Harry in the Wild, Part 4
Harry held the Pegasus in a tight spiral and descended rapidly. The vultures had enough sense to get out of the way as the huge metal bird circled down through their ranks.
Khuwelsa released steam pressure by opening the whistle and the Pegasus gave a long mournful hoot. Where the ship’s engine was completely alien to the wildlife and only caused upset when it was too loud, the steam whistle had an “alive” quality that launched terrified flamingos into the air and had the crocodiles that were investigating a free lunch, launching themselves back into the water.
The air was alive with vultures lifting off as Harry engaged the engine again to give the Pegasus manoeuvring power, and she stroked the wings to bring them down to a gentle landing in a space a short distance from the dark mounds.
She stared out through the window as the turbine powered down and the vessel went quiet. Almost automatically she flipped the Faraday switch and the Pegasus groaned as it sagged under the returned weight. There was a thump from the rear of the ship.
“Ow!” shouted Khuwelsa. “What about the signal?”
Harry did not reply. She stood up in the bow and leaned forward resting her arms against the window and staring out at the expanse of ground between ship and water.
“Oh, god,” she said. “Sellie!”
Khuwelsa came up beside her, stared out and her breath caught in her throat. “Oh, Harry, no.”
Scattered across the grass leading down to the water’s edge were the dead and mutilated bodies of at least fifty hippopotamuses. Their glossy black skins dried, cracked and pierced repeatedly with machine-gun wounds.
But worse, their mouths had been forced open and their teeth hacked out.
Harry’s hand went into her pocket she pulled out the tooth and flung it away as if it was poison. It clattered on the metal. “Burn it, Sellie.”
They stared at the appalling scene of death and destruction while bolder, perhaps hungrier, vultures returned and floated down to the carcasses.
“Their teeth?” said Harry shaking her head. “What’s so special about their teeth?”
“Ivory,” Khuwelsa said almost in a whisper. “Hippo teeth are ivory, and better quality than elephant tusk.” She turned to look at the wrapped body lying behind them. “Soldiers did this. German soldiers.”
Harry nodded. She moved round to the other side of her chair, bent down and unlatched a wooden box bolted to the deck. She pulled out a shotgun, and broke it open. She held it out to Khuwelsa but she shook her head and wouldn’t take it. So Harry put it on the pilot seat, took out the second one and a box of cartridges.
“What are you planning to do with those?” asked Khuwelsa.
“They might not all be dead.”
Khuwelsa sighed and glanced out at the bodies. The vultures were back in their hundreds. “Yes, all right.” She picked up the weapon, then added. “You didn’t land in the middle, did you?”
Harry shook her head. “No, if there are any alive they won’t try to charge us.”
They opened the door. The stench of rotting bodies wafted in on the breeze. They climbed out on to the grass under the baking sun. The air was thick with flies and the sound of their buzzing drowned out all other noises. It was like walking through a sandstorm except the grains were too large and landed on them. They pulled their flying goggles down over their eyes and kept their mouths shut.
The vultures were unwilling to lose their lunch to a pair of apes, arched their wings threateningly and squawked at the girls. Harry and Sellie steered a course between the bodies keeping their guns at the ready.
They reached the shoreline without incident. The flies thinned out a little and Harry pushed up her goggles. She looked back at the bodies. They had found nothing alive. Her best guess was that the soldiers had chased the hippos from the water somehow using whatever flying machine they had, probably a zeppelin. And then machine-gunned them.
The native tribes sold ivory to the traders but they did not have the advantage of flyers and machine guns. The traders brought it to the coast and sold it to people who carved it. They then sold it on to the Europeans and the Arabs.
She had not known that hippo teeth was ivory. They must be easier to bring down than elephants. Hippos were still very dangerous but not if you were flying above them.
As she imagined what had happened she grew angry. Angry enough to use her gun on the men who had done this. This was not like Zanzibar. Yes, those men had been the enemy and threatened her father — and the Empire — but she did not hate them. She was not angry with them.
These men she would harm without a thought.
“Harry?”
“What?”
“We’re not doing anything useful here.”
“No.” Harry shook herself. “Sorry.”
Khuwelsa laid her hand on Harry’s arm. “I know.”
There was a disturbance along the shoreline to the left where a crocodile had snapped a vulture and had it by the leg. The other vultures in the area exploded into the air. The panic went out like a wave across the field of death. They watched as the crocodile retreated into the water, dragging the vulture with it. It flapped its wings helplessly as it was dragged under.
She looked around behind them. More crocodiles were heading towards the shore.
“Let’s go.”
Back on board the Pegasus they stowed the guns. Khuwelsa got the furnace roaring and the pressure up. The ship stayed firmly on the ground with Harry staring into space.
“Do you want me to fly then?” asked Khuwelsa.
“I don’t know what to do.”
There was the hum of flies who had got into the cabin and were taking an interest in the body.
“We need to get rid of him for a start,” said Khuwelsa. “He’ll start to stink soon.”
“Johannes then,” said Harry. “We’ll go with plan A.”
She flipped on the Faraday and took them into the air with strong strokes then headed southwest at low height and high speed.
