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“You’ll be fine.” Sylvie tossed an arm over her shoulder. “Just another story to tell the grandkids.”
“We should really get going.” Ndungu pointed at the darkening sky.
“But we didn’t get much of a rest,” Doris argued.
“We’ll rest when we get there, Doris.” Sylvie squeezed her shoulder. “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be caught out in the dark. So, let’s suck it up and limp on. We’ll rest tonight.”
“Okay, fine,” Doris agreed.
With no more arguments, we started our journey again. As we passed closer to the elephants we’d been watching from a distance, we paused to stare at them.
“They look even bigger when we’re standing on the ground. Yikes,” Sylvie said as we all slowed our steps.
“The bulls can get territorial, so since we’re on foot, we’re going to give them a wide berth.” Ndungu changed our trajectory, and we started making a wide arc around the huge animals. As we got closer, an elephant raised its trunk, sounding a warning before charging toward us several steps. His enormous feet stomped the ground as he flapped his ears, trumpeting at us once again ... a warning to stay back.
I gave Marge a look. “These aren’t kangaroos, Marge. Don’t go getting delusional that you’re a Disney princess again. You’ll get a hell of a lot worse than a black eye if you go marching up to pet a pissed off elephant.”
Marge shook her head. “No need to tell me twice. Damn. He’s big. I’m glad we took the long way around. If we were closer, we’d be elephant toe jam.”
She made a squishing noise that caused me to cringe.
“Gross. Could you keep the visions of being maimed and murdered by wild animals to a minimum, Marge? It’s bad enough being out here with no phone and no weapon.”
“I’ve got a knife,” Ndungu said. “But the gun is long gone with the cruiser.”
“I got my Swiss Army knife too,” Marge said, tapping her hip. “I can do some damage with this baby.”
“I don’t think that will work on an elephant,” Sylvie said. “Probably only piss it off more.”
“Why is it yelling at us?” Doris whimpered, staring at the bull elephant still trumpeting his displeasure as we moved past at a good distance. “We’re not going to hurt it. Can’t someone tell it that we aren’t a threat?”
“Alice maybe can speak big cat since she is one, but I don’t think any of us speak elephant, Doris.” Sylvie reached out and touched her shoulder. “But we’ll be fine if we just keep out of its territory and give it space.”
“Exactly,” Ndungu agreed. “Most of the animals aren’t out to actively hunt us. They just don’t want us on their turf. That hippo wasn’t interested in eating us, for instance. He was pissed we were in his area. That’s why he attacked. So, all we need to do is keep our distance from any animals we cross paths with, and we’ll be okay.”
As we kept moving, I started to question my envy of the wild lioness. Here I was, out in the wilds of Africa just like her, and all I wanted was to rush back to the safety and security of civilization ... to my Alejandro. Maybe the girls were right. Maybe I had turned into a domesticated big cat after all.
“Everyone. Stop. Moving.” Ndungu slowed to a stop, and the calm but firm tone of his voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“What’s going on?” Doris asked, but instead of answering, he shot her a look that we knew meant to be quiet as he slowly slid his knife out of its sheath.
Marge looked down at his movement, and she reached into her pocket, pulling out her Swiss Army knife as well. She gave us a look that told us she was ready for whatever was coming our way.
My heart pounded against my ribcage as I searched for the threat, my eyes scanning our surroundings. Finally, I saw the danger lurking in the tall grass up ahead on our right.
A jaguar.
Excitement and fear crashed inside of me as I locked eyes with her fierce yellow ones. She lay prone in the grass, her lowered head and tense muscles signaling she was ready to pounce.
Beautiful. She was absolutely beautiful. For a moment, I forgot the danger we were in, and I just appreciated seeing the gorgeous cat out in the wild. But as I was admiring her stunning coat, she let out a snarl, and suddenly, I snapped back to reality that she was a danger to us and not some beautiful friend of mine.
“If she comes for us, we have to look big and scary,” Ndungu whispered while he slowly readied his knife. “Yell. Scream. Jump up and down. Anything to deter her. Whatever you do, don’t run. Prey runs. But for now, we wait and hope she moves on.”
The big jaguar stalked out of the bush, her slow, deliberate movements bringing her even closer to us before she flattened down again, eyes locked on us like lasers.
“Alice, if you can speak ‘big cat,’ now is the time to tell your sister we aren’t freaking dinner,” Marge whispered out of the corner of her mouth while she quietly opened her little Swiss Army knife.
Even though I didn’t actually speak big cat, I continued staring into her eyes, telling her in my mind that we were friends. How much I envied her. How beautiful she was. Strong. Proud. Fearless. Lethal. That I used to be her, and now ... now I was a house cat. A trained, domesticated house cat. That yes, she could slaughter us in mere moments, but if she would just let us pass, we would be very grateful.
