Treasure of the Golden Cheetah (23 page)

“What are we doing?” asked McAvy.

“Visiting, talking. For cripes’ sake, use your imaginations! Wait! Play one of your poker games. That’ll look good.” He watched them set up the folding table and chairs. “No, none of you have your rifles with you. Just Murdock. You have to scramble to your tents for them.”

“Where am I, Rex?” asked Murdock.

“I want you standing over there.” Julian pointed to a spot by the edge of the overgrown banana grove. “That will give you a clear view of everything going on. You’re watching them all, remember? This is your chance to take over the safari and get the treasure for yourself.”

Murdock nodded. “So you don’t want me to fire, right?”

“That’s right. Pretend your rifle’s jammed. But when you see the native creeping around the side of Cynthia’s tent, knife raised, then you shoot. You shoot to save her.”

Bebe laughed. “Oh, that’s original. Poor little woman has to have some man defend her life and virtue. How corny is that? She should take care of herself.”

“That’s what I meant to say,” said Julian. “You’ll try to get a bead on him, but she’s in the way, so you can’t shoot or you’ll hit her. Got it? I’ll tell Cynthia that she sees the native, loads, and fires just in time.” He rubbed a hand across his chin and mulled over the idea. “Yeah, that will be dramatic. Glad I thought of it.”

“Where do you want me?” asked Bebe. “Don’t I get to do anything in this scene?”

“Yes, you know that Murdock set up this whole attack, so you need to stay by him. I have it.” Julian slapped his hands against his temples. “You see this as a chance for Cynthia to die. Then you can have Menelik reborn for yourself.”

“Of course,” Bebe said. “But I see he’s going to shoot Hall, so I push his gun aside and he shoots Hank instead.” She studied the setting for a moment. “If you don’t mind, Rex, I’m going to take a walk. I want to think about my role in solitude. Become my character.”

“Hey,” Julian shouted after her, “those Chagga men are supposed to be here soon. They’re just going to get in the way and expect to get paid twice if I make them wait until this afternoon to film. So if you see them, tell them ‘come back, sun high.’ That should do it.”

Bebe flapped a hand at him and walked into the woods on the main trail to the village.

Jade had been watching and listening from the porch. When she saw Bebe leave the old orchard, she decided she’d better bring her back. “I know Miss Malta takes her part seriously,” she said, “but I don’t think she should go off alone, Mr. Julian. I’ll go after her.”

“Then
you
tell the Chagga to come back later.” He wandered in a circle, waving his hands in the air. “What am I paying these people for?”

Jade snatched up her Winchester and trotted after Bebe. But Homerman stopped her before she made it to the orchard.

“Ah, Miss del Cameron. I’m glad I bumped into you.” He wrung his hands together and mumbled through his fears. “Terrible fix. The devil to pay.”

Jade took hold of his shoulders, wondering if Cynthia had gotten worse. “What is it, Morris? Spit it out!”

“It’s a disaster,” he moaned. “Looked everywhere.”

Jade was about to slap him when he finally spilled out, “I still can’t find one of the rifles. I was hoping we might borrow yours for—”

“No!” Jade tried to sidestep the man but he held the main path, his hands clasped in front of him. She pushed him aside. “You’ll just have to look a little harder. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to be going.”

She hurried into the orchard and headed for the trail to the village.
The trail should be safe. The Chagga are friendly, and there hasn’t been any spoor from a large predator.
But the thoughts didn’t quiet her concern. There had been too much trouble already, and Jade didn’t want to take any chances.
Silly Bebe might take it into her head to eat something poisonous.

She hadn’t gone more than twenty yards up the trail when she saw Bebe returning. “There you are. You shouldn’t wander off alone like that.”

“I’m fine now that you’re here,” Bebe said. “I heard those horrid natives coming, and I told that interpreter man to go away and come back later. But I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know what I was thinking, walking off alone like that. And I thought I heard something in those trees over there.” She pointed off to the right.

“Oh,” Jade said. “Probably just a bush pig.” She had hoped to use the chance to question Zakayo now rather than waiting until Mr. Julian was done with them for the day. “You should head back, but I’ll find Zakayo and make sure he understands. I wanted to talk to him anyway.”

