Elephant Song

Some nasty rumours flying about, dark deeds.  We don't really approve.

Even the PM is a bit browned off with him already, which reminds me, got some news of a pal of yours.  A pal of mine?  The Lucky Dragon.

Rings a bell, doesn't it?  And you'll never guess who they're sending out to run the operation here.  Ning Cheng Gong, Daniel said quietly.

It had to be.  That was the reason he was here in Ubomo.  He had sensed it all along.  This was where he would meet Cheng again.  You've been reading my mail, Michael accused.  Wing Cheng Gong is right.  He arrives next week.  Taffari is giving another party to welcome him.

Any excuse for a party with our Ephrem, even you.  He broke off and stared at Daniel.  You all right, dear boy?  Taking your anti-malarial, are you?

Gone as white as a sheet.  I'm fine.  But Daniel's voice was hoarse and scratchy.  He had a terrible mental image of the bedroom of the cottage at Chiwewe, and of the desecrated bodies of Mavis Nzou and her daughters.  it left him feeling sick and shaken.  He wanted to think of something else, anything but Ning Cheng Gong.  Tell me everything about Taffari and Ubomo that I need to know, he demanded of Michael Hargreave.

Tall order, dear boy.  Can only give you the headlines now, but if you drop in at the embassy, I'll give you a full briefing, and a peep at some of the files.  Your eyes only, of course.  Even got a couple of bottles of genuine Chivas tucked away.  Daniel shook his head.  We're going up the lakesbore tomorrow to start filming.  Taffari has put the entire navy at our disposal.  One clapped-out World War Two gunboat.

But I could drop in at the embassy tomorrow evening.  When it was time to go, Daniel looked around for Bo

I'm leaving now, Captain Kajo.  That's all right, Doctor.  President Taffari has left already.

You are free to go.  You could only tell that Kajo was drunk by his eyes.

They had that coffee-coloured haze over the whites.  In a white man they would have been bloodshot.  We will meet tomorrow morning, Captain? What time?

six O'clock at the guest house, Doctor.  I will pick you up.

We must not be late.  The navy will be waiting for us.  Have you seen Miss Mahon?  Daniel asked.  One of the other Hita officers sniggered drunkenly and Kajo gri

She was here earlier on.  But I haven't seen her in the last hour.

She must have left.  Yes, come to think of it now, I did see her leave.

He turned away, and Daniel tried not to scowl and look abandoned as he went out to the Landrover in the carpark.

The government guest house was in darkness when he drove up and parked under the verandah.  She might be in bed, already asleep with the light out.  Despite his altered opinion of her, he felt a stab of disappointment when he switched on the bedroom light and saw that the servants had turned down the beds and rigged the mosquito nets.  She had given him the excuse to end it, why was he not more pleased that it was over?

He had drunk just enough of the local gin to have a headache.

He picked up Bo

He woke with headlights sweeping the front of the guest house and shining through the curtains on to the wall above his bed.  Tyres crunched on the gravel drive.  There were voices, and then a car door slammed and the vehicle pulled away.  He heard her come up the verandah steps and open the front door.

A minute later the bedroom door opened stealthily and she crept into the room.

He switched on the bedside light and she froze in the middle of the floor.  She carried her shoes in one hand and her bag in the other.

Her hair was in a wild tangle, sparkling like copper wire in the light, and her lipstick was smeared over her chin.

She giggled and he realised she was drunk.  Have you any idea of the risk you're taking, you silly bitch?  he asked bitterly.  This is Africa.  What you'll get is a four-letter word and it's not the one you're thinking of, sweetheart.  It's spell A I D S. Tud Tut!  jealous, are we?  How do you know what I've been doing, darling?  It's no big secret.

Everybody at the party knew.

You've been doing what any good little whore does.  She took a wild round-arm swing at his head.  He ducked under the blow, and the momentum carried her on to the bed.

She pulled the mosquito net down on top of herself and fell in a tangle of long legs.  The mini-skirt pulled up almost as high as her waist, her buttocks were bare and white as ostrich eggs.  By the way, he said, you've left your knickers with Ephrem.  She crawled up on to her knees and pulled down the green skirt.  They are in my handbag, ducky.  She got unsteadily to her feet.  Where the hell are my things?

In your room, your new room across the passage.  She flashed at him.

So that's the way you want it?  You didn't really think I'd want to pick up Ephrem's leftovers, did you?  Daniel tried to keep his tone reasonable.

Off you go, there's a good little harlot.  She picked up her handbag and shoes and marched to the door.  There she turned back to him, swaying with a drunkard's dignity.  It's all true, what they say, she told him with vindictive relish.  They are big.  Bigger and better than you'll ever be!  She slammed the door behind her.

Daniel was on his second cup of breakfast tea when Bo

She wore her usual working uniform of faded blue jeans and denim top, but her eyes were puffy and her expression disgruntled with hangover.

The guest house chef was an anachronism from the colonial era and he served a traditional English breakfast.  Neither of them spoke while Bo

So what happens now?  You make a film, he said.  Just the way it's written in your contract.  You still want me around?  As a cameraman, yes.  But from now on it's a business relationship.  That suits me just fine, she agreed.  It was getting to be a bit of a strain; I'm not good at faking it.  Daniel stood up abruptly, and went to fetch his gear from the bedroom.  He was still too angry-to risk getting into an argument with her.

Before he was ready, Captain Kajo arrived with three soldiers in the back of his Landrover.  They helped carry out the heavy video equipment and load it into the back of the truck.  Daniel let Bo

the town of Kahali was very much as he remembered it from his last visit.

The streets were wide and dusty where the potholes had eaten, cancerlike, through the tarmac.  The buildings looked like those from the movie set of an old-fashioned Western.

The main difference that Daniel noticed was the mood of the people.

The Uhali women still wore their colourful ankle-length robes and turbans, the Moslem influence apparent in their demeanour, but the expressions on their faces were guarded and neutral.  There were few smiles and no laughter in the open-air market where the women squatted in lines with their wares spread out on sheets of cloth in front of them.  There were army patrols in the market-place and on the street corners.