The Huntress at Sunset

20. Opening the Cave

"So, you're the one who's been roaring up there."

Nengwalamwe lay at the edge of the promontory, casually dangling his forelegs over the edge. "Yes."

"Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Nengwe, just Nengwe."

Falana, a little behind and not visible from below, leant over and pressed her flank to his.

The elephant blinked and flapped the outer edge of an ear. "Well then, Nengwe, I am Kudlavu. I speak for all the elephants in these parts. I won't stand out here all day: too hot. I'll keep it short. What is it that you want from us?"

"I don't want anything from you Kudlavu, nor from your people."

Kudlavu flapped again. "Then why are we here?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask you."

Kudlavu looked down at Mtundu, swinging his trunk towards the baboon. Mtundu shrugged.

"Then why are you here?"

"Me? I… I live here. Some don't like that it seems."

"Indeed, and do you know where here is, lion?"

"I'm beginning to… I think."

"Well, some time ago this rock was the home of many of your kind. Some called them kings."

Nengwe looked back to Falana. She had nothing for him. He flexed his off forepaw, circling it. "I'm not a king. I'm just a lion."

"We'll see about that. And those that don't like you being here, would they be hunting dogs?"

"Yes. Yes they are and they are going to kill me if they can."

"Well, yes… I mean no, but no king, or queen, has ever ruled here without the elephants' support… until now. There are many that want to see the end of the dogs' time. Their queen is old and may not be with us long. Her daughter…err…"

An awkward silence fell over the rock.

Nengwe broke it: "Elizabeth?"

"…Aye, that's the one. Is not generally regarded as a wholly worthy successor, and you, well you seem to have what is needed to challenge."

Nengwe closed his eyes for a moment. "I appreciate your support Kudlavu but it's not that easy. I have to take down maybe ten wild dogs at once most likely. I mustn't leave any alive to kill Falana or Shaha. I'm not strong enough."

"Nengwe, we… we elephants can't be part of your… petty war."

Nengwalamwe dropped his head on to his forelegs.

"…but I think we might just have something to share with you. We hear there's to be a… erm…. a presentation. Yes, that's it."

"What's that?"

"It's where all the animals come here to see their new king Nengwe," interjected Falana brightly.

"That's… that's what I saw with Yali!" Falana looked at him blankly. "But it wasn't me they are going to see as their king, it's…"

"Nengwe, what are you talking about?"

"Falana, I saw it. It was dawn. I was out there on the ridge." He looked out to the east. Falana was puzzled. "All the animals were coming here. Kudlavu, you were here too: right there, where you are now. And Elizabeth stood up here all bloodied and… she'd killed someone: the old king."

Kudlavu stamped, Nengwe even felt it on the rock. "What was that lion?"

"I saw it. Here. She killed the last king, but I didn't see it did I? It hasn't happened."

The elephant looked about. The grassland below the promontory was empty and quiet.

"It has happened before."

Shaha spoke, slowly and "I think you, Nengwalamwe, saw what you feared might happen, but it won't be like that. That's what the dogs want you to think. They want you frightened. They want you to fear them."

"But…"

Kudlavu shook his head, trunk swaying. "No young Nengwe. They may want to kill you, but we elephants won't let it happen. It takes a good while to organise a presentation; if anyone can even remember how to. The word only went out a day or two ago. I doubt they intend to present you, but they won't try anything till it's all ready, until then you're safe."

"Oh great, what am I going to do till then?"

"I hear you need rest. So take it easy. Do whatever it is that lions do. I'm sure your lioness there will be able to find something for you to do."

Nengwe turned to Falana. She lay expressionless. Turning back to the elephant, "And you? What will you do?"

"As I say, we can have no part in all this… but we can make sure those dogs of yours don't have it all their own way. We can keep them busy. They won't be able to harass you and… errr...?"

"Falana," prompted Shaha.

"Ah yes, of course, Falana; lovely name. Now then, we must be going. Trees don't eat themselves you know, and it'll take forever to get round that lugga now that it's all softened up."

Kudlavu lifted his trunk in respect and then moved off, circling away with his companion. Shaha and Mtundu looked to each other and nodded silently.

"Aren't you two coming up here?"

"Nah Nengwe, I reckon you've got your paws full as it is."

"Eh?"

"We'd just be kinda in the way."

