A Time to Die - Smith Wilbur - Страница 59

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"The elephant rested here," Matatu explained, lowering his voice to a whisper. "He is an old man now and he tires easily. Here he stood to sleep, see how he shuffled his feet in the dust, and when he awoke he dusted his body. See where he scooped it up with his trunk and threw it over his back."

"How long did he stay here?" Sean asked. Matatu leaned his head to one side as he considered the question.

"He rested here until late yesterday afternoon when the sun was there."

Matatu pointed ten degrees above the western horizon.

"But when he went on he went more slowly. He feels safer now that he is close to the swamps. We have gained on him."

Sean exaggerated Matatu's estimate as he passed it on to Riccardo and Claudia. He wanted to encourage them. "We are making really good gains on him now." He put on a cheerful, confident air. "We might even catch up with him before he gets into the deep swamps, if we don't waste any time."

The spoor headed down the isthmus and the old bull had fed quietly as he moved along it, keeping up on top of the low ridge where the bush was thickest. Directly ahead of them stood another gigantic baobab tree. Its bark was gray and folded and riven as the old bull's hide.

For the moment Sean had left Riccardo's side and moved up to his original position behind Matatu. He wanted to caution the tracker not to set too fast a pace, but before he could speak he heard a strange, guttural cry behind him and he whirled around.

Riccardo's face was swollen and congested with blood. His eyes blazed and seemed to start from their sockets. Sean thought he was suffering from some kind of seizure, but he was pointing ahead, his hand, shaking with violent emotion.

"There he is," he croaked, in a thick unnatural voice. "For God's sake, can't you see him?"

Sean whirled and followed the direction of his outstretched arm.

"What is it, man?"

He was looking ahead, and he did not see Riccardo turn to Pumula and snatch the Rigby rifle off his shoulder, but he heard the metallic clash of the bolt as Riccardo chambered a cartridge.

"Capo, what the hell are you doing?" He reached out to restrain him, but Riccardo shoved him backward. Sean was in unprepared and off balance, and he staggered and almost fell.

Riccardo ran forward to the head of the line, stopped, and threw up the rifle.

"Capo, don't do it." Sean was sprinting to catch him, but the Rigby crashed out and the barrel jumped high, driving Riccardo back a pace with the heavy recoil.

"Have you gone crazy?" Sean could not reach him before he had fired again, and the heavy bullet tore a flurry of white wet bark from the trunk of the baobab. The echoes of the shot rolled across the plains.

"Capo." Sean reached him and seized the rifle, forcing the muzzle up toward the sky just as Riccardo fired the Rigby for the third time.

Sean wrested the weapon out of his grip.

"In the name of all that's holy, man, what on earth do you think you're doing?"

Their eardrums were numbed by the thunder of gunfire, and Sean's outraged voice sounded small and hollow after it.

"Tukutela," Riccardo mouthed. "Don't you see? Why did you stop me?" His face was still flushed and he was shaking like a man with malarial fever. He reached once more for the Rigby in Sean's grasp, but Sean jerked it away from him.

"Pull yourself together!" he shouted, tossing the empty rifle to Job. "Don't let him get it again." He turned back to Riccardo.

"Are you out of your mind? He seized him by the shoulders. "The sound of those shots will carry for miles."

"Leave me!" Riccardo struggled. "Don't you see him?" And Sean shook him viciously.

"Snap out of it, you're shooting at a tree. You've blown your lid!"

"Give me the rifle," Riccardo was pleading. Sean shook him again and roughly turned him to face the baobab.

"Look at it, you bloody madman! There's your elephant!" He shoved him toward it. "Take a good look!"

Claudia ran forward and tried to restrain Sean. "Leave him alone.

Can't you see he's sick?"

"He's gone crazy!" Sean pushed her aside. "He's calling up every Frelimo and Renamo thug within fifty miles, and he's chased any elephant... "

"Leave him," Claudia came back at him. Sean let go of her father and stepped back.

"All right, ducky, he's all yours."

Claudia rushed to her father and embraced him. "It's all right, Papa! It's going to be all right!"

Riccardo was staring uncomprehendingly at the deep raw oozing sap, in the bark of the baobab.

"I thought it was... " He shook his head weakly. "Why did I do that?

I don't... I thought it looked like an elephant."

"Yes, Papa, yes." Claudia was hugging him. "Don't upset yourself."

Job and the rest of the hunting team were quiet and unhappy, watching this strange episode that none of them could fathom.

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