Fearless Master of the Jungle (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure (18 page)

After their unpleasant visitors
had departed, the four young people had returned to the
tree house. The
Earth couple had attended to the welfare of the quaggas, then they
had climbed up to eat a belated lunch. Over the meal, they had
learned why the rest of the villages’ populations did not care for
the Wurkas. It went beyond their swampland territory having granted
them complete immunity from the attentions of the Mun-Gatahs’
People-Taker. Because of their comparative isolation, they had
developed a number of behavior patterns and habits which their less
favored fellows found distasteful in the extreme. For one thing,
although they had never offered to take up arms on behalf of the
rest of their nation—the ‘Suppliers’ having conditioned them to
avoid the other villages at times when the abductions were taking
place—their aggressive ways and a proclivity for picking fights had
not endeared them to the non-hunting fraternity. Nor had the
hunters developed any greater liking for them.

Dawn and Bunduki had learned
something about the quintet who had come ashore from Joar-Fane and
At-Vee. The only son of a rich Wurka family, Tik-Felum had been too
idle to adopt the hard working habits by which
his parents had acquired their
wealth. Instead, he had applied all his intelligence and low
cunning to persuade the rest of the population that it would
greatly benefit them all if everybody shared the results of their
labors with one another. Such an idea had proved particularly
attractive to other idlers and loafers. They had done all they
could to propagate the scheme and ensure its acceptance.

By the time that those of the
Wurkas who were willing to work had started to realize how their
efforts were supporting the
bone-idle coterie, Tik-Felum had been in a
position to keep them under his domination. By a further display of
his cunning, he had contrived to restrict the ownership of the very
effective
dapur bener kris
to his supporters. So he, Jomus-Takn and
Sraat-Challig had been better armed than the rest of the villagers
and could enforce their will upon anybody who tried to oppose it.
By such means, they had achieved the ability to wield power without
being answerable to anyone other than themselves and, according to
the Hunter, were said to make the most of it.

Even before they had heard the
Telonga couple
’s story, the girl and the blond giant had not been
enamored of the five Wurkas. Being aware of the effect men with
similar philosophies had had on Earth, they had seen no reason to
revise their points of view. All in all, they had come to regard
Tik-Felum and the other four with anything but favor. While the
aggressive spirit of the other Wurkas could have been turned to the
Telonga nation’s benefit, they had known the quintet would be
opposed to it being utilized for such a purpose.

Putting the matter of the
Wurkas from their thoughts at the end of the meal, the two young
couples had descended from the
tree house. Collecting and saddling the
quaggas, Dawn and Bunduki had returned with them to the sandy
beach. After another session of ‘water breaking’ apiece, in which
the animals’ struggles had been somewhat less protracted than on
the first occasions, they had decided to call it a day as far as
the training was concerned. So, leading Isabel and
Shambulia
back to the corral,
they had made all secure for the night. Setting off for the
village, they had arrived shortly after sundown to find the
visitors were being entertained with typical Telonga
hospitality.

It had soon become apparent to
the blond giant that Tik-Felum
’s coterie had spread a warning to the other
Wurkas that he was to be considered
non persona grata.
According to Tav-Han, before
Tik-Felum had arrived, the rest of the newcomers had been
expressing interest in his ideas for defending their nation’s
territory; but would change the subject if any of the quintet had
come near. What was more, when Bunduki had approached a group, the
Wurkas who were present had showed they were ill-at-ease and had
stopped talking until he left. So, when the food was ready to be
served, all he had learned about them was that they used bows
and
shilvas
as adjuncts to the fishing which brought in the majority of
their sustenance and that, while they had light, barbed throwing
spears, they did not employ the heavy variety with which the
hunters of the jungle villages tackled leopards, jaguars and even,
on rare occasions, tigers.

The blond giant had gone into
Tav-Han
’s
house to pay his compliments to his future ‘mother-in-law’ shortly
before Deneb-Ginwe made the demand for service. If he had been
present, he could have warned the Wurka that such conduct where
Dawn was concerned was most ill advised. Of course, if Bunduki had
been in the vicinity, the surly and far from courageous Deneb-Ginwe
would have thought twice before addressing the ‘Earths’ girl in the
manner he always employed when dealing with the distaff side of his
own race.

Even if Dawn had liked the surly
Wurka, she would have objected to the manner in which he had
addressed her. As she did not like him, she felt disinclined to
accept his bad manners. Looking as if butter would not melt in her
mouth, she deliberately poured the bowl of stew into his
lap.

‘
You
clumsy bitch!’ Deneb-Ginwe shrieked, bounding to his feet with rage
suffusing his unpleasant features. Not only was the food very hot,
but the laughter that arose from the onlookers added to his
humiliation. A quick glance around informed him that the big white
haired “Earth” was nowhere to be
seen.
So he whipped his arm around, meaning to
slap the girl across the face, continuing, I’ll teach
you—’

At which point, the Wurka
learned that there was a major difference between Dawn of
the
‘Earths’
and a Telonga woman. The latter would either have mildly accepted
the blow, or dodged it and fled. Not so the spirited foreign
girl.

While Dawn ducked so that the
man
’s hand
passed harmlessly over her head, she made no attempt to flee.
Instead, she thrust forward her left arm to ram its clenched fist
with some force just below his breastbone. The blow was hard enough
to drive him back a few steps and fold him at the waist. Breathless
obscenities bubbled from him as he came to a halt. On the point of
returning and attacking her, he became aware that the girl was
showing no fear. He also noticed the extremely competent way in
which she was facing him with her hands still folded into hard
little fists-and observed something else!

