Hunted Read online

  'He's going to crash into those trees,' cried Hex. He swerved off the track and hared after Paulo. The others followed.

  Paulo's bike sliced between two trees and stopped when the handlebars hit the trunks. It stayed there, wedged upright. Paulo didn't move.

  Alex reached him first and skidded to a halt, laying his bike on the ground. He peered at his friend's face, expecting to see blood. It was unmarked. Paulo breathed deeply and let out a snore.

  Alex turned away in disgust. 'He's still asleep.'

  It was the sound of laughing that woke Paulo. He looked around at his friends. His innocent face seemed to be waiting to be told what the joke was and they howled all the more.

  Paulo realized. 'Ah,' he said, dismounting from the bike. 'My turn for an unplanned nap?' He pulled the bike clear of the trees, gave it a quick check for damage and pushed it back to the track.

  The others followed, pushing their bikes back up through the trees. Hex started to chuckle again and put his hand over his mouth to stop himself. Alex saw and it set him off.

  Li wiped a tear from her eye and composed herself. 'Let's go,' she said and picked up her bike.

  Amber heard them before she saw them. It was a kind of monotonous chanting. Her four friends were singing. She wasn't quite sure what they were singing, as no tune was discernible, but they were pedalling in time to it. Li's long black hair, braided into a neat plait, swung with the beat like a conductor's baton. Amber filmed them for a few minutes with the team camcorder as they turned the corner. They will be so appalled when they see themselves later, she thought with relish. But for now they were too tired to be embarrassed.

  Alex got off his bike and left it where it dropped. He walked around slowly, trying to loosen up after the long hours in the saddle. 'I feel like I've been welded into the shape of a cyclist and I'll never come undone,' he groaned. John Middleton picked up the bike and wheeled it away while Alex walked slowly over to Amber, flexing his legs extravagantly.

  She poured him a steaming cup of coffee from a flask. 'You look like a stork, walking like that,' she said.

  Alex was watching Paulo, who laid his bike down carefully and sat stiffly on the ground.

  'I don't know how Paulo can sit down,' said Alex. 'My backside's on fire.'

  Amber searched his face for signs of fatigue. 'You look awake, anyway,' she said.

  'With pain like this I certainly am,' replied Alex.

  'Just keep walking around,' said John Middleton, coming back for Paulo's bike.

  Amber hobbled over to Paulo and poured him coffee. 'Gracias,' he said, and gave her a big smile. He looked remarkably relaxed and laid-back, thought Amber, but then he always managed to look like that. How did he do it?

  Li and Hex had sat down to undo their shoes, one-handed, each nursing a coffee cup. They were moving very slowly, so tired that drinking coffee and untying trainers at the same time was almost too much to cope with.

  Amber grabbed the medical kit and got to work. 'Show me your blisters,' she said briskly. She kneeled in front of Hex and inspected his bare feet. He already had a large, raw blister from running and now it looked worse. Amber tipped antiseptic onto a ball of cotton wool and dabbed it on. Hex jumped as though he'd had an electric shock.

  Amber grinned sadistically. 'You still awake?'

  Hex nodded sleepily. 'Yes, thanks.'

  'So what have I missed?' said Amber.

  'Er . . .' Hex tried to remember but it was too much trouble. 'I'll tell you later.'

  While Amber inspected Li's blisters, John Middleton handed round hiking boots and abseiling helmets, and restocked their backpacks with snacks. Within minutes, Team Alpha Force were back on their feet and marching away.

  'God, I feel like an ancient parent,' said Amber as she watched them leave.

  * * *

  'So how's everyone doing?' said Li.

  'You've just asked us that!' exclaimed Hex.

  'Sorry,' mumbled Li. The exhaustion had crept up on her and now she felt more tired than she could ever remember. She was barely even aware of putting one foot in front of the other.

  Paulo came up behind her and took hold of the shoulder straps of her pack. 'Let me take this for a while and I'll do the monitoring now.'

  Li gratefully unfastened the belt of her pack and let Paulo carry it – part of good teamwork was not just giving help, but knowing when to accept it. Then it was back to concentrating on one foot in front of the other.

