Child of Africa Read online

  CHILD OF AFRICA

  T.M. CLARK

  www.harlequinbooks.com.au

  Born in Zimbabwe, T.M. Clark completed her primary school years at boarding school in Bulawayo, but on weekends and holidays she explored their family ranch in Nyamandhlovu, normally on the back of her horse. Her teenage years were totally different to her idyllic childhood. After her father died, the family of five women moved to Kokstad, a rural town at the foot of the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa, and the boarding school hostel became her home.

  She began writing fiction in the UK while a stay-at-home mum to her two sons and she hasn’t looked back.

  Now living on a small island near Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, T.M. Clark combines her passion for storytelling with her love for Africa.

  Her first novel, My Brother-But-One, was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Award 2014. She is also the author of novels Shooting Butterflies and Tears of the Cheetah, as well as a novella, The Avoidable Orphan, and a children’s picture book, Slowly! Slowly!, which are companion books to Child Of Africa.

  Readers can find T.M. Clark on Facebook (tmclarkauthor), Twitter (@tmclark_author) or visit her website at tmclark.com.au.

  Other T.M. Clark books published by Harlequin

  My Brother-But-One

  Shooting Butterflies

  Tears of the Cheetah

  As always, to Shaun, my love, my life.

  To all service personnel everywhere.

  Thank you for your sacrifice.

  CONTENTS

  About the Author

  Prologue: Finders Keepers

  Chapter 1: Dreamers

  Chapter 2: Whispers on the Wind

  Chapter 3: Homecoming

  Chapter 4: Getting Reacquainted

  Chapter 5: King Gogo wa de Patswa

  Chapter 6: The Heart Calls Home

  Chapter 7: Yingwe River Lodge, Binga

  Chapter 8: White Crosses

  Chapter 9: The Warning

  Chapter 10: Small Steps

  Chapter 11: The Moringa Grove

  Chapter 12: The Camp

  Chapter 13: Surprise Package

  Chapter 14: Dames and Dust

  Chapter 15: Friends

  Chapter 16: Precious Time

  Chapter 17: Across the Mighty Zambezi

  Chapter 18: Brewing Storms

  Chapter 19: Grape Vines

  Chapter 20: The Journey Home

  Chapter 21: Unlocking Secrets

  Chapter 22: Bulawayo

  Chapter 23: An Elder’s Secrets

  Chapter 24: Recognition

  Chapter 25: Glowing Embers

  Chapter 26: The Spark

  Chapter 27: Trust

  Chapter 28: Threads of Terror

  Chapter 29: Taken

  Chapter 30: Cold Graves

  Chapter 31: Combat

  Chapter 32: The Fire Glows

  Chapter 33: Breath of Air

  Chapter 34: Witchcraft

  Chapter 35: A Shifting View

  Chapter 36: Home is Where You Belong

  Fact vs Fiction

  Glossary

  Acknowledgements

  Excerpt

  PROLOGUE

  Finders Keepers

  Binga Area, Zimbabwe, 1996.

  The elephant baby lay on its side, its trunk limp in the dry dirt.

  ‘Do you think it’s dead?’ Joss asked, approaching slowly.

  Bongani put his hand on the elephant’s shoulder. ‘No, it is breathing, but might be sick, as it is unusual for a baby to be separated from the herd—’

  ‘What can we do to help it?’

  Bongani shook his head. ‘The kindest thing to do would be to shoot it, put it out of its misery.’

  Joss ran his hand over the legs of the baby elephant. ‘I can’t find any hot spots and there doesn’t seem to be anything broken. I think it’s just tired, and hungry. We can take it home with us.’

  ‘Your mother will not like this—’

  ‘Mum will adopt any animal, you know that! Perhaps if we give it some water?’ Joss said. He took his bottle from the webbing he carried across his shoulder. The regulation army-issue flask was too long for him and sat on his thigh not his hip, but at ten years old, he didn’t care. Water was water, and when you were out tracking and hunting all day, you needed to carry your own. He poured some in his hand and then put the tip of the baby elephant’s trunk into his palm. The elephant was still for a second, then it moved its trunk as it smelt the water.