"Yes, Nengwalamwe. You just relax and get your strength back; you're going to need it. Let Kudlavu and the elephants do their bit. You just do yours. I'll look after Mtundu. Did you know he can pick fleas from your back?"

"Err, yes Shaha. You look after him won't you? I want him back in one piece."

Falana lay her forepaw on the lion's back. "He'll be fine with mother Nengwe. Now then, what say you I rustle us up something to eat?"

"Falana? I'll come with you," he said, starting to rise.

"No Nengwe." She pressed down with her paw. "You had better stay here and rest. You heard Shaha."

~oOOo~

Falana shifted and opened her eyes slowly, yawning as she pushed her forequarters upright. She glanced around. Her afternoon had been frustrated and fruitless and had swung her mood dramatically. Sleep now tugged at her eyelids, a soothing voice that was sorely tempting. She resisted its call and stood up, scanning the grass around herself curiously. Something had intruded upon her senses. She decided that whatever it was, it had better be faster than she, but then everything had been faster than her that afternoon. Her attempts at hunting had been unrewarded. She would have preferred not to return to Nengwe empty-pawed.

"Probably his monkey again," she muttered as she paced about, ears twitching. The grass gave gently beneath her paw pads as she circled, sniffing, but the whispering wind brought no indication that she was right. Stealthy as he could be, Mtundu's odour was unmistakable, even from a distance, but it didn't hang on the hot, humid breeze.

A distant scraping of rock on rock; her ears perked sharply.

"It can't be, he's with mother," she growled, claws unsheathing. She rose, paused for a momentary stretch, and then broke into a slow run, emerging onto a low, open area from beneath the shadowy boughs of the tree under which she had rested, recovering from her last empty strike. The grass was shorter here; it barely tickled her forelegs up to the elbow. Her ears flickered and her body answered unconsciously, turning toward Nengwalamwe's barren spire of rock.

The lioness slowed to a walk, then to a slow pacing as she neared the looming shadow of the out-thrust promontory. Laying her ears flat and growling nervously to herself, she passed under it quickly where she had lain with the lion, jerking her head as the sound of rock on rock came again. She heard the clatter clearly now. She stepped silently to the small pile of rubble and straggling weeds that marked the foot of the path that led up.

Falana paused again, tail flicking agitatedly, and then began to pick her way up the path. Her frustration had by now faded and been replaced by foreboding. She still didn't much like this stony monolith, with its grey colour and forbidding stone that seemed to watch her. She preferred the open plains, with the waving grass and it's soft, whispering voice, not this cold and silent thing. What sort of creature would make its home here? No sane lion surely, but what did that make Nengwe?

She crested the head of the path. The ground ahead opened up onto the promontory. Nengwalamwe crouched a short distance away, the bulk of his tensed body between her and a pile of rubble which lay at the base of the rock which scaled away into the heights above. As she approached him from his off hindquarter she saw his tail flicking back and forth steadily, as a lioness's might do when preparing to launch a strike. Circling round, pad by silent pad, to one side, she caught a glimpse of the expression on his face, and it was almost enough to make her laugh, then she remembered he should have been resting.

The lion's mane hung limply to either side of his cheeks. While not entirely unattractive, did give him a rough, unkempt appearance quite unlike his accustomed look. His eyes were almost shut, slitted into gleaming spears of reflected light that glared downward along the length of his outstretched foreleg to where his paw should have been: vanished into a dark wedge in the rocks where the rubble met the face. He shoved forward again, his foreleg coursing into the crack up to his elbow, but lodging there. Muscles rippled under the fur of his shoulder as his paw flexed about out of sight, seeking some unknown purchase and finding none.

"Hey! Stop that! You'll break your paw doing that. You're supposed to be resting!"

Startled, Nengwe jerked backwards, yelping as his paw caught. "Falana!" A wave rippled up his back. "You're back!"

"Yes." Falana cocked her head at him, sniffing. "Come on. Get it out before you hurt yourself. Again."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, leaning backward, and then grunted suddenly, "now you've messed me right up. I'm stuck!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, blame it on me."

"I was doing just fine until you came up here and started interfering!" Growling low in his throat, Nengwalamwe gave a sudden yank, snarling as his paw caught again. His claws extended and contracted as he began jerking back and forth furiously, his mane swirling about and flying into his eyes. "Damn it, come out!"

Falana's breath was suddenly in his ear, hot and booming. "Stop! Now!"

