The Elephant's Tale by Lauren St. John

Author:Lauren St. John
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-03-29T04:00:00+00:00

They were driving back across the plain, their senses full of the majesty of the elephants, when Gift spotted a Velvetchia plant. It was, he said, the oldest in the world and they absolutely had to see it. Some were known to live for thousands of years.

Martine, who was conscious of time slipping away from them like salt through a timer, was too distracted to take much interest in the plant, which was quite ugly. The calls of a pair of sandgrouse birds attracted her attention and she wandered over to them. That’s when she noticed the circle of red earth. At its widest point it was probably the length Jemmy would be if he lay down, and it was perfectly round and bare. Not a blade of grass grew on it.

She touched it gingerly. The ground was firm and the soil was warm and crumbly. When she sifted it through her fingers, nothing happened. There was no blinding flash of light. No life-changing revelation.

“Gift,” she called. “Do you know anything about this circle?”

He came over. “Sure I do. That’s a fairy circle.”

“A fairy circle? You believe in fairies in Namibia?”

Gift laughed. “I don’t think anyone believes they’re created by actual fairies. Then again, nobody knows where they come from. They appear out of nowhere, a bit like crop circles do in places like Britain and America. Some people think they’re caused by termites or radioactive granite; others say a forest of Euphorbia trees grew here many years ago and poisoned the ground when they died.”

“What do you believe?” Ben asked.

“I think they were made by little green aliens,” Gift teased. “They’re extra-terrestrial landing pads!”

“You keep saying ‘they,’” Martine interrupted. “Is there another circle around here?”

Gift clutched at his forehead, as if that was the dumbest tourist question he’d heard. Motioning them to follow, he clambered up a rocky hillock. When they reached the top, sweating from the short climb, he waved an arm in the direction of the grassy plain on the other side. Martine peered over the edge and gulped. As far as the eye could see were dozens and dozens of circles.

The circle will lead you to the elephants, Grace had told her.

“Which circle?” Martine thought in despair. And which elephants? If Grace was right, only one combination would lead her to the truth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.