National Park

Chapter 22

"I knew you could do it!" he whispered

Niya smiled proudly, winked and responded sweetly, "Thank you for believing in me, Raja. I have just ultrasonically informed the animals in the surrounding area that Dhinoo is now going to speak. I've noticed, though, that I can't send the sound too far yet, but the other animals say that will now come with practice."

Raja was about to speak when Hhati raised his trunk and let out a loud trumpet to get everyone's attention and quieten them down. Raja winked at Niya and then focussed his attention on Hhati. Raja blinked hard, and shook his body slightly as he felt his head becoming heavy. He glanced back at the bandage over his tail and noticed that the bloodstain had got bigger. He was feeling slightly dizzy, and was breaking out into a cold sweat. Just a bit longer, he thought. He would be with the human doctors soon. He blinked hard and looked back at Hhati, who had already said a few words that Raja had missed.

"I now hand you over to Dhinoo, as I am sure we would all like to hear from him," Hhati concluded.

The group of animals stomped softly to welcome the old rhino, who looked rested, but was obviously still very weak. Dhinoo gave a dry smile at the group.

"My friends! I cannot explain to you how many times I have imagined standing here in front of you again. This thought has kept me going all the while I was captured. I am sure you are all interested to know the details of the past few weeks. I believe I am quite fortunate to be telling this tale. Busi was convinced that I would not be alive much longer, and, therefore, she shared her entire plan with me. I will not be going into the detail of all the days, but will start with the day of the council meeting.

"I had left home slightly early that day in the hope that I would be amongst the first to arrive. On my walk to the council venue, I met Busi. We had a very brief chat and she wished me luck. Little did I know that she had walked away from the council venue, as Lenoh had arrived unexpectedly early. I continued on my way, and was chatting to Lenoh and Hhati at the meeting place when we heard Bheki's scream. We ran in the direction of the scream, and met Arya, who came running out to explain what had happened. Lenoh and Hhati ran off with Arya, while I stopped to catch my breath. Busi was hidden behind a large tree on my right, and she came out and dropped in front of the tree, calling out to me for help. I was possibly about five metres from Busi when the ground gave way and I fell into a large pit. I screamed! I later learnt that the pit had been dug the night before by Busi and O-el. She had purposely lured me there, and, when I fell in, she jumped up and covered the pit with a woven leaf blanket that she and O-el had created. She also slid into the pit and informed me that Josie would be killed if I didn't do what she said. I didn't believe her at all, until suddenly the top of the blanket moved and O-el stuck his head in! I was completely flabbergasted. O-el reiterated that he was now going back and would be watching over Josie. I, therefore, complied.

"Over the next few hours, I heard the other animals rushing back and forth, searching the area. Amazingly, they came past the tree, but not near the pit. I stayed in the pit for what seemed like hours. Then the cover was pulled off and O-el stood on top with an elephant and rhino from the other areas. By this time, the pain in my legs had become unbearable, and it's a blur of how we got out of the pit and how I walked to the area where Niol and his team found me. I was chained up there, and fed once a day or sometimes only every second day. They always made sure I was weak, and, therefore, unable to escape. Day after day, I lay chained and unable to move. Busi, O-el, the elephant and the rhino would come and go... sometimes for extended periods. At first, no one spoke to me, but, after a while, O-el would come by and laugh and say that I wouldn't see the greatness he was going to bring to this park. He kept saying that I should have believed in him more and that he was more capable then Niol. Busi would watch as O-el taunted me, saying that I would never see my kids or Josie again, irritated that he was receiving all the attention. After a while, he left, and then Busi decided that she would share their plans with me. At that time, I did not know that she had devised two very different intricate plans. She only shared the first plan with me.