Ready, willing and very capable of
defending herself further, Dawn suddenly felt her arms being
encircled at the biceps and pinned to her sides from
behind.

It was not loyalty that
prompted Han-Ateep to go to his brother
’s aid but his own bullying nature.
Usually he was far too self-centered to help anybody, but he was
also just intelligent enough to appreciate the danger of letting
disrespect for one of his family go unpunished. However, having for
once acted without being told, in what—from the family’s point of
view—was a laudable fashion, he found himself in the same position
as the man who caught a tiger by the tail and found that it would
not let him go.

At her first indication of what
was happening, Dawn
’s reaction was instantaneous and effective. Her training
in the Japanese fighting art of
karate
in which—as in
ju-jitsu—
she
was a third
dan
black belt, supplied the answer to the entrapment
from the rear.

Almost without the need for conscious
thought, the girl allowed herself to go limp as if in fear.
However, while she convinced Han-Ateep that she was afraid, he
failed to oblige by relaxing his grip. So she revised her original
intention in a split second. A quick glance downwards allowed her
to locate what she wanted. Up and down whipped her left leg, so
that her heel landed on top of his right foot with all the force of
her shapely, but steel hard calf and thigh muscles impelling it. A
yell of pain burst from him and, this time, his arms loosened
although without opening completely and releasing her.

Still moving with the same rapidity,
Dawn bent her knees a little and flung up both arms with a force
that caused those encircling her to rise until they were over her
shoulders. Having done so, she slipped her hips slightly to the
left and, reversing the direction sharply, she slammed the heel of
her clenched fist into his groin. That produced the desired effect.
Letting out a croaking moan, Han-Ateep stumbled away from her with
his hands clasping at that portion of the male anatomy most
vulnerable to such an attack.

Liberated, Dawn took in the
sight of Deneb-Ginwe approaching. His expression gave her all the
inducement she needed to continue her
defense. Springing to meet him, she
rose into the air with an almost balletic grace and delivered
a
yoko tobi
geri,
leaping side kick, which sent the ball of her right foot
into the center of his chest. He was pitched away from her by the
impact, landing winded and helpless flat on his back.

Naturally the altercation had
attracted considerable attention among both villagers and visitors.
Seeing what was happening to his sons, Tik-Felum came to the same
conclusion as Han-Ateep about how allowing such treatment to go
unavenged might have an adverse effect on their future position in
the tribe. So he threw a meaningful glance at the burly man on
either side of him. Sharing his sentiments and not averse to the
prospect of manhandling such an attractive girl, Jomus-Takn and
Sraat-Challig started to lumber towards her.

Before the m
ustached Wurka had taken three
paces, he heard the rapid patter of bare feet and a snarl as savage
as that of a ‘Hairy Man’ from close behind him. Two huge hands
closed upon his shoulders in a vastly more powerful grip than he
had ever previously encountered. So severe was the crushing force
they exerted that his arms went numb. He found himself swung and
thrown aside as if he weighed no more than a newly born baby and,
as he spun around with no control over his limbs, he saw the
white-haired male ‘Earth’ rushing at his companion.

Becoming equally aware of
Bunduki
’s
intervention, Sraat-Challig did not care for what it portended. He
had seen how Jomus-Takn was being treated and he considered that a
man who was capable of such strength and violence should not be met
in barehanded combat. However, massive though the ivory handled
knife hanging from the ‘Earth’s’ belt might be, the blade of
his
kris
was almost twice its length and offered him the kind of
edge he liked when in a fight.

Among the Wurkas was one of the
lesser lights of Tik-Felum coterie, Fiant-Wlip by name. About five
foot ten inches tall, lean and with a sharp, viciously miserable
face, he was ever an opportunist. Seeing a chance to earn the
Senior Elder
’s approbation, he dashed forward as Dawn was alighting
from the kick. It was his intention to grab hold of her before she
was able to regain her balance.

Unfortunately for
Sraat-Challig, before he could make use of the
kris
’
s
advantages, it had to be drawn. Nor, for all that
he had carried the weapon for many years, had he ever taken the
trouble and
work
required to attain anything like the speed with which a
competent member of a warrior race could whip a sword from its
sheath. Although he did succeed in extracting the weapon, it was
nowhere near a position to pose a threat when Bunduki reached
him.

Disdaining to soil the blade of
his big bowie knife with the blood of such an obviously incompetent
person, the blond giant caught Sraat-Challig
’s right wrist in both his
hands with a grasp no less painful than that he had applied to
Jomus-Takn’s shoulders. It proved just as efficacious. The Wurka
let out a howl of pain and released the
kris
as his trapped limb was raised with an
irresistible force. Ducking under the arm and swiveling around, he
snapped it sharply downwards. Sraat-Challig found his feet were
leaving the ground. However, his wrist was released and he
contrived to return to earth in an upright position, even though
his impetus caused him to stagger several paces away from his big
assailant.

Much to
Flant-Wlip
’s
annoyance, Dawn not only alighted before he could reach her, but
showed no suggestion of being off balance. To his dismay, neither
could he halt his impetuous rush. Catching his outstretched left
arm just above the hand in both her powerful little fists, she
twirled until her back was towards him. Sinking to her right knee,
she propelled him over aided by his own impetus. Letting go, so
that he sailed onwards to come down even more heavily than
Deneb-Ginwe had, she rose and gazed about her.

‘
Look
out behind you, Bunduki!’ Tav-Han bellowed, as the blond giant was
about to turn and find out if his wife-to-be needed any
help.

Even as the warning was delivered,
Bunduki discovered that Jomus-Takn had not been
incapacitated.