Bebe grabbed Jade’s arm. “Don’t make me walk back alone. I really would feel safer with you along. Did I tell you how simply swell you were the other day when you killed that hideous snake? I wish I could be more like you, but this entire safari is almost more than I can endure.”

Jade turned back with her, putting her obligation to the women over an opportunity to speak with Zakayo.
Might as well talk with her while I have her alone.

“And how
are
you doing, Miss Malta? That was a pretty bad scare yesterday. I’d imagine everyone is still rattled.”

Bebe dabbed at her forehead with a linen hankie and smoothed an errant strand of hair. “Of course I’m rattled. Who wouldn’t be after a second attempt on her life?”

Jade assumed the first attempt was when Wheeler was murdered. “So you really think that snake was intended for you?”

Bebe, who’d moved a few steps ahead of Jade, snapped her head around and glared at her over her shoulder. “Who else? That was
my
part. Everyone knew I was supposed to play the emperor’s lover. If that idiot Rex hadn’t changed his mind at the last moment,
I
would have been opening that box.”

“Granted, but I understood that Miss Porter was supposed to be shooting her scene instead: the one in which
she
finds the pectoral in the box.”

Bebe waved away that notion with a flip of her hand. “Cynthia should check her schedule more than once a week. Rex is always making changes. Or maybe she’s just getting old and addled. Look at her today,” she added, her voice laced with scorn. “Setting back the entire production for a bout of nervous indigestion. She should’ve taken a bicarbonate like I did.”

Jade didn’t think Cynthia was much older than Bebe, but didn’t remark on their ages. It appeared to be a sore spot with the women. But then, in a make-believe world where glamour and beauty reigned supreme, she wasn’t surprised. And both Cynthia and Bebe took their jobs seriously, devoting a lot of time to their parts.

“I’ve got to admit that I’m still baffled by how that snake got into the box to begin with,” said Jade. “If it
was
meant to hurt you, then who would have done that?”

Bebe tossed back her head and sniffed. “Any number of people, I imagine. Pearl is desperate for my role. And Cynthia hates me because Graham loved
me
, not her.”

“Pearl is the one who nearly opened the box,” argued Jade. “Why would she open it if she had put a poisonous snake inside?”

Bebe waggled a finger at Jade. “But she
didn’t
open the box, did she? She
knew
what was in there. But once Rex made the change, she couldn’t do anything about it without giving herself away.”

“But how would she manage to get a snake to begin with?” asked Jade.

“Ha! You’re joking, right? Don’t you know about her?” She rubbed her eye, brushing the finger across her nose afterwards. “She used to work in some circus sideshow before Rex discovered her. She danced a hoochie-coo with some big horrid constrictor.” They’d reached the edge of the house’s old banana grove. “Thank you for keeping me safe, Jade.”

Jade nodded but Bebe didn’t wait for her to answer. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready for what’s left of my role.” Sarcasm put a sharp edge to her voice.

Bebe walked off, heading straight for the director. Jade watched her and considered her statements. She’d seen Pearl’s photo in one of the cinema magazines depicting her with a four-foot boa constrictor draped across her shoulders. But this was no constrictor, and Pearl’s screams were those of a terrified woman. It was true, Julian did change his mind a lot, but Jade noticed it was often after someone put an idea into his head.

Who did he talk with earlier? Maybe Harry’s found out something.
Jade decided to look for him and compare information. Not seeing him outside, she headed for his tent when Homerman ran into her again.

“Pardon me,” he said. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, I guess.” The little man fluttered his hands and twitched his head in short, jerky motions, like a fidgety bird.

“Don’t apologize, Morris,” Jade said. She felt a little guilty for shoving him aside earlier. “You look like you’re in a hurry. But then, you seem to carry a large responsibility around here.”

“Rex is very exacting,” he admitted, “but sometimes it doesn’t help.”

Jade wondered if something else had happened or if he was still looking for one of the rifles.
Sweet Millard Fillmore. Can’t these people be left alone for more than five minutes without someone having a hissy fit?
“Is something else wrong that I should know about?”

