Pride of the Plains Page 8

  Huru and Kimya had seen the cheetahs’ tactics too. They had come across Upesi carrying part of the carcass of a young impala that had collapsed and died. The sisters had been after the same meat but Upesi had arrived on the scene first. Swarms of flies had settled on the carcass and now a cloud of them were all around the cheetah mother. As usual Upesi suspected the lionesses of wanting her find. Huru and Kimya made no move to grab it. While the flies were concentrating on Upesi the sisters were worried less. Upesi walked on tenterhooks, glancing at the lionesses and expecting them to rush at her. When they didn’t she gave a muffled call to her cubs who appeared as if from nowhere out of their hiding-places. Suddenly Upesi sprang forward and began to run. The cubs followed her at once. All three cheetahs stretched their long limbs into the kind of pace that left every other kind of animal way behind.

  ‘They’re trying to shake off the flies,’ Kimya breathed, in awe once again of the spotted cats’ speed.

  The sisters watched where they ran and saw where they dropped to the ground when they were unable to sustain their pace any longer.

  ‘I suppose they can eat in comfort now,’ Kimya said.

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ Huru mused. ‘Let’s go and see. We might learn something.’

  ‘Oh, what’s the point?’ Kimya growled. ‘We can’t run like cheetahs.’

  ‘Perhaps we don’t need to. I’m going anyway,’ Huru told her.

  Upesi and her cubs were still trying to regain their breath. The meat was untouched when Huru arrived. Upesi snatched it up again. There were certainly fewer flies. But as Huru watched, the insects gathered again, drawn by the smell of the carcass and the cheetahs’ overheated bodies.

  ‘Is it worth it?’ Huru grunted as Upesi’s cubs got to their feet and took refuge behind their mother.

  Upesi understood and let the meat fall. ‘Some moments’ respite,’ she explained. ‘No,’ she added sullenly. ‘It isn’t worth it and we can’t keep it up. Whatever can we do?’

  ‘If I knew I wouldn’t have come looking now,’ Huru answered.

  ‘It’s torture,’ Upesi moaned. ‘For all of us.’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Huru grimly. ‘For all of us.’

  Yet there were a few animals who actually managed to avoid the misery of the flies almost altogether, the ones who lived underground and were mostly nocturnal, such as the honey badgers. Huru and Kimya watched Battlescars’s increasingly desperate efforts to find a darkened spot to hide himself away during the daytime and were full of compassion, although their first concern had to be for their cubs. Eventually an idea occurred to Kimya She had had her first litter in a rocky place where there were underground chambers ideal for a mother with newborn young. The area had also been used by Ratel and there had been trouble because of it, but now Kimya and Ratel were friends again. The honey badgers’ new den at fig tree rock would be even better as a shelter for the cubs if there was sufficient room – and if the badgers were willing – because she knew there were no other occupants. ‘A favour in return for a favour,’ she murmured. ‘So it goes on.’ She mentioned the idea to her sister.

  ‘Worth a try,’ said Huru. ‘It could work well. But room for all the cubs? I don’t know.’

  ‘Let’s investigate then,’ said Kimya. ‘Should we tell Battlescars?’

  Huru reflected. ‘Perhaps not. He might try to take precedence as the adult male. Especially as he’s in such torment.’

  ‘That’s what I think,’ Kimya said. ‘It seems unkind but we have to do our best for the cubs.’

  The sisters waited until dusk, the time which Battlescars used to catch up on sleep. They told the cubs where they were going and the poor youngsters were thrilled to learn there might at last be an end to their misery. Kimya led off, followed by the cubs, with Huru bringing up the rear. Moja cast several glances behind. Eventually he said, ‘Isn’t my father coming?’

  ‘No,’ Huru replied. ‘It’s better he doesn’t.’

  ‘But why?’ Moja wanted to know. ‘He’s suffering more than any of us. Why can’t he—’

  ‘We don’t think there will be room for any adults,’ Kimya told him firmly.

  ‘We can’t just leave him there. How will he know where we are?’ Moja persisted.

  ‘Now look,’ said Kimya sharply, ‘never mind about your father. He’ll survive. Your mother and I are concerned for you cubs. We have to get you some shelter.’

  Huru said, ‘Once you’re all settled one of us will return to tell him what we’ve done.’

