Chapter 2:
Two Trees
"That must be it! See, I told you we were headed in the right direction."
Nina and Max had been walking for a few hours and, miraculously, they hadn't encountered a single predator. Although Max had let go of her hand a while ago, he still seemed very apprehensive, constantly looking around and sniffing the air. Nina had to admit she was nervous too. Any time they heard a strange sound they would freeze and strain to listen, ready to bolt if the source of the sound came too close. The problem was that they had no where to bolt to.
Still, Nina was determined to find her son. Since he hadn't sent a message like she'd told him to, she assumed something bad had happened...Or else he was distracted by following metaphors.
"How can you be so sure?" asked Max. "Neither of us have actually seen a baobab tree before."
"But this fits his description perfectly. Thick trunk, high domed canopy, no other trees around." As the two meerkats walked up to the enormous tree, Nina somehow sensed that there was something special and magical about it. She felt the wrinkled bark with her paw and stared up into the green depths of the canopy, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
"Getting kind of overcast, isn't it?" her uncle commented beside her. Nina rolled her eyes. Leave it to Max to talk about the weather at a time like this.
"Doesn't smell like rain though," he added. "So, what do we do now?"
"We look around and see if we can figure out what Timon saw that he went to look beyond."
"I can't believe Timon has us chasing after metaphors," he said, standing on tiptoe in traditional sentry pose and peering toward the horizon. Nina joined him and tried to look at things the way her son would. What would catch his eye? There was a herd of rhinoceros in the distance, but of course they couldn't have been there two months ago. Acacias dotted the grassland, but none of them stood out.
"Look over there, to the south," said Max, pointing. "What does that look like to you?"
She immediately saw the odd jutting rock formation he was pointing at. "Wow, what a strange rock. I'll bet that's where Timon went!"
"I was afraid of that."
"Why?" She turned to look at him.
"Because I'm pretty sure that's Pride Rock."
A small knot formed in her stomach. "Pride Rock? With the lions?"
"No, with the water buffalo. Of course with the lions!" Max put his fists on his hips. "Don't you remember the stories I told you when you were a kit?"
"Oh, I remember." She clenched her fists in front of her chest. "My poor baby...If I ever see that monkey again, I'll do more than hit him with a stick! There won't be enough of him for the vultures to pick at!"
"Calm down, Nina!" said Max, putting his paw on her shoulder. "We don't know for sure that he went to Pride Rock."
"But I just know he did. Look how much it stands out! Come on, we gotta go find him. Maybe those rhinos have seen him." She started to walk toward the herd.
"You're going to ask the rhinos?"
"I'll be fine, Max. Rhinos only eat plants."
He shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's just that rhinos have very poor eyesight."
"Oh." She paused in thought. "Well, who else can we ask?...Hey, I know! Isn't there a colony sort of close to Pride Rock?"
"I think so, unless they've moved."
"Great. We'll ask them."
Max didn't seem thrilled with the idea, and for a good reason. Meerkats are territorial by nature, and they can be aggressive toward other meerkats who might invade their burrows.
"Don't worry, we'll be diplomatic...Let me do the talking, though."
They walked for a while, the lions' rock slowly growing before them. Whenever they grew hungry, they ate insects and other creeping things, but they never stopped long.
Just before nightfall, Nina heard the unmistakable, haunting sound of hyena laughter. She froze in mid-step, listening intently. They sounded far away, but they were still too close for comfort. "Uncle Max," she whispered, "I think we ought to dig a shelter for the night. I just heard hyenas."
"Where?" whispered Max, his eyes wide and fearful.
"That way." She pointed through the grass.
Max nodded and got to work. In a couple of minutes he excavated a tunnel three times the length of a hyena's foreleg. In another minute he hollowed out a chamber for them to sleep in. Nina pushed the loose soil out.
When there was nothing else for them to do they sat down and listened to the laughs and whoops growing louder overhead.
"Just like home, isn't it?" asked Nina, trying to lighten the mood. "All we need is some grass to sleep on."
