Free A Gathering of Wings by Kate Klimo Page B

everyone. Wide-eyed, Zephele scoots closer to Malora. “What was that?” she asks.
    “Hyena,” Neal says, picking his teeth with a twig.
    Green lights flash in the darkness.
    “And what are those?” Zephele asks.
    “Bush bunnies,” Malora says. “Their eyes glow.”
    “They look rather sweet,” Zephele says.
    “They taste like berries and wild sage,” Neal says.
    “Haven’t you already sufficiently gorged yourself?” Zephele says.
    Darkness deepens and the air grows chilly, drawing them closer to the fire. A powerful musk fills the air and causes the horses to stop munching their feed and fall still.
    Malora lifts her nose and sniffs. “I wonder,” she says slowly, rising to her feet. She lights a stout stick and takes a few steps with the torch away from the fire and into the darkness. “I thought so! Look!” she whispers, as she holds up the torch and illuminates a family of rhinos: a bull, two cows, and a calf, all grazing placidly while peering at the travelers with their tiny curious eyes.
    “Oh my! They’re like living rocks!” Zephele says. “Are we in any danger of being gored by those fearsome horns?”
    Malora returns to the fire, tossing the torch into the flames. “Not really. They’re just as curious about us,” she says, “as we are about them.”
    “Those would be black rhinos, if I’m not mistaken,” Honus says. “As opposed to white.”
    “Really?” Malora says. “They all look gray to me.”
    “
Diceros bicornis
is the scientific name. I believe the name
white rhino
came about as a result of a misunderstanding of the word
wide
, for the white rhino has a wider head than the black. Ancient safari hunters designated the black rhino to be one of the Big Five, which were held to be the most difficult animals to hunt: lion, elephant, Cape buffalo, black rhino, and—I believe—that spotted creature we saw earlier today, the leopard.”
    “The Big Five,” Zephele says musingly. “To think that we’ve been in the bush only one day and already we’ve sighted two of the Big Five. I wonder if we’ll see the other three before we get to Kahiro? We must all pay very close attention.”
    “I could do without coming across a Cape buffalo,” says Neal. “The Cape buffalo is, as far as I know, the only animal driven to seek revenge. When they’re wounded, I’ve seen them lay waste to entire camps.”
    “Then there’s the Ugly Five,” Honus goes on. “Can you guess what they might be?”
    “Hmmm,” says Malora. “Well, the bush pig is
very
ugly.”
    “But equally as succulent,” Neal puts in.
    “Very good! The bush pig is one of the Ugly Five,” Honus says. “The other four are the wildebeest, the marabou stork, the hyena, and last but by no means least, the hippopotamus.”
    A short awkward pause follows the mention of hippos, the beast that savaged Athen Silvermane. Zephele breaks the silence: “I think it’s cruel to say that some animals are ugly. Surely each creature is, in its own way, beautiful. I’m quitepositive that the mother bush pig finds her little bush piglets the most adorable things in the world.”
    Neal spits into the fire. “How about the Ridiculous Five?” he says. “Let’s see … that would be the Sniveling Coward, the Boasting Windbag, the Relentless Expert, the Conniving User, and last but not least, Zephele Silvermane, the Hopelessly Sentimental.”
    Zephele narrows her eyes at him. “At least I am not one of the Cruel Five, a Rude and Heartless Brute,” she retorts.
    Neal appears to take this as flattery. Zephele’s eyes blaze.
    Honus says, “I think I’ll retire before any centaur blood is spilled.”
    “Me too,” Malora says, rising to her feet and stretching her saddle-sore muscles.
    Zephele follows Malora to their tent. “What if I have to get up to relieve myself in the middle of the night?” she whispers.
    “Wake me up and I’ll escort you to the great dirt convenience,” Malora says, yawning.
    Just outside the