Journey to Freedom (10 page)

The honey badger also heard the human cries. He emerged from his burrow at dusk and hunted for small mammals that were easy to carry to Lorna’s lair. Mice, voles, squirrels and frogs were not a problem. Rabbits were too heavy so he ate those himself. Lorna’s hunger was always with her. And her wound was festering.

‘Is it any better?’ the badger would always ask as he arrived with food.

‘No. Worse,’ was the invariable reply.

‘Shall I try to bite the thorn?’ Ratel asked eventually.

‘You said before that you couldn’t,’ Lorna moaned. ‘Besides, I’m much too sore to bear your teeth nibbling at me. If you had only done it at first . . .’

‘You told me I couldn’t see properly in your den,’ the badger reminded her. ‘Why didn’t you come outside where I might have had a chance?’

‘It wouldn’t have made any difference if it was dark.’

‘But in the daylight?’

‘Men are about. You must have heard them. How could I risk it?’

‘Well then, what will you do?’

Lorna’s head dropped on to her front paws. ‘I don’t know,’ she groaned. ‘I can’t think straight.’

‘Well, I’ve brought prey. As much as I could manage,’ the badger pointed out. ‘Shall I fetch more?’

‘Just as you like,’ the lioness answered without interest.

‘Come on, lion. Don’t give up!’ Ratel chided her. ‘Think about that new-born animal . . .’

‘I can’t think about it!’ Lorna snapped. ‘I shan’t ever get there!’

The honey badger gaped. The full implication of Lorna’s wound sank in and he stared at her for a while without moving.

‘What are you gawping at?’ she growled irritably.

‘I – um – nothing, really,’ the badger mumbled. His thoughts were racing. ‘I’ll go and get more meat.’ He hurried away, glad to be alone to think. A plan to help Lorna was forming in his head. ‘It might be the only way out for her,’ he said to himself. He paused to ponder a little. ‘I’ll be putting myself in danger,’ he muttered, ‘but if I do it right, it should work out.’

The next morning the badger squatted inside his burrow and listened to the human’s calls. It was Joel’s second day of searching and he and the team were threading through a different section of the forest. The badger heard them and Lorna heard them. Joel’s voice was closer now and the lioness raised her head and tried to recall what was familiar about the sound. But she couldn’t quite grasp it. Pain and misery took control again and she rolled back on to her side.

The honey badger’s heart thumped quickly as he deliberately pulled himself from his den and looked carefully around.

‘Lorna! Lorna!’

The badger heard but couldn’t yet see the men. Then footsteps, crackles of twig and leaf and eventually the smell of men was detectable too. The badger
waited, steeling himself to be still until he should catch a first glimpse of the party.

‘I must be mad,’ he murmured. ‘I must be mad. I’ll be sorry for this, later, I know I will.’ He gulped as he saw Joel, at the head of the group, stumping along a path through the trees. ‘Now for it!’ Ratel hissed and ran forward.

‘Lorna! Lorna! Lor— Great heavens! Look, Martin!’ Joel pointed in amazement as the honey badger ran across their path about twenty metres away.

‘A honey badger!’ croaked Martin. ‘What on earth . . .’

‘He’s been here all along!’ Joel cried in excitement. ‘Let’s follow him.’

‘You’ll never catch him.’

‘He’s stopped!’ Joel yelled as he sprinted off. ‘Come on, he’s turned to look.’

The badger had indeed paused on purpose. He wasn’t running away. Not yet. He had something else to do first. He watched the men lumbering after him, then set off again.

‘Do you want to take him?’ Martin panted. ‘He’ll never let us near . . . enough . . . to throw a net. Should . . . we leave him?’

‘No. Why do that? He’s probably heading for his den. If so, we’ll have him cornered. We could dig him out.’

But the badger wasn’t heading for his den, of course. He was heading for quite another place. Every so often he would stop just long enough to make sure the men weren’t too far behind, then trot on. His tireless loping run had his pursuers badly out of breath in only a short time, but Joel wouldn’t give up. It had occurred to him that since the badger and the lions had been close neighbours in the zoo it was possible that Lorna and the badger were living near each other in the forest.