Nengwalamwe froze in place, staring at her from the corners of his eyes. His breath came in contracted grasps; eyes widened slightly from anger, fear and not a little pain. "What?"

She glared at him for a moment before bending down to inspect his foreleg carefully. "Push it in a little further."

"Huh?"

"Just a little. Go on… do it!"

"What for?"

Falana bared her teeth. "Nengwe, will you please just do what I tell you this once?"

"Fine, OK, whatever." Curling his lip, the lion sank his foreleg back in several inches.

"Turn it." The lioness sighed exasperatedly. "No, the other way." She peered downward again as he complied, then nodded. "Now, pull it back, gently."

He grunted, and pulled his foreleg back, hissing a little through clenched teeth as his paw emerged from the crack, the fur covered in dust and scraped in several places. Limping back away from the rock pile, he sat down, turned away from Falana. "Thanks," he mumbled, starting to groom himself.

Falana nodded, glancing at him. "You're welcome. Are you hurt?"

"Huh? Oh, no, of course not." He settled his weight on the scraped paw with a quickly hidden wince and began licking his other forepaw studiously. "I'm just a little dusty."

"You really do want to get in there, don't you?"

Nengwe shrugged, flexing his claws to clean between his toes. His head dipped slightly, as if nodding, and then began to repeat the motion as he washed down the fur on his foreleg.

The lioness sighed, "You'll never do it like that."

Nengwe paused momentarily, lifting his head from his fur in mild surprise. "I can wash you know."

"No, not that; that. The whole lot'll fall down on you for sure." She stepped past him to a smaller pile of rubble that his earlier struggles must have dislodged. She selected one, picking it up in her mouth and carrying it over toward the edge of the promontory. She eyed the ground below for a moment before dropping the stone over the edge.

"What are you doing? That's no use, you'll be shifting that small stuff for ever and still do no good."

She glanced around and eyed him critically. "So help me, why don't you?" Her tail flicked lazily. "You can't shift that big stuff, but you can move these small bits." Lifting her head, she perked an eyebrow and held his gaze in her own. "Nengwe if a problem defeats your first efforts; don't moan about what you can't do. Focus on what you can do."

"But Falana, it'll take forever!" He straightened irritably.

"Ok, have you got anything better to do then? It'll only take half of forever with the two of us."

The lion sighed, and joined her, nosing over the rocks carefully before selecting one that fit comfortably between his teeth. It was noticeably larger than the one Falana had picked up, but if she made a note of this, she gave no sign. Before long the two were carrying stones and dropping them over the side regularly. It proved to be monotonous, and a strain on the jaws. Every stone carried also held the threat of a chipped tooth. Yet it gave both some degree of satisfaction, and for Falana the benefit of distracting Nengwe.

By the time evening swept the light from the sky, Falana finally appeared willing to call a halt to their day's efforts. At her insistence the pair made their way slowly to the waterhole and soothed their chafed lips; content for a while to sit by the water's edge and drink as their thirst demanded as the savannah song swelled into night's chorus around them.

She sat perplexed when Nengwe suggested that they both run into the water, now much swollen from the rains. It really was a waterhole now, not just a muddy wallow. He insisted, saying she'd like it; it would cool her and ease her pads. She declined, pointing out that Nengwe was in no fit state to go drowning himself. In time they returned to the rock, spending the rest of the night curled up separately but together on the dusty floor of the promontory before the rock's silent face.

With dawn, Nengwe was up, nosing Falana awake. His enthusiasm was tempered by sore muscles particularly in his hind legs which had spent most of the afternoon and evening tightly hunched down on the rock floor. The clarity of the morning light cloaked his aches and breathed fresh life into both of them. The huge mound of rock was much less imposing than it had been the previous afternoon, and the two fell to with a will, the stiffness of their muscles slowly easing as they began to tackle the problem of handling the larger boulders.

It was Nengwe who hit upon the idea of clasping the larger rocks between his forepaws and slowly shuffling them out of the way with an odd gait that sent Falana into giggles.

"Nengwe, what are you doing with that rock? Does it excite you that much?"

The lion paused, panting hard, and shot her a glare. Adjusting his grip, he pushed the rock another few inches, clasping it before him in an almost embarrassingly close embrace. "And it's not doing a thing for me except wearing me out. As far as I can see, there's not much difference between it and a lioness at the moment."

Falana chuckled again, helpless to stop herself. "That's because you're trying too hard. If only one of you is doing all the work, of course it's no fun."

