Hunted (21 page)

The elephant swished his ears and took a step forwards, reaching with his trunk. As one, the occupants of the Jeep tensed, expecting an explosion. Nothing happened. The elephant carried on feeding peacefully.

Hex picked up the mobile and dialled. 'Hi, Joe? The new tags are working but there's an elephant in a minefield. What do you normally do in this situation?' He listened, then hung up.

'What did he say?' said Alex.

Hex looked shocked. 'He said there's nothing we can do. It's too dangerous to go in there.'

'We've got company,' said Amber.

They heard foliage cracking about twenty metres away. Three large heads appeared, ears swinging, trunks probing the air. One of the elephants had two holes in its ear.

'Thunderbird with Brains and Penelope,' said Li.

The three elephants walked towards them with a purposeful stride.

Paulo jumped out of the Jeep. 'They're heading for the minefield. We've got to stop them or they'll get blown up too.'

21
TRUST

'Try the flare pistol,' said Alex. 'That might make them turn away.'

The three elephants strode out confidently, unaware of the danger ahead.

'No good,' said Li. 'That might scare the one in there into stampeding. We've got to concentrate on Thunderbird - she's the boss. Paulo, do you think we can get her to turn back?'

'I'll try,' said Paulo. 'She came with me before.'

He approached the elephant. He was far from certain of her reaction. She might decide he was a threat. But she seemed happy to see him - her ears were forward and her eyes soft. Perhaps she remembered the milk he had given her.

She was now quite close. Would she let him touch her? He spoke to her softly in Spanish, soothing words he used when training the horses on his ranch in Argentina.
'Brava
. . .'

Thunderbird's trunk curled towards Paulo. She seemed to be inviting him to touch her. He reached out and put his hand on the base of her trunk. The corrugations in the wrinkled grey skin were rough ridges under his hand. The trunk fidgeted, probing him gently. 'I'm sorry,' he said, 'I haven't got any milk for you today.'

A loud trumpeting from the elephant in the minefield shattered the moment. Thunderbird marched confidently forwards, answering the call. Paulo ran after her. He got slightly ahead of her and looked her in the eye. She stopped, puzzled. Brains and Penelope, close behind, bumped into her rump and stopped.

Paulo put his hand out and stroked the ridged trunk again, speaking in Spanish. Thunderbird let him rub her face and stroke the ends of her ears. Could he guide her away? She seemed to respond to him. But last time he'd had the milk to use as a lure. What could he do now?

Then a crazy idea began to form in his head. Could he climb up on her?

He grasped Thunderbird's ear.
'Brava
. . .
brava,'
he whispered. She didn't seem worried. With a mighty heave, he launched himself up her foreleg and shoulder, holding onto her ear and walking up her dusty wrinkled flesh as though it was a mountain. He swung his leg over and settled behind her head, his knees tucked behind her ears.

'I don't believe it,' said Amber softly.

'If he sees an animal, he has to put his backside on it,' said Alex.

The elephant in the minefield gave another hurry-up call, and Thunderbird set off. Paulo was caught unawares. He lurched from side to side; Thunderbird's neck seemed to pitch and roll in all directions at once. He was glad he hadn't eaten recently: it was like being on a ship in a very rough sea. He grabbed Thunderbird's left ear to keep his balance. She turned left.

He tried pulling the right ear. The elephant turned right.

'She's letting me steer her,' he called.

'Look, the others are following,' said Hex. Brains and Penelope fell in behind Thunderbird. Paulo decided to test how much they would follow her. He steered her first one way, then the other. Brains and Penelope followed.

'Just like horses,' said Amber. 'They follow the herd leader.'

'I might be able to use Thunderbird to persuade the other elephant out - what do you think?'

'You don't mean you're going to ride her in there?' called Alex.

'No, but if I take her close and turn her away, the other elephant might follow her out.'

'Why will he follow Thunderbird?' asked Alex. 'He's only interested in food.'

Li answered for Paulo. 'Elephants follow dominant females. She seems to be able to make the others do things.'

'What's to stop Paulo ending up in the minefield instead?' said Hex.

'Nothing.' Li called to Paulo, 'Be careful. If you lose control, save yourself first.'

'I think she trusts me to guide her,' said Paulo. He gave Thunderbird a reassuring stroke on top of her head, then steered her towards the hole in the fence.