  Moja wasn’t happy and started to lag behind. Huru scolded him once or twice, baring her teeth, but he wouldn’t hurry up and in the end she left him to his own devices. Moja’s adventures had loosened the ties of parental discipline and Huru accepted it. The lionesses shepherded the other cubs between them and the youngsters trotted along dutifully while Moja slipped even further behind. Finally loyalty made him double back to arouse his father.

  At first Battlescars was irritable at having his slumbers interrupted. But he soon changed his tune when he heard what Moja had to tell him. ‘You were right to come back, son,’ he said. ‘Those females! Don’t they care a jot for my welfare? Look at my hide. Look at my face.’

  Moja knew only too well what ravages the flies had wreaked on his father’s body where his wounds hadn’t healed. Sores had become infected on his cheeks and flanks. Some still bled. His shaggy face was swollen with bites. ‘Poor Father,’ Moja said quietly. His own discomfort was as nothing by comparison. ‘Perhaps there will be some cover for you too. We’d better hurry to catch the others up because I don’t know the way.’

  Kimya had pressed on ahead because she had caught the sound of the honey badgers’ whistling calls. She knew they were most active at this time and guessed they were out looking for food. When she reached the den there was no sign of them. She sniffed at various entrances in the rocks and at one of them picked up Ratel’s familiar smell. Kimya called softly so as not to cause alarm. There was no answer. She sat on her haunches and yawned. Maybe this was all to the good. In the badgers’ absence the lion cubs could explore the rock holes and establish themselves in the best place before there was any argument.

  ‘Ratel won’t be able to complain,’ Kimya told herself smugly, ‘and I can soon mollify him if necessary with my sister’s help.’

  Huru came up with the cubs. They began to frolic about, chasing one another up and down the rocks. Mbili and Nne climbed to the lone fig tree on the top. ‘Are you sure this is all right?’ Huru said. ‘We’re outside our own territory.’

  ‘I know. But the cubs will be out of sight in the daytime.’

  Huru looked doubtful. ‘When you were last here were there signs of other lions?’

  ‘Er – yes. Well, I heard some,’ Kimya admitted.

  ‘It’s a long way back if there’s trouble,’ Huru said.

  ‘These aren’t normal times, sister,’ Kimya said. ‘Look at Battlescars. He seems as weak as a new-born cub. If he’s anything to go by, any other lions around here will hardly be bothering with us.’

  ‘He isn’t anything to go by,’ Huru answered. ‘He’s much worse off than most. But I see what you mean.’

  ‘Shall we carry on then? See what kind of cover there is here?’

  Huru called the cubs together and looked at Kimya. ‘Lead on, sister.’

  Kimya went to the widest opening and put her head in. She eased her body through while the cubs clustered around excitedly. ‘Shelter for you all here,’ she announced to the youngsters, ‘and maybe for one of us as well.’

  The cubs scrambled to be the first through the entrance. ‘You’d better go in and quieten them down,’ Kimya said to her sister. ‘I can see the badgers returning.’

  At first Ratel was so pleased to see the lioness that he hastened to greet her. Clicker as usual kept her distance and watched Kimya warily. Ratel whistled. ‘Well, lion, this is a welcome surprise.’

  ‘There’s a reason for it,’ Kimya said. ‘My sister and I have bro
ught our cubs here to escape the flies. I would have asked you first but you weren’t here.’

  Ratel glanced about. ‘Escape the flies? Cubs? What cubs?’ he chattered.

  ‘They’re hiding. With my sister. In a hole in the rock.’

  ‘What? Oh, no! Not in our den. Oh no, lion, this isn’t fair.’ Ratel was very upset.

  ‘I don’t think it is your den,’ Kimya assured him. ‘Don’t you use this one? I can smell your scent.’

  ‘Yes, yes, that’s ours. But where are you … oh, there. But you see, lion, my mate won’t be happy about this. She doesn’t trust big cats. She’s very timid. Look at her. She won’t even come close now. Oh, dear. No, I don’t think this will work.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I don’t want to lose her, you know, lion.’

  Just then Clicker gave a series of alarm calls and scuttled for the safety of her den as she saw Moja and the looming shape of the big old male behind him. Ratel saw them too. ‘More of you? Oh, I can’t believe it. I know I asked you a favour and you did us a great service, lion. I’m the first to admit it. But this is too much to ask. Really. We’ve had to move dens more than once already.’

  ‘Can’t you stop that racket?’ Battlescars bellowed at the badger irritably as he came up to them. ‘Chatter, chatter.’ He turned to Kimya. ‘Where are the cubs? They’ll have to shove up a bit if I’m to join them.’