Max gave her a sharp look. "You're not thinking of going up there, are you? I shouldn't have to tell you that the world out there is fraught with-"
"Don't worry, Max," she interrupted, not wanting to bring on another "fraught fest." "I'm not going to risk my life for a nest." She wondered why he always jumped to conclusions like that.
"Good." He relaxed a little, staring up the tunnel for a moment. "We might as well lie down and shut our eyes, though I don't see how we're going to get any sleep." The old meerkat plopped down with surprising ease and curled up. Lying down beside her uncle, Nina began to think of all the horrible things that may have happened to Timon. What was it about the night that made her worry so much? The lumpy ground was uncomfortable, but Nina had been having trouble sleeping even in her soft nest at home. At the end of day, all of life's major issues screamed in her mind. She wondered if it had been a mistake to let her son go...But no, Timon was an adult now, and eventually he would have left without her permission or blessing, even if he was a mama's boy.
If only her husband were alive, she could pour out her heart to him, and he would listen until the fireflies went to sleep. But now she had no one to share her worries with. It would be no use talking to her uncle- he'd only make her feel worse.
ooo
Nina didn't know when or how she fell asleep, but she woke with tears forming in her eyes. She had dreamed about going to the other colony, where the meerkats told her Timon had died. "No, this has to be a dream!" she had said. But she couldn't wake up for a long time, and it had seemed so real.
Her mother had been a firm believer that dreams predicted the future, although they were often symbolic. But she had also told Nina countless times that as long as there's life, there's hope. Nina had to hope, and she was comforted a bit by the fact that if her mom or any of her other relatives were still alive, they would be searching for Timon right along with her. She knew she was doing the right thing.
Dim light filtered in through the tunnel, and Nina knew it must be early morning. After grooming herself, she climbed up to the tunnel exit, sniffing the air. It smelled of grass, dry earth, and hyenas- but that scent was a few hours old. Standing on tiptoe outside the hole, she scanned the grassland for danger and found no signs. Then she slipped back into the tunnel and went over to Max, who was sleeping with his head on his arms, and she shook him gently.
"Uncle Max, wake up. It's morning, and there's no sign of hyenas out there."
Max opened his eyes and rubbed them. "Time to get up already? I think I just fell asleep ten minutes ago." But he got up anyway, his joints popping as he stretched.
Outside, the sky was the color of granite, casting a gloom over the savanna. If only the sun would come out...Nights in the dry season were downright frigid, and she would've welcomed the chance to warm up.
They broke their fast with beetles, crickets, and a big millipede split between them. Then they continued on their way, south and slightly east.
"My legs are sore from walking yesterday," said Nina.
"We'll get used to it, I suppose," said Max.
Nina felt a little ashamed about complaining when Max was almost optimistic. "Sure we will. It isn't as though we're the first meerkats to go out on our own. Rogues do it all the time."
"The last time someone left our colony was before you were born," said Max, giving her an odd look.
"You know what I mean. It's happened many times before and it's not as strange as we think it is. And we have plenty of food, and I'm sure the sun will be out soon, and..." Hope rose within her, pushing her cares aside. "You know what? I feel like singing."
"You can't be serious," Max said with a glare. "Do I have to remind you that singing got us into this mess in the first place!"
Nina glared back at him. "Well, yelling isn't going to help our situation either! I was just trying to lighten the mood."
"A lot of good that'll do when you get killed by hyenas because you're singing and not paying attention!"
A maniacal laugh suddenly interrupted their argument, and they whirled around to see three hyenas standing about twenty feet downwind.
"Oh Ed, you gave us away," said the female in mock disappointment. Nina's little heart fluttered and her fur was literally standing on end. These hyenas were familiar to her; they had attacked her colony countless times. The worst part about their attacks was that they usually seemed to be for entertainment.
They were also unpredictable. Instead of following the usual nocturnal hyena schedule, they would strike at any time- sometimes even in the middle of the day.
Banzai grinned, showing off his pointed teeth (Nina knew their names from listening to them talk to each other during their attacks). "Oh well. Guess the chase is on," he said, starting to run toward the meerkats. But Nina stood frozen in terror.
