Leopard at the Door by Jennifer McVeigh

Author:Jennifer McVeigh
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-11-30T13:08:18+00:00

XVI

Harold returns from his expedition in the bush. He looks stronger—more robust—and older. His skin glows from the sun, and his eyes shine with happiness. He shows us photographs of the Samburu village where he and Nate stayed for a week, sleeping in a hut, recording the customs of the tribe. And the camp in the bush where their Samburu tracker found rhino. In the cold early mornings they heated coffee over a small stove, and at night they roasted antelope over the fire. He exudes a contentment which I have not seen in him before, a confidence that radiates, like the newfound words which tumble out of him.

He tells us stories of the bush—the two bull elephants who ambled through camp, delicately stepping over the guy ropes of their tent, the lionesses who fought over a kill under the silver light of the moon, just a few yards from where they were sleeping. He has transformed, but Sara hovers at the edge of the room, withholding her approval. She won’t sit down to look at his photographs, and he glances at her every few minutes, and I can see he is hoping for a word of interest or praise. Slowly his enthusiasm flattens under her silence, until he puts his photographs away and his eyes lose their quick spark.

“You’ll have to get down to some proper work,” Sara says eventually, when she sees that her disapproval has had the desired effect, “now that you’re back. You’ve spent enough time roaming around in the bush with Nate Logan.”

I glance up at her, trying to read in her face what her voice will not tell me—the threat she feels from Nate Logan. Is it simply his liberal politics; or is it that when Harold is with Nate, he slips beyond her grasp?

—

I GO DOWN to the stables in the late afternoon to put Juno inside for the night. Michael is in the garage looking at the engine on one of my father’s jeeps.

“How long do you think she has?” I ask him.

He crouches down, and Juno pads over to him. Her belly is heavy, and she walks awkwardly. He lets her push her head into his hands, then he runs them down her neck and she shudders. She stands with her head low. He puts a hand under her belly and pulls at one of her teats, and a few drops of milk fall into the dust.

I lead her into the stable, and she turns circles in the straw, but she is too restless to stay lying down for long. I sit with her for an hour. When dusk falls, she is standing in a corner facing the wall, shuddering. She vomits a little on the straw. It is late, and I have to go back to the house. When I step out into the yard I see that Michael has already left.

I go to my room after supper, but do not undress. I stand at the window. Outside there is no moon, and the land is completely dark.

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