  ‘You can’t join them,’ Kimya snapped. ‘There’s no room.’

  ‘We’ll see about that,’ Battlescars growled. He put his nose through the entrance where he could plainly hear cub sounds, but it was soon apparent to him that there wasn’t room and he withdrew his head sharply. ‘There must be other refuges here,’ he muttered. ‘I simply can’t take any more punishment from those insects. I need a shelter and I’m going to have one.’ He nosed about at other holes. Ratel was beside himself.

  ‘No! Don’t go to that one,’ he cried. ‘That’s our den. Clicker! Are you all right?’ He turned to Kimya beseechingly. ‘Please, lion, can’t you make him understand?’

  Luckily for Clicker their den was too small for Battlescars and he plodded back and forth, searching everywhere. ‘There’s only one suitable,’ he announced with finality at length. ‘Someone’s going to have to give way.’ He stood by the entrance to the cubs’ hole, bristling with bad temper. Huru emerged without a word and stood, sniffing the air inquisitively.

  Ratel had caught the same scent. ‘Maybe you’ll all have to give way,’ he said, not without satisfaction. ‘You’re out of your own patch and I can smell the lions of the woodland pride.’

  —12—

  Tyranny

  Kimya bounded up to the top of the rock. It was too dark to see far into the distance, but there were definite signs of movement on the plain below. Greyish shapes of perhaps three or four animals were approaching steadily. She knew they were lions. The way they moved was unmistakable, even before one of them called. Kimya scurried down to rejoin her sister. The lionesses were in a quandary. They couldn’t decide whether to back themselves against the rock refuge, so protecting the cubs, or to gather the youngsters for flight.

  ‘What shall we do, sister?’ Kimya demanded tensely. ‘The lions are close.’

  ‘I … I …’ Huru stammered.

  ‘Run!’ Battlescars cried peremptorily. He was assuming authority instinctively. That was his role. ‘Take the cubs and run to our territory. It was a mistake, bringing them here. I see it now. Get going! I’ll deal with things here. I used to hold this woodland pride. I know them all as well as I know you. The males are novices!’

  The sisters knew better. Battlescars and Blackmane had been ousted by these very youngsters shortly after the end of the last dry season, but there was no time to argue. Huru called the cubs sharply. ‘Mbili, Tatu, we’re leaving! Nne, Tano, Sita, come quickly. Now!’ Almost without thinking, his mother omitted Moja’s name. She knew he would remain with his father.

  The cubs came tumbling from the hole in the rocks, looking scared. Ratel added his own prompting. ‘Run swiftly, youngsters, and don’t come back here. It’s not safe.’

  Battlescars took up his stance, facing the enemy, and drawing himself up to his full height. For all his setbacks, he was still an imposing-looking beast. Huru and Kimya, the cubs between them, fled without a backward glance. Only Moja stood with his father, but Battlescars ordered him to take cover. ‘You’re not ready for this, my son. Hide yourself and watch. You may learn a thing or two.’

  Moja was filled with pride by his father’s bravery. Despite Battlescars’s recent sufferings, his innate courage hadn’t left him. The cub backed into the big rock entrance as Ratel scuttled to his den to join Clicker.

  The woodland lions came on the scene: two males and two females, the most senior of the pride lionesses. Battlescars quickly noticed that they were all in very poor condition, worse even than himself. He gained confidence immediately. One of the males he recognised as having taken a lesser role in driving himself and his brother out of the pride all those months ago. It was exceptionally skinny-looking. The other male walked with a limp. A wound on one of its feet hadn’t healed and the paw was very badly swollen. The females looked downcast and hopeless. The four looked at Battlescars as he looked at them.

  ‘You’ve come to remind me I’m out of bounds,’ Battlescars said ironically. ‘But I doubt if you can enforce your boundaries.’

  ‘Boundaries are meaningless now,’ said the skinny male. ‘We picked up your scent and decided to consult you. We’re at the end of our tether. Our woodland is teeming with flies. We can’t survive there. Look at us.’

  ‘I have looked. Where’s the rest of the pride?’

  ‘Around,’ replied one of the females. ‘Too weak to move any more.’

  Battlescars’s sympathy was profound. He knew all these beasts; he had mated with this very lioness. He remembered also when these two males were mere youngsters. ‘As you can see, I’ve suffered dreadfully too. No lion has escaped the misery. I thought I was the most wretched of all animals. Now I see that I’m not.’

