Kalahari by Jessica Khoury Read Free Book Online

his face reddening. “We can’t just hike off into God knows where!
You
are responsible for our safety, so
you
need to arrange transportation for us to go home! Not all of us came here on scholarship”—at this he threw a derisive look at Sam—“and my parents paid a hell of a lot of money for this trip. Miranda and I will not be treated like hired grunts, hauling junk all over Africa!” He kicked at a sleeping bag.
    I shut my eyes and tried very hard to keep my breathing steady.
    “There’s nothing she can do,” said Sam. “We’re all in this boat together.”
    “No one asked
you
,” Kase snapped.
    “It’s not like there’s a bus stop nearby!” Sam replied.
    Kase turned to me and I winced under the heat of his glare. “My parents can sue you for all you own. Not,” he sneered, “that that’s much.” He gave our camp a contemptuous look that set my blood boiling.
    “I’m trying my best,” I said hotly. “I don’t know what else to do. Look, just give it one night. Like Avani said, it could be a mistake. Things might be back to normal in the morning.”
    Kase exhaled loudly and waved a hand as if dismissing me. “Whatever. But don’t think you’ll get out of this without all kinds of legal hell coming down on you. And you’re
not
leaving us out here on our own. Wherever you go, we go. I’ll be watching you. This is all your fault—yours and your irresponsible dad’s.”
    “I’ve about had it with you,” Sam growled.
    “Yeah, man?” Kase stepped forward aggressively. “What’re you going to do about it?”
    Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, you want to play
that
game?”
    “Stop!” I said. “Just—just let me
think
!” I pressed my hands to my eyes and ground my teeth together.
    They’d slow me down. I’d have to spend twice as much time foraging for things to eat, and I’d waste valuable tracking time watching for snakes and other dangerous creatures that might bite them or sting them when my back was turned. We could very well run into the poachers. On the other hand, leaving them by themselves was no guarantee of safety either. I looked at Sam.
    “We all go together, then. We’ll track my dad and Theo, see what happened, and then decide what to do from there.”
    He shrugged. “It’s a free country.”
    “This is the Kalahari. It’s
deadly
country.”
    Miranda whimpered.
    “This
is
what we came out here to do,” Sam pointed out. “‘Wildlife ambassadors’ is the name they put on the website for this thing. Up close and personal with nature, that’s what they promised us.”
    “Fine!” I looked them each in the eye to be sure I had their full attention. “But if we see even a sign of the poachers, we have to hide. Got it?”
    They nodded, except for Kase and Miranda, who seemed intent on ignoring me now.
    “Good, then. We’ll leave at dawn. Pack light. Water is the most essential thing—once we leave, what you carry is what you get, and that’s it. There are no boreholes, no streams, not so much as a puddle.”
    “I can’t,” said Miranda faintly.
    “Babe?” Kase squeezed her arm.
    She shook her head and sagged against him. “I can’t do this. I can’t. I want to go home!”
    “We will, babe, just hang in there,” Kase murmured. “These people are under
legal
obligation to keep us safe.” He gave me a pointed look, and I wondered at the fine print on the safety waivers they would have signed before coming here.
Could
he sue us for everything?
    “Why did you bring me here? We’re all doing to
die
!” Miranda’s voice pitched upward hysterically, and she slammed her fist into Kase’s chest. The rest of us watched, silent and embarrassed, as Kase tried to calm her. Avani was the first to sneak away, and the rest of us followed. I figured it was best to let Kase deal with his panicking girlfriend alone.
    My stomach was in knots as I went to my tent. I felt jittery, as if hyped on caffeine. My hand went to the radio on my belt, but I didn’t dare