Danger in the Dust (2 page)

I’ll definitely need that
. He grinned.
I definitely won’t be taking close-up shots of a rhino!

Joe hoped to follow in his father’s footsteps as a wildlife photographer, though sometimes he thought he would prefer to be a vet like his mother. Either way, he wanted to be involved with helping animals. His friend Adam had told him he was the luckiest boy in their school because his parents’ professions gave him the opportunity to go to such amazing places. Joe couldn’t help but agree. In the past few months he and his family had been to eastern Russia, the Philippines and India. Now they were about to go to East Africa.

On the last day of school it seemed no one wanted to talk about anything else! Everyone asked Joe about the animals he was going to see. They even devised a rowdy game where they charged around the school field in teams, some of them rhinos and some of them elephants, and the winning team was the one to knock over the most opponents. It made Joe feel important, even though he was on the losing team of elephants and had a number of bruises to show for it.

‘All my friends wish they were going to Africa with me,’ he said to Binti on the way home. ‘Can one of them come with us one day?’

‘I think you and Aesha get into more than enough scrapes when it’s just the two of you!’ she replied.

‘I promise not to get into any scrapes this time,’ he said.

‘I don’t think you can help yoursel
f
!’ Binti laughed. ‘You seem to attract trouble.’

Chapter 3

The next day, when they were boarding the flight to Kenya, Joe was so excited he didn’t give a second’s thought to the friends he was leaving behind. His new adventure was just beginning and he didn’t want to miss a moment of it. He was used to flying now and enjoyed the routine of drinks and meals, reading and watching films, sleeping and observing his fellow passengers.

Across the aisle from him, a young man with dark hair, and wearing jeans and a crumpled shirt, was making himself comfortable, tightening his seat belt and plumping up the meagre pillow he had been given to put behind his head. He shifted from side to side, trying to find the best position for his long legs, and returned Joe’s gaze.

‘There’s never enough room for tall people,’ he observed. ‘It’s a pity I can’t take my legs off and hang them up somewhere.’

Joe grinned shyly. ‘An overhead locker full of passengers’ legs would be funny,’ he said.

‘Especially if I took the wrong ones at the end of the flight,’ the man replied, laughing loudly.

Joe wondered why he was going to Kenya and what he would do when he was there.

‘Are you going on safari?’ the man asked him.

Joe nodded. ‘And we’re going to help release some rhinos into the wild,’ he added importantly.

‘Are you indeed?’ The man looked very impressed and leant towards him. ‘Tell me more. I’m fascinated by the subject – by anything to do with conservation, in fact. Where are they being released?’

Joe bit his lip, all of a sudden unsure whether he should have mentioned the rhinos in case this man had anything to do with poaching.

‘I can’t remember the name of the place,’ he said quietly. ‘You’ll have to ask my dad. He’s going to be photographing them, but I don’t know where and when, and I don’t think anyone else will be allowed to be there because rhinos are very dangerous.’

Joe ended the conversation by looking away and opening his book, before scolding himself inwardly for imagining that the man was anything other than an innocent fellow traveller. He knew his father would laugh at him if he voiced any suspicions, because on their way to Russia Joe had decided, wrongly, that one of the plane’s passengers was a smuggler of tiger parts. Peter had teased him about it ever since.

But what if I’m right this time?
Joe wondered.
Why does that man want to know where the rhinos are being released?

The words danced on the pages of his book and refused to make sense. He felt hot and uncomfortable. His parents hadn’t told him not to say anything about the release of the rhinos, but he was convinced that one word spoken casually to the wrong person could put them in danger. He would have to tell them if he saw the man following them once they arrived in Kenya.

Joe was relieved when the man fell asleep after they had eaten their in-flight meal.

‘Is it a secret where the rhinos are being released?’ he whispered to his mother.

‘It’s not necessarily a secret, but I don’t think anyone will be broadcasting the location either.’ Binti looked at him quizzically. ‘It’s not as if it’ll be anywhere accessible to the general public.’

