I wasn’t thinking and I was lagging further and further behind the boys.
The first hint of danger came with a strange coughing bark that echoed off the hills. I froze. Fear’s metallic flavour filled my mouth.
Luke and Josh both dropped their packs and started scrabbling for their guns.
A streak of grey through the grass between the boys and me confirmed my greatest fear about this trip.
We had unwittingly walked into a troop of baboons.
Baboons aren’t just another type of monkey. They are huge. They’re the size and have the nature of a pit bull but with four hands, opposable thumbs and canines to rival any leopard’s. They are aggressive and have been known to attack solitary leopards and even lions – and win. They are also smart and notoriously territorial, which, all in all, amounted to bad news for me.
I was isolated from the boys.
I was smaller than the boys.
I was the only one without a gun.
I was a female, and I had food in my backpack and they knew that, and that made me the natural target.
Luke was the first one to stand up with his gun loaded and on his shoulder. He swung around as another baboon darted past him and froze when he saw how far behind them I was and how many baboons were between us.
The look of panic that crossed his face as he assessed the situation frightened me even more.
“Alex, stay very still,” Luke called. “I can’t shoot at anything until we’re together in case they attack you.”
“OK,” I squeaked.
Josh and Luke began edging slowly toward me, each step resulting in agitated chattering and the occasional coughing shout of one of the male baboons.
The boys were about thirty paces from me when an enormous male baboon stalked up to me. His shoulder came up to my mid-thigh and the deference the other baboons showed him, cowering away from him as he passed them, marked him as the troop leader.
He sat down ten paces from me and yawned, displaying all of his yellowed teeth.
I remembered from Dad’s bush education that baboons don’t yawn because they’re tired, baboons yawn to show you their teeth.
“Luke?” I hissed, my voice rising in panic.
“Look at the ground and back away very very slowly.” His voice was tense.
I obeyed, listening to the low conversation between Luke and Josh as they tried to find a way out for me.
“Move to the right, Alex,” Luke directed.
The ground was sloping downward making balancing difficult. As I edged backwards my foot slipped, and I dipped forward suddenly. The baboon reacted to my sudden movement by leaping at me and puffing out his fur making him look even bigger than before.
“Steady, Alex.” Luke’s voice cracked with strain.
I glanced up to see where he and Josh were. They both had their guns trained on the baboon, but my position meant that if they missed him, they would hit me instead.
My stomach lurched. There was a really good chance I wouldn’t be getting out of this unscathed.
I took another step backwards, the slope of the hill making it more and more difficult to hold my footing.
The baboon barked again. A few of the smaller males sprang to his side.
I could hear Josh and Luke whispering again.
“Alex, on my count I want you to take two more slow steps backwards and then fall flat on your stomach,” Luke instructed.
I nodded as fear twisted though me.
“Step one. Step two.”
I wobbled on the sloping ground.
“On the count of three, Alex.”
I sucked in a breath and tensed my muscles to make the fall faster than his bullet.
“One; two; three.”
I threw myself down.
Three things happened at once.
A loud bang as both boys shot at the baboon.
The animal’s angry shout as they missed it.
The horrible sensation of slithering backwards and then falling and falling.
Chapter 8
Introductions
I hit the water at an awkward angle, my head snapping backwards as the air was knocked out of my lungs, the icy water closing over my head.
I was in trouble.
I managed to clamp my mouth shut as I fought the panic and dark spots that danced in front of my eyes. I tried to move my arms and legs, to pull myself back towards the receding light of the surface, but they were so heavy and it was such an effort.
To add to my horror, silken strands of viscous water moved over my arms, feeling like fingers that were pulling me further and further down.
Sinking.
I screamed as the pain rushed up the sides of my head again. It was a useless sound, muffled and very weak, and it didn’t even come close to countering the relentless searing pain that had me curling in on myself. And then with a sharp jolt I’d hoped never to feel again, it was gone, and I knew I was dying.
Dreamy thoughts flitted through my mind.
Mom; Dad; Luke; Josh; home; air.
Air!
Warm air was forced into my lungs.
Strong hands holding my face.
Water rushing past me.
Lips clamped firmly over mine forcing air into my starved lungs.
I must have passed out because the next thing I was conscious of was rough rock pressing into my aching back and hands smoothing the hair from my face, and an urgent voice in my ear begging.
“Wake up; please wake up!”
I concentrated on opening my eyes, pushing my eyelids up with effort.
A halo of light surrounded him.
I focused on his mouth which was still moving in muttered petition as his hands continued to smooth my hair, his eyes raking my face.
I dragged another breath into my lungs and closed my eyes so that I could concentrate. My thoughts moved sluggishly as I mentally ticked