"Nina! Scurry!" yelled Max, pulling on her arm.
"What? Oh." She snapped out of it and ran with Max.
"Yeah, you better scurry, you little weasels!" said Banzai, obviously getting some sick enjoyment out of this. Nina knew that she and Max were out of shape and would not be able to outrun the hyenas. Their hole from the night before was too far to run to. Fortunately the grass was just short enough for them to see over, and Nina spotted a tall, thin acacia tree on her left. She reached out and grabbed her uncle's wrist and dashed toward the tree. The hyena's feet pounded softly, and she could tell they were gaining on them- especially when a drop of liquid landed on top of her head.
"That better be rain," she said.
The hyenas laughed. "That's what I like about you meerkats," said Shenzi. "Even when you're running for your lives you still have a sense of humor."
Nina didn't bother telling her that she wasn't trying to be funny.
Although meerkats spend most of their time underground, they are naturally good climbers. Max and Nina scaled the tree almost as fast as monkeys.
"You won't get away that easy," said Banzai. He grabbed the thin trunk in his mouth and tried to shake it, but he couldn't move it very much.
"Forget them," said Shenzi. "I see a lioness coming over that hill. We'll get her to hunt for us."
"All right, I love harassing the lionesses!"
Nina couldn't believe her ears. The hyenas were going to try to get a lioness to hunt for them? She stopped climbing and turned her head to look down at the hyenas (which made her slightly dizzy, since she had never been this far from the ground). They were running away, but Banzai paused and looked back at them.
"You may have gotten away this time, but you can't escape forever! There are more of us in the Pridelands than you can imagine! We don't even know how many of us there are."
"Banzai, will you quit jabbering and come on! We're gonna lose her."
As Banzai turned to follow the others, Nina looked for the lioness. Max grew impatient and climbed around her, going up the other side of the trunk.
"Hey, lioness! We're hungry!" said Banzai.
"How is that my concern?" Nina was stuck by the lioness's voice; it was a bit high and very clear...It actually sounded pretty. She'd never heard a lion speak before, and she wondered if they were like jackals, who used trickery and cunning to get food. They could even imitate meerkat calls to lure them out of their tunnels.
"We share concerns now," said Shenzi. "This new era is all about sharing. What's yours is ours."
"And what are the hyenas bringing to the feast?" the lioness asked coldly.
"Our appetites," said Banzai.
"You can't share an appetite," said the lioness. "What good does that do me?"
Shenzi stepped forward. "Look. I'll tell it to you straight. We hyenas have a reputation as scavengers, but we're really very good hunters. But we've had a hard life, scraping for food in the elephant graveyard. We need a break. Can you help us out?"
The lioness held her head high. "I work just as hard as anyone to get food...And besides, I have already made a large kill this morning. If you hurry you might get there before the others eat it all."
"Oh, well why didn't you say so in the first place?" asked Shenzi.
"Where's the food? Where?" asked Banzai, jerking his head around.
"Near the southern edge of the gorge."
At that, the hyenas took off running, but Banzai paused, and Nina could barely hear what he said. "Wait a minute. Twenty bones says she's lying."
"You're probably right, but it's worth a look."
When the hyenas and the lioness were out of sight, Nina climbed up to join Max, who was crouching on a branch that was more or less horizontal.
"Did you hear that?" she asked. "Something is definitely wrong here."
"I could only make out a few words, but did you see that?" He gestured toward Pride Rock.
"Huh?" She noticed for the first time that it was surrounded by tiny dark grey forms. When she realized they were moving, she almost fell off the branch. Max reached out and steadied her.
"Sweet mother of Chimvi! Are those...?"
"Hyenas," said Max, his eyes narrow and shadowed. "They've taken over...again."
"But what are...How can we look for Timon with so many of them around?"
Max stared into the distance, apparently deep in thought.
"I have an idea."
A/N: You know the thing about jackals imitating meerkat calls? I totally made that up, just like I made up the "Shouting Range" thing in the first chapter. But jackals are known for being sneaky, so I think it makes sense in a world with talking animals.