‘How will they get the rhinos to the place where they’re going to be released?’ Joe asked.

‘They put them into large crates and drive them there,’ said Binti.

‘I bet the rhinos don’t like that!’ Joe could just imagine them stamping their feet and pushing against the sides of the crates.

‘No, I don’t suppose they do.’ Binti smiled at him.

‘How do they get the rhinos into the crates?’

‘It must take many men, a lot of ropes and a good deal of patience,’ said Binti.

Joe cast a quick glance at the man opposite and whispered, ‘No one would be able to ambush the drivers before they reached the reserve, would they?’

Even as he said this he realised how ridiculous it was going to sound to his mother.

‘You’re letting your imagination run away with you,’ Binti said, smiling.

‘I just want the rhinos to be safe, that’s all,’ said Joe.

He was impatient now for the flight to end so that he could get away from the man and the silly thoughts he had had about him. He leant against his mother’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

When Joe opened his eyes again, he was pleased to hear they would soon be landing in Nairobi.

‘I expect you’re excited, aren’t you?’ said his neighbour from across the aisle. ‘I know I would be if I were in your shoes.’

Joe tried to smile at him.

‘Maybe I’ll bump into you guys while I’m in Kenya,’ the man continued.

‘We’re not staying in Kenya all the time,’ Joe said quickly. ‘We’re going to Tanzania as well.’

‘Then you’re one very lucky boy,’ the man said, before turning to chat with the woman on the other side of him.

Joe wished his parents had been able to choose window seats so that he could watch the plane coming in to land, but because there were four of them they often wound up in the middle rows on larger aircraft. He tried to see past his family to the window on the far side, but all that was visible was a small square of blue.

‘Are you OK, Joe?’ Peter asked him. ‘You look a bit glum.’

Before Joe could answer, the plane’s engines began to roar, there was a series of loud clunks, and a few seconds later a hefty bump shook the whole fuselage, followed by another. The engines screamed and Joe felt himself being pushed back in his seat, until at last the plane slowed enough for him to be able to relax.

‘That wasn’t the smoothest landing,’ his father said cheerily.

‘The pilot should have to take his test again,’ said Aesha, pursing her lips.

‘Shall I go and tell him?’ Peter offered.

Aesha glared at him. ‘You’re not funny, Dad.’

Peter put his arm round her. ‘Sorry, darling. I must try harder.’

‘I thought we were going to crash-land!’ said Joe.

The plane taxied to a halt and everyone jumped to their feet. Joe waited until his neighbour had moved forward down the aisle before standing up. Now he could really enjoy the start of the trip.

‘How long till we go on safari?’ he asked his mother, as they waited to disembark.

‘We’ll spend this evening and tomorrow morning in Nairobi, then set off for the Maasai Mara after lunch,’ said Binti. ‘There’s somewhere in Nairobi I want us to visit before we leave.’

She wouldn’t tell Joe where, but assured him he would like it. He and Aesha tried to find out more during the taxi ride to the hotel, but their parents stubbornly refused to provide even the slightest clue.

‘One thing at a time,’ said Peter. ‘First you need to shower and change into some fresh clothes, because this evening we’re going somewhere very, very special to eat. As for tomorrow – tomorrow is another day.’

Chapter 4

The special place to eat was a big open-air restaurant where they served every variety of meat, including ostrich, crocodile and zebra. Joe couldn’t believe his eyes when they walked in. There was a huge charcoal pit just inside the entrance, into which numerous waiters thrust long skewers covered with meat, withdrawing them when the meat was cooked and carrying them to the eager diners.

‘Those skewers are traditional Maasai warrior swords,’ said Peter, as they were shown to their table.

‘Are we really going to eat crocodile?’ Joe was incredulous.

‘I’m not!’ said Aesha. ‘And I’m not going to eat ostrich or zebra, either.’

