Free Scarred Lions by Fanie Viljoen

you!’ I said as we made our way back home. André and Simoshile burst out in fits of laughter every now and again, the feud between the two of them forgotten.
    ‘Sorry, Buyi, I can’t help it,’ said Simoshile, clutching her stomach.
    ‘You should have seen yourself,’ said André.
    ‘Arms and legs flailing,’ cried Simoshile.
    ‘You looked like one of those people in horror movies. Wha-a-a-a!’ André gave his impression of my hippo getaway. ‘Wha-a- a-a !’
    ‘I didn’t scream,’ I said, trying to defend myself.
    ‘Yes you did!’ they cried with laughter.
    ‘Well, I don’t think so. Anyway, I was scared, okay? You would have been too.’
    ‘Those hippos were probably just amazed when they saw a flying Englishman above their watering hole. That’s why they didn’t make a move.’
    ‘One of them actually opened its mouth just as I was passing overhead,’ I said. Why couldn’t they see the danger I was in?
    ‘The hippo was probably laughing too,’ said André. ‘I can just imagine what the view from the bottom must have been like if the view from the side was so funny!’
    ‘If you knew about the hippos, why did you let me foef … whatever over them?’
    Simoshile answered, ‘It isn’t their usual spot. They prefer another watering hole a distance away. I was actually surprised to see them there.’
    ‘And that’s why you screamed?’
    ‘I had to warn you.’
    ‘There you are then! You knew I was in danger. And you too, André. Or else you wouldn’t have come sprinting round the watering hole. You knew I might be in trouble!’
    ‘I came running to make sure you …’
    ‘I what?’ I challenged.
    ‘You know … that you didn’t fall on your butt trying to get off the foefieslide.’
    ‘That lie far exceeds the size of a hippo’s opened jaws,’ I smiled. André had a sillygrin on his face. He shook his head. They both knew I’d been in quite a bit of danger, but making light of it somehow eased the tension.
    And now forever more I would be the butt of all hippo jokes.
    ‘Wha-a-a-a!’ cried André again, running up the road like a madman. I caught Simoshile’s eye. She smiled at me. Something inside me felt strange, so I quickly looked away.
    André had meanwhile stopped his charade. He stood there in the middle of the dusty road. His head tilted to the side. ‘Shush!’ he whispered.
    We all listened. Suddenly they both looked around wildly. André’s face turned pale.
    Oemfff … Oemfff …
    ‘Lion!’ whispered Simoshile.
    ‘Is it him?’ I whispered back. ‘The one who …’
    ‘Don’t know,’ said André, his eyes wide. ‘But I don’t think I want to find out … Run!’
    It was like a gunshot had gone off indicating the start of a race. A race to live. The dust billowed in fear-filled yellow clouds beneath our feet. The road stretched out ahead of us.
    Oemfff … Oemfff …
    ‘Where is it?’ I panted.
    ‘Don’t know. Just keep going,’ whispered André.
    I couldn’t even determine the direction of the sound. The lion could have been anywhere. That scared me.
    Were André and Simoshile playing a trick on me again? I had never heard a lion roar before that day. In fact, the closestI’d ever come to a lion was the statues in Trafalgar Square.
    I could hear my own breath coming hard, burning in my chest. André and Simoshile were heaving too. This was no joke. For the second time in one day I was running away from a wild animal. Scared out of my wits.
    I don’t know how far we ran, or for how long, before André eventually said, ‘Come on you guys, not much … further now.’ His voice almost disappeared under his breath. He turned his head again. Listening. I did too. I couldn’t hear the lion anymore. That didn’t mean it wasn’t there.
    Up ahead we saw the Namhlanje gate.
    ‘I can’t run anymore,’ moaned Simoshile, holding her side and clenching her teeth.
    ‘Just a few steps more,’ encouraged André.
    I felt just like Simoshile. I hadn’t had