Desert Barbarian

Peter leaned towards her and she watched him ab­stractedly, hardly caring whether he kissed her or not. When his mouth clumsily sought and found her lips she sat there without responding, as if she was in a trance. Why should I let Stonor come between me and life like this? she asked herself furiously. On an impulse she slipped her arms around Peter's neck and began to kiss him back, curling close to him.

'Oh, Marie,' Peter breathed as he released her. 'You're fantastic! I could be crazy about you…'

She laughed. 'Oh, could you?'

'Don't tease,' he said sulkily.

He moved to kiss her again, but she averted her head. 'No,' she said, already sorry she had encouraged him. 'No more…'

'You're like a will-o'-the-wisp,' he complained. 'One can't get hold of you.'

'Time you went,' she retorted. 'I have to get up early in the morning. Young Jeremy rises with the dawn, and I need my beauty sleep.'

'I suppose I ought to be going,' he said reluctantly. 'I have to get up early too. When can I see you again?'

'You know where I am,' she said lightly. 'Tomorrow Jess and I are going out to the stilt hut again, but this time alone—no men invited. Jeremy didn't see much of the animals, thanks to our little excitement.'

'How is that chap going on?' Peter asked, staring at her.

'Fine, as far as I know,' she said evasively.

Next day Jess, Marie and Jeremy drove out to the stilt hut and spent the daylight hours there. Jess worked while Marie and Jeremy watched the animals, then Marie prepared their picnic meal and they all sat down on the straw mats inside the hut to eat it.

'I'm afraid that tiger has a short life expectancy since he attacked your friend,' Jess sighed.

'What do you mean?'

'The villagers are nervous about him. He's too close to their huts. Sometimes a tiger takes a child—and they're all terrified it will be one of their children. They've asked ' the King to arrange a tiger hunt, Rahaib says. They want him shot.'

'Oh, poor tiger,' Marie said sadly. 'He was so beauti­ful, too.'

Jess smiled at her. 'You can't blame them. It's unusual for a tiger to come so close to a village—they usually hunt deep in the jungle and keep away from men. This one must be a man-eater, and they're too dangerous to be allowed to live. Usually, they run away from men, but this one deliberately attacked. That makes him savage.'

Jeremy was peering down river, his straw hat crooked on his little head. 'Mum, what's that?' he demanded.

Jess peered over his shoulder. 'What's what, darling?'

He pointed. 'That black hump, in the water down there.'

Jess laughed. 'That, my darling, is a rhinoceros wal­lowing in one of the shallow pools at the edge of the river. See, there's his horn sticking up…'

'At least men don't hunt rhinoceros for their skin,' Marie said with a sigh. 'The beautiful animals always seem to be hunted.'

'Oh, men hunt the rhino, too,' Jess said sadly.

'What for?' Jeremy demanded. 'Do they make hand­bags out of him like they do with the crocodile?'

Jess shook her head wryly. 'No, they saw off his horns and use them in a sort of medicine.' She glanced side­ways at Marie and added quietly, 'They believe it acts as an aphrodisiac. Rhino horn costs five hundred pounds a ton.'

'Nothing is safe, is it?' Marie muttered.

They were tired when they drove back home. Marie put Jeremy to bed early, his small body limp in her arms, and then went along to Jess to join her for dinner. Later she washed her hair, had a bath and went to bed early. She heard Jess turn in about half an hour later.

Next day, she and Lispa went to the market with Jeremy, to buy a chicken and some fruit. Jeremy watched a market conjuror with excited fascination. He found the exotic sights and smells of the market enthralling even now and enjoyed nothing so much as a visit there.

After lunch, she settled down on the verandah with Jer

emy to play snap. Jeremy thoroughly enjoyed this and became hysterical with laughter. Jess came home early because a sudden brief storm had made the stilt hut temporarily uninhabitable. The rain had driven in through the open sides and left it awash with water which was immediately filled with frogs and insects driven to shelter from the storm outside. Her Land-Rover was splashed with mud so thick and dark it looked like a mud pie on wheels. Jess herself was filthy and immedi­ately took a bath.