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Co
half a mile down the bank of the Luzane stream. Your best route is to
follow the road to the bridge, then go down into the dry river bed and
try and cut him off before he gets to the truck. 'Okay, David. 'Move
it, man.
I'm moving. David saw the Land-Rover's dust above the trees, Conrad
must have his foot down hard.
I'm going to try and spot the man himself, chase him into your arms.
You do that? David started a long climbing turn towards the hills,
sweeping and searching, up and around. Below him the pools granted and
he opened the throttles slightly, seeking altitude to clear the crests.
From the highest peak, a tiny figure waved frantically.
Sam, he grunted. Doing a war dance. He altered course slightly to
pass him closely, and Sam stopped his imitation of a windmill and
stabbed with an extended arm towards the west. David acknowledged with
a wave, and turned again, dropping down the western slopes.
Ahead of him the plain spread, dappled like a leopard's back with dark
bush and golden glades of grass. He flew for a minute before he saw a
black mass, moving slowly ahead of him, dark and amorphous against the
pale grass.
The remains of the buffalo herd had bunched up and were ru
direction, desperate from the harrying they had received.
Buffalo, he told Debra. On the ran. Something has alarmed them. She
sat still and intent beside him, hands in her lap, staring unseeingly
ahead.
All! David shouted. Got him, with blood on his hands! In the Centre
of one of the larger clearings lay the black beetle-like body of a dead
buffalo, its belly swollen and its legs sticking out stiffly as it lay
on its side.
Four men stood around it in a circle, obviously just about to begin
butchering the carcass. Three of them were Africans, one with a knife
in his hand.
The fourth man was Johan Akkers. There was no mistaking the tall gaunt
frame. He wore an old black Fedora hat on his head, strangely formal
attire for the work in which he was engaged, and his braces crisscrossed
his tan-Coloured shirt. He carried a rifle at the trail in his right
hand, and at the sound of the aircraft engines he swung round and stared
into the sky, frozen with the shock of discovery.
You swine. Oh, you bloody swine, whispered David, and his anger was
strong and bright against the despoilers.
Hold on! he warned Debra, and flew straight at the man, dropping
steeply on to him.
The group around the dead buffalo scattered, as the aircraft bore down
on them, each man picking his own course and racing away on it, but
David selected the lanky galloping frame with the black hat jammed down
over the ears and sank down behind him. The tips. of the propellers
clipped the dry grass, as he swiftly overtook the ru
He was set to fly into him, driven by the unreasoning anger of the male
animal protecting his own, and he lined up to cut him down with the
spi
As David braced himself for the impact Akkers glanced back over his
shoulder, and his face was muddy grey with fright, the skull eyes dark
and deeply set. He saw the murderous blades merely feet from him, and
he threw himself flat into the grass.
The Navajo roared inches over his prone body, and David pulled it round
in a steep turn, with the wing-tip brushing the grass. As he came round
he saw that Akkers was up and ru
from the edge of the trees.
David levelled out, aimed for the fugitive again but realized that he
could not reach him before he was into the trees. Swiftly he sped
across the clearing, but the lumbering figure drew slowly closer to the
timber line and as he reached the sanctuary of a big leadwood trunk,
Akkers whirled and raised the rifle to his shoulder. He aimed at the
approaching aircraft; although the rifle was unsteady in his hands the
range was short.
Down, shouted David, pushing Debra's head below the level of the
windshield, and he pulled open the throttles and climbed steeply away.
Even above the bellow of the engines David heard the heavy bullet clang
into the fuselage of the aircraft.
What's happening, David? Debra pleaded.
He fired at us, but we've got him on the run. He'll head back for his
truck now, and Conrad should be there waiting for him. Akkers kept
under cover of the trees, and circling above him David caught glimpses
of the tall figure trotting purposefully along his escape route.
David, -can you hear me? Conrad's voice boomed suddenly in the tense
cockpit. What is it, Co
I've hit a rock in your Land- Rover and knocked out the sump. She's had
it, pouring oil all over the place.
How the hell did you do that? David demanded.
I was trying a short cut. Conrad's chagrin carried clearly over the
ether.
How far are you from the Luzane stream? About three miles. God, he'll
beat you to it, David swore. He's two miles from the truck and going
like he's got a tax collector after him.
You have not seen old Co
Berg promised.
Good luck, David called, and the transmission went dead.
Below them Akkers was skirting the base of the hills, his black hat
bobbing along steadily amongst the trees.
David kept his starboard wing pointed at him and the Navajo turned
steadily, holding station above him.
Other movement caught David's eye on the open slope of the hill above
Akkers. For a moment he thought it was an animal, then with an intake
of breath he realized that he was mistaken.
What is it? Debra demanded, sensing his concern.
It's Sam, the damned fool. Co
unarmed, but he's baring down the slope to try and cut Akkers off. Can't
you stop him? Debra asked anxiously, and David didn't bother to answer.
He called Conrad four times before there was a reply.
Conrad's voice was thick and wheezing with the effort of ru
Sam is on to Akkers. I think he's going to confront him. Oh God damn
him, groaned Conrad. I'll kick his black ass for him.
Hold on, David told him, I'm going around for a closer look. David saw
it all quite plainly, he was only three hundred feet above them when
Akkers became aware of the ru
stopped dead, and half-lifted the rifle; perhaps he shouted a warning
but Sam kept -on down, bounding over the rocky ground towards the man
who had burned his children to death.
Akkers lifted the rifle to his shoulder and aimed deliberately, the
rifle jumped sharply, the barrel kicking upwards at the recoil and Sam's
legs kept on ru
by the strike of the heavy soft-nosed bullet.
The tiny brown-clad body bounced and rolled down the slope, before
coming to a sprawling halt in a clump of scrub.
David watched Akkers reload the rifle, stooping to pick up the empty
cartridge shell. Then he looked up at the circling aircraft above him,
David may have been mistaken but it seemed the man was laughing, that
obscene tooth-clucking giggle of his, then he started off again at a
trot towards the truck.
Co
Conrad Berg ran heavily over the broken sandy ground.
He had lost his hat and sweat poured down his big red face, stinging his