The Elephant's Tale Read Online Free Page A

help.”
    Adrenaline began to course through Martine’s veins. Nothing woke her up faster than an animal needing help. She took a few swallows of Ben’s coffee and stole his last bit of toast, ignoring his protests. “Give me a minute,” she said. She raced upstairs for her survival kit, which she never went anywhere without, threw on a pair of jeans and a blue sweatshirt, and sped outside.
    As it turned out, her haste was unnecessary. Tendai and Ben were not hanging around waiting for her, they were peering under the hood of the jeep and arguing about spark plugs and fuel injectors.
    “This old lady had been running since I came to work for your grandfather twenty years ago and has been patched up many times, but in between she has always been so reliable,” Tendai told her. “She was working well last night. I can’t think why she is refusing to cooperate this morning.”
    They were testing the battery when Reuben James came roaring into the yard in an open-topped Land Rover so new it sparkled.
    “Perfect timing,” muttered Ben.
    Reuben James stepped down from his vehicle. He was crisply dressed in a white shirt and tailored khaki trousers, his bald head shining. He looked every inch the successful safari park owner. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked, strolling over to them.
    He offered a hand to Tendai. “I’m Reuben James. And you must be Sawubona’s famous game warden? I heard about you during my business dealings with Henry Thomas a few years ago, but I think you were away on a course at the time. You were a tracker then, if I’m not mistaken.”
    Without waiting for a reply, he turned very deliberately and smiled down at Martine. “We meet again.”
    Martine wished she had a rotten egg at hand with which to wipe the grin from his arrogant, self-satisfied face. “Unfortunately,” she said.
    Reuben James laughed. “Unfortunately? Come now, Martine, I’m sure we’re going to be the best of friends.”
    The Zulu’s jaw tightened, but he’d been taken aback by Martine’s rudeness and made an extra effort to be polite. “Yes, sir, I am Sawubona’s game warden. Unhappily, my jeep won’t start. I will need to call the garage when they open at eight a.m. It wouldn’t be a problem except that we are rushing to save a sick buffalo.”
    “A sick buffalo?” James waved an arm in the direction of his gold Land Rover. “Please,” he said. “Take my vehicle.”
    They all stared at him in astonishment. Martine wondered what the catch was.
    “Uh, thank you for your kind offer, Mr. James,” Tendai managed, “but there is no need for that. I have friends I can telephone in an emergency.”
    But Reuben James wouldn’t hear of it. “I insist. It would be my pleasure. My driver will be happy to escort you. Lurk, take these good people into the game reserve to find this ill creature and spend as much time there as they need. I have some paperwork to attend to that will keep me busy until you return.”
    He nodded toward the jeep. “In the meantime, with your permission, I’ll have one of my mechanics take a look at your engine.”
    Before they could raise a single objection, he had ushered them into the new-leather-smelling interior of the Land Rover, personally shutting the doors behind each of them as if he, and not the man sitting at the wheel, were the chauffeur.
    As they rolled out of the yard, Martine, who was in the backseat with Ben, risked a glance behind them. Reuben James was standing in the driveway waving, just like Gwyn Thomas usually did.
    It’s as if he’s already won, fumed Martine. It’s as if he’s already moved into our home. It’s as if, two days after dropping this bombshell on us, he’s already Sawubona’s owner.
    Then a little voice added: And Jemmy’s.

    The minute they were out of sight of the house, the chauffeur’s ingratiating smile slipped from his face, like the moon sliding behind a cloud. He drove in sullen silence. When Tendai asked him a question about the