  Alex saw how tired she was. 'Hold onto my pack for a while,' he said. Li nodded and hooked her hand into a loop on the side of the rucksack. That felt a bit easier; like being towed. That was the challenge of these races, she told herself. You hit an absolute low, but if you kept fed and hydrated it would pass. In an hour she might feel fine.

  They walked up a steep hill, passing another team, who were sitting in a row along the path having a furious argument about where to go next. But Team Alpha Force were sure of where the abseiling point was and carried on up.

  The sun was beginning to set and the land dropped away on one side to give a spectacular view. Grasslands stretched as far as the eye could see. Oxbow lakes glittered in the golden sunlight. A river snaked through the parched land, and beyond it, the wildlife of Africa was laid out in a panorama. Vast herds of wildebeest, springbok, buffalo and zebra moved like ants across the plain. The four friends walked in awestruck silence.

  Even Li emerged from her cocoon of half-sleep as they climbed. 'Wow,' she said quietly, letting Alex pull her along.

  'This must be the abseil point,' said Hex. Lines of rope were attached to rings driven into a wall of rock and snaked over the edge. 'Who's going first?'

  'I'll go last,' said Li. 'You guys get down.'

  The next Li knew, voices were shouting her name. She came to with a start. She must have sat down and zoned out, although she didn't remember it. Now she understood how Paulo had dozed on the bike. She hadn't even realized she was falling asleep.

  She went close to the edge and peered over. Hex, Paulo and Alex were standing at the bottom, waving; Alex was holding up the harness. They had already made their descent. Li nodded and picked up the rope at her end. As she hoisted up the harness she sized up the rock face. It was long and straight; no sharp projections or hazards, just a fabulous sense of sky and sandy rock. Li was feeling better already.

  She pulled the harness over the edge and clambered in.

  Down below, Paulo, Hex and Alex watched her fasten the harness and pull on the rope to test it.

  'Now we'll see how it's meant to be done,' grinned Hex. Any moment her slight figure would skip lightly down the cliff.

  'Bet we look like three baby elephants compared with Li,' agreed Alex.

  But Li stayed up at the top, not moving.

  Paulo grinned. 'Do you think she's fallen asleep? She's hit a tired patch.'

  'That beats you for weird sleeping places,' said Hex. 'Li,' he called out, 'are you still with us?'

  Li turned to look down at them.

  'She looks awake,' said Alex.

  Paulo frowned. 'Something's wrong,' he said to himself under his breath. He called out, 'Li, are you OK?'

  They watched as she glanced down and gave a thumbs-up sign, then turned back to what she was doing. But still she did not move. The harness showed up bright purple against her slim-fitting black cycle shorts and T-shirt and they could see by the way it hung that she had not yet committed her weight to it. She stood looking intently at her hands holding onto the rope.

  Paulo's spine tingled. Something was very wrong. 'I think she's frozen up there,' he said. He shook his head; had he really said that? Was he dreaming?

  Hex and Alex both looked at him in astonishment.

  'Never,' said Alex vehemently.

  'Not Li,' added Hex. 'She'll be on her way in a minute.'

  But she wasn't. She remained standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down at her two hands on the rope.

  'She has definitely frozen,' said Paulo
again.

  'I'm feeling quite strong at the moment,' said Hex. 'I could go back and help her . . .' His voice trailed off as he saw the expressions on the faces of his two friends. 'Wouldn't go down well, would it?'

  'Probably not,' said Alex. He stared up at Li, willing her to move.

  Another team had arrived at the top. Suddenly, Li stepped backwards. The harness took her weight. It was the fastest abseil Alex had ever seen. Li hurried down the cliff face as though the hounds of hell were after her. What had happened to the poised, confident climber who had danced down cliff faces in Argentina all day long?

  She landed at the base of the cliff and stepped out of the harness. The moment she let it go it was whisked back up to the top, brushing a hail of pebbles and sand down the rock face.

  'Li, are you OK?' said Paulo. 'What happened up there?'

  Li's face was grim. 'I'm tired, that's all. Next checkpoint is this way, isn't it?' She set off at a determined march.

  Paulo, Alex and Hex glanced at each other. Li looked angry with herself. They had to jog to keep up with her.

