Fearless Master of the Jungle (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure (7 page)

Having described their own
adventures, Dawn had left it to Bunduki to tell their friends why
they were interested in the quaggas. Immediately Joar-Fane had
announced that she and At-Vee would do all they could to help and
her husband had seconded the assertion. Nor were they swayed from
their determination when the blond giant had pointed out some of
the difficulties involved in attempting to make the capture. The
Earth couple were cognizant with the methods employed by the
mustangers—professional wild horse catchers—who had operated
throughout the
‘Old West’ days of the United States of America,
^xxiv
but they doubted whether any of these
would be suitable under the circumstances. For one thing, they did
not wish to be unduly delayed before returning to Jey-Mat and most
of the old methods would have taken several days to
prepare.

Remembering certain items which
he had found in the saddlebags of the two
banar-gatahs
he and Dawn were using, Bunduki felt
sure that he could produce a satisfactory solution to the problem.
He had not mentioned it, having decided to wait until he had seen
if it could be put into effect before raising the other three’s
hopes. Instead, he had proposed that they should take a good
night’s rest and this was done. On waking shortly before sunrise
and ensuring that the fire was out, so there would be no smoke
rising at daybreak to betray their presence—a trick Dawn’s father
had taught to members of the British Army on anti-terrorist patrols
in Kenya, although he had not originated the idea
^xxv
—the blond giant had asked At-Vee to
accompany him on a reconnaissance. Leaving the girls to take care
of the four
banar-gatahs,
the two young men had had no difficulty in
locating their quarry. The band of quaggas were not more than
three-quarters of a mile from the hollow and were in a location
which would offer an opportunity for Bunduki to employ the method
of capture which he had envisaged. However, as he had commented to
his companion, their place of concealment was far from ideal and
there were snags to be overcome.

‘
I’ve
seen Dawn and you throwing ropes like those on your
saddles,’ At-Vee commented, referring to the coiled lariats
strapped to the saddle horns of the Earth couple’s mounts and which
had been one of the reasons why they had selected those particular
animals. ‘But you couldn’t reach the quaggas from here with them,
could you?’

‘
No,’
Bunduki admitted. ‘Thirty to forty feet is about as far as a lariat
can be thrown, but I’ve something else in mind.’

‘
You
wouldn’t be able to hide behind this rock with your
banar-gatahs,
’
the Hunter pointed out, as the quaggas finished drinking
and began to make for the open plains. ‘Of course, you could hide
behind one of the clumps of bushes—’

‘
They’re too intelligent for us to go close enough to reach
them with a lariat,’ Bunduki answered. ‘But there may be another
way we can catch them. I’ll tell you and the girls about it after
we’ve taken a look around.’

‘
Whatever you say,’ At-Vee assented. ‘This’s all new to me.
I’ve never tried to catch any kind of animal alive.’

Six foot in height, although he
did not slim down at the waist as well as the blond giant, At-Vee
was broad shouldered and well muscled. His glossy black hair
was
cut
after the fashion of Prince Valiant, but his brown and pleasantly
good-looking features were much like those of a Polynesian.
Indicative of his profession, he was clad in a loincloth made from
the hide of a jaguar. A sheathed, spear pointed knife hung sheathed
on the left side of his belt. Suspended through a loop at the right
was a
shilva,
which resembled a short handled poleax— or, more closely,
a
czdkan
^xxvi
—
its hammer-like head being backed by a
long, slightly curved spike. In his right hand, he grasped the
thick handle of a spear that matched his height and had a stout
steel cross guard attached about two feet below its head. Although
his arms had been designed as tools for hunting, he had learned
that they could be turned into effective weapons for fighting
against human beings.

‘
It
looks like this is their regular drinking place,’ At-Vee remarked,
after he and Bunduki had carried out an examination along the bank
of the stream. ‘Will that help you?’

‘
It
could,’ the blond giant admitted, having drawn similar conclusions.
‘Let’s go back and tell the girls what we’ve learned.’

‘
I
haven’t learned
anything
worthwhile,’ the Hunter objected with a grin. ‘But I
suppose I will one day.’

‘
Everything comes to him who waits, brother,’ Bunduki stated
and started to walk in the direction of the hollow.

‘
All
right,’ Dawn said, after the blond giant had given her and
Joar-Fane a description of the situation. ‘So there’s a way we
might be able to catch them. Now tell us the
bad
news.’

‘
The
very earliest we can hope to try will be this evening,’ Bunduki
obliged. ‘And perhaps not even then.’

‘
Hum!’
At-Vee grunted thoughtfully, realizing what the blond giant was
leading up to. ‘If the Mun-Gatahs have settled their differences,
they’ll be coming looking for you to take revenge for all the
trouble you’ve caused.’

‘
They
will,’ Bunduki agreed, darting a concerned look at his companion’s
wife. ‘Even the men we helped aren’t going to overlook what I
did.’

‘
You’ve had the most to do with them, Dawn,’ Joar-Fane
declared, appreciating why the blond giant was so perturbed and
determined to prevent fears for her welfare interfering with her
friends’ plans to capture the quaggas. ‘How much danger is there
from them?’

‘
They
won’t be after us yet,’ the Earth girl answered. ‘From what you
said, Bunduki, Charole and Dryaka must have been killed by the
“Terrifier” Beryl threw after them when they fell from the balcony.
It will be some time before anybody else can gain sufficient
ascendancy to become the High Priest and Protectress.’

‘
What
if they weren’t killed?’ At-Vee asked.

