The Leopard's Prey (23 page)

Jade did as she was directed and kept her hands on Sam’s shoulders, moving one only when the nurse pulled the back-less shirt from first one arm, then the other, and again when she slipped the clean linen gown on him. She felt the firmness of Sam’s muscles under her hands and recalled the night he’d held her close in the hammock on Mount Marsabit, protecting her against the cold with his body heat. That night, her own overpowering fatigue had dissolved in his strong but gentle embrace.

The nurse quickly washed Sam while Jade kept her gaze focused on his face and the mop of damp brown hair that clung to his brow. They undid the leg restraints next.

“Roll him toward you,” said the nurse. Jade complied and the nurse slipped the wet sheet from under him and slid in a fresh one. “Now I’ll turn him toward me, and you finish that side of the sheets.”

Jade tugged the sheet tight, averting her eyes from Sam’s exposed rear. They rolled Sam onto his back again and pulled up a fresh top sheet, leaving the restraints off. When they were done, the nurse once again looked Jade over.

“You’re a cool assistant—I give you that,” the woman said. “At least you’re not one of those flighty women who faint.”

Jade smiled at the term “flighty.” For her, it had a different meaning. “Thank you, Nurse. Mr. Featherstone appears to be calmer now. I doubt you’ll need any help next time.”

“His fever
is
dropping. He shouldn’t sweat out another set of sheets so quickly.” The nurse started to leave, then turned back to Jade. “You should consider becoming a nurse yourself.”

Jade shook her head. “I dealt too closely with death during the war. I doubt I could maintain my composure as well as you do.”

The nurse accepted the compliment with a nod and returned to her rounds. Jade went back to her hard chair and another attempt at sleep. She managed half an hour. Then the iron grip of a hand clamped on her wrist startled her awake. She turned to see a pair of black eyes staring at her.

“Sam,” she said, “you’re awake.” He only stared, his eyes slightly glazed as though he was trying to comprehend the situation. Jade came to his rescue with a whispered explanation. “You’re in the hospital, Sam. In Nairobi,” she added, lest he was still feverish and under the impression he’d been shot down.

He tried to speak and managed to croak out, “Why?”

“Malaria, from the looks of it. I’ll bet you haven’t been using your mosquito netting. You’ve had a pretty wild fever. I’ve seen broncs that bucked less than you were doing.”

He tried to rise and fell back against the bed.

“Lie still, Sam.” Jade took a cloth, dampened it in a basin, and wiped his face. “You had me pretty worried.” She noticed his left foot shift, searching for the right one. Did he feel his missing leg, she wondered, or was he only trying to find out if the wooden one was attached?

“Should I call the nurse for you, Sam? Is there anything you want?”

His grip on her wrist tightened. “What day is it?” he said, his voice weak and breathy.

Jade placed her other hand on his, stroking it, hoping he’d relax the pressure on her wrist. “It’s not yet dawn on Monday.”

His nearly black eyes took on a pleading note. “I need to leave. The job. The Jenny.”

Jade shook her head. “You can’t fly right now. They’ll have to wait on their rhino.”

“No!” he said more forcefully. “They can’t wait. Contract.”

Jade sighed. Although the plane and a spare engine had only cost him two hundred fifty dollars from the Curtiss Company, Sam had spent a lot more having it shipped overseas last year. He’d put nearly everything else he owned into the Akeley motion picture camera and film. This job was important to him. “I could talk to them if you want,” she said.

“No! You fly.”

CHAPTER 12

Initiation into manhood means respect, freedom, and the fellowship of other
warriors. Initiation into womanhood means the end of freedom and marriage
to a junior elder at least twice as old as she. Yet the women sing constantly.

