Free Stalking Ivory by Suzanne Arruda Page A

supplies and were headed back along the trail when the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps came from a ravine on their left. Instantly Jade flattened herself against the rocky ground and motioned for Chiumbo to do the same. They were just in time. Less than a minute later, eight Abyssinian raiders marched into view beneath them.
    Sharp volcanic rocks pressed and bit into Jade’s and Chiumbo’s stomachs, but they endured the discomfort without a sound. Any movement, any noise, meant discovery from the band of raiders passing below. The first man carried no other burden than his elephant gun, and since it lay cradled across his arms, it appeared that he didn’t anticipate any serious confrontation on their route. The next six labored under the weight of two creamy white ivory tusks. One of them had a rifle slung over his shoulder, while the others carried bows. An eighth man trailed with a bow in his hands, an arrow nocked and ready.
    Jade waited until the rear guard had just passed below her before she dared to raise her camera. The shutter’s click sounded as loud as a gunshot to her ears, and she ducked back down immediately. Luckily the men grunting beneath the weight of ivory made more noise than the camera, so none of them noticed the click.
    Once the raiders marched out of sight, Jade and Chiumbo retreated down the elephant trail and hastened back to camp. They stopped only long enough to pick up her other cameras, which had been tripped during the day.
    The pair arrived in camp by midafternoon, and Biscuit immediately bounded to Jade and butted his head against her thigh. Beverly looked up from the Tarzan book she was sharing with Jelani, smiled, and started to wave. The wave and her smile immediately vanished when she saw Jade’s scowl.
    “What happened this time?” asked Beverly. “Did one of your cameras break down?”
    Jade shook her head. “We ran into raiders.” She watched Beverly’s jaw drop in shock. “Close your mouth, Bev. You look like a codfish.”
    Beverly jumped up from her chair and followed Jade to the darkroom tent. “See here, Jade. You can’t just waltz into camp with news like that, then wander off. Come back here this instant.”
    Jade emerged from the tent empty-handed. “I have every intention of telling you all about it. Where’s Avery?”
    Beverly waved her hand in the general direction of the supply tent. “He’s smoking his pipe and cleaning his rifle.”
    “Well, go get him. I’m not telling this twice.”
    Beverly returned shortly, dragging her husband by the arm, and Jade launched into her narrative. She kept strictly to the facts as she related direction, number, and weapons. “That may be all of them,” she said in summary, “but we can’t be certain. No one should take any chances.”
    Beverly rolled her eyes. “By ‘no one’ I presume you mean everyone except yourself.”
    Jade didn’t reply, and Beverly let out an exasperated string of mildly vulgar words. Jade arched her brows in surprise. “There is an impressionable child present in the camp, Beverly, or have you forgotten about Jelani?” She pointed a finger at the boy, who sat on his own, engrossed in the Tarzan book.
    “If I may be so bold as to intrude my opinion,” Avery began. He held his pipe in one hand and used it like a lecturer might use a pointer. “I suggest we talk about this with Mr. Hascombe’s people at dinner this evening. Once we have more information, we can better examine all our options.”
    “To hell with Hascombe’s opinion,” groused Jade. “I don’t trust him.”
    “As we are all only too aware,” added Avery. “But it doesn’t lessen the need for his experience. He’s lived in the Protectorate all his life. We are relative newcomers. And,” he added quickly before Jade could jump in with another rebuttal, “trust him or not, he deserves to know what’s going on.”
    Jade conceded his final point with a soft grunt.
    “If we knew where Captain Smythe’s