  ‘It wants it,’ Joss said as he pulled Bongani’s hands forward. ‘Cup your hands and I’ll pour the water into them—’

  The elephant curled its trunk to drink from Bongani’s hands, and put the water in its mouth.

  ‘At least it is old enough to have control of its trunk,’ Bongani said. ‘A good sign.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Many years ago, before I came to work for your family, I was with the Parks Board. It was a long time ago.’

  ‘Why did you leave there?’ Joss asked, putting more water into Bongani’s cupped hands.

  ‘The bush war came. I met your father during that time, and I came to work for him instead, before you were even born.’ Bongani paused. ‘We could get into lots of trouble from the Parks Board for having a baby elephant. They will want to know where we got it, and how we came to have it at the lodge.’

  ‘Mum will sort that out. Let’s try to get it back on its feet.’

  ‘Do not rush it. Give it some more water first. Slowly, in case it gets a tummy ache. It will get up when it is ready, if it can. It needs some relief from the heat. We must make a shelter for it, and then, when it is cooler, we can encourage it to walk.’

  They collected dead wood from the forest floor and broke branches off the trees in the mopani forest. Slowly the lean-to took shape around the young elephant, protecting the animal from the harsh African sun.

  They sat with the baby for over an hour as it drank all the water from both their bottles.

  ‘If it is to live, it must get up. It must walk to the road,’ Bongani said. ‘We cannot bring a vehicle in here; the bush is too thick.’

  ‘It’ll walk,’ Joss said as he returned with a handful of leaves from an acacia tree.

  The baby attempted to eat the leaves, taking them from his hand and putting them into its little mouth, but it didn’t seem to like them much. For a while it just lay in the shade. Joss sat next to it, stroking its cheek, waiting for the elephant to feel better as the sun began to lower.

  ‘We need to get it moving soon,’ Bongani said. ‘Is it a boy or girl?’

  ‘Hang on,’ Joss said as he bent over and looked underneath the elephant. ‘She’s definitely a girl.’

  ‘Good. She should not be as moody as a male to look after, and perhaps when she is older, she will come back with her babies to visit, not come back in musth and break the fences, destroying our crops.’

  ‘Come, Ndhlovy,’ Joss said, ‘you have to get up, you have to come home with us. If we leave you here, the leopards or the hyenas will get you, because your mum is not here and you are all alone.’

  The elephant put her trunk into his hand. The tiny hairs on it prickled but he didn’t mind. He continued to talk softly to her: ‘Bongani and I need to get home; my mum will shout at us if we don’t get back before it’s dark. It’s her one rule when we go hunting: be home before the sun sets. So you need to stand up and walk to the road, then Bongani will get the tractor and you can ride home on the trailer. But first you must get yourself to the road. It’s not far.’

  Bongani said, ‘You are naming her Ndhlovy?’

  ‘Yes. Then you can’t leave her behind; she’s my pet, she has a name.’

  Bongani shook his head. ‘We n
eed to leave now. Perhaps if we walk away she might follow us, like the calves do.’

  Joss got up and dusted the dirt off his trousers. ‘Come on, Ndhlovy.’

  The baby lay still, but her amber eyes followed him.

  Joss walked further away. He looked back over his shoulder. Ndhlovy had sat up and was watching them leave. ‘Come on, ellie, time to go home,’ he said a bit more sternly.

  The baby elephant staggered to her feet, her little ears flapping. She wriggled her trunk, thrashing it in an uncertain manner, a little unsteady as she balanced her weight.

  Bongani smiled.

  ‘Home is this way,’ Joss said. ‘Come on ...’

  The baby elephant walked after them.

  Bongani nodded. ‘This is good.’

  ‘Keep coming, Ndhlovy,’ encouraged Joss.

  The baby elephant walked with purpose until she caught up with Joss, then she placed her trunk in his hand, and settled just behind him. Every now and again she bumped him, as if trying to reassure herself he was there.

  ‘That’s it, Ndhlovy,’ said Joss, ‘you just keep walking.’