—The Traveler

YOU FLY!
THE command echoed in Jade’s ears, stirring myriad conflicting emotions. Exuberance and excitement clashed with sadness and fear. She thrilled at the thought of going solo, then rebuked herself for forgetting the cause of this honor. Sam was still in a bad way. But a sense of pride surfaced, because she knew that she could help calm his mind by removing one of his concerns. Fear that she wasn’t ready to fly plowed right into pride.
What if I wreck his plane? He’ll never forgive me.
A sneering voice reminded her that she needn’t fret there. If she wrecked his plane, she’d probably be dead anyway.

Jade leaned closer to Sam and kissed him lightly on his forehead. “Sam. I—”

She was interrupted by the renewed grip on her wrist. “Please,” he pleaded.

Jade patted his hand. “All right, Sam. If it will help you to rest, then I’ll take her up.”

He sighed, closed his eyes, and collapsed back on his pillow. His right hand slipped from her wrist and fell to his side. Jade readjusted his cover sheet before reaching into her bag for a pencil and her notebook. She tore out a back page and wrote a note to Avery, remembering his plans to visit in the morning.

Avery: Sam had a job scouting for rhino. He’s asked me to go up for him. I’ll be home later this evening.

Jade

She looked over the brief note, decided it was adequate, and folded the paper. She wrote
Avery
on the outside, and set it on the chair seat.

The nurse saw her head for the door. “You are leaving now?”

“Yes,” said Jade. “Thank you for taking such excellent care of him.” She pointed back to the chair. “I left a note for a friend of Mr. Featherstone’s, someone who’ll come by later.”

“What shall I tell Mr. Featherstone if he wakes and finds you’re gone?”

“Tell him I’m taking care of Jenny.”

WHEN JADE ARRIVED at the Thompsons’ farm, the sun was just breaking over the horizon, and the warmth felt good on a chilly morning. The Thompsons were already giving directions to their workers for the day. The smaller fly crop had already been picked and pulped. Now it waited for the fermenter to loosen the residue left on the beans in preparation for washing.

Biscuit greeted Jade first with a chirp and a head butt. A small black feather with white spots stuck on his chin told Jade that her pet had found a wild guineafowl for breakfast.

“Jade,” called Madeline when she spied her friend, “how is Sam? We’re going to drive in and see him later this afternoon if we can get away.”

“He’s doing better, Maddy,” Jade said. “We managed to get the quinine in him and his fever finally broke. I left him sleeping, and Avery’s going to spend time with him this morning. They’re limiting his guests anyway.” She clapped Neville on the shoulder. “Thank you, Neville, for bringing him in last evening and for coming to get me.”

Neville’s mouth gaped, as though taken aback by the thanks. “Of course,” he said after a moment’s pause. “One might deal with lesser bouts of the blasted disease at home but not one of that scale. The good news is some types of malaria don’t seem to come back again, so this may be it for Sam.”

“It was good of you, Jade,” said Maddy, “to come out here so early to give us news.”

“It’s not my only reason,” said Jade.

“Yes, of course,” said Madeline. “You came to tell us that the Dunburys have come home. Such a surprise. I cannot imagine what you must have thought. Neville, of course, told me yesterday evening. I must own that I would never have expected Beverly to make such a long voyage in her condition, but I’m sure she’s glowing.”

Jade waited until her friend had stopped prattling, something Maddy did when worried. “No more surprised than I was. It appears they missed Africa and all of us too much to wait. Bev’s fine. She wanted to surprise you by having you come to the house later today.”

Madeline’s eyes brightened and her smile relaxed the worry lines on her forehead. “Of course, we shall come. After we see Sam, we’ll go straight to their home.” She turned to Neville and peered up at him pleadingly, one palm resting on his shirtfront. “Won’t we, Neville? We won’t stay the night, of course. It would only be for the afternoon.”

Neville patted his wife’s hand. “Of course, darling. If the coffee washer operates, we can take one more afternoon off. Kimathi can see that the final work gets done.”

“Speaking of Kimathi, I need to borrow him this morning to help me drag out the plane and then pull the prop.” Jade explained the need to take Sam’s plane up and scout for a young rhino. “I won’t keep him long. He’ll be back before it’s time for your elevenses.”