Nengwalamwe shoved the boulder another foot and stopped, gasping. "Well, it's certainly not going to get up and walk over the edge itself. What'd you expect?"

Falana shook her head. "Well no, not like that." She slipped over and reared back. She fell on the rock, gripping the rock with her own forepaws. "Now, don't just shove at it. If we move together, it'll go easier." Raising her ears, she tipped her head at the lion. "Come here."

He edged forward but something held him back.

"Don't go all shy on me. Help me!" Still he held back. "Come on Nengwe, get behind me and help."

Nengwe took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he lifted his forequarters from the still cold rock, bringing them down on Falana's warm back.

"Now, give me your forepaws."

His heart racing, the lion set his paws on the lioness beneath him. She slipped hers further up the rock so that both their paws bore directly on the rock.

"Ready?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"OK…? set… go!" Grunting, the two sent the stone rolling toward the edge. Its own inertia carried it on. They released their grip and watched it dip out of sight as their forequarters fell back to the ground. A low thump sounded moments later, heard through the air and felt through their pads. Both lion and lioness laid their ears back.

"I hope no one was under that," he breathed.

Falana snorted. "If I'm lucky, Mtundu was."

"What?" He trotted to the edge quickly, peering down in anxiety.

"Relax," she said, laughing softly. "Sit down and catch your breath, and then we'll have at it again. Just don't go biting my neck…."

The two lay down for a moment, enjoying the ever present breeze that coursed across the promontory, something largely stifled by the dense grasses below. Falana had to admit this rock might have had a few positive points about it. She couldn't quite see what the rock pile held for Nengwe, but if it took his mind off those dogs it had to be a good thing. Nevertheless, she could not deny a slight curiosity as to what might be behind the rocks… did Nengwe know something about it that she didn't?

"Oh, nonsense," she muttered.

"What?"

Falana winced. "Err… nothing. My jaws are just sore. Those rocks are sharp, in case you hadn't noticed."

He offered her a cockeyed grin. "I've been noticing for a while now. I was just waiting for you to complain before I did."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means the sooner we can clear all this away, the sooner we can really rest C'mon." He stood up, grunting as muscles he'd forgotten he had made themselves known.

Falana groaned audibly. "Don't you ever rest? Mother would kill me if she knew. We've been at it since yesterday! What's so important about clearing away a few rocks? Come on, Nengwe."

"We'll find out what's important about it when we clear away the rocks, won't we? We've got this far haven't we?" He turned to the few remaining pieces before them. "Say, there's only a few left. But that big one right there is really what's in the way, I think. Do you think if we move that, the others will roll out of the way?"

"They'll roll right over us, more than likely." She mulled it over for a moment. "I suppose it's worth a try, but after this one, I'm through for the day, whether it's cleared or not. This isn't natural for lions, you know. I'm exhausted. You know what happens then."

"Since when are you worried about following the rules?"

"Since we started moving rocks like some idiot monkey might do." She shook her head. "I'm just glad there are no other lions to see us doing this. We'd be laughed out." He was barely listening to her, his attention focused on the rock before them. "Oh, damn it. If it means that much to you Nengwe, let's get it over with."

Circling round to one side, she watched as he pushed his forequarters off the ground and clasped the rock in a firm grip. Nengwe's eyes narrowed, his teeth gleaming in a clenched grimace as he strained. "I don't think I can move it."

"Well, wait half a moment and let me get it from this side." She studied her own end of the boulder, the biggest they'd moved so far, and then placed her forepaws surely upon its surface, her toes splaying outward as she flexed the muscles in her paws. "Okay, now… just like a wildebeest. We'll grip it and use our weight to twist to the side and out, just like if we were trying to drag it down. Except we have to pull up first. Understand?"

"No, but I'll take your word for it." He adjusted his grip and then looked up to her expectantly.

Falana stared at him for a moment, realising he was surrendering the initiative to her, trusting her word without making a smart comment. "You don't want to do it another way?"

"My way didn't work, did it?" he shrugged. "Your idea sounds good enough to me."

She nodded and then paused, looking back to him carefully. "Make sure you pull when I tell you. If you don't, this bloody thing is liable to flatten me."

Their eyes met. "I won't hurt you, Falana. I promise."

She nodded, looked back at the rock, firming her grip and taking a deep breath. "This is going to go quick when it goes. When I say run, you run, right?"