“Only that I still can’t find parts of the set,” he said. “I could have sworn I left all the boxes against that back kitchen wall,” Homerman mumbled to himself.

“What boxes?” Jade asked. By now she wondered how anything was ever found. This little man was the most absent-minded assistant imaginable.

Homerman twitched, as though he’d already forgotten Jade’s presence. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Is something else missing?”

Jade took a deep breath and shook her head. “You said you couldn’t find some boxes for the set. And earlier you’d lost a rifle. I asked what is missing.”

“Oh! A hat, footstool, a box of . . . Maybe they’re in Rex’s tent.” He scampered off and Jade laughed softly.
What a crew.
Individually, they were personable, but collectively? She continued on towards Harry’s tent when she heard him call to her from the cook’s fire.

“Where were you, Jade? I’ve been looking for you.” He handed her a mug of coffee.

“Thanks,” she said, taking it in her hands. “I’ve been running herd on Miss Malta. She took it in her head to trot up the trail to head off the Chagga until this afternoon. Then, when I caught up with her, she decided she probably shouldn’t have done that and insisted I protect her.” She took a sip of the coffee, savoring the taste. Strong, but not overpowering. She’d have to tell Muturi to toss an eggshell into the pot to take out some of the acidity.

Harry waited for Jade to continue. “And did she need protecting?” he prompted.

Jade shook her head. “But after she witnessed that attack on Wheeler, I guess I can’t blame her for being jumpy. She insists that the boomslang was meant for her. She’s blaming Miss Zagar.” Jade took another swallow, giving Harry the opportunity to add something.

“Probably because of their rivalry,” he said. “But Pearl was the one almost bitten.”

“Miss Malta says it was a chance whim of our illustrious director that made the switch. She said that Miss Zagar used to handle snakes before she became an actress.”

Harry’s laugh sounded more like a snort, giving credence to his nickname of Bwana Nyati, or buffalo. “She didn’t handle
venomous
snakes. That’s an entirely different situation.”

“Did Miss Zagar tell you about it? Or have anything useful to say?”

Harry peered into his coffee and swirled it around. “I talked with her. Like you and I agreed,” he added. “This motion picture is her first big chance at fame, apparently.”

“So she’d have reason to want to hurt Miss Malta.”

“No!” Harry said quickly. “According to her, she already knew the role of old Menelik’s lover was hers. It was something Wheeler and Julian had bantered about for a while. She says that Bebe’s just fooling herself. That she’s not accepting getting older.”

“Older?” Jade scoffed. “What is she? Twenty-nine? Thirty?”

“Thirty-one,” said Harry. “At least according to Cynthia. But you could have fooled me. Her body is still very . . .” He glanced at Jade through lowered lids and cleared his throat. “Er, she doesn’t look it to me.”

Jade finished her coffee in two gulps. “No one’s going to admit to putting that snake in the box, Harry. You and I both know that. If what Jelani said is true, then Rehema was the one who caught the snake to begin with and probably died as a result of it. You said it might take over a day before anyone would feel sick from the venom.”

“Yes, and by then it’s too late to bleed it out. But how would she have gotten the snake into that box? And why?”

“How?” echoed Jade. She pointed to Homerman, scurrying around looking for misplaced articles. “That’s how. He’s always losing the keys. As to why? Maybe Rehema thought it would bite me. I’m the one she cursed.”

“Right,” agreed Harry. “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open anyway, and once they get finished with this attack scene, the two of us can talk to Zakayo and see if he knows anything.”

An exultant shout interrupted them. “There they are!” exclaimed Homerman.

“Morris must have found whatever he lost,” said Harry. “Wonder what it was.”

Jade shrugged. “Box of something.” She watched as Julian walked the men through their upcoming scene. He shoved them into the right spots, stared at the sun as though gauging where the light and shadow would be in another hour, and pushed them into new positions. Next he placed little squares of dark paper on the ground, markers for where the Chagga men were to stand. Bebe hung by his side.
Probably hoping he’ll drop her an acting crumb.

“Ought to be an interesting scene,” Jade said. She wished Sam had a chance to watch this. She knew he’d find it intriguing. Should she tell him about the snake incident when she got back to Nairobi?