“Oh, Jade,” said Madeline, “are you ready to solo?”

She nodded. “I can handle it. I’ve had the best teachers.” The plain truth was, Jade herself didn’t feel as confident as she sounded. She knew she’d only logged a grand total of sixteen hours of flight time in her life. But Sam trusted her and she couldn’t let him down.

“Do you need my help as well?” asked Neville.

“Thanks but no. Kimathi has been through this procedure many times with Sam, so he knows what to do, and it only takes one man to turn the prop.”

Neville called for Kimathi, a tall Kikuyu who had taken on the role of foreman several years ago. “Memsabu Simba Jike will fly Bwana Mti Mguu’s aeroplane,” he said, referring to Sam by the Africans’ name for him, “tree leg.” “Come back here when she goes up, but listen for her return and help her again.”

“I’ll buzz the house when I’m back,” Jade suggested. “You won’t be able to miss me.”

Biscuit started to follow her as she climbed back aboard her motorcycle and invited Kimathi to ride aboard the seat over the rear wheel. “No, Biscuit, stay.” She didn’t want to worry about him being in the way during takeoff. “Maddy, can you get Biscuit?”

Madeline took Biscuit by the collar and held on to him. “Be careful,” she called over the noise of Jade’s cycle. It was an unnecessary admonition. Jade had every intention of doing just that. She adjusted the throttle, and she and Kimathi rode off north to the edge of Neville’s farm and Sam’s makeshift hangar.

Jade first reoiled all the engine holes. Then she began her walk around the plane, checking the tail skid, twanging all the wires to see if they were tight and unfrayed. She studied the fabric skin on the wings, looking for any rents or holes. She added a few drops of oil to the hinges on the ailerons as well as those on the rear elevators and rudder. After that, she squatted down and inspected the wheels, making sure that the bungee cords that acted as shock absorbers were tight and the bracing wires were intact. What should have taken an hour took two as she did everything twice and more slowly.

In her mind, she re-created Sam’s motions, never deviating from his routine lest she overlook anything. But imagining Sam brought back her last sight of him in the hospital, haggard and worn. She tightened her lips and forced herself to focus.

This is no time to get maudlin.

The honor of his trust in her was more than counterbalanced by the burden of responsibility. Jade was a good mechanic, having maintained her old flivver, or Model T, ambulance during the war. She also felt at home with her Indian Big Twin motorcycle’s motor. But all those machines had been hers
and
they stayed on the ground.

While Kimathi stood by, Jade stood on the wheels and drained a little fluid from the bottom of the fuel tank, removing any water that might have settled. Then Kimathi pumped gasoline from Sam’s barrel into a
debe
, climbed up onto a stack of crates, and filled the tank while Jade inspected the rubber hosing. She filled the radiator, checked the prop, and finally decided she was ready to take the plane up. She and Kimathi grabbed the plane’s wing holds and moved it out of the little hangar and into the slight morning breeze.

Sam had purchased a trainer, a plane with controls in both cockpits, but instruments only in the rear one. In practice, a trained pilot sat in the front while the student flew from the rear. If the student “froze” or otherwise put them in danger, the real pilot could take over. Jade had sat back here before, but this time there was no one in the front. The sight of that empty front seat sent a quiver into her stomach.

Get ahold of yourself!

She put her left foot in the recessed stirrup and stepped up. Behind the pilot’s head was a little space to store a canteen or some other small item. Jade shoved her Berber pouch in there next to Sam’s logbook and a spare canteen. Time to mount up. She swung her right leg over the side and pulled her left leg in. The narrow cockpit gave the pilot just enough room to sit, not to fidget. This backseat felt even more constrained because Sam’s friends, the “Bert Boys,” had rigged his rudder bar to work from a hand control as well as with the feet. Sam had discovered that his wooden leg didn’t impede controlling the rudder as much as everyone had feared, so he rarely used the new controls. But they were still there, and her knee brushed them when she tightened her restraining belt.