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.
Copyright © 2026 by Waterton Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.
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THE LAST HUNT
CHAPTER 4
The next day a driver in a Grenadier with the Hunter’s Paradise logo pulled up to Tom’s hotel. A few minutes later, Tom was on his way to the ranch, a four-hour drive. He was curious about Yvonne and why she wasn’t with him. In fact, she had gone on to the ranch the day before.
Yvonne had arranged for Tom to spend a night at a hotel in Cape Town. She saw him off in the hotel shuttle when they picked up their bags and then she drove to the ranch. Yvonne needed to spend some time with the owner and team before Tom got there. It was their usual practice: she would fill in leadership on their new guest before he arrived, allowing Hunter’s Paradise to make necessary arrangements.
When she got to the ranch Yvonne first took a much-needed nap. Then she joined the others for lunch in the main dining hall. The ranch house was large and looked like a ranch house you would expect to see in Africa with wooden posts and a wrap-around veranda. In addition to the lodge house there were smaller cabins, or cottages, scattered throughout a central area. Staff, including Yvonne, stayed in some. Guests in others. Around all the buildings was an imposing twelve-foot chain-link perimeter fence.
After Yvonne had settled in at the table, Clarence, the ranch owner, asked Yvonne about her trip. Yvonne said it was fine.
“I took Mr. Stevens by surprise.” She smiled, “But after a while he became more comfortable, shall we say, and we had an interesting conversation.”
“What is your overall impression of him,” asked Clarence.
Yvonne thought about the question before saying, “A lonely and insecure man who finds comfort in killing exotic animals.” There was a murmur from around the table.
“So, the same as many of our guests,” Clarence smiled and the people around the table concurred. “We don’t seem to get many secure men with good sex lives.” Everybody laughed.
Yvonne took another biscuit and asked a pantry helper for a second helping of soup. She scooped it down like she hadn’t eaten for days. “Even in first class, airplane food leaves much to be desired,” Yvonne said while chewing her biscuit.
“Take your time Eve, you have much to tell us, and need your energy,” Clarence remarked.
“Yes, I’m sorry, let me start at the beginning.” Yvonne stopped chewing. “Thomas Stevens is a fiftyish accountant who lives in Colorado, USA; he is divorced….” And on she went, relaying everything that Tom had told her to the group seated around the dining table.
After ten minutes, Clarence interrupted, “Wow! That’s quite a few trophies. We are I believe dealing with someone proficient at big-game hunting, wouldn’t you agree Eve?” Eve was Yvonne’s nickname at the ranch, and what she had been called from childhood.
“Yeah, I guess so, but I got the feeling there were a fair number of injuries and misses, where the guides had to finish the job.” Yvonne thought about another biscuit but decided against it and turned to face the helper. “Shari, can I get a cup of coffee please?”
One of the ranch guides seated at the table, Vince, spoke up; “What makes you think that? Did he ever go hunting without a permit?”
“I can’t say for sure,” replied Yvonne, “just a feeling, and I do think he has been on one or two illegal hunts. He briefly said something about an Asian elephant. I don’t know. What I can tell you is that he seems completely unconcerned about the prey.”
There was silence at the table for a minute, followed by a question from another guide, Jane, as she looked at Yvonne, “What kind of firepower did he bring? Do you know?”
“No. All I know is that he has two professional rifle cases, so I am assuming he has some nice equipment.” Yvonne surveyed the table.
Clarence spoke up: “So we know he is an experienced big game hunter, and he is here to bag a tiger. He is here for one week; or should I say he has a reservation for one week. We are planning a safari camp. Who is scheduled as lead guide?”
A young man answered and everyone at the table was again quiet. Then Clarence asked the man if he had ever been on a tiger safari. Gabelo said, “No, lion only.” Clarence looked pensive.
“Perhaps another guide should tag along,” Clarence looked around the room, “Jane, what about you? You’ve got tiger experience.”
“Okay,” she replied: “We don’t have much time Gab, we better get started packing, this guy will be here tomorrow morning bright and early and ready for some excitement and tiger never ceases to be exciting.”
And with that the meeting adjourned. Yvonne went back to her cottage, changed into a two-piece swimsuit, grabbed some sunscreen, and headed for the swimming pool. At the pool, she ran into Vince, who had the same idea.
“Nice to have you back, Eve, the old place is never the same when you’re gone. It lacks a certain sparkle.” Vince winked and then dove into the water. Yvonne followed him and the two bobbed up nose-to-nose.
“I missed you too,” Yvonne said after spitting water. Then she yanked Vince’s swimsuit down and made a swimming dash for the ladder while he was busy trying to pull the suit up.
“You bitch!” he shouted; but Yvonne was already reclining in a lounge chair looking up at the perfect blue sky.