  ‘You keep heading homeward with the elephant. I will fetch the tractor and trailer and the men from the village to help us load her. Keep sharp now.’

  ‘Okay,’ Joss said just as Ndhlovy bumped him a bit harder and he almost lost his balance.

  Bongani smiled. ‘You keep moving to the road and then home, understood?’

  ‘Yes. We’ll be coming.’

  ‘Watch for leopard; we are in their country and they might think you are easy prey. Swap weapons with me. I know the .303 is heavier than your .22, but you might need to use it.’

  Joss nodded and switched rifles.

  Bongani watched him adjust to the extra weight. ‘The ammo belt will not fit around your hips – put it across your chest.’

  ‘This is heavy. Can’t I just take a few rounds and put them in my pocket?’

  ‘No. You need to be fully armed out here. If a leopard comes, or something worse ...’

  Joss adjusted the heavy rifle and ammo belt onto his shoulders.

  ‘I’m reminding you again, shoot or be killed,’ Bongani instructed.

  ‘I got it, Bongani. It’s not like I haven’t ever been alone in the bush before—’

  ‘But you have not been alone in the bush as much as I have. You are still young. There is so much still to teach you.’

  ‘I’ll watch for leopards and hyenas and anything else that can eat me and Ndhlovy while you’re gone. I promise, cross my heart,’ Joss said as he crossed his whole chest with his free hand.

  Bongani nodded as he increased his stride. ‘You are a true African, inkosana Joss. In your heart. You want to save the babies of this land, not kill them. I am happy to tell your mother about the baby, and have her get mad at me, because you have chosen to nurture this Ndhlovy. Today you have proved you are a child of Africa. I will see you now-now.’ He waved as he walked away.

  Joss watched as Bongani adjusted the strap of his .22 rifle, which hung from his shoulder tight on his back, then he started to jog back towards the village. He didn’t look back.

  * * *

  The sun hovered low above the tree line, a huge ball of orange. Joss watched as their shadows danced along, already three times longer than he and the elephant were in real life. He headed steadily southeast, towards the lodge and safety, with Ndhlovy close behind, her baby feet imprinting like giant saucers over his tracks as she walked. All the while he kept up a conversation with the elephant, explaining how they needed to walk through the village before they could reach their lodge on the bank of Lake Kariba, and about the noise that the others would make when they arrived to help. A coolness descended as the sun sank lower into the horizon.

  He heard the sound of whistling, then a donkey bray, and men singing in harmony, before he saw Bongani. He was driving the cart that belonged to his father’s village: three donkeys pulled the converted back of an old bakkie. Six men stood in the cart, holding tight to the cabin guard.

  Joss smiled. Ndhlovy would be able to save her strength. The cart would not be as fast as the tractor, but it would scare the little elephant a lot less. He moved off the road into the bushes so that there was room for the donkeys to turn. The elephant pulled away from him as the donkeys drew near, but he rubbed her ears and encouraged her to be brave.

  ‘Bring it to the back. The donkeys do not seem spooked by it,’ Bongani said.

  Joss walked towards the cart. The elephant followed, even though its ears flapped at the unfamiliar animals and the new men. Bongani had unloaded the cattle ramp and Joss started to walk up it, still holding the little ellie’s trunk.

  But Ndhlovy didn’t follow.

  ‘Come on, baby. Up you come,’ he said.

  The elephant looked around, her ears flapping, the white of her eyes clearly visible.

  ‘Trust me,’ Joss pleaded.

  The men went to move behind the elephant, as if herding cattle.

  The elephant turned towards the threat, ears flapping, her little trunk high in the air.

  ‘Stand back!’ Bongani shouted.

  The men retreated from the threat of the elephant charging them.

  Joss came back down the ramp and stood in front of Ndhlovy.

  Bongani said, ‘Slowly-slowly. Wait for Joss to get her to start up the ramp. Joss, get her to move around again. We are about to lose all the light. As it is we only have one torch to shine the way for the donkeys.’

  ‘Come on, beautiful, come with me,’ Joss said as he took her trunk in his hand once again and patted it. ‘Come on, turn around, that’s it. Just walk with me, that’s it.’

