Darkness by David Fletcher

Author:David Fletcher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2019-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

eighteen

The afternoon walk had not been easy. Mike and Svetlana were both no-shows. Dan was not unduly surprised at this as Mike maybe had other things to do and Svetlana probably had her fingernails to do. But it did mean that he had found himself with Bruce as a close companion for the entire excursion. After all, Bruce was never going to attach himself to any of the Spaniards and neither was he going to monopolise Kate in her role as the group leader. So all the time Dan had to behave as though his only interest was in the birds and the surrounding forest, when his mind was fully occupied with all sorts of other thoughts. Would David, for example, really understand that there were limits to his stamina? And then would he, Dan, really be able to manage a canoe? Indeed, would he be able to manage everything else he had to do? And what were the chances of things going wrong? Just how likely was it that he would achieve what he had set out to do – in the way it was planned?

Fortunately, Bruce didn’t appear to notice Dan’s preoccupation. Maybe this was because Bruce quite often appeared not to notice much at all, or it might have been because Dan had been making every effort to behave normally. He even went as far as pointing out and identifying every bird that he could. There weren’t that many that he was able to identify with confidence, but there were enough. So when he called a vanga flycatcher and a couple of different sunbirds and then a squadron of white-thighed hornbills as they flew overhead, Bruce must have been quite convinced that Dan was relishing this bird-fest and not have had the slightest suspicion that his mind was somewhere else.

However, this deception wasn’t quite so straightforward at dinner. To start with, there were more people to deceive, and particularly Connor and Kate. He was sandwiched directly between them at the table and he was the first they targeted in their endeavour to establish where all their guests were planning to visit next. Would it be another wildlife destination somewhere else in Africa or possibly somewhere entirely different and on another continent? Dan quickly decided to lie – by informing them that he had already booked a trip to Zambia and to its South Luangwa National Park. He’d actually been there quite a few years ago – with Kim – so he knew more than enough about it to sound really convincing. Nevertheless, it was still an effort. So too was talking about anything or showing any interest in what the others at the table were talking about. Mike, who was sitting across the table from him, no doubt detected this, and as soon as he could he came to the rescue. Before the sweet course arrived, he suggested to Dan that they give their waistlines a chance by skipping dessert and retiring to the lounge for some liquid refreshment instead.

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