Chapter 4
Morning had broken over Leopard's den and everyone was still in bed. At about seven am, Olivia was the first one to wake up and decided to head to the kitchen to grab a piece of toast because she felt hungry. She tiptoed out of the bedroom, trying her best not to wake Charlotte who was still fast asleep and into the kitchen where she got out a piece of bread and popped it in the toaster. She headed to the fridge to get the butter out when she heard a voice behind her.
"You're up early." Olivia closed the fridge door and saw Danny stood in the middle of the kitchen, still in his pajamas and his hair all over the place.
"I got hungry" Olivia responded as she took the butter out of the fridge and headed over to the toaster. Danny smiled and headed over to the kettle.
"Listen, I'm having a cupper, do you fancy one?" he asked as he put the kettle on.
"Go on then" Olivia replied as her toast popped up. A few minutes later, the two of them where sat at the kitchen table, eating toast and drinking coffee.
"So, how did you sleep last night?" Danny asked.
"Ok, a little better than night before" Olivia replied.
"Ah, I also noticed that Charlotte was curled up fast asleep in your bed this morning when I passed" Danny pointed out.
"yeah, she had a nightmare about us all getting killed by a crazed maniac or something so she asked if she could sleep in my bed" Olivia replied " she said that she didn't tell you and Alice because she heard strange noises coming from your room."
"Did she?" Danny asked whose face had gone a shade of bright red. Olivia raised her eyebrow and gave him a look as though to say "I think I have an idea what Charlotte meant about the strange noises coming from your bedroom" before snapping back into reality.
"So, did Dupe spend the whole night sleeping in the library?" she asked "I heard him snoring heavily when I walked past this morning,"
"I guess he did" Danny replied. Olivia chuckled and took a drink from her coffee. A couple of hours later, the whole house were up and about.
"Danny, we're out of jam" Caroline announced.
"Oh, I'll pop into town and pick some up" Danny offered" fancy coming along Olivia?"
"Ok then, could do with some fresh air" Olivia responded.
"I want to come too" Charlotte piped up.
"If your mum says it's ok" Danny replied.
"Can I mum, please?" Charlotte asked sweetly, battering her eyelids which were convincing enough for Alice to let her go.
"Go on then, get dressed first" Alice said with a chuckled. Charlotte cheered and darted into her bedroom.
"I suppose I'd better get dressed as well" Olivia said before standing up and heading into her room. Half an hour later, both the girls were dressed as was Danny.
"Ok I need Jam" Danny said "and I might as well pick up some more bits as well." Du plessis had also decided to come along too so he could pick up some more beer. After the four were ready, they all piled into the land rover with Olivia and Charlotte sat in the back.
"Why does Caroline want jam so badly?" Charlotte asked as they drove towards the town.
"Ag, because she wants jam toast so badly" Dupe replied. Charlotte and Olivia both giggled.
"You mean she wants jam toast for breakfast but can't have any because there is no jam" Olivia stated.
"That's right" Danny said. Olivia sighed and stretched back, daydreaming about the family's first Christmas at leopard's den.
Evan quietly opened his bedroom door before creeping across the hall towards his Sister's room. Without making a sound, he snuck over to the young Olivia who was sleeping and gently shook her.
"Olivia, pssst, Olivia wake up" he whispered. The Eleven year old girl groaned and rubbed her eyes.
"Evan, what are you doing, it's six in the morning" Olivia groaned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Its Christmas morning" Evan beamed. At that moment, Olivia's eyes widen with excitement.
"Cool" she said "our first Christmas at leopard's den, I can't wait."
"Let's go wake mum and Danny up" Evan suggested with a cheeky glint in his eye.
"I don't know Evan, it's far too early, maybe we should wait a couple of hours" Olivia replied "they might be a bit grumpy."
"Come on" Evan urged "the sooner we get them up, the sooner we can open our presents." Olivia giggled and finally agreed so the two kids were soon creeping towards their parent's room. They passed Du plessis's room on the way and heard him snoring heavily. They looked at each other and giggled before creeping towards Danny and Sarah's room. They slowly opened the door and saw the pair of them, sleeping.
"Ok on the count of three" Evan whispered "one, two, three." The two kids then yelled and jumped on their parents.
"Mum, Danny get up, it's Christmas" Evan yelled.
"Oh you kids" Danny sighed "it's gone six, go back to bad for an hour or two."
"But it's our first Christmas here Mr. trevanion "Olivia beamed.
"Oh come here you" Sarah grinned as she pulled the squealing Olivia into a hug.
"Can we open presents now?" Evan asked.
"Well, I think we should wait until the rest get up first" Danny replied.
"Shall we get Du plessis up too?" Evan asked.
