The Last Hunt
A work of fiction by Tsao Alexander
Waterton Publishing Company
No part of this book was created using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This is a work of fiction. The events described are imaginary and the settings and characters are fictitious and not intended to represent actual places, companies, or persons.
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THE LAST HUNT
CHAPTER 7
It was almost twenty-one o’clock when Clarence and the others arrived at the compound. They were met by almost everyone who was there, soon helping with putting away or redistributing supplies and equipment and making sure the vehicles were gassed up and ready to go out in the morning. A couple of the men carried the Englishman’s body to the cooler.
Clarence looked tired, as did all the others, especially so as he climbed the veranda stairs and plunked himself down on a rocker.
Yvonne brought him a beer. “Thanks Eve,” he said, after taking a big swig of the cold ale. Eve sat down in a rocker next to him. “Bad news that woman,” she said.
“Bad news all around,” Clarence took another sip of beer. “Just damn bad luck. Nobody has any idea why Roberts was in the water, how he managed to get tangled up with a buffalo. And his wife, no idea whatsoever. She could be anywhere. But she’s probably dead. Or close to it. We saw some blood near the river. But don’t who or what it was from.”
Yvonne felt a chill run up her back. She wanted to ask why he called off the search but knew that would probably not go over so well. Instead, she said nothing.
“And another funny thing, or not so funny thing, is Roberts still had his revolver in the holster. It had not been fired.” Clarence shook his head and drank some more.
Eve couldn’t hold it in any longer. “So, no point in continuing the search? You figure she was dead, perhaps eaten?” Eve felt the chill again: she shouldn’t have said “eaten.”
“We’re not done with the search,” Clarence replied. “We will go out again in the morning after tomorrow’s safari is off. The locations of the two are really not that far apart. We will drop the accountant and then resume our search. There was really nothing we could do in the dark. Except perhaps get ourselves killed.”
Yvonne understood; “That makes sense.” She felt some relief. “I’m going to go help Gab and Jane get ready for tomorrow. Go to bed, chief, you look exhausted.” Eve smiled and Clarence waved her goodnight.
It was almost midnight before Jane, Gabelo, Vince, and Yvonne finished loading four Land Cruisers in preparation for the next day’s travel. Vince and Eve said goodnight to Jane and Gab before leaving for Eve’s bungalow.
Once there, the two pulled off each other’s clothes and crawled under the mosquito netting. It was quite warm inside the cabin and Eve and Vince were already sweating. No words were exchanged.
All the talk earlier of death and pain and fear had aroused Eve’s senses deeply and her panting was fast and deep as she groaned and whimpered and Vince’s back bowed and he wanted to howl like a wolf but instead lay on top of Eve in a wet embrace as they both tried to catch their breath.
Before long, he rolled over and they both drifted to sleep.
In the morning, many of the human residents of Hunter’s Paradise made their usual way to the main lodge where hot coffee and pastries were waiting. The bungalows had kitchens, but often a better and easier fare was found in the main residence.
A few people sat at the dining table and a few others leaned against the kitchen counters or sat in side chairs. Clarence had already finished one cup of coffee and was at the dining table. He looked around the room and into kitchen and decided every person he needed to talk with was present.
“Good morning everybody, you in the kitchen, why don’t you come over here so you can hear me better.” Jane, Yvonne, and Vince moved casually into the dining room; Jane and Yvonne sat in side chairs and Vince stood by the kitchen door with his arms folded.
Clarence continued: “You all know what happened with the last guests. We are going to continue searching for Mrs. Roberts today, as soon as possible, but first we need to get Stevens welcomed and out to camp. Jane and Gabelo are the guides on Stevens. How many porters?” Clarence looked at Jane.
“Three should be enough,” she answered, “we are going to Nacombo valley so can drive in pretty far. The hike to camp shouldn’t be long.”
“Okay,” continued Clarence, “you all will drop Stevens and then join us for the search. The rest of you I will need to come with me and help with the search. Are there any trackers around?” Clarence looked at Gabelo and then at Vince.
Vince spoke up. “The only one is Shammi.”
“But he doesn’t track people,” Gabelo cut in.
“Yes…Shammi, I know, I know, do you suppose he would make an exception?” Clarence was being optimistic. He looked at Gab.
Gab wanted to be pleasing but facts were facts. “I don’t think so. Remember, he wouldn’t even help last year when that kid from the tribe went missing.”
“No other trackers?” Clarence looked around the room; “Any ideas?”
Kamau started to say something and then stopped, so Clarence looked quizzically in his direction. “I was just thinking that maybe the dogs….”
“The dogs?” Clarence thought about it for a second; “Why do you think Tommy and Mako could help?”
“They really liked the English woman,” Kamau said, “I think they would know her scent, she was playing with them a lot. Remember, she and the man were here for a day before we took them out.”
Clarence stood up. “It’s an interesting idea and worth a try. We’ll give it a try. Good thinking Kamy. Put on your smiley faces everyone and get ready to welcome our new hunter.”
Then he left to undertake a most unpleasant task of calling the authorities and notifying them of a death and a missing person at the ranch.