Nengwalamwe's eyes flitted momentarily from side to side. "Where to?"

"Nengwe! Away! Run away! Where'd you think I meant?"

"Away… right.…"

Falana uttered an exasperated growl. "Come on, pull!"

They pulled. The rock shifted a little. Nothing happened.

"This isn't happening," Nengwe gasped. "It's never going to go."

"Don't you give up on me now, lion! Come on, put your back into it! Pull!"

Nengwe looked into Falana's eyes. They were concentrated on the rock. For her, the rock was all that mattered. Falana and the rock, which would give first? He pulled. The rock began to lose the struggle. It moved, a little. Falana put even more effort, Nengwe saw in her a determination that he'd not seen in any lioness. He liked what he saw; he gave his power to her struggle. There was movement above, a shifting, a settling. Then the rock moved a little more; loose stones tumbled down behind the pile. One landed on Falana's back. She took no heed of it and pulled on. Her effort now was fading; Nengwe's redoubled.

More stones falling. The rock shifted more easily, but still no more than half its length. Then, far above, there began a low rumble. Falana looked up, but only for a moment. "RUN!" The rumble grew; the clattering stones became a crashing. The air clouded with dust. Nengwe turned to run; took two hurried paces then was smashed over by something clawing, biting into his near hindquarter. He tumbled on to his offside and forward, carried on by his own momentum like a zebra struck by his mother. Rocks crashed over him, clawing at him, but none landed a killing blow. One tore at his ear, now filled with a shattering roar far louder than any he could have made. Then it faded leaving silence. Through the dust he made out the shadows of rocks shake and then fell still. He coughed and shook. It just made the cloud denser. Through it a familiar shape slipped effortlessly, closing on him.

The voice came thinly, distantly. "What part of 'run' don't you understand?" She sniffed at him, moving back to his hindquarters. "That's nasty! Are you all right Nengwe?"

"I think so."

She bent down and licked at his haunch. Blood ran clean from a paw wide wound, congealing dark amidst the dust and stone shards in his pelt. "From now on…" she licked again. "…you rest. You got that?"

The dust began to settle out in the mid-morning air. They could see specks glinting, dancing in the sharp light. Nengwe lay still. Falana stopped mid-lick and looked up. Where before there had been a wall of rock and rubble, there was now a dark hole in the great rock's face with only a rough mound of rock before it.

"What is it Falana?"

"Nothing Nengwe. You stay here." She slipped forward and then looked back to make sure the lion was heeding her words. He was. She went back to looking. A way of sorts was there, rough, uncomfortable, unstable most likely, but a way. The cave was open.

As she mounted the mound she suddenly felt differently about the rock. It was inviting her to join it, to be part of it. She thought for a moment then slipped tentatively into the darkness. Her eyes soon adjusted and in the gloom she saw… nothing, no wonders, no horrors, no bones of trapped animals, just a flat floored cave, narrow here at the entrance but wider to the rear, big enough to shelter a pride of over ten lion. As the gloom lessened she became aware of a platform to the rear. She looked up and around; there being nothing to concern her, she crept forward, sniffing. There was mustiness, probably from the far right corner where a puddle of water remained from the rains. Then something else; something very familiar. She thought she felt the heat of breath on her side, "Mother?"

Nengwe turned his ears back, and turned his head over his shoulder. "She's not come back has she?"

"No, Nengwe." She looked around. The smell faded and a warm feeling flooded over her. "No Nengwalamwe. She's not here, she won't come here. We're all alone." She padded over to the platform, rounded it to the rear and then stepped on to it. It was flat and, for the time of year, refreshingly cool. She moved forward, facing the entrance and laid down. She laid her head on her paws and closed her eyes. She felt at home at last.

"Are you all right in there?"

She stiffened her shoulders and lifted her head, opening her eyes suddenly. "Yes, of course I am. How about you?"

The lion stood against the light on the mound of rubble peering into the cave.

"I'll live. Just another wound or two to add to my collection."

"Come in. Come here and rest. Go on. Those rocks aren't going anywhere just yet. We can clear a path later."

"It is hot out here."

"Cool in here, but first you must make a wish."

"What?"

"Go on, make a wish, then you can come in."

Nengwe closed his eyes for a few seconds then walked in. He paused as he hit the darkness, hunching down his shoulders. Then, as the light began to penetrate the cave he moved on. He went to Falana's side.

"May I?"

"Feel free; it's your cave after all."