The Man With the Black Dog by Mario Cesare

Author:Mario Cesare
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978186842478
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Published: 2011-11-03T04:00:00+00:00

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Mkambati Nature Reserve is named after a species of palm tree native to Madagascar, from where their huge seed pods, oddly shaped like a giant pig’s scrotum, floated across the Indian Ocean on powerful currents to end up in this bay. Here they encountered all the necessary environmental conditions to germinate and flourish. The reserve also comprises beautiful mangrove swamps, a wonderful diverse coastal-marine reserve where limited fishing is allowed, and an inland reserve with an impressive variety of birdlife and numerous species of antelope. Mkambati had also been a leper colony for decades; the solid sandstone buildings that were built by the lepers to service their colony are still standing and in use today.

Fishing off the rocks on the edge of the lagoon one morning, we were totally engrossed in the task at hand. The incoming tide would be bringing in the shad, a particularly good sporting fish. As usual, Shilo was on guard duty, keeping our bait from becoming seagull food, and though there were no seagulls about, I thought he’d hang around anyway, just in case. However, when I turned to bait up, I noticed that he had abandoned his post and was a couple of hundred metres away, wading across the shallow lagoon mouth. Across on the opposite side I saw the reason for his sudden dereliction of duty – a pretty tan-coloured bitch belonging to one of the local villagers was coursing up and down the water’s edge. It appeared as if she was frightened of the water – or, as I suspected, she knew the local conditions better than Shilo did. I was sure she could sense what I now feared, that the incoming tide would quickly flood the lagoon mouth. If Shilo was caught in the backwash, no matter his excellent swimming ability, he would be swept out to sea.

When Shilo did something he was not entirely sure of, he would look back at me, either for approval or reassurance. I don’t know why I called to him, the sea was so noisy he could not possibly have heard me, but at the same time I beckoned for him to return with repeated exaggerated full arm movements much like bowling a cricket ball. To my utter relief, Shilo turned around and came back half-bounding, half-swimming through the rising water. Although I’d seen him react immediately, and that there was no need to carry on with the gesticulating, I continued beckoning reflexively. It was as if an invisible cord was attached between us and with each bowling motion I was pulling him closer in towards me and safety. In a couple of rather anxious minutes he bounded up the rocky ledge and was at my side. After a vigorous shake he looked up at me wagging his tail and smiling, sneezed once or twice, clearly a little embarrassed that he’d snuck off, but oblivious to the danger he’d been in. Shilo had no way of knowing that had another fifteen minutes lapsed with him on the other side of that lagoon, there would have been another ending to this story.

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