Poacher Peril (8 page)
“I've been to the den,” came Catur's voice. “It was empty. So the cubs are out. This is the moment we've been waiting for. We must act quickly before any goodygoody sanctuary gets wind of it.”
“Then we'll do it tonight.” This was Big Nose. “Our client doesn't want to be disappointed.”
“She won't be.” Catur sounded sure of himself. “We'll place the trap at Silent Water â the tiger always drinks there. I've dug a hole ready to put it in. Then we'll come back here and wait in comfort. The trap has an electronic lock. The moment it's sprung, an alarm goes off on my remote. And there's no danger that any other creature will be tempted by the goat we'll use as bait â I got some of the tiger's dung from the empty den and smeared it on the skin of the male we killed last month. We'll hang it right by the trap. That should put off any other animals. They'll not risk running into a tiger.”
“Why don't we lie in wait for her?” This was Shorty speaking. “We don't want to miss her.”
“Don't be stupid,” scoffed Catur. “She'd smell us before we even knew she was there. No, my friends, this is the way. We trap them then shoot them. A tiger in a cage is an easy target. But be careful where you aim. We don't want to damage the skins!”
Ben and Zoe gazed at each other in horror.
“They're killing the tigers tonight,” whispered Zoe. “The sanctuary won't get here in time.”
“That was a clever idea of yours, Catur, putting out scary stories about Silent Water,” Big Nose was saying. “How did you dream that up?”
“I didn't have to,” Catur replied. “There have always been legends about Silent Water.” He gave a chuckle. “I just stirred things a bit. Believe me, the villagers would rather eat their own feet than go there after dark.”
“You've never seen anything there, have you?” Shorty's voice sounded a bit shaky.
“Never!” scoffed Catur. “Are you chickening out?”
“Course not.”
Ben's stomach gurgled loudly.
“Be quiet!” warned Zoe.
“I can't help it,” insisted Ben in a low voice. “I'm hungry. We've missed a few meals today.”
He began to fidget.
“What are you doing now?” muttered Zoe.
“I've got an apple in here.” Ben plunged his hand in his pocket. “That'll keep⦠Oops.”
The apple tumbled out and bounced loudly on the wooden veranda and into the long grass.
Ben and Zoe froze.
“What was that?” came a gruff voice from inside the hut.
“Is there someone outside?”
“If there is they'll be sorry!”
Chairs were scraped back and heavy footsteps made for the door.
“Run!” hissed Zoe.
They jumped off the veranda and into the bushes. The three men were out of the hut now, flashing torches around, guns in hand. Ben and Zoe tried to go deeper among the ferns, but it was impossible to move without making a noise.
“There. Can you hear it?” It was Catur. He moved his light over the leaves. The beam swept just above their heads. Ben felt something on his boot. He looked down and stifled a gasp â a coral snake was slithering silently over the laces. He closed his eyes and held his breath.
Think
of something else
, he thought, sweating.
You
must stay still.
But all he could think about was that the venom of the coral snake was deadly. He had to look.
Its tail was disappearing into the undergrowth. Ben let out a ragged breath.
“Over there!” shouted Catur. “I heard something.”
Catur fixed his flashlight firmly on the bushes in front of them.
“Got an idea,” hissed Zoe urgently, tapping some keys on her BUG. “Bring up the call and holo-image of the tarsier monkey.” A shrill cry filled the air.
Ben looked up to see a holographic image of a tarsier projected high into the trees. He fumbled with his BUG. “Can't find it!”
Zoe snatched his BUG. Her fingers flew over the keypad. Then she thrust it back in his hands. Another piercing cry rose up and a second “monkey” appeared.
“What is that?” Big Nose was looking all about him.
“Tarsiers,” said Catur, swinging his flashlight up into the trees. “They're all around here. Look.”
Big Nose swung round with his gun and took a shot at the “monkey” in the tree.
“Don't waste your ammo,” said Catur. “Save it for the tigers.”
Zoe bit down a gasp. These men were despicable.
“Come on.” Catur had his back to them now. “Let's get the trap in place.”
The poachers trudged away to their shack. They reappeared carrying a large metal cage between them and set off. Soon the forest went back to its usual drone of insects and distant animal cries.
“That was a brilliant decoy, Zoe,” said Ben. “Let's get after them. We've got to spring the trap before Tora gets there with her cubs.”
“That won't work,” said Zoe. “It'll set off the poachers' alarm and bring them running. They'll just come and reset it.” She checked the tiger's whereabouts on her BUG. “She's a long way off at the moment and not moving. She's due south of Silent Water and we're here, look, to the west.”
Ben nodded. “Then we get into her path and scare her off before she gets anywhere near the trap.”
They hadn't gone far when Zoe suddenly stared in horror at her BUG screen.
“Tora's on the move. She's going to get to the trap before we can head her off.”
“Then we've got no choice,” said Ben. “We have to get to the trap no matter what the poachers do.” He stopped in his tracks. “But we won't spring it â we'll block it! We should be able to get there before her. We're nearer than she is.”
“Brilliant!” said Zoe.
“That's me.” Ben grinned.
They plunged through the forest towards the watering hole, twigs cracking loudly underfoot.
“Hope the poachers can't hear us,” panted Zoe as they ran.
“We'll just have to take that chance,” said Ben. “Look â we're here now. And I think the men have gone.”
They made their way into the clearing. There was a sudden, sharp cry from across the pool. The children stepped quickly back into the undergrowth and Ben set his glasses to zoom.
“It's OK,” he breathed. “It's only a family of dholes.” He could clearly see the thin, fox-like dogs lapping at the water's edge. “Where's the trap?” he muttered. He ran along the bank, scattering the dholes. He came to a criss-cross pattern of large and small pugs in the soft earth. “It must be near here. They'll have put it near the tigers' tracks.”
They pushed aside bushes and ferns, desperately searching for the trap.
Ben came to a mass of creepers. As he pulled at them his foot clanged against something hard and metallic.
“Found it,” he called.
He knelt down and carefully removed some of the leaves. Underneath was a cage made of shiny sheet metal, set in the ground. The barred door was raised, ready to drop. He could hear the plaintive bleat of the goat inside.
Zoe joined him. Then something caught her eye. “Look, Ben!” she said. She pointed towards a huge tiger skin that had been draped over a nearby branch. “That's what Catur meant about putting other animals off. They'll all steer clear of that â especially if it's got Tora's scent all over it. That man is evil.”
She checked the orange light on her BUG. “Oh no,” she said urgently. “She's almost here. We've got to block the trap now.”
They looked about.
“There must be some fallen branches we can lay across the opening,” said Zoe, scanning the ground in panic.
“No time.”
“Then we have to spring the trap after all and chase Tora away,” cried Zoe.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a slight movement. She spun round. Tora was standing on the opposite bank, her cubs at her feet.
“Tora's here!” hissed Zoe, pushing Ben down into the undergrowth beside the cage. “I don't think she's seen us.”