‘
In
that case, having failed to sacrifice me as they promised,’ Dawn
replied, ‘they will be too busy trying to save their own skins to
start hunting for us.’

‘
All
right then,’ Joar-Fane said, placing her hands on her hips and
eyeing the men defiantly. ‘There’s nothing to prevent us from
staying here for a few days if necessary. Even if any of them do
come after us, we’ll be able to see them long before they get here.
Once we’re in the jungle, we should be able to cause them so much
trouble that they’ll turn back.’

Looking at the Telonga girl, Bunduki
was amused and delighted by her attitude. At their first meeting,
he had thought of her as having no interest other than that of
making love at every opportunity and, to a certain degree, that had
been true. However, later events had shown that she possessed
intelligence, courage and fortitude. What was more, her association
with Dawn had fostered a sturdy independence of will which the
nature of her pacific nation had previously kept dormant. Prior to
coming into contact with the Earth girl, she would never have
thought of stating her opinion in such a forthright
manner.

No more than five foot three
inches in height, Joar-Fane had an exceptionally
well-developed and
curvaceous figure which enhanced her pert, very attractive brown
Polynesian features. Having anticipated the rigors of the quest
upon which she and her husband were embarking, she had made changes
to her appearance. She had cut her long black hair until it was
more manageable. Instead of the usual feminine attire of her
nation—a brief halter made from some kind of animal’s skin and a
grass skirt—she now wore a dress made from the hide of a
bongo
^xxvii
which she had copied from
Dawn’s garment. A knife hung sheathed on the left side of her waist
belt and she had carried along Bunduki’s
m
’
kuki
in case he should need it.

‘
Very
well,’ Bunduki assented. We’ll stay—’

‘
I
knew
that you’d come round to
our
way of thinking eventually,’ Dawn declared.
‘Didn’t you, Joar-Fane?’

‘
It
was only a matter of time,’ the Telonga girl agreed.

‘
We’re
going to have to make something before we can hope to do the
catching,’ the blond giant warned and told the others what he
wanted them to do, finishing with, ‘So let’s make a start at
it.’

‘
May I
ask a question?’ Dawn said, in tones redolent of
suspicion.

‘
Please do,’ Bunduki consented, his air that of one who was
granting a favor.

‘
Thank
you,
bwana
mkuba
,’
Dawn replied, using the Swahili term meaning “big master”
but with none of the respect the honorific should have received.
‘Why is it that Joar-Fane and I have to wade in the stream looking
for the kind of stones you want?’

‘
I
can’t see anything wrong in that,’ At-Vee commented with a
grin.

‘
Or
me,’ Bunduki seconded.

‘
Well
we
can!’ Dawn declared and Joar-Fane nodded
agreement.

‘
Do
you know something, brother?’ At-Vee asked, in a tone pitched so
that it was just loud enough for the distaff side of the quartet as
well as Bunduki to hear what he was saying. ‘I’d think twice before
marrying into
that
family if I was you. The women talk too much and don’t know
their place.’

‘
I’ve
noticed that,’ Bunduki admitted, in a similar stage whisper. Then,
turning with a mock ingratiating smile to the girls, he went on in
a louder voice, ‘I asked you to do it because it’s a little known
fact that women are better than men at some—’

‘
Tiger
skin or not, sister,’ Joar-Fane interrupted, looking at Dawn. ‘I
think you’re marrying beneath yourself.’

‘
Well,
dear, you’ve already done that,’ the Earth girl replied, then
directed a challenging look at her husband-to-be. ‘And we still
haven’t had an answer that made sense. Not that either of us
expected
one.’

‘
If
you
must
know,’ Bunduki said, exuding an aura of patient martyrdom.
‘Neither you nor Joar-Fane can splice a rope as well as we can, or
At-Vee and I would be only too pleased to let you do it and keep
the pleasure of finding the right kind of stones for
our—’

‘
Come
on, Joar-Fane, before I’m taken sick!’ Dawn groaned, although she
was willing to concede that at least part of the explanation was
valid.
‘They
’
d
never have the sense to make the right choice.’

‘
Oh I
wouldn’t say that,’ the little Telonga girl protested. ‘They each
picked
one
thing correctly.’

‘
Nonsense, sister,
we
picked
them,
’
Dawn corrected, before throwing a disgusted glare at the
men and continuing, ‘Which doesn’t say much for
our
judgment, I suppose.’

With that, giving Bunduki and
At-Vee no chance to reply, the girls went to the edge of the
stream. Removing their dresses, which left them clad only in
leopard
skin
briefs, they waded into the water and began to examine the small
rocks and boulders which covered the bottom of the fairly swift
flowing stretch near the hollow.

‘
That’s what I like,’ the blond giant remarked, watching the
girls commencing the task he had set them. ‘Loyal, obedient and
hard-working women.’

‘
And
that’s what we Telongas had, before Dawn of the “Earths” got at
them,’ At-Vee pointed out, smiling. ‘The trouble is I think they’ve
changed for the better. Shall—?’

‘
All
right!’ Dawn yelled indignantly, throwing the boulder she had just
picked up with sufficient accuracy to make the men jump out of its
way.
“We
’
re
working, so you two can make a start.’

Taking the hint, Bunduki led
the way to where the saddles had been left. Opening his saddlebags,
he took out a coiled length of cord. About half the diameter of the
lariats, which had the hard-laid, triple strand texture of best
quality five-eighths of an inch Manila rope, it was more pliant and
was compose
d
of half a dozen separate fibers. While he was doing this, At-Vee
unpacked a ball of thin, very strong thread and several small
leather pouches filled with
fulsa,
emptying the contents from six of them.