The Akimbo Adventures. Alexander McCall Smith

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      They walked all night. Akimbo was used to walking long distances, but the speed with which the men travelled wore him out. He had to keep up, even though his feet were sore and he longed to lie down in the grass and go to sleep.

      By the time the sun rose, they had already crossed into the reserve. Now that it was light, they moved cautiously, keeping to a route which took them through heavy vegetation. Akimbo wondered how long they could keep walking all day as well as all night. When could they sleep?

      Suddenly the leader gestured with his hand and the men stopped.

      ‘We’ll rest here,’ he said quietly. ‘Find places to sleep. We’ll move again tonight.’

      Akimbo dropped to the ground underneath the cover of a small thorn bush. The ground was hard but he was so tired that it was more welcome to him than the softest bed. He closed his eyes against the glare of the day and was asleep within seconds.

      He felt the hand of one of the men on his shoulder.

      ‘Time to go,’ a voice whispered. ‘We’re leaving.’

      Akimbo sat up. His body felt sore from sleeping on the ground, and his throat was parched. One of the men gave him a drink of water from a bottle he was carrying. Then he gave him a large piece of dried meat to eat as they walked. The meat was tough and difficult to chew, but Akimbo gnawed at it hungrily.

      It was almost dark by the time they set off. They had to travel more slowly now, as the ground was rough and the grass was thick and high. Akimbo had no idea where they were, but he knew that they must be nearing the place where they might expect to find elephants, as he had seen the forests in the distance when they stopped that morning.

      They disturbed several wild animals as they made their way. An antelope bounded off from a hollow immediately ahead of them, crashing through the undergrowth in panic. Another large animal was disturbed a little later, and they heard it charging away during the night. It could have been a rhinoceros, and this frightened Akimbo as he knew how dangerous rhinos could be.

      They stopped to rest once or twice, and Akimbo found himself less exhausted than on the previous night. At last, towards dawn, they stopped altogether. They were now in heavily wooded land, and at any point they might see elephant. Akimbo assumed that now the hunt was on.

      That morning, after resting for three or four hours, the group began to move slowly through the clumps of great trees which broke up the plain. One of the men was now acting as a tracker, and he had picked up the signs of elephant. From time to time he pointed at something on the ground and said something to the man with the limp, who nodded.

      Suddenly the tracker stopped. The leader went up to him and crouched beside him. Akimbo and the other men crouched down too, waiting for a sign from the leader.

      Akimbo saw the elephants at the edge of the trees. They were moving slowly, browsing among the branches of the trees with their trunks, pulling down clumps of foliage. His heart stopped for a moment. There was a male elephant among them who had a very large pair of tusks – great, white sweeps of ivory. Akimbo knew that the poachers would be bound to go for him.

      Suddenly two of the elephants turned to face them. There was a ripple of activity amongst the others, as the two large bulls flapped out their ears and lifted their trunks in the direction of the crouching men. Akimbo realised that the animals had got their scent and were now alarmed. And if they were alarmed, then they might charge.

      The leader gestured to one of the other men, who ran up to him with a rifle. The elephant must have seen the movement, as he suddenly moved forward several paces and let out a bellow. Behind him, the other elephants had moved for protection into the shadows of the trees.

      Akimbo had never seen a charging elephant and he was not ready for the speed with which it moved. For a few moments he was frozen in terror, his eyes fixed on the great creature which was charging towards them. Then, quite suddenly, the elephant stopped. For a short while it stood still, its ears out, its body quivering, small eddies of dust about its feet, and then, without warning, it turned aside and moved back towards the herd.

      As this was happening, the leader was fumbling with the rifle. By the time he had it to his shoulder, the elephants had disappeared into the thickness of the forest. Akimbo felt all the fear drain out of his body. They were safe. And so were the elephants – at least, for the time being.

Escape

      The leader was clearly angry over what had happened. He called his men over to him and spoke sharply to them, pointing to where the herd had been to underline his words. They all knew that the elephants would move quickly, now that they had scented danger, and that it would be difficult to catch up with the herd.

      For a few minutes the leader seemed uncertain what to do. Then he spoke. ‘We’ll follow them. I want to get those tusks.’

      One of the men stepped forward.

      ‘But they’re going west. There are rangers that way. It would be too dangerous. They might . . .’

      The leader interrupted him abruptly.

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