Ratel neared the cave. His plan was for the men to find the lioness and take her into their care. He knew enough about humans to know that they could heal her. But he wanted Lorna to believe the men had found her by chance; he didn’t want her to feel betrayed by her only friend. Somehow, he must lead the men to the cave and to Lorna before making his own escape.

The men were a long way behind when the honey badger reached the stream. Ratel waited as long as he dared, then growled loudly so that Lorna could hear him.

‘Take care, lion. Humans are in the woods and may be coming this way.’

There was no answer from the cave.

‘Can you hear me?’ the badger whistled.

‘Of course I can hear you,’ Lorna roared.

At first, the badger thought he had done enough. The lion’s roar had been unmistakable and Ratel could see the leader beckoning the rest of the team forward in a fever of impatience. But the man hadn’t seen the cave; its entrance was camouflaged too well by the clinging plant growth. He was cautiously advancing on some thick undergrowth, believing that to be where Lorna was hidden. The badger watched in dismay. Did these blind humans need to be led literally into the lion’s den? Terrified of being cornered himself, longing to flee, he came to an agonising decision. ‘The men are after me,’ he squealed, and ran right into the cave mouth.

‘Don’t bring them here!’ roared Lorna, struggling to get to her feet. She yelped with pain as she put pressure on her injured foot, and fell back on the cave floor.

‘She’s in there!’ Joel cried to the other men as he finally located the lair. ‘We mustn’t alarm her. I’ll go
first. Give me the air rifle.’ He strode to the cave entrance. The honey badger was nowhere to be seen, having run as far back into the cave as he could and was crouching there in total darkness. But Joel could see the lioness, lying on her side by the stream. She snarled but made no effort to rise.

‘There’s something wrong here,’ Joel whispered to Martin. ‘I think she may be sick. Get the stretcher ready. I’m going in.’ He crept forward, stooping as he entered. Even in the dim interior the lioness was an easy target. Joel knelt, fitted the dart and raised the rifle. Lorna remembered Ellen and reacted violently. Swinging round, she got on to her good feet, holding the bad one off the floor. Joel could see she was going to attack. Her muscles rippled.

‘Lorna! Don’t you know me?’

The lioness hesitated as she recognised her old keeper. Joel had just long enough to fire the dart and back away. It was all over in seconds. Lorna crashed to the floor as Joel got himself out of her range. For a while the lioness thrashed about, and then the drug took effect.

‘Hurry!’ Joel called. ‘We must tie her and get her into the sling. She’s quite quiet now. Leave the net for the badger.’

Lorna was rolled on to the stretcher. As they tied her limbs together they noticed the wound.

‘Looks septic,’ said Joel. ‘We must attend to that.’

They hauled the lioness outside. Then Lorna was hoisted into the air, six men bearing her weight, three on either side, taking the poles of the sling on their shoulders. They gasped at the weight of her. Joel was left free. He took out his mobile phone. The carrier firm that had transported Ellen had been on standby for days; their vehicle was parked at the old zoo premises. ‘We’ll need a trailer,’ Joel told Martin. ‘I’ll get
them to bring one through the sheep pasture. You know – where Lorna first got away. It’s a long haul, but we’ve got a couple of hours to get her to the zoo laboratory. I’ll have the vet waiting. Can you do it?’

‘Case of having to,’ Martin grunted as the men staggered away with their burden.

Joel was already calling the carriers’ mobile phone number. ‘I’ll try to take the badger,’ he called after the stretcher crew. ‘Africa’s the place for him!’

One quick call to the carriers’ men and one to the vet got the immediate tasks organised. Joel turned his attention to the badger. He re-entered the cave, ducking down to a squat as he waited for his eyes to accustom themselves to the deeper blackness farther inside. He had no torch. His only hope was to attempt to drive the badger towards the entrance and catch him in the mesh of the net. The air in the cave was foul. Joel wrinkled his nose and noticed the debris of Lorna’s prey littering the cave floor. He listened for sounds of the badger’s movements, but there was silence. Joel knew he had little chance of success if he couldn’t ascertain exactly where the badger was skulking. Even then the odds were stacked in the animal’s favour. He couldn’t be darted as Lorna had been. The dose was much too powerful for so small an animal. So Joel was relying entirely on the net to disable a beast that was noted for its tenacity. Moreover the badger’s claws and teeth were capable of inflicting serious wounds.