  ‘What can be done?’ the limping lion begged. ‘We shall die.’

  ‘There will be deaths soon,’ Battlescars agreed. ‘I don’t know the answer any more than you. I’m here because I’m desperate for shelter. Amongst these rocks there is some kind of refuge.’

  The males hung their heads. Fighting for any refuge was out of the question. They were without hope. They lay down with the females in a huddle. Even walking this far had drained their strength completely.

  ‘I really wish I could help you,’ Battlescars said with genuine concern. ‘There’s a terrible blight on us all.’ He turned sorrowfully and nudged Moja further into the hole, following him in. ‘The males look utterly beaten,’ he told the cub. ‘Insects have accomplished what I and my brother were unable to do.’

  When daylight slanted into the gloom of their refuge, Moja left his father sleeping and peered out. The woodland lions were no longer there. Ratel was crunching up a beetle outside his den. ‘They shuffled off,’ he told the cub. ‘Very sorry for themselves, they seemed. Why don’t you and the big lion go too? Leave Clicker and me in peace.’

  ‘I’ll stay as long as he wants to,’ Moja answered stubbornly. He heard Battlescars stirring and went back inside to tell him they were alone.

  ‘Good,’ said Battlescars. ‘I didn’t feel comfortable with those poor brutes around. Now it’s different and I’ll stay right here.’

  ‘You mean—’

  ‘I mean just that. Right here in this hole.’

  ‘But there’s no food here,’ Moja said. ‘How will you eat?’

  ‘Something’s likely to come by now and then,’ Battlescars replied confidently. ‘I’ll be ready. This is where I’ll be until those flies leave off pestering me.’

  Moja was worried. He thought his father’s wits had deserted him. He resolved there and then to look after him as far as he was able, even if the flies never gave up.

  It seemed they
never would. Although the hot dry wind had blown itself out, the clouds of biting flies were ever present. Because of their thick hides Pembe the rhino calf and his mother Kifaru had been troubled less than most animals to begin with. Browsing was the main problem for them. As they cropped leaves and twigs the flies got into their mouth parts. This was horrible, but it didn’t deter them from eating. Then one day, feeding from a thorn tree, Kifaru caught her long upper lip on a really sharp spike and tore it. The wound was an immediate target for the tormentors. No matter how much she swung her head the flies held fast and more and more collected around her mouth. The rhino didn’t have the temperament or the fortitude of a big cat. She was nervous and jumpy and the insects’ bites maddened her. She plunged about the bush, rocking and bucking her great body to no effect. Pembe tried to keep up with her.

  ‘Mother, the waterside. Let’s go to the wallow!’ he cried.

  Cooling mud was the only remedy. In normal circumstances she would have thought of it herself but now she was crazed. She charged away, running full tilt for the nearest waterhole. Pembe followed. Unfortunately, the pool had almost completely dried up; there was no wet mud to offer relief. Almost without stopping to register the fact, the rhinos careered onwards to a larger pool. There was water here but only cracked and crusted earth on its margins. Kifaru crashed on to her side and rolled on the ground in a vain attempt to find mud, but all was hard and stony. Heaving to her feet, she dashed into the water, scattering the other creatures that were trying to use it as a sanctuary. The pool’s depth was severely depleted and the water only reached to Kifaru’s knees. She lowered her head beneath the surface and at last the flies shifted. Kifaru and Pembe drank gratefully. But as soon as Kifaru’s head was free of the water again, the insects were back. They had been circling and waiting. There was one last hope: the river.

  Snorting furiously, Kifaru wheeled round and broke into a gallop. She headed straight for the river. But she never got there. With her head bent and her eyes almost closed to keep out the maddening insects, she thundered across the ground, veering neither to right nor left. A huge baobab tree stood in her path and with an agonising crump she blundered right into it with all the force of her tonnage moving at top speed. The mighty tree shuddered at the impact. Kifaru’s head was crushed and the poor tormented creature toppled over like a dislodged boulder and lay perfectly still. Pembe stared at the body. He butted and nudged it. He couldn’t understand at first what had happened. But when he saw his mother’s battered face and shoulders he did begin to comprehend and he gave squeals of distress. Pembe was over three years old and would soon have been completely independent of his mother, yet in his brief life he had never known anything other than her constant companionship and nurture. He was bereft.