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.296Tusksby William MalteseChristopher returned Richard to the hotel and kissed himgoodbye.Richard went to the veranda.The hotel staff wasout of sight, doing assigned chores.The V.H.A.M.team was inthe south-ten and wouldn't be back until nightfall.Theactivities of the military focused around their tent communitynear the Great Enclosure.Christopher was looking for gold.Richard was alone and suddenly uneasy.Intuitively, hesensed something was wrong and nervously glanced down athis ring.It was worth a fortune.Poachers who killed helplessanimals for profit wouldn't think twice about killing a man andsnatching up a king's ransom that could be carried away insomeone's pants pocket.He twisted his ring on his finger,palming the crystal.So much fire inside a stone should burn,but it was cool to the touch.The danger had something to do with what LieutenantWalkford had done or said or hadn't done or said.But what?The lieutenant had pointed to one spot on the map, showingwhere Craig had gone.Christopher had pointed to anotherspot, indicating the ancient mine site.The two spots weremiles apart, and it was those miles of separation that madeRichard uneasy.Whenever the poachers struck, they did sowell away from existing patrols.He was being silly.There were no reports of elephantswhere Christopher was going.If a herd was there, anypoachers' gunfire would send Lieutenant Walkford and hismen on the run.It took time to remove tusks from anelephant; tusks were, after all, were well-anchored teeth.Yet, seven elephants had been mowed down at a waterhole not much farther from camp than Christopher's297Tusksby William Maltesedestination.Poachers had removed fourteen tusks and madeaway with them, no one the wiser until a swirl of vulturesbetrayed the deed.How far did the sound of machine-gun firetravel, muted by shrubbery, hills, and distance, before itfaded to nothing or arrived distorted beyond recognition?Richard walked to the Land Rover in the parking lot.Christopher always left it for Richard's use.EverythingRichard needed was within walking distance, but riding wasconvenient and comfortable once the summer sun began itsdaily baking of the landscape, and Richard was used to takinga car out now and then.He got in and sat behind the wheel.Lieutenant Walkford would laugh at Richard's intuition.Thelieutenant wouldn't follow Christopher on the basis ofRichard's gut feeling.Richard started the Land Rover and eased it out of theparking lot.Richard to the rescue.How ludicrous! One managainst how many guns? He didn't even own a gun.He hatedthem.But he couldn't sit around and do nothing.Somethinginside of him demanded action.The man he loved was indanger.He knew that, whether Lieutenant Walkford could beconvinced of it or not.He knew the route; he had traveled it often enough in hissearches for Melissa and Suzy.The mine site was on anoutcrop Craig and Richard had seen that's very morning whilewatching the rhinos graze.Turning off the dirt road, Richard headed across country.The African sky was dark blue and cloudless.Shrubs and tallacacias seemed to brush up against the vehicle, and wavylines of heat seemed to distort the distant horizons.There298Tusksby William Maltesewas no sound except the rattle of the Land Rover acrossrough terrain, stirring up a feeble breeze as it cut through thestagnant air.Plants, green when Richard had arrived at GreatZimbabwe, were fading fast to brown, to rust, and to palegold during these increasingly hot days.There was no wildlifeto be seen.There was no Christopher to be seen; his dusttrail had long-since settled without a trace.Richard's panic gradually faded, giving way to reason.Hisinitial impulse seemed foolish now.He had rushed off half-cocked.He braked to a stop, and dust settled like gold flour on thewindshield and dashboard.He was surprised at how far hehad driven.One edge of the mined outcrop was visiblethrough the trees.He had to decide whether to go forward orback.The decision was made for him by the loud gunshot blastshe heard, followed by the flutter of frightened birds airbornefrom the nearby trees."Christopher!" Richard's aching heart screamed theprotest.* * * *AFTER THE GUNSHOTS, THERE was absolute silence.Itwas easy to imagine no shots had been fired at all, butRichard knew differently.Christopher was lying deadsomewhere, a meal for the vultures.Or, he was badlywounded.Either way, Richard had to find him.If Christopherhad fallen outside his Land Rover, Richard would have to tryand lug his lover's dead weight.However, those difficulties299Tusksby William Maltesemade no difference.Richard had to do something even ifLieutenant Walkford would likely have heard the gunfire,already on his way.Richard turned the Land Rover in the direction of theshots at least he thought it was the direction.It was hard totell.Distance distorted.Rocky outcrops bounced sounds, evenamplified them.The shots seemed to have originated fromclose by, but they could have come from the next valley orthe next ridge.It could have been a poacher downing an elephant.Twoshots were more than enough.Vincent Van Hoon hadconsidered his marksmanship off whenever it took him morethan one shot to down any animal [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]