The elephant in the minefield continued to eat, but was watching Thunderbird's every move. That was good, thought Paulo. If the elephant had ignored Thunderbird, there wouldn't be any chance he would follow. What he'd do was take Thunderbird up near the broken fence and then turn her away. He hoped that the grazing elephant would follow. And that there wouldn't be any mines in the way.

The elephant in the minefield gave a low trumpet and moved closer to the fence. Paulo's heart leaped: it was a good sign, but each time the elephant put a foot down, he might find a mine.

Hex, Amber, Li and Alex watched in agonized silence. The elephant walked towards Thunderbird. The ploy was working, but every step the elephant took towards safety seemed to take an eternity. And every move he made might be his last.

Paulo took deep breaths. He was as nervous as the others but he couldn't let it show. Thunderbird was a wild animal and would pick up his tension in an instant; if she sensed he was worried or stressed she might panic and stop trusting him.

Some sixth sense gave Li the sudden urge to encourage him. 'It's working, Paulo,' she said. 'Keep it up.'

Her comment came right when he needed it most. Inwardly he thanked her.

Amber picked up her cue. 'He got into the minefield safely, Paulo, so he can get out safely. You're doing brilliantly.'

And it
was
working. The elephant in the minefield was still walking towards Thunderbird.

Paulo got as close as he dared, then turned Thunderbird away. He talked to her all the time to encourage her, to tell her she was doing well. His heart swelled with pride at the trust she was putting in him.

'That elephant is coming, Paulo,' said Alex. 'It's working like a charm.'

Paulo looked round. The elephant stepped through the hole he had made in the fence, twirling a clump of grass in his trunk, oblivious to the worried people all around him. Paulo took Thunderbird well away from the minefield.

'He's done it,' said Amber. 'Who'd have thought it?'

'We'd better help him down,' said Li.

But Paulo dismounted without any trouble. He rubbed the ridges at the top of Thunderbird's trunk, talking to her, letting her know how well she'd done. 'What a pity I haven't got anything I can give her,' he said. 'She deserves a treat.'

Alex, Li, Hex and Amber arrived beside him, watching Paulo praise Thunderbird. The elephant stood with her eyes half closed.

'She seems to be enjoying that at any rate,' said Alex. 'Do you treat all your women that way?'

'Look, here comes the other elephant,' said Amber.

The elephant was making his way towards them when something stirred in the bushes near the Jeep. The elephant whirled round in fright and went back the way he had come.

'No!' cried Hex. But it was too late. The elephant crashed back into the minefield.

There was a deafening explosion. Brains, Thunderbird and Penelope let out ear-splitting blasts of fright. Paulo dived out of the way as they stampeded. Clods of earth rained down from the explosion. The elephants disappeared in a blur of sand.

When the dust cleared, the five members of Alpha Force got to their feet.

'Is anybody hurt?' said Alex.

'Look at the elephant,' said Li.

He was still standing, but one leg was ruined. The mine had reduced it to a mass of meat. A large chunk of it was missing, as though a bite had been taken out of it. White bone gleamed through the glistening red. Blood from an artery formed a spreading lake on the sandy ground. The elephant tried to move. The top of his leg came clean away from the mass of disintegrated flesh. He crashed to the ground, blocking the gap in the fence.

'Call Joe again,' said Li in a stunned voice.

'The mine was right in the entrance,' said Amber softly. 'He must have stepped over it every time.'

Hex put the mobile to his ear. 'Hi, Joe. Bad news. The elephant stepped on a mine.' There was a pause, then Hex said, 'It's the leg. Totally smashed.' Another pause. 'Yes, we have. Yes, we'll do that.' He rang off. When he next spoke his voice was hoarse. 'He says to give it a tranquillizer dart and he'll be here as quickly as he can.'

The elephant lay on his side. His eye was still open and he was breathing very fast. His trunk twitched and flailed, his breath rasping shallowly.

They worked in silence: Alex still had the gun; Li prepared the dart and handed it to him; Amber stood by with the antidote. Alex fired at point-blank range into the elephant's hide.

The eyelid drooped, then closed. The desperate panting subsided, the sides stopped heaving and the trunk stopped jerking.

Joe was there within ten minutes, riding a quad bike. Strapped to the back of the seat was a rifle. He only had to glance at the fallen elephant to size up the situation.

'He's not going to make it. That wound will be infected inside half a day, even if he could walk.' He unstrapped the rifle and took two bullets from his breast pocket. 'You may prefer not to see this; in any case you must stand well behind me. The bullets can ricochet inside the elephant's skull and come out anywhere.'