  Paulo tried to lighten the mood. 'What embarrassing things we do when we're tired, eh? It'll be Hex and Alex's turn next.'

  2

  KILLERS

  The shots rang out, sending birds screeching into the sky, where the last rays of sun were sinking away for the day. The elephant screamed, curling her trunk as she blasted out a warning. Her eyes showed white with fear. Blood streamed from the holes in her head. She screamed again, a pink froth foaming from her mouth.

  One of the poachers squinted into the growing darkness. The ugly scar on his cheek crinkled like a grotesque second mouth. He fired again, aiming high on the head. The elephant keeled over and sank against a large rock, thrashing the sandy surface with her trunk.

  She tried to rise but crashed back to the ground. The man with the scarred face jumped backwards, his weapon ready to fire again. But the elephant was losing the battle. The ugly holes in her head leaked blood, spreading quickly into the crazy paving of her crackly skin. It flowed down onto her tusks, turning them from gleaming white to sticky ruby.

  The scarred man and his poacher companions watched as her life leaked out onto the sandy soil.

  Soon the elephant's only movement was the heaving of her great sides as she fought to keep breathing. Her trunk flailed like a blind, dying snake. Wide streaks of moisture ran out of her eyes like tears.

  The man with the yellow bandanna put his weapon on the ground and picked up his machete. 'I reckon it's not going to fight much longer.' He wiped sand from his eyes with the back of his hand. They had to get to work and remove the tusks as quickly as possible.

  The man who wore the hyena tooth kept his AK-47 at the ready. Rangers patrolled the game park and you never knew when one was about to appear.

  A loud trumpeting sounded. The poachers looked at each other in alarm. Elephants live in extended family groups, and defend their cousins and sisters as fiercely as they would their children. 'I thought this one was on its own,' hissed Scarface.

  They heard the sound again, and with it the crash of breaking foliage. It came from behind the great bulk of the dying elephant. The poachers grabbed their guns. They weren't about to leave their spoils without a fight.

  A baby elephant trotted around the rock, its trunk high, ears flapping backwards and forwards. It let out another scream.

  'Leave it,' said the man with the yellow bandanna, lowering his weapon and leaning it against a tree. 'It's on its own. We've got to get to work.' He picked up his machete and approached the dead mother elephant.

  Scarface didn't lower his weapon. 'It's drawing attention to us. We can't take the chance.' His scar twitched.

  The baby elephant slowed. Its steps became hesitant. It approached the body of its mother and reached cautiously towards her with its trunk, the sensitive end fidgeting like fingers. It touched her, stroking the hide. After a few moments it was still, resting the tip of its trunk on her head.

  Li walked ahead of the others, maintaining the same fast pace she had set when she started off from the foot of the cliff. She was fatigued but she would not allow it to show. She would not let the team down again. She refused even to think about what had happened on the cliff. The sun had just set and as she walked she pulled her fleece out of her pack, wriggling in and out of her rucksack straps so that she could put it on while walking.

  The next checkpoint was over a sturdy road bridge. It took them into the area they had seen from the cliff top. They stopped for a moment to put on head torches and Hex got out the bear banger, a metal tube that fired cartridges and made a noise like a firework. They had been told the wildlife should stay away from a big group if they kept together and made a noise, but just in case it didn't, they could light the bear banger to scare anything off. Paulo kept his torch in his hand, and shone it on the ground to check for snakes.

  The river stretched out wide beside them, making gentle lapping sounds.

  'That's the Luangwa,' said Alex. 'It flows from Tanzania into the Zambezi, and then into the Indian Ocean. Wow.' He was talking half to himself. Although he felt alert, he had missed nearly two nights' sleep and nothing seemed real. The darkness outside the narrow arc of his head torch seemed to go on for ever. Occasionally there was a splash as something large moved in the water – a crocodile or a hippo. Li had picked a path ten metres from the river edge to keep them at a safe distance.

  They crossed a clear track in the grass. It was a game trail, a path worn down by animals going to the river and back. Paulo stopped and directed his torch down onto it. He gasped in wonder. 'Look!'

  Alex and Hex peered over his shoulder, the beams from their lamps merging like a spotlight. Paulo had found a heavy four-toed print.