"Nah best not, you know how grumpy he gets if you wake him up early" Danny replied.
"Too late, he's already up" came the voice of Dupe from the doorway.
"Well, it's not like you to be up early on a morning" Danny teased.
"Bloody hell man, do you think I'd be sleeping in on Christmas morning, now let's open presents" he cheered. Both Evan and Olivia bounced off the bed and followed after Du plessis into the living room.
"Shall we join them Mr. Trevanion?" Sarah suggested.
"We might as well" Danny replied. Soon, everyone was celebrating Christmas at leopard's den. Evan was mucking around with a remote control car, Olivia was parading around the house with a new handbag whilst dolling up her new bratz doll, Du plessis was wearing a Christmas party hat whilst drinking a glass of red wine and singing carols, Nomsa was making the Christmas dinner, Rosie was helping Olivia test out her new hair extension kit and Danny and Sarah kissed under the mistletoe.
"Merry Christmas Mrs trevanion" Danny said.
"The same to you, Mr trevanion" Sarah responded.
"This has been the best Christmas ever" Olivia cheered as Danny scooped her up in his arms.
"Olivia, Livy, we're here." Olivia snapped back into reality as Danny gently shook her on the shoulder.
"Sorry Danny, I was day dreaming" Olivia replied.
"Come on then, let's go pick up some jam" Danny said as he helped Charlotte climb out of the back.
"I hope it's not bloody busy in the market" Du plessis said as Danny locked up the land rover "I can't stand it when it's like that."
"Well it doesn't look that busy" Danny responded "now, let's go and do some shopping." The four of them then went shopping, Danny had bought some jam, some bananas and some toilet paper, Dupe had bought himself a few cans.
"Ok, now that we've got everything we need, let's head back up to leopard's den" Danny said after he had bought everything he needed. Olivia and Charlotte who were both eating a bag of crisps climbed into the back of the land rover while Danny and Du plessis got in the front.
"Danny, the gas looks nearly empty" Du plessis pointed out "let's hope it will last long enough to get us back to leopard's den."
"Don't worry, It'll be fine" Danny reassured "it's only going to take us half an hour to get back."
"I hope your right man" Dupe replied as Danny started up the engine. Unfortunately, he was wrong because the engine had failed halfway.
"He he he, I was right" Du plessis teased.
"Ah, looks like I'm going to have to walk it back to the market and get some petrol" Danny said.
"Can we come too?" Charlotte asked.
"Yeah can we?" Olivia added.
"I don't know, stay here with the land rover" Danny said sternly.
"Ag, let them go along with you man, I'll stay here and look after the land rover" Du plessis suggested.
"So you can get drunk?" Olivia teased.
"No" Du plessis replied.
"Ok then" Danny sighed before turning to Olivia and Charlotte "come on then girls, but stick close to me, there might be wild lions about." Both girls cheered and climbed out the back.
"Behave yourself dupe, no drinking, I want your sober on the way home" Danny warned.
"I'm not the one who's driving" Du plessis replied.
"I know that, but I don't want you rolling around drunk when I'm trying to drive" Danny replied as Olivia and Charlotte giggled.
"Oh go and get the bloody petrol man then we can get home faster" Dupe said. Danny and the two girls then headed back towards the market place to pick up some more petrol to refill the engine.
"How long will it take us to get back to the market?" Olivia asked as the three walked back towards the market with Danny carrying a petrol bottle.
"It might take us about forty minutes if we don't dawdle" Danny replied. They had got about halfway when Charlotte complained that her water bottle was empty.
"Oh, I'll get you some more when we get into town" Danny reassured her.
"But I'm really thirsty Danny, can't we find a water hole somewhere?" charlotte asked.
"I don't know Charlotte, they're not very clean. Best to get some fresh water" he explained. After walking for a full forty minutes, the three of them finally reached the market place. After Danny had got some petrol and a bottle of water for Charlotte, the three of them headed back to the land rover where they took another forty minutes until they finally arrived and Du plessis was still waiting for them.
"You took your bloody time didn't you" he pointed out.
"Well it was quite a bit away from here but I managed to get some petrol so we can get back to leopard's den and then…" he was cut off by Olivia screaming. The two men looked to see Olivia kneeling and looking shaken up.
"Olivia what's going on?" Danny asked as he ran towards her and what he saw almost shocked him as it did Olivia. Charlotte was lying crumpled on the floor.
"It was a snake Danny, it bit Charlotte" Olivia sobbed. Danny scrambled over to Charlotte who was nearly unconscious and tried to find where it had bitten her until he saw two small red marks on her ankle.
"Right, where's the snake?" Danny asked.
"I think it's over there somewhere" Olivia said, pointing.
