Promise the Night by Michaela MacColl Read Free Book Online Page A

can.”

    “Of course I can!”

    “Ssshh!”

    The moon climbed higher in the sky. Beryl sighed and fingered the shell on her bracelet. She shifted on the rusty metal and heard water sloshing in the tank.
     
    “Ssshh!” Kibii hissed.

    The water reminded her of an unpleasant pressure on her bladder. The bright light of Venus had almost faded into nothing. Trying to distract herself, she counted the stars appearing, taking special note of each constellation as it formed.

    “Look, there’s Cetus. That’s the whale. My father taught me all about the constellations. I’ve never seen a whale…I don’t even remember seeing the ocean.”

    Beryl heard grinding. She looked over and thought it might be Kibii gritting his teeth.

    “Answer me, Kibii. I’m bored.”

    A hushing sound was the only answer. Beryl sighed. She had hoped for so much from the leopard hunt, but instead she was stuck on this tank, out of harm’s way.
     
    Lips clamped shut, she inched to the edge to look straight down. The tethered goat was still crying. She felt a moment’s sympathy, but then she remembered that it always butted her with its bone-hard horns, and how it had nipped Arthur just yesterday.

    Beryl looked around. The forest was as dark and empty as it had been all evening. Unable to ignore her bladder any longer, she rolled over and clambered down from the tank.
     
    “Beru, come back,” Kibii whispered.

    “I can’t wait.”

    She landed hard, turning her ankle on a branch. “Ow,” she began to say, when a hand came out of the darkness and clamped down on her mouth.

    Arap Maina’s silhouette against the moon towered over her. She could not see his face but his spicy smell was unmistakable. The moonlight glinted off his oiled chest. Beryl realized it was the first time she had ever seen him without his necklaces. “Beru, I told you to wait above, “ he whispered, but Beryl could hear his disapproval. “You must learn to listen.”

    “It’s very uncomfortable up there, Arap Maina,” she said. “And I have to relieve myself.” She blushed a little.

    She thought she saw a quick smile pass across his face. Then it was gone. “Do what you need to do, but do it quickly,” he said.
     
    A few moments later, feeling much better, Beryl returned. “Any sign of the leopard?” she asked Arap Maina.

    “The leopard will not come if you are talking.”

    Beryl tugged on the tuft of her untidy braid. “But it’s been hours, and nothing has happened.”

    “We may have to wait another night. A murani does not mind waiting.” He paused. “And a murani is always quiet.”

    She could make out Kibii’s motionless outline on the water tank. He hadn’t moved a muscle.

    “I’ll do better,” she promised.

    Arap Maina made an exasperated noise. “Silence! Or perhaps you would prefer to join the women in the village again?”

    “No, thank you,” Beryl said loudly.
     
    “Hush!” Kibii and Arap Maina burst out together.

    She silently climbed back to her perch on the tank.
     
    The hours passed. Each time Beryl began to fall asleep, she would jerk herself awake. She was drifting off again when she heard Arap Maina’s low whistle. She peeked down to see a barely visible spotted shadow where the forest began.

    Baa-aah. The goat ran frantically in the narrow circle around his tether, bleating with terror. Beryl felt a pang for the little animal. But then she thought of Buller.
     
    The leopard, its stomach brushing the ground, crept closer to the goat. Beryl couldn’t tear her eyes away. This was the animal who had walked, bold as brass, into her own hut and taken her dog. Then she had been afraid, huddled on her bed. But now she was with warriors. Though he didn’t know it yet, the predator had become the prey.

    The moon was high now. Beryl could see Arap Maina holding his spear in front of him, moving toward the tethered goat as stealthily as the leopard.
     
    The leopard sank back on its haunches and leapt to the