Sundowner Ubunta by Anthony Bidulka

Author:Anthony Bidulka [Bidulka, Anthony]
Language: deu
Format: epub
Published: 2011-03-18T12:58:52+00:00

Upon returning to camp under a sky of black silk, we were given fifteen minutes to clean up and make our 87 of 170

3/15/2011 11:02 PM

way to the cocktail lounge (fittingly called The Gin Trap), for more drinks before the eight-thirty dinner bell. Dusty and dirty, hot and sweaty, and wretchedly road weary after four hours of continuous bumping and humping of the safari vehicle, the seven of us made for a quiet parade down the rock-lined, gravel pathway that led to the guest quarters. Nestled in the tall reeds along the way, petite, flickering ground lanterns were the only lights available to guide us. We stumbled and tripped as we trudged along, peering through the thick darkness like moles, but eventually we found our way. The cloying air smelled of dying heat and sunburnt grass.

My cabin was at the furthest end of camp, leaving me to walk the final several metres alone (and grateful for the solitude). Still a bit wary of my unfamiliar surroundings, I kept a sharp eye out for any movement in the wild flora, horror-movie-spooky in the darkness, and took some comfort in the knowledge that the fence surrounding the property was sound protection against most wildlife.

Except for monkeys.

And crocodiles.

And snakes.

I hurried my pace until I reached my door, letting myself in with a sigh of relief, blissfully unaware that I had more to worry about inside my room than out.

I didn’t have to turn on the lights to know something was not right. I stood still with my back against the door and let my eyes do the walking. Someone had been in my room. Maybe still was?

My ears burned as I tried to listen for telltale sounds of an intruder. There could easily be someone in the closet area or one of the bathrooms, both of which were out of my line of sight, but my ears told me nothing. I noticed the curtains had been pulled across the windows and my bed had been turned down.

Was that it? Was that all? Was it just the maid service that was setting my detective-alarm-bell to jangling? I didn’t think so, yet I couldn’t readily identify what it was that was bothering me.

Then I knew.

I lifted my nose in the air and stepped further into the room. Cheap cologne, so cheap I did not know its name, but I did know where I’d smelled it before. It was in another enclosed space, not so long ago: aboard Botswana Air.

Jaegar had been in my room. I sniffed again. Probably not long ago. Well, Jaegar or the pilot, and I was pretty certain the pilot had turned tail and returned to civilization as soon as he’d dropped us off.

Fortunately, I’d had no time to unpack so it didn’t take me long to go through my things. Everything was there, perhaps not quite as I left it, but nothing was missing. Jaegar had done a good job of not disturbing anything. But what had he been looking for?

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