As they passed by a bush, a low rumble turned into a large growl. A large male leopard was hiding within the leafy branches, so well camouflaged that Thunder almost didn’t see him. Thunder jumped back slightly and his front legs lifted into the air in alarm. Every inch of the elephant calf was trembling. He had never seen a leopard before, but he had certainly heard of them.
Soma froze in her tracks then found a spot in the large overgrowth near her. The rhino lowered her head, prepared to ram the leopard from her position if the need arose. The egrets, which had been waddling next to them, jumped up from the ground and landed on Soma’s back. As soon as they landed on her back, Sydney pushed Cedric to the front.
“Get off, will ya?” Cedric pulled Sydney in front.
“Hey, lay off.” She moved behind Persius, whose eyes were almost bulging out of his head.
“M-m-mee?? You want me to be in front? I’m not brave!” He pulled Sydney next to him and locked his wing with hers. “If I have to be here, so do you!”
“Chicken,” muttered Sydney.
“Look who’s talking!” Persius stomped his foot on hers and hooted in laughter when she loosened her grip, jumped up and down with her wings grabbing her foot, and ultimately landed ahead of the other two egrets.
Leopold the leopard eyed the spectacle and rolled his eyes to the sky above him. It was hard to keep his predator stance with the mockery in front of him. He snarled low and deep to get the birds’ attention and all three of them stood stock still.
Thunder backed up and worried about what he should do. Amidst the opening of leaves, he could now see the cat more clearly. The creature in front of him was a good sized jungle cat with a creamy yellow coat that faded to white from his stomach down to his toes. Every inch of the leopard was covered in black half-circle spots that reminded him of a small hoof print. The cat’s long whiskers trembled as he opened his mouth to expose his sharp fanged teeth that could easily rip apart any animal in seconds. Thunder closed his eyes and prepared to cringe.
Penelope the parrot chose that moment to return to the group. She had flown away on some flighty mission only she understood. Landing on the branch above them, her golden eyes sparkled. “Someone’s here. Someone’s here. Hmmm. Leopard.” Penelope chirped like a bird for a moment then mimicked a low growl like the beast below her. “Neee—owwwwwwwww!”
Leopold relaxed his posture, sat back on his haunches and examined his right paw as he pretended disinterest in the animals before him. “Good evening.”
Sydney did not trust Leopold one bit. “Oh-oh.”
Persius craned his head toward the bush. “C-c-c-come out where we can see you.”
Leopold spoke slow and deliberately. “Is this a little lost elephant I see here with you or a scrumptious Friday night special? Oh, goodie, what a treat indeed.”
Thunder backed up into a mangrove tree. His feet tripped over its thick, heavy roots and he fell on his backside. Covering his eyes with his large floppy ears, he tried to imagine himself anywhere but here.
Cedric squawked at the leopard. “No! This is Thunder, a pygmy elephant with a problem.”
Leopold grinned to himself, thinking about what a tasty treat the little calf would make. “I’ll say he has a problem.”
Cedric held a wing up and shouted, “Stay back! Or Soma will rearrange your spots!”
Sydney crossed her wings in front of her and tapped one foot on Soma’s back. “Or she’ll re-connect your dots!”
Persius held up his wing, with one long feather pointing at the bush. “Yeah!”
Penelope’s impish voice called out, “Where’s the beef?”
Soma stepped forward from behind a bush. She pawed the ground with her hoof and a loud snuff of air left her nostrils. She was ready for attack. The egrets on top of her scrambled to the rear of her backside, each one huddled in fear.
Leopold shrugged his shoulders, a little put out that things were not going to go so easily for him. “Oh, all right, then. I guess dinner will have to wait.”
Thunder lowered one of his ears from his eyes and peered cautiously around. He tried to stand up, but his foot caught in one of the tree roots and he rolled over onto his behind once more. He let his ears flap to the back of his head and this time when he stood, he avoided the pesky roots. He stood as tall as a frightened elephant calf could, with his whole body trembling in little shakes as he addressed the leopard. “Who…who are you?”
“Don’t you know? I am Leopold.” The leopard was shocked that the animals had never heard of him before this point. He was a legend in the forest, after all.
Soma shook her head in annoyance at the arrogant leopard. “We don’t want any trouble. We’re just trying to help this one out,” she gestured to Thunder. “He’s looking for home.”
Leopold chose that moment to step out from the bushes. He walked around Thunder, much like a snake, his lanky body seeming to slither around him. When he came face to face with Thunder, he gave him a secretive smile. “Home? That’s a curious concept out here in the wild.”
Penelope peered out from her perch. She did not trust the leopard one bit. “Uh-oh. Wrong karma. Stay back.”
“Hm. Very interesting. Is anyone expecting you?” Leopold was calculating the outcomes if he continued to pursue his quarry.
Thunder started to shake again. Leopold was definitely off-putting. He pointed ahead with his trunk. “Well, yes! My herd…a really big herd. They’re just… they’re over there!”
“Let me see then.” Leopold turned toward Thunder, crouched low, and stalked him closer with his eyes and every inch of his body language. “And where did you say your herd was?”
Thunder shook off a shiver of fear. “You’re not going to hurt me, are you?”
Leopold considered his options. “I don’t know. What if I did?”
When the leopard moved around and stuck his menacing face in Thunder’s, Soma huffed near them. She chaffed her front hooves on the ground and prepared to attack. “Don’t even try it.”
The egrets chimed in, each still huddled together.
Sydney shivered a little, her courage not as loud as usual. “Yeah!!”
Persius nodded at the leopard with his orange beak, “That’s right!! We mean it! Don’t even.”
Leopold shook his head, sighed dramatically, then leapt onto a rock nearby. “That boy is not going to make it in the jungle.”
Sydney feigned bravado. “Yeah, well, we’ll see about that!”
From his safe perch on Soma’s back, Persius was feeling brave. He wagged his wing tip at Leopold as the leopard darted off into the bushes. “Yeah, you overconfident kitty!”
Leopold decided his intended meal wasn’t worth the rhino attack and slinked off into the jungle.
As life started to return around them, monkeys chattered above them, birds chirped and called to each other within the recess of the canopy, they watched to make sure the leopard had really gone.
“Coast is clear,” Penelope squawked and flew from the branches above them to land on Thunder’s head. “Homeward bound.”
Soma continued to watch the spot the leopard had just vacated. “Pompous fool,” she grumbled under her breath.
Cedric jumped up and down on Soma’s back. “You showed him, Ms. Soma!”
“Yeah!” The other two chimed in.
Thunder joined Soma on the trail, still a little choked up over what had just happened. “You saved me.” He ran his trunk over Soma’s head. “Thank you.”
Soma huffed, not liking the added attention. “You’re making too much of this kid,” she grumbled.
“Wooooo!” Penelope squawked again. “Homeward bound. Find the herd. Late for dinner. Wooooo!”
The group resumed their quest to find Thunder’s herd.
The group of traveling companions may have thought they were safer, but they had no idea that Drago and his men were pushing through the rainforest. The hunters traveling with Drago were whacking and slashing the plants everywhere around them with their long machete blades. Drago would not give up until he regained the treasures he had lost in his accident. If they continued their steady pace, they would eventually catch up to the elephant calf.
Drago let his greedy dreams take over his mind as he walked behind the hunters. This time he would buy a fancy new motorcycle, bright red with chrome accents. That would certainly raise his status in the village. Maybe a large plot of land? There were several farmers desperate for money to survive. He could buy the majority of them off their lands.
He continued to plot and plan as he plodded his way through the jungle. One thing was true. Drago never quit.