  The baby elephant slowly plodded up the slope, sticking close to Joss, as if all the bluster she had shown in her mock charge had sapped her energy.

  Joss walked to the front of the trailer. ‘Okay. You can close up and climb inside. Ndhlovy’s real scared.’

  One by one, the men climbed up and into the cart. Holding out their arms, they touched the elephant, and braced themselves against the edge of the trailer to help cushion the ride.

  The moon had risen and the bright stars watched from the inky heavens by the time they had driven through the village and down to Yingwe River Lodge. When they arrived, Ndhlovy backed herself off the trailer without incident and walked into the stables behind Joss. She showed no bravado, just stayed close to him, as if he were now her lifeline.

  The ridgebacks arrived before Joss’s mum. Ringo, Paul and John came into the stable, their hackles up, but George remained close at his mistress’s side.

  ‘Enough. Outside,’ Joss instructed and pointed. The dogs immediately went outside. His mum made her entrance within moments of her dogs being banished and although they danced at the gate, they stayed out of the stable.

  ‘So what have you brought home this time, Joss Brennan?’ she asked.

  ‘An orphan elephant. Bongani thinks her herd left her behind, or they got separated somehow ... she was on the border of Chete. She’s weak—’

  Leslie Brennan walked further into the stable and knelt in the straw. ‘Hello, young one,’ she said quietly and reached her hand out to the little elephant, who was now lying in the thick straw that Bongani had had the groom prepare.

  The dogs whined.

  ‘Stay outside,’ she instructed. They lay down quietly near the door. ‘Does she have any injuries?’

  ‘No, Mum. Not that I could find. She’s just weak and tired,’ Joss said, still holding Ndhlovy’s trunk.

  ‘She needs some nourishment and something to drink. Mossman, go warm up some calf formula. Let’s see if she will take a bottle. I know nothing about baby ellies but I can call around and find out who does.’ She pulled her hair back with her hands and held it there, before letting it go. When it fell forward again, she tucked her long fringe behind her ear. ‘Bongani, make sure there’s someone guarding this little one all night. Armed, in case the leopards decide she’s an easy dinner. Get a few
of the horse blankets in here to keep her warm too.’ She stroked the elephant’s trunk as men ran to do as she’d instructed. ‘Have you given her a name yet?’

  Joss nodded. ‘Ndhlovy.’

  ‘It’s a nice name. So, let’s get her on her feet and better. Then we will find out what ZimParks want us to do.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ Joss said. He knew that his mum would always allow him to keep the strays he brought in. The Egyptian geese babies she’d helped raise until they flew away with the migrating birds were regulars at the small dam they had for water at the safari lodge, nesting and raising their own goslings, bringing them to the house to introduce them, and then returning to their wild life, a tiny part of their hearts always with their human family.

  Or the tortoises that were kept in a large brick pen by the house. Each had been brought in with an injury – one was missing a leg completely. His mother had sprayed the wound with gentian violet and it had healed over. Although the tortoise would never win a race, it was alive and happy. Joss had wild birds mixed in with his racing pigeons too, those that could never be returned to the wild because of some injury or another. But not nearly as many as his mother had treated and nursed back to health before setting them free again. From birds to baby duikers, now to an elephant, his mum would raise any animal and claim that it belonged to her child, even though her son was at boarding school most of the year.

  His father, on the other hand, was always reminding them that the safari lodge was established as a gateway to Lake Kariba, that it wasn’t a zoo, and the animals could only stay until they were well enough, then they had to leave. It was survival of the fittest in the real world, and because he’d once been a head ranger in the Chizarira, Joss knew that he understood all about animals, but he just didn’t seem to want to take care of them like Joss and his mum did.

  Joss chewed his lip, not sure how his father would react to the elephant baby. He remembered that last year a rogue elephant had come from the park and destroyed the village’s vegetable patch and flattened their moringa tree seedlings. It had uprooted trees on its way to their village and had even torn a roof from one of the ikhayas. When they had attempted to drive it back into the Chete Safari Area by beating feed tins and hitting metal plough disks, the jumbo had become aggressive and mauled one of the villagers.