They rounded a corner and Janecaught her first sight of the elephant.
He was a huge gray-brownmonster with one tattered ear. He stood with a section of a rail in his trunk,and as she watched he hurled it away from him as if it were a toothpick andreached for another. "Stop him!"
The elephant's head lifted andhe glared at them with small bloodshot eyes. He trumpeted with rage and whirledto face them.
Jane could feel the blood stopin her veins. He was like a demonic creature from the nightmare depths of hell.
Li Sung muttered a curse as hemoved to the side of the track and lifted the rifle.
"No!" Dilam shouted.She reached out and knocked down the barrel of the rifle. "It'sDanor."
Li Sung said, "I don'tcare what—"
The elephant charged toward LiSung, deadly tusks lowered.
Dilam dove out of the way.Jane pushed Li Sung to the side with such force, they both fell to the groundand rolled out of the way just as the rogue reached them.
The elephant thundered pastthem.
Dilam grabbed the rifle fromthe ground where Li Sung had dropped it. "Stay down."
"And let him step on mewith those monstrous feet?" Li Sung asked. "I think not. Give me therifle."
Dilam ignored him, lifted therifle, and fired over the elephant's head.
The elephant stopped, histrunk weaving back and forth.
Dilam fired two more shots.
"What are youdoing?" Jane asked impatiently. "Warning shots won't help. Anelephant can't know a bullet will hurt him. You'll have to shoot him."
"No!" Dilam firedthree more shots over the elephant's head.
The elephant shifted from footto foot and lifted his trunk again. Then, abruptly, he turned and lumbered offinto the jungle.
Jane let her breath out in alittle rush, trying to steady her heartbeat. "Will he come back?"
"Not tonight," Dilamsaid. She handed the rifle back to Li Sung and bowed politely. "I regretbeing so rude as to take your weapon, but it was Danor. I could not let youhurt him. He is a very special elephant."
"You said he was arogue."
Dilam's jaw set stubbornly."I did not know it was Danor. It is possible he has not gone rogue and,even if he has, he is still very special. I cannot let you kill him."
"He almost killedus," Jane said.
"Me," Li Sungcorrected her grimly as he rose to his feet. "He charged me. He evidentlythought this lowly cripple was the weakest link. I have a desire to show himhis error. I'm going after him."
"Don't be ridiculous, LiSung. The elephant is just plain crazy. How could he know you were crippled? Wedon't have time right now to go after him," Jane said curtly as she turnedto examine the tracks. "And Lord knows what he did to the—my God!"
She gazed with horror at thedevastation before her. Kails were uprooted, ties broken as far as she couldsee. She grabbed the torch from Dilam and began to walk down the track. She wasscarcely aware of Dilam and Li Sung following her as she encountered disasterafter di-saster.
Chaos everywhere.
"Very bad," Dilammurmured after they had traveled lor some distance along the track.
It was worse than bad, Janethought grimly. Over two miles of damage to be repaired and that meant losing afull day.
"It can't happenagain," she said. "I don't care how special your elephant is. I won'tlose any more time cleaning up after him."
