As Danny reached the canopy of the trees he sensed something was amiss. He swung the rifle off his shoulder, came to a halt and waited. He then heard a lion's roar and the head of a male lion suddenly popped out of the tall grass. Danny, startled by the unexpected visitor, yelped in alarm and fired a shot in the air. The lion bolted away.
Alice burst out laughing. "Big macho game hunter you are not!"
"I didn't expect him to be there. He scared me half to death," Danny said rather embarrassed.
"He wasn't one of ours. It had to be one of Mara's."
"Probably," Danny said, looking on after the big cat.
"Vanessa's fence must be down….again," Alice said rolling her eyes.
As Danny watched the retreating lion he walked further into the canopy of the Wattles. But then to his horror his right foot came down and stepped into the tray of a large trap left behind by poachers. The device locked its iron jaws around his leg sending him crashing to the ground. Danny cried out in pain.
Alice, traumatized by what had just happened, stood frozen in place while Danny writhed on the ground. Danny's scream had taken the wind out of her lungs. She finally snapped out of it and ran to Danny's side.
"Danny!"
Dupe walked into the house looking for Danny and Alice and caught up with Evan as he was grabbing a cold drink.
"Aren't they back yet?" Dupe asked.
"No. You didn't expect them back yet did you? They're having a picnic, remember."
"Oh, yeah, the picnic. I forgot. Hopefully this time together will help them sort things out. They've been snapping at each other like a pair of hyenas. They should just tell each other how they really feel and get it over with, put themselves out of their misery," Dupe said.
"I know. You can see how much they love each other. It's written all over their faces."
"Oh, so you've noticed it too?" Dupe asked.
"Dupe, you might think I'm just a kid, but I know what's going on more than you think."
Dupe chuckled. "You know, Evan, you're right. You are a very smart boy, but let me give you some advice. Stay away from women. Life will be a lot easier for you that way."
"Thanks, Dupe, but I'll take my chances," Evan said.
"Are you sure?" Dupe asked. "Look, I know Grace is a beautiful girl and I'm sure she's very nice, but, remember, she is her mother's daughter."
Evan knit his brows together. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Ah, never mind. I'm too tired and too hot to explain it to you. You'll find out soon enough," Dupe said and left.
Evan shook his head and rolled his eyes.
Danny's leg was bleeding. The metal teeth had torn deep into his leg ripping into bone and muscle. As Danny sat with his leg extended and Alice kneeling over him, they tried to pry open the 16 in. steel-trap with their bare hands, but the springs on the device were rusted and wouldn't release.
"It's not budging! Danny, what do I do?" Alice exclaimed.
"You'll have to find something and pry it open," Danny said gritting his teeth.
"What if I use the rifle…."
"No, you can't!" Danny said. "If anything happens to that rifle we'll have nothing to protect ourselves from the predators that are sure to come around soon. Find a sturdy piece of wood."
"Will that work?" Alice asked anxiously. She was becoming frantic.
"I don't know. But that's all I can think of."
"I don't think I should leave you!" Alice said.
"You have to, Alice. Now go, I'll be fine," Danny said.
Alice closed her eyes to think, to try and make sense of what was happening. After mulling the situation in her head for a moment, she finally nodded, placed the rifle beside Danny and went to look for a piece of wood that would suffice. She searched nearby until she found a branch big and sturdy enough to hopefully do the job. She hurriedly returned to Danny.
"This is all I could find," Alice said, showing the branch to Danny.
"Then that'll have to do," Danny said and gave Alice a reassuring smile.
"But what if it breaks?" Alice asked as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Hey, enough of that," Danny said softly. He held her face in his hands. "You're going to get me out of this thing, right?"
Alice nodded. "And then what? You won't be able to walk!"
"First things first," Danny said. "We'll figure out what to do next once we get my leg out."
Alice nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Okay, now put the wood through the opening and beside my leg," Danny said. "Be careful not to touch the plate or it'll go off again."
Alice placed the wood between Danny's leg and the teeth of steel.
"Are you ready?" Alice asked.
Danny nodded and braced himself. He bit his lower lip and prepared to lift his leg out of the trap as soon as its jaws opened wide enough. Alice watched him for a moment, took a deep breath and then pushed on the piece of wood with all her strength. The trap began to unlock.
"That's it, Alice! Keep going! We're almost there!" Danny shouted.
But then without warning, the branch broke in half. The jaws of the trap violently snapped shut, once again ensnaring Danny's leg with a sickening CRACK, thus shattering the bone.
Danny screamed. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back unconscious.
"DANNY!"
It was late afternoon. Charlotte sat on a chair and watched her Uncle Rowan pace back and forth on the veranda. He seemed worried about something and she wanted to ask him about it, but at that moment Georgina stepped out and joined them on the porch.
"When are Danny and Alice due back," Rowan asked Georgina.
"I thought they would have been here by now," Georgina said.
"They're okay, right?" Rowan asked.
"I'm sure they're fine," Georgina said reassuringly. "They went out to check out the waterholes and probably got sidetracked with an animal or something."
"So we shouldn't be worried?" Rowan asked.
"No….well….come to think of it, Danny was acting rather strangely this morning," Georgina said.
"Strange? In what way?" Rowan asked.
The phone began to ring inside the house. "Mmmm, I'm not sure…..anyway, don't worry, they'll be back before you know it," Georgina said and went inside the house to answer the phone.
Rowan looked on after her and then at Charlotte. "Do you know what she was talking about?" he asked.
Charlotte shrugged and shook her head. "No. Are you worried about Mommy, Uncle Rowan?"
"Well, honestly…"
"You can tell me the truth," Charlotte said.
Rowan smiled. "Let's go find Mr. Du Plessis," Rowan suggested. He took her by the hand and they went off to find Dupe.
Georgina answered the phone. "Hello," Georgina said. "Oh, hi, Vanessa."
"Hi, Georgina," Vanessa said over the phone. "I've been expecting Danny, but he hasn't come yet. Is he back?"
"No, Vanessa, he's not. In fact, we're getting a little worried. I'm sure they're all right, but they should have been back hours ago."
"What does Dupe say?" asked Vanessa.
"I haven't discussed it with him, but I will."
"Please let me know what's going on. Okay?"
"I will," Georgina said. "I'll call you back once I know more." Georgina hung up the phone and went in search of Du Plessis.
Rowan found Dupe sitting in the Land Rover, the radio in his hands.
"Danny, come in," Dupe spoke into the radio. Nothing but static came back as a reply.
"What's going on?" asked Rowan.
"I'm trying to contact Danny and Alice," Dupe said.
"Why? Is something wrong?" Rowan asked.
"Probably not."
"Then why aren't they answering their radio?" Rowan asked.
"Could be several reasons," Dupe said. "They could be out walking around the waterholes, or they could have found an injured animal, or…"
Rowan interrupted. "Or something could be wrong!"
Dupe nodded reluctantly. "Yes…maybe."
"So, what are we going to do about it?" Rowan asked.
Alice rushed over to Danny and knelt beside him. "Danny, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Alice shrieked as sobs racked her body. She lovingly stroked his head and kissed him gently on the lips.
Then Alice looked over at Danny's leg and to her horror she saw bone protruding out of the pant leg. She quickly removed her shirt and ripped it into several sections. She began wrapping Danny's leg as best she could to keep the bone clean of debris and hopefully slow down the bleeding. She was thankful Danny was unconscious; the pain would have been unbearable.
As Alice worked on Danny's leg, she heard the distant roar of a lion. The sound sent chills down her spine for the male lion that had fled earlier was now returning.