Eric took off his shirt and lay in the wet dirt of the riverbank. His head was spinning and he wasn’t able to think clearly. His thirst satisfied, he now turned his attention to hunger. “Can we get anything to eat?”
William sat on the bank. “I saw some berries on a tree but I can’t be sure they’re not poisonous. I guess we could try and hunt something.”
“What? Like a gazelle?”
“They’re fast, but not impossibly fast.” He stood up, walking to the river and dousing himself with as much water as he could. He slicked his hair back with his hand and grabbed his rifle. “I’ll be back soon.”
Eric felt as if he should follow, but he couldn’t move. His muscles were so fatigued they had started to spasm and his back had seized up, causing him to lean to the side in pain. He covered his eyes with his hands, trying to keep out the blazing sun but it still slipped through his fingers in a glowing red.
Soon, he was alone with the sun above him, the wet dirt underneath him, and the flowing river in front of him. The rushing waters sounded hypnotic; making him doze off and fall into a dreamless sleep.
A low grumble woke Eric. It sounded like a diesel engine starting in water. Eric looked up and saw the cracked gray-green scales of a large crocodile.
The croc was watching him patiently from the water, slowly drifting his tail back and forth as he made his way to the riverbank. His eyes were sticking out above the surface but the rest of the animal was submerged.
Eric tried to stand, fighting the resistance of his back. The croc kept a slow pace. Eric was about to turn and run when he heard a loud hiss. Behind him was another croc, though smaller than the one in the river. It had soundlessly come out farther down the bank and crept behind him. It was standing motionless except for its open mouth.
Eric ran and the croc charged. The larger croc was now out of the water and giving chase. The smaller one lunged and bit down on Eric’s calf. He screamed and collapsed on the ground. His calf felt like it was being crushed, the pressure sending waves of pain up his leg. The larger croc was nearly to him, moving in a purposely lazy stride.
The smaller croc began to pull with a ferocious strength, trying to get his meal back into the water. Eric tried to hold himself steady by clawing at the sand but the croc was too strong and soon he was waist deep in water. The croc began to twist his body and Eric was violently spun in the water, slamming his head into the riverbank as the croc tried to tear off his leg. He screamed as the larger croc moved in, its jaws open as it now lunged at his head.
The larger croc snarled and then retreated quickly into the water behind him.
The smaller croc let out a screech. Blood sprayed over Eric and the pressure on his leg went slack.
Eric only saw darkness at first. He thought the croc had bit him in the face but when he didn’t feel pain, he recognized that the darkness was a shadow cast over him.
The creature was colossal. Muscles rippling under gray fur. It stood as large as a horse but twice as thick and with large, powerful legs. The animal had its head in the organs of the smaller croc, which had been bitten in half, and swallowed the entrails. It picked up half the creature in its mouth and trotted a few feet away before dropping it on the ground and beginning to feed again.
Eric watched it eat. It lapped at the blood first, staining its face a dark red. It didn’t seem to chew, just tear and swallow. Within seconds, that part of the croc was almost gone.
Eric moved as silently as he could, holding his breath. He pulled apart the limp jaws of the croc around his leg and slid up the soft dirt of the riverbank. Getting to his hands and knees, he began to crawl away from the creature and into the grass.
He froze. A growl had come from behind him. He slowly turned his head. The creature had finished half the croc and was eating the other half. The large croc was now on the other side of the river, silently watching the creature.
Eric got to his feet and ran. The grass whipped the bare skin on his torso and face and each step shot a surge of pain up his back. He ran until his lungs burned and he was out of breath, pain in his side making him nearly double over. The grass was thick and he didn’t feel like his arms had the strength to keep pushing it away from him. Eventually he just barreled his way through, the vegetation scratching and scraping his tender flesh.
Something grabbed him and he yelled and turned, hitting his foot on a rock and collapsing onto his back. William stood above him, surprise on his face as he leaned down to calm him.
“What is it?” William said. “What’s going on?”
Eric was out of breath and couldn’t speak. He just pointed to the riverbank and William glanced back toward it and stood up. He checked the chamber on his rifle. “Stay put,” he said. Eric grabbed his pant leg. “Guns won’t do anything.”
CHAPTER
52
Night came again over India and the darkness was always accompanied by a new wave of sounds. Insects and animals that slept during the day were now coming out and into the fresh night air in search of food. Life itself seemed to grow louder on the Andhra Pradeshn plains when the sun went down. As if some creatures served only the moon.
Jalani sat next to a small fire she’d made from dried bark and twigs, sharpening her hunting knife with a smooth stone. Another fire was built a couple yards away and Douglas lay in front of it, drunk as he was every night, Sandra sitting next to him. They were laughing and telling stories and Sandra would put her hand on his shoulder when he said something particularly witty. Eventually, she began rubbing his arm as he told a long story of his time in New Zealand whale hunting.
Jalani didn’t like it. Sandra’s husband was out risking his life; it was disrespectful. But it was not her place to say anything. In her culture, a woman could be executed for adultery. But she knew that in Western cultures it was quite common.
She thought of Eric and worry began to gnaw at her. It was not her intention to like or even get to know him. But he had innocence about him that she found intriguing. It felt like she wanted to throw her arms around him and protect him from the world.
Dr. Namdi came and sat down next to Jalani, two cups of tea in his hands. He handed one to her and stretched out his legs before the fire. “You look sad,” Jalani said. “I could not save a boy tonight. His infection spread too fast. I just told his mother he was dead.” “Nothing is easy.”
“No, nothing is.” Namdi looked over to Sandra and Douglas. “You know, her husband is a holy man but I think he will still kill the fat one when he returns.” Jalani smiled. “If he returns.” “You do not think Thomas will kill this animal?” Namdi asked. “He will.” “It is not like other animals I have seen.” “Thomas is not like other hunters.”
Namdi took a sip of his tea, letting it trickle down the back of his throat before speaking. “He has a reputation for being stubborn.” “He is stubborn. Especially with hunting.” “Why?” “Did you know he was married once?” “No, I did not.” “A girl from Johannesburg. They were married in Tsavo by a bushman priest.” “Were you there?” Namdi said. “No, he told me one night as we were traveling by ship to Cyprus and he was drunk. It was the same date as his marriage.” Namdi smiled. “Do mean anniversary?” “Yes, it was their anniversary. He told me about his wife.” “What happened to her?”
“They were camping with many people in Nyanza and she went out to gather wood for the fire with another woman. They came too close to a pride and a lioness attacked them and she was injured. The other woman ran back to Thomas. When he found her body, the hyenas were feeding on it.”
“He has never remarried?”
“No, I do not think he ever will again.” Jalani chuckled. “He says now that love is an illusion created by merchants.”