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

lioness hastened towards the sound. White, woolly-coated bodies dotted the far side of the field. Most of the sheep were lying down, chewing incessantly. Some grazed the turf. Lorna picked out a young lamb adrift from the main flock. She sank to her belly and crawled forward, her head straight and still, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on her target. The flock had no reason to be particularly cautious. They had no history of being hunted. Lorna’s progress was easy; the lamb still had its back to her when she made her final dash. It was dead before it could even bleat.
    Now the flock saw the killer and panicked. But Lorna merely lugged the lamb away towards the forest, carrying it comfortably in her jaws. She ignored the rest of the sheep then, but the ease with which she had made her kill remained in her memory.
    The badger was waiting for her. He had never seen a sheep and at first was puzzled by Lorna’s burden.
    ‘Did you go all that way simply for some fresh bedding for your den?’ he asked in astonishment as his eyes picked out the drooping fleece.
    Lorna loosened her hold for a moment. ‘Very comical,’ she grunted. ‘In that case you won’t be wanting a share?’
    Now the badger saw his mistake. ‘Oh. You have meat too! It smells rich.’ He sniffed eagerly. ‘You’re very resourceful, lion. Was there any danger?’
    ‘None at all.’ Lorna grabbed the lamb again and moved beneath the trees. ‘Plenty there for a determined hunter.’ She reached a favourite place in somebrushwood and dropped her prey. A slight warning growl kept the badger at a distance. She ripped at the thick fleece. The badger turned a somersault, unable to keep still.
    ‘This is good meat, Ratel,’ Lorna told him, turning her reddened face in his direction. ‘The best. Better than the meat the men used to give us.’
    Ratel swallowed. He yearned to taste it. ‘Will there be . . . a mouthful or two, d’you think, lion? Just a morsel, perhaps?’
    Lorna yanked another limb off the carcass. ‘What I don’t eat now,’ she told him, ‘I shall carry back to my den. This is too good to leave to the scavengers. But you can come afterwards for scraps. As you usually do.’
    The badger was disappointed. He had hoped for something more this time. ‘If I . . . came hunting with you – you know, outside – would I perhaps earn the right to a bigger portion?’
    Lorna didn’t reply at once. Eating took precedence. When she was satisfied she said, ‘You have the right to the whole animal.’ The badger grinned, showing his huge teeth. ‘As long as you killed it,’ the lioness added pointedly.
    The badger shook his loose coat irritably. ‘How could I even—’
    But Lorna interrupted him. ‘They have no defence,’ she said. ‘None. A hunter such as you would be more than a match for the smaller ones. This creature didn’t even run.’
    ‘Do they . . . do they just stand and wait to be slaughtered?’ cried Ratel. His eyes glowed greedily.
    ‘This one did. But in any case they have no speed. You wish you’d come with me this time, don’t you?’
    ‘I do regret it. And you say there are no humans to protect them?’
    ‘As you see,’ Lorna purred. ‘Just as in the forest. We go where we please.’
    The badger looked pensive. He couldn’t quite believe that men hadn’t a trick up their sleeve somewhere.

Hunter
    The news of the failed attempts to recapture Lorna greatly disheartened her former keeper. Joel was torn between a desire to return to England to lend his special knowledge to this task and a feeling that he should remain longer at Kamenza to help care for Ellen. He was amazed by the swiftness with which Lorna had taught herself to hunt, and concluded that this had been born out of desperation.
    Simon could see Joel was ill at ease. ‘Don’t worry,’ he told the Englishman. ‘It’s out of your hands as long as you’re here. How long you stay with us is entirely up to you.’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Joel. ‘I don’t