"I'll get Charlotte in the land rover" Du plessis said as he picked up Charlotte from the ground "you get the snake." Danny nodded and went to get the snake which was slithering nearby. It looked like it was the same type of snake that had bitten Olivia when they first arrived in Africa. He stomped on it, killed it and then grabbed hold of it.
"You got it Danny?" Olivia asked as Danny came back to the land rover with it.
"Yeah it's dead" Danny explained as he put the dead snake in his bag pack "how is Charlotte doing?"
"She's having difficulty breathing" Du plessis replied "we need to get back quickly, I'll drive, you try and keep her conscious." Danny jumped into the back whilst Du plessis started up the engine. Danny grabbed hold of Charlotte and pulled her head up on his knee.
"Come on Charlotte, stay with me" he said, patting her face. Olivia was sobbing as she watched the younger girl struggle to stay awake.
"she's going to be ok isn't she?" Olivia sobbed
"Hopefully" Danny replied. Suddenly, Charlotte had stopped breathing and Danny had to give her mouth to mouth.
"Come on, stay with me Charlotte" Danny pleaded as he performed CPR as a tear streaked Olivia held her hand. When they arrived back at leopard's den, Danny rushed into the front room with a limp Charlotte in his arms. When Alice saw the state her daughter was in, she was hysterical.
"What's happened to Charlotte?" she demanded.
"Cape Cobra bit her" Danny replied "she's having trouble breathing and needs oxygen and anti-venom."
"Oh my god" Alice cried as she ran over to her little girl, stroking her head "Charlotte, it's mummy darling, can you hear me?" Danny had ran to the medical centre to get the anti-venom whilst a sobbing Olivia looked on. Seeing Alice trying to wake Charlotte up brought back horrifying memories of when the same thing happened to her when she was more or less the same age as Charlotte and her mum Sarah, trying to keep her conscious and breathing. Danny came back with the oxygen and the anti-venom.
"She's struggling to breathe Danny" Alice cried "she's in a bad way."
"Don't worry, I've got oxygen and anti-venom" Danny said as he injected the Anti-venom into Charlotte's system before placing what looked like an oxygen mask over her face.
"Come on Charlotte, stay with us" Danny said. A couple of seconds later, Charlotte's eyes slowly flickered open.
"Oh my god Charlotte" Alice cried with relieve "its mummy Charlotte, mummy's here, everything is going to be ok." Olivia was also relieved that Charlotte was now conscious.
"M-mummy?" Charlotte asked, looking at Alice who was leaning over her.
"The ambulance is on its way" Nomsa informed "I told them what kind of snake it was."
"Well can you phone them back and tell them that she's conscious and on oxygen" Danny told her.
"I will do" Nomsa replied. Danny then knelt next to Alice and smiled at Charlotte.
"Hey you had us all scared back there" he said to her. Soon, the paramedics had arrived and they all rushed into the front room to see to Charlotte.
"She's going to be ok isn't she?" Olivia asked as Charlotte was lifted onto the stretcher.
"Yeah, she'll be ok" he reassured her "you were too, remember."
"Yeah, but it was a horrible experience" Olivia replied "sometimes, I still have nightmares about it."
"I thought you would have got over it by now, it happened when you about Charlotte's age" Danny said.
"I thought I did, but seeing the same thing happen to Charlotte bought back painful memories" Olivia pointed out.
"Well, don't worry because Charlotte will be fine" Danny reassured her. Soon, Danny, Du plessis, Olivia and Alice where wall going with Charlotte to the hospital. When they arrived, they were told to wait in the waiting room while they took Charlotte to be checked over.
"I can't believe this has happened" Alice said "why did I let her go, why didn't I just make her stay at home and she wouldn't be here."
"Oh, you weren't to know something like this would happen" Danny reassured her. They had been waiting for almost an hour for some news when a Doctor came into the waiting room towards them, looking very serious and when Alice saw the look on his face, she could tell that something was very wrong.
"Are you the people who came here with ten year old Charlotte Collins?" he asked. They all nodded.
"Well, it seems that she had a reaction to the Anti-venom" he explained.
"Are you saying that my Charlotte is allergic to anti-venom?" Alice asked.
"It's possible, apparently, she slipped into a coma about half an hour after she arrived" The Doctor explained.
"Oh my god" Alice gasped, throwing her hand over her mouth.
"We tried to revive her after she fell unconscious but she was unresponsive so we've hooked her up onto a ventilator" the Doctor explained further.
"She is going to be ok though isn't she?" Danny asked.
"We don't know for sure" the Doctor replied " Charlotte is seriously ill and we might have to wait another twenty four hours until we can know for sure, all you have to do now, is hope for the best."
"I want to see her" Alice said "I want to see my baby."