Joel picked up a piece of bone and threw it into the dark depths. It rattled along the dry floor and was followed by a scraping noise. He remembered he had matches in his pocket. He lit one and held it at arm’s length as it sputtered. A small section of the cave was
illuminated. Joel inched forward and lit another match. The cave, he soon found, narrowed sharply farther inside. The badger hadn’t passed him, so he knew it must be at the back of the cave and was now boxed in.

Ratel kept still. He had reached the limit of the cave and was pressed against its wall where the stream began to run underground. The piece of bone had skipped towards him and he had shifted just a little. His claws had scratched the rocky floor. He knew he was in a trap. He had sacrificed himself to get Lorna to safety. He remembered how the animals in Lingmere Zoo had been dealt with; how they had disappeared. Now a human was coming to grab him. But the badger liked the forest and wanted to stay in it. He wasn’t going to go quietly. The man came on. One after another, flames briefly lit the cave. The fumes from them made the badger sneeze. The next flame showed the man to be very close. Ratel bared his teeth.

Joel got the net ready. He had one trick up his sleeve. He knew he could dazzle the animal momentarily if he held one match almost in his eyes. He struck the match, saw the badger and lunged forward, almost singeing the black and white fur. Then he threw the net and wrapped it close just as the animal recovered from the shock of the flame and began to kick. The badger had strong legs. Joel exerted all his strength. He felt the badger’s claws trying to rip but dodged away. A piece of rope whipped round the netting and drawn tight put paid to the badger’s struggles. Now the animal used its scent gland. In the confined space its strength was magnified. Joel backed hastily away, leaving the trussed badger where he was.

Emerging into the open air Joel drew several lungsful of fresh air into his body. He sat down, feeling strangely
woozy. It was a while before he ventured back into the cave, and even then the musky smell permeated every corner. Joel held his breath and crawled forward again, feeling his way. He grabbed his live parcel and twisted round, desperate for clean air. Lugging the badger behind him, he dived for the cave opening. It wasn’t until he was once more in the daylight that Joel could see what a truly splendid piece of wrapping he had done.

The badger’s eyes glared at him with a glitter of rage. Joel chuckled. ‘You’ve been humiliated, haven’t you? All for the best in the long run. If only you knew where you are going!’ He caught him up and set off. ‘Now let’s go and join the others.’

The men carrying Lorna had made good progress. Once on a proper path they had got into a steady rhythm and were marching along keeping their eyes peeled for the trailer that was to bring their relief. Joel came up with them, proudly showing off his trophy.

‘Mmm. Quite a successful day,’ Martin said. He was perspiring profusely as were all the men.

‘I’ll take a turn,’ Joel offered. ‘Anyone ready to do a swap?’

‘It’ll disturb our rhythm,’ Martin replied. ‘We’ll keep going.’

A little later the trailer was spotted and the men brightened visibly. They called to those trundling it along the uneven path to speed up a bit. Soon afterwards Lorna and Ratel were lying side by side on the trailer. The men rubbed their strained arms and shoulders and mopped their faces. From then on their pace accelerated.

The lioness and the badger left the forest together. They would never see it again. The trailer was hitched to the Land-Rover and the animals headed for the
ghost zoo that was Lingmere. Ratel saw no sign of life in Lorna. He wondered why she had been killed while he had been left alive. He was reminded that it was a foolish beast that tried to understand a human’s motives.

Lingmere Zoo was unchanged in appearance, except for the absence of all the animals. The enclosures hadn’t yet been dismantled. While Lorna was rushed into the lab for treatment by the waiting vet, Ratel found himself back in his old cage. His bindings were carefully removed. He dashed at once to a hiding-place, growling his resentment.