Journey to Freedom by Colin Dann Read Free Book Online Page A

expect.’
    Joel registered this information, given so baldly. Life in the African wild was another cup of tea altogether. It could be nasty and short. If Ellen – and Lorna – everreached the release stage, they would face a host of dangers and difficulties neither of them knew existed. How would they cope? He watched Ellen begin a cautious exploration of the pen. Release seemed a distant prospect. But at least the lioness had a chance now to become familiar with the kind of terrain she might one day roam. Her enclosure’s fencing had been erected around existing vegetation, a chunk of the savannah. Ellen brushed against it, close to where Joel was standing. He spoke to her.
    ‘It’ll be all right; you’ll see,’ he said softly. ‘You’ll be well cared for. And I’ll be here for a while.’
    Ellen recognised his voice. She paused. Their eyes met. Joel thought he saw a kind of appeal in Ellen’s gaze. He wondered whether he was imagining it. But he answered anyway. ‘She’s coming,’ he whispered. ‘Soon.’ He hoped he was speaking the truth.
    By now Lorna was exulting in her freedom. She had become scornful of humans and their feeble endeavours in the forest. She and the honey badger hunted throughout the woodland and they met no rivals.
    One evening after filling their bellies the two animals lay by the stream. They were entirely confident in their surroundings.
    ‘Have you ever thought,’ Lorna asked lazily, ‘of going beyond the forest?’
    ‘No,’ the badger answered at once. ‘I don’t need to. I have everything I want right here.’
    ‘Aren’t you just a little curious?’
    ‘Not me, no. Why should I be? This is my territory.’
    Lorna stared at him with a hint of contempt. ‘Don’t you want to enlarge it?’
    The badger sat up. ‘What’s on your mind, lion?’
    ‘I’ll tell you,’ Lorna answered. ‘Bigger prey! I remember some creatures I saw soon after my escape.I didn’t understand about hunting then. They’re still there, beyond the trees; you can hear them making their weak, silly cries. They’re fat, Ratel. Very fat. I think they’d be easy game.’
    ‘The humans are out there,’ the badger protested. ‘You’re safer in here now they leave you alone.’
    ‘Humans!’ Lorna scoffed. ‘They don’t know what I’m thinking! They wouldn’t be expecting me. And, besides, they shut themselves in their dens at night. I’d have a clear field. Why don’t you come too? See the sport. Don’t you always follow me?’
    ‘Mostly,’ the badger replied. He had no real desire to be part of Lorna’s plan. ‘When is this to be?’
    ‘When I need a kill.’
    Ratel considered. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘You go first. If it goes well, I’ll come the next time.’
    Lorna said disdainfully, ‘Of course it will go well. But I don’t require your help, so you must do as you please.’
    Lorna was keen to test herself. Even before hunger really asserted itself again, she was ready for the prowl. The honey badger followed as far as the woodland’s rim. Lorna aimed for the sheep field she remembered so vividly, and hesitated on the edge of the trees.
    ‘Is anything there?’ the badger asked.
    ‘I don’t hear them,’ Lorna growled. ‘Maybe they’ve moved.’
    ‘Try another time,’ the smaller animal suggested.
    ‘Nonsense. They’re out there somewhere. And I’m going to find them,’ Lorna finished positively.
    ‘Be careful, lion. I want you to come back.’
    Lorna’s ears cocked but she didn’t answer. She crept into the empty field. In her mind’s eye she could see the mass of plump, top-heavy bodies that had scattered as she ran between them. Where were those funny long faces and dainty feet? She raised herself and walkedmore boldly across the pasture. A spectral barn owl dived earthwards and scooped up a vole. Nothing else moved.
    Lorna paced her way into an adjoining field. And then she heard them. A stray bleat answered by another: a ewe calling its lamb. The