Precious and the Mystery of Meercat Hill (7 page)

Teb shook her head.

“Then we should do so,” said Precious. “I’ll come home with you now and we can start to look for tracks.”

Teb immediately brightened. “My mother will be very pleased if we find her,” she said. “She’ll make us all a reward of fat cakes!”

Precious loved fat cakes, which are a delicious type of fried doughnut that are very popular in Botswana. But she did not like to think of a reward just yet. It was all very well having an idea,
but as every detective knows only too well, not all ideas solve the case.

When they reached the house, Pontsho ran out to meet them. At first they thought he might be bringing good news, but when they saw his face, they realised that this was not
so.

“We’ve called and called,” he said hoarsely. “But we haven’t found her.”

Teb told him about the idea that Precious had come up with. Pontsho thought for a moment and then nodded. “Let’s look,” he said.

They led Precious to the place where the cow had last been seen. This was a small clearing at the bottom of Meerkat Hill, right behind the family’s house. There was a fence, but it was an
old one, and it would have been very easy for a cow just to step over it if she really wanted to.

Precious started to walk round the fence, taking great care not to disturb the ground. Detectives always do that, as you probably know: they don’t want to destroy any of the clues that may
be lying around. And here was one, right in front of her.

“Over here,” she called, pointing to the ground in front of her.

Teb and Pontsho ran over to join her.

“This is where she went,” said Precious. “Look. There are the marks of her hooves.”

Teb and Pontsho peered down at the tracks in the dusty soil.

“Now,” said Precious. “If we follow them, we’ll see where she went.”

They set off, and everybody was very excited. So excited were they, in fact, that they did not notice that they had been joined by Kosi, who was following behind them, his little nose twitching
with interest.

Fortunately it had not rained. Botswana is a dry country, and the rain only comes in what they call the rainy season – those few months when the sky fills with heavy purple thunder-clouds
and the thirsty country waits expectantly for the first drops. Had it rained, then the hoof-prints they were following would have been washed away in the deluge. As it was, they were still firm and
clear, even if here and there they were mixed up with the hoof-prints of smaller animals. It was easy, though, for Precious to tell the difference between the marks that a cow’s hoof makes
and the marks made by a small deer, or a rock rabbit, or something like that.

Pontsho had now spotted Kosi and had invited him to travel on his shoulder. The meerkat liked that, and sat importantly on his vantage point, as if it was he who was the detective and not
Precious Ramotswe. Well, as we will shortly find out, there was some truth in that, but for now here they are, all following the tracks, the heart of each of them filled with hope that they would
soon find the missing cow.

HE COW
had wandered a long way. At times, when she had crossed stony ground, the tracks
became faint, and Precious had to get down on her hands and knees to see them. At other times, though, the cow had made her way over bare sandy soil, and the hoof-prints were very easily
visible.

They had been walking for well over an hour and were beginning to wonder whether they would ever catch up with the cow when Pontsho suddenly called out.

“Over there!” he shouted. “Look!”

They stopped and stared in the direction in which he was pointing. For a moment or two Precious could not make out what it was that had attracted the boy’s attention, but then she saw it.
A large herd of cattle was gathered beside a rough dirt road that ran through the scrub bush.

Pontsho whistled. “Look how many there are,” he said. “I wonder what’s going on.”

Precious knew the answer to that. Her father knew a lot about cattle, and had once taken her to see a herd being prepared for market. This was what was happening here: a farmer had gathered in
all his cattle to be collected for market. Unfortunately the cow must have heard or smelled them and had decided to join them. After all, if you are a cow and you see lots of other cows getting
together, you must think: why shouldn’t I be there too?

The three children ran towards the herd. They had seen a couple of men standing nearby and they imagined that these were the people in charge. All they would have to do was to identify their cow
and then lead her back to her home.

It was Teb who spoke first.

“Excuse me,” she said very politely. “Our cow has run away. We’ve tracked her and we think she’s joined this herd. Could we have her back please?”

The two men, who had been talking to one another, stopped their conversation and looked at Teb.

“These are our cows,” one said. “Sorry. Your cow must have gone somewhere else.”

“No,” said Precious. “She’s here. We followed her hoof-prints.”

One of the men laughed. “Followed her hoof-prints? What nonsense! These cows all belong to us.”

Precious bit her lip. It was hard not to be believed when you know that you’re telling the truth. But there is no point in getting cross about it, because that can only make it worse. So
instead of insisting that she was right, she simply said to the men, “But if we could prove it? Would you let us take our cow?”

Both men nodded. “Of course,” one said. Then he added, “But I really don’t see how you’re going to do that. All these cattle look the same, you know.”

With a sinking heart, Precious saw that this was so – all the cows were more or less the same colour – reddish-brown. But then, without having to think about it, she had an idea. It
was the second good idea that had come to her that day, and she lost no time in explaining it to Teb and Pontsho.

“Listen,” she said, dropping her voice so that the men could not hear her. “Do you think that Kosi would know your cow, even in a big herd?”

It was Pontsho who answered. “Of course,” he said. “He loves to ride on her back, as I told you. They’re very good friends.”

This was the answer Precious had been hoping for. “Right,” she said. “Let’s ask him to find her.”