‘But that’s why people come here – to try something different,’ Peter said. ‘You won’t find endangered species on the menu, and the amount of wild meat on offer is very carefully controlled.’

‘I don’t care,’ said Aesha. ‘It doesn’t seem right to eat it when we’ve come all this way to see these animals alive.’

‘I suppose it’s no different from eating lamb or chicken,’ Joe mused, though he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of crocodile, which he guessed would be tough. ‘I would never eat elephant or rhino, or leopard or giraffe, though,’ he added.

‘And yet if they were plentiful and tasted good, there’d be no real reason not to,’ Binti replied.

Aesha pulled a face. ‘I’m going to have the vegetarian option,’ she said stubbornly.

‘That’s fine,’ said Binti. ‘The salads and vegetables look wonderful too.’

One by one, the waiters came to serve them, each carrying a sword loaded with a single meat. Joe watched with fascination as they held the swords, pointed end down, and carved slices of the different meats on to his sizzling, cast-iron plate. To start with there was beef, lamb and spare ribs. Next came chicken wings and sirloin steak.

‘Tuck in,’ Peter encouraged. ‘There’s plenty more to come.’

Joe tried each of the meats in turn. He had never tasted anything quite so good, even though his father was a brilliant cook. When the sword laden with ostrich arrived, he hesitated at first, then asked for just a small piece. It was so delicious, however, he couldn’t wait for the waiter to return with more.

‘The waiters will keep coming back to top up our plates until we take down that little white flag in the middle of the table,’ Peter explained. ‘That’s how we let them know we’re full.’

‘I’m full now!’ declared Aesha, who was working her way through a platter piled high with salads and cheeses.

‘No room for crocodile?’ Peter asked.

‘I’m surprised you didn’t say anything about making it snappy,’ Aesha said scornfully.

‘Here’s the crocodile now,’ said Binti, as a waiter approached carrying a sword covered with small circles of pale-coloured meat.

Joe allowed him to slide two pieces on to his plate.

‘It doesn’t look how I imagined it would,’ he remarked, staring dubiously at the two pieces. He tasted one of them, but pushed the other aside. ‘Too chewy,’ he said, and contented himself with a jumbo sausage that had also appeared on his plate.

Shortly after, he joined Aesha in deciding that he was too full to eat another thing.

‘I feel like an elephant,’ Aesha grumbled.

‘They don’t serve it here,’ said Peter, which earned him a prolonged scowl.

‘Do you think it’s right that we sit here, eating mountains of food, in a continent where some people are starving?’ Aesha asked bluntly.

‘That’s a difficult one,’ said Binti. ‘It’s never “right” that some people have plenty while others starve. But our custom here will help put food on the tables of families who might otherwise go without, and this is a one-off evening of indulgence.’

Despite his parents’ reassurances, Joe felt uncomfortable now with the heap of undigested meat sitting in his stomach. Tiredness was overwhelming him and all he wanted to do was go back to their hotel and sleep.

The moment the bill had been paid, he struggled to his feet and leant against his mother for support.

‘Someone’s had enough,’ she said, stroking his hair. ‘We’d better get you to bed or you won’t have any energy for tomorrow’s treat.’

‘Which is?’ Aesha jumped in, hoping to catch her mother out.

‘Which is for you to find out tomorrow,’ Binti said, smiling.

As soon as they returned to the hotel, Joe fell into bed and snuggled down under the crisp white sheets. It was hard to believe that only that morning he had woken up in his own bed, eager for their journey to begin. Now, here he was in Africa, listening to the unfamiliar sounds of the Nairobi night and reliving the events of the day.

He began to mull over their evening in the restaurant. The one thing he couldn’t get out of his mind was the fact that one of the animals he had most wanted to see was an ostrich, and yet he had eaten ostrich meat before he had even seen a real, live one! He wasn’t sure he liked that idea very much, but reminded himself that he would quite happily eat beef and watch young calves at play in the same day.