  Li gave it a glance. 'Hippo. Keep off its trail or it'll panic and go for you.'

  'That's nice,' said Paulo. 'I thought hippos were cuddly.'

  'They're not,' replied Li. She marched on.

  Paulo shrugged. Li was usually even more fascinated by the animal world than he was. She was probably tired, or maybe she was still worried by what had happened at the cliff. He wanted to say to her, Don't worry, we're all doing strange things in this race – because we haven't had any sleep. But this clearly wasn't the time or the place.

  It wasn't long before they came to another game trail. Paulo stopped and flicked his torch over it. 'More big feet,' he said, delighted. 'Looks like skid marks with three huge toes.'

  Li glanced at it. 'Rhino,' she said, without much interest.

  But Paulo found the endless variety of tracks fascinating. He found little ones like dainty points, which Li said were made by a tiny antelope called a dik-dik. Hex and Alex caught his enthusiasm, walking along for most of the time with their torches pointed at the ground.

  Paulo found some broad, heavy tracks.

  'Lone buffalo,' said Li grimly. 'Good job it's not going our way; we'd be stuffed.'

  Alex decided it was time to cheer Li up. He stopped and pointed out another track. 'Li, what's this?'

  She looked down. Alex was pointing at a deep track made by a mountain-bike tyre.

  Li looked at the track for a moment and then a smile made its way slowly across her face. 'That, you dunderhead, is an elephant riding a unicycle.' She walked on, shaking her head.

  The others followed. Soon it was time for Paulo to check everyone's physical condition.

  'I feel two point seven five,' said Hex.

  'Three-ish,' said Alex.

  'Four,' replied Li.

  'What's that?' Hex stopped and stood stock-still, listening. 'Did anyone hear that?'

  They all halted. Above the ticking of the insects there was a long, mournful sound from the river.

  'No, not that,' said Hex. 'That's a humpback whale playing the tuba.'

  Alex and Paulo laughed.

  Li said, 'It's a hippo.'

  Hex was still listening. 'There,' he said. 'I think it was a scream.'

  'B
aboons. Come on, we'd better keep moving.'

  And then they all heard it. The voice was unmistakably human. The word it cried out was also unmistakable: 'Help!'

  Alex called out, 'Hello? Where are you? Shout again.'

  The sound came again, loud and desperate. It was close.

  'Over there,' said Paulo. He turned towards it.

  The voice called out again: 'Careful! There's a pit.' A figure came towards them, rustling through the grass, the headlamp held low in his hand and bobbing as he ran.

  'Tessa's hurt,' he gasped. His accent was South African. He wore a badge – CHRIS, TEAM SPITFIRE – and a red sweat band around his head. 'Are you the organizers?' Before any of them could answer, he turned and started running, his bobbing torch leading the way. 'They're coming,' he called.

  Team Alpha Force gave chase. Paulo, in front, was the first to see what the problem was. His torch grazed a mass of pointed stakes in a shallow pit. He stopped at once. The torch beam found a tangle of grass and branches. The desperate face of a girl flinched away from the light.

  'A poacher's trap,' said Alex. He took his head lamp off and flashed it around. 'There's the bait – look.' In one corner lay the roughly cut haunch of some dark animal, the cloven hoof still intact and rimmed with a fine ring of white hair.

  Paulo got carefully down into the pit. He was the team medic – another skill honed during his long years of treating injured animals on his parents' ranch.

  The frightened girl was breathing hard and sweat was running down her face, mingling with her tears. She was wearing a fleece but it was damp with sweat and she was shivering. Paulo took his fleece off and put it around her shoulders.

  'I didn't see it. We must have gone off course a bit. I just fell.' Her voice was weak.

  'Hush,' said Paulo. 'Everything's going to be fine.' It was when he ran the torch over her that he saw the damage. At first it looked as though Tessa was just sitting in the pit with one leg extended awkwardly before her. Then he realized that one of the stakes had been driven deeply into the back of her knee. Blood had coursed down her leg and the stake in a sticky black river. Her shorts were soaked too. The pit must have been disguised to look like solid ground. She must have walked straight onto it and crashed through, impaling her leg as she fell.