See part 1 for disclaimer…

Part 3

Mac struggled to find an excuse for having her head in the clouds.

"Oh, I don't think they'd be worth even that much," she dismissed, lamely. But Harm wasn't about to let it go that easily.

"No, really Mac, what were you thinking about?"

Just as she was about to admit to her loss for words, their attention was attracted to a rustling sound, coming from a nearby tree.

"Harm, what's that hanging from the branches?" asked Mac.

"That's what the locals call 'biltong', a bit like beef jerky," Harm told her, "Stay here, it might be a wild animal, attracted to the scent of meat."

Harm cautiously made his way to the tree, pausing at the base to peer up into the branches, his weapon poised in case he needed to use it.

His eyes were met by those of a blue-eyed, well-tanned teenager, who was busy trying to cut strips off the large rack of tough meat. She must have realized who he was, because after placing her pocketknife securely between her teeth, she leaned backwards, going from a sitting position into a knee hang, then released her knees, bringing her legs around to land steadily on her feet. Harm stood frozen, a bit shocked as the girl took the knife from her teeth. As a precautionary measure, he took a couple of steps back, reassuring her, "Hey, it's okay…"

Even as he did so, the young girl immediately pocketed the knife and Harm realized that she hadn't actually posed a threat.

However, the young girl obviously didn't think the same about him, for as soon as he extended his hand, in a gesture of friendship, she took off like a jackrabbit, tearing towards the front driveway.

"Mac! Go get Emilie!" Harm yelled as he took off after the girl. Mac ran to the front door, where Emilie appeared, attracted by the palaver.

"Come," she told Mac, "we'll take the jeep, I think I know where she is going."

Meanwhile, Catriona had a big lead over Harm, who was stumbling clumsily over the sparse clumps of grass and the uneven ground. It was obvious to Harm that she knew the terrain well, as she seemed to glide between the rock and stones and over the uneven ground effortlessly. Suddenly, she disappeared into some tall grass and Harm stopped, out of breath and unsure of how to proceed. At that moment, a Russian soldier pulled up in a jeep, followed by Emilie and Mac in another jeep. Shining a strong flashlight, the Russian soldier proceeded into the tall grass and Harm, Mac and Emilie followed behind him. They had barely been in the grass but a minute, when they were all startled by an enormous trumpeting and confronted by a large bull elephant, its long white tusks poised menacingly. The Russian soldier dropped his torch in fright, but retrieved it, never taking his eyes off the elephant.

"It's okay," Emile reassured the group, " that's just Alexei. We just startled him, that's all."

Harm and Mac simultaneously let go of the breath they had been holding. Harm laughed and exclaimed, "We startled him?"

However, the soldier kept his stance and began to raise his riffle.

OOOO