trek up the slope, the first glimmers of sun were beginning to filter through the trees.

“I hope we get a signal up there,” panted Zoe, as she pushed through the huge flowers and ferny undergrowth of the steep slope. “The sooner Wild can contact the sanctuary the better.” She stopped to check her BUG. “Nothing yet.”

At last they reached the top of the hill. Ben wiped the sweat off his forehead and drained the last of his water.

“Got a signal!” yelled Zoe, sending a flock of bright yellow birds screeching into the air. “No, it's gone again – and we've run out of hill.”

“Now it
is
time for tree climbing,” said Ben grimly. He looped the strap of his BUG round his wrist and began to shin up the nearest tree, using the dangling creepers to pull on and ignoring the ants that were running over his arms. “I hope I don't have to go as far as the jungle canopy,” he called down.

“Be careful,” warned Zoe. “I don't want you falling on top of me.”

As Ben climbed, the forest suddenly darkened and huge drops of water began to splatter down through the trees. Soon every other jungle sound was blotted out by the beat of the water on the canopy above.

Ben could feel the tree swaying under his weight as he gripped with one hand and fumbled for his BUG with the other.

Rainwater was streaming down the trunk, making it hard to hold on.
Hope this thing's
waterproof
, he thought to himself as he struggled with the slippery buttons. At last he accessed the communicator, tapped in Erika's hot key and held the BUG to his ear. It rang and rang. He pressed 1 to get through to Wild headquarters instead. “Hello?” he shouted as he heard a faint voice. The signal seemed to be coming and going. “Uncle Stephen?”

No answer. Still holding the device to his ear, he tried to scramble higher, pushing on the spindly branches with his feet.

“Tora's cubs are out of the den,” he shouted. “And the poachers are in the village – at least we think so. Can you contact the sanctuary for us?”

“Hello, Ben!” He could just hear his godfather's cheerful voice. “Bad signal. Say again?”

Ben heaved himself up as high as he could. “Sanctuary needs to come now!” he said. “The cubs are –”

CRACK!
The branch under his foot snapped and he fell.

He grabbed wildly at the trunk as he went. Wet twigs slapped in his face and he felt the skin being scraped from his palms, but he couldn't get a handhold.

Then, with a jerk, the BUG strap around his wrist caught on a branch and he found himself swinging ten metres above the ground. His arm felt as if it was going to be pulled out of its socket. But at least he'd stopped falling.

The BUG suddenly vibrated. “Ben?” It was Uncle Stephen's voice. He could hardly hear it over the thunderous sound of the rain. “Are you there? How's it going?”

Typical
, thought Ben.
I'm hanging from
a tree in a tropical rainstorm and now I get
perfect reception!

“Urgent message!” he shouted up to the BUG. “Tora's cubs are out of the den.” He twisted about, legs flailing, desperately trying to find something to hold on to.

“Already!” he heard Uncle Stephen exclaim. “Tell me all about them. Have they got…?”

The BUG bleeped and went silent.

Ben managed to get hold of a creeper and hauled himself on to a branch. He unhooked the BUG and climbed down the tree as quickly as his bleeding hands would allow. Zoe had found a huge leaf to shelter under. Ben joined her, nursing his wounds.

“Are you OK?” she yelled over the sound of the pounding rain. “I heard some noises and I called up, but I don't think you heard me.”

“I slipped a little.” Ben grinned, showing her his palms.

“Nasty.” She grimaced. “Did you speak to Uncle Stephen?”

“Briefly,” Ben yelled back. “I just hope he got my message OK, and that the sanctuary will be on their way to get Tora before the poachers do.”