what’s comin’ to her. ‘Bout time too.”

Falana rounded on the hyena snarling, “Give me one reason not to kill you: just one.”

“Save it missy. I ain’t here to kill you, or your mother. Hi there Shaha!”

Shaha growled from the trees. “Yeah, I love you too!” The hyena strode up to Falana boldly, circling her and the kill. “Me, I’m just the messenger. Lizzie thinks we’re all in this together, us being canids and all. Trouble is, we ain’t, but you know how it is: who’s gonna’ tell her?”

“Going to tell her what?”

“Why, what happened here of course. I gotta tell her something.”

“Tell her her assassin is dead.”

“No, no, no. You don’t get it do you? I gotta tell her what she wants to hear an’ that’s exactly what I think I’m gonna do. After that I’m getting way outa here. I ain’t hanging around. I’ve had enough of this business. The pay’s lousy an’ the boss stinks.”

The hyena turned away without another word and stepped off into the night. Falana, her eyes burning, stood silently over the body.

“Let her go,” said Shaha limping out from the trees. “It’ll be all right.”

“How can you know?”

“That’s the first time a hyena’s ever called me Shaha.”

 

***

 

The great rock sat silently adrift amidst a blossoming sea. The rains heralded new growth and new life but the rock just was. It always had been. It had seen so much come and go, so many rains, and many that did not come, desiccating the ridges and plains around close to desert. The colours around were rich, vibrant and full of life. Against them, the grey of the rock was more forbidding than ever. Mtundu shivered as he climbed the path to its still heart.

“Mtundu, Mtundu! You’re back! Wow, it feels like forever. How are you? Shaha not eaten you yet?”

“Err, nah. I’m still all here. Every bit.” Mtundu looked around. Everything appeared changed, and the scents were overwhelming even to Mtundu’s nose. Nengwe rushed over to him, dropping down and began licking him. “Yeah, Nengwe, see? I’m jus’ fine.”

“Great! What have you been up to eh? Hunting? No, that’s no you is it… I know, walking under the moonlight discussing stuff.”

“Yeah Nengwe, something like that.” He put his arms around the lion’s neck. “And what about you? What’d you been up to eh?”

“Oh nothing.”

“Nuttin’? Yeah right, and where’s Falana?”

“Oh she went off a while back. She swears she saw something out there. Wouldn’t say what. Just ran off. You know how she is.”

“What did you do to her? How is she? Jus’ what kind’a nutti’n you been doin’?” It wasn’t just the rock, it was Nengwe that carried the scents: rancid meat… not sure what; musty water, damp earth… ah yes, that… and… Falana. He smelt of Falana. “Cummon Nengwe, what have you been up to for all this time? Been out much have ya?”

“Not much, just pottering around. Here, there, relaxing, you know.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a pretty good idea. I reckon you’ve got just a hundred and ten more nights of freedom. Then you’d better get used to being called ‘Dad’ lots of times… very early in the morning.”

“A hundred and ten, you’ve counted?”

“Nah, Shaha told me.”

“She’s counted? Wow, she really doesn’t get out much these days does she?”

“Jeez no, Nengwe. She didn’t count. She’s got better things to do. An old friend told her once, that’s all. That’s my kinda nuttin’ you’ve been doin’!”

“Ahhh.”

“Yeah, and that ain’t all. When did you do all this?” Mtundu spread out his arms surveying the lions’ paw-work.

“Falana and I did it… together.” Nengwe nodded, his eyes alight with a brighter glint than ever Mtundu had seen. “We still got a bit of work to do, but the cave is… come and look!” The lion jumped up, whipping himself from the baboon’s arms. He rushed over to the cave mouth. “Come on Mtundu. Come and see for yourself what Falana did with me.”

Mtundu wrinkled his brow. “I don’t think I got the strength for that Nengwe.”

“Come on. It’s really… cool. Honest.”

Mtundu got up and walked across the promontory. The lion bounced inside the cave. Mtundu walked slowly through the gap in the rubble. ‘Aah,’ he thought, ‘Gemsbok…’ The lion stood proudly on the platform deep inside. Mtundu approached and stopped before him, looking around. It was certainly something. Actually it really was pretty cool, in all senses. Yup, Nengwalamwe had had a good time.

“Hey, now you’re here we can go and find Falana.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Well, maybe she wants to be alone or something, but after a few days here I’m a little stiff.”

“A little? Hind legs?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Just a haunch eh? Mtundu, I need to run it off.”

“Yeah right. Go on then, off you go.”

“Oh no Mtundu, you’re coming with me.” The lion crouched on the platform. Mtundu smiled, laughed and walked forward shaking his head.

“Just don’ jump off Nengwe. I wanna stay alive!”

 

23.Lettest Thou Thy Servant

 

 

Mtundu leant forward against the wind, saying into Nengwe’s ear, “So, wher’a we goin’?”

“Anywhere, south maybe.”

“Ahh, maybes north Nengwe.”

The lion began to stretch his stride, eating up the eastern plain.

“Why?”

“Ya don’t wanna run into the dogs do ya?”

“No, do you know where they are?

“Yeah, down south,” Mtundu clung hard to Nengwe’s back. “They’re huntin’”

“You’ve seen them?”

“No… I just know.”

Nengwe slowed to a walk. For days he had barely thought of the dogs. He had had barely thought of anything other than Falana. Why did the dogs have to be part of his life? The alternative was, if anything, even more disturbing. What do lions do? Life would go on without lions and without hunting dogs too. Predators were arguably only a step above parasites, living off other species, but couldn’t afford to predate too many for fear of choking off their own food supply. Nothing noble about that, yet other species seemingly wanted to look to lions for guidance and wisdom. Nengwe felt he had precious little of either. He was just a big cat with a neck-full of manky fur and actually he wasn’t unhappy with that. If he could help then that was fine too. “North? OK, north it is.”

Later, in higher spirits than for as long as either could remember, the pair wandered back to the rock side by side. As Mtundu climbed the path he noticed a smear of blood on one of the boulders. Stopping, he stretched out a finger to touch it. It was still fresh.

“Nengwe, come an’ take a look at this.”

The lion stepped to his side, seeing the strain of fear in the baboon’s stance. “What is it?”

“I hope it’s nuttin’. Is that Falana’s?”

The lion sniffed at it. He couldn’t tell for certain, but it didn’t seem to be at all familiar. “I don’t think so…” Mtundu turned to him slowly. “But I can’t be sure.  You don’t think… surely…” Realising, the lion pushed past Mtundu and leapt on up the slope. Mtundu ran after him, catching him up on the promontory and the lion stood beside an intact carcass. The previously pervading scents of lion and lioness were now overlaid heavily with the acrid stench of dog: African hunting dog. It even masked that of the impala.

Nengwalamwe turned away in disgust. He felt unclean. He rushed into the cave to wash, to rid himself of the dogs’ taint, for it was clearly more than one that had nauseatingly violated his home. As Mtundu went in after him, the rock trembled to the lion’s anguished roar. Within, Nengwalamwe stood over one of the foul beasts, his forepaws pinning it down. It spoke up to him with little fear.

 “Yer not stupid lion.”

“Nengwalamwe,” he growled angrily, “my name is Nengwalamwe!”

“Yeah, whatever. Nengwa-firkin’-lamwe. I see yer’a sharper tool than some. Look they… we ‘re gonna take you and present you to all the animals, showing just how crap you are to ’em. Telling them how you’re just going to nom’em. How’as yer don’t give a monkey’s about ‘em.”

The lion seethed. If he wasn’t standing over it, he would probably have swiped the smile from its face with unsheathed claws; the rest of its face with it. “Just how are you expecting to capture a lion?”

“Don’t flatter yourself li… err, Nengwalamwe. You’ll go down easily enough. We can put nine or ten well’ard dogs on you anytime we want. That’s what that impala is about: telling you that we can get to you whenever and wherever we like. You’re not

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