CHAPTER FOUR

The Midnight Visitor

As Ibrahim lay in his sleeping bag under the window, the only sound he could hear was Yusuf’s steady breathing. Yusuf had asked Ibrahim to wake him up if anything happened and Ibrahim had agreed. However, there were no laughing hyenas or roaring lions. It was starting to get late but Ibrahim stayed awake, waiting for the lion to return.

It was almost midnight when Ibrahim first heard the sounds of hyenas in the back yard and they were laughing! He quietly slipped out of his sleeping bag and peered into the yard. Less than a minute later he heard a loud thunderous roar! He grabbed his binoculars and held them against the window. There was definitely something out there, something big!

“Yusuf!” Ibrahim called in an urgent whisper. “Yusuf, get up! The lion’s back!!”

Leaving the window Ibrahim went to shake Yusuf awake.

“Wha—?” Yusuf answered in a groggy voice. “What’s going on?” he yelled.

“Come see for yourself,” Ibrahim said, as he rushed back to the window. Now fully awake, Yusuf quickly joined him.

“Pass me the binoculars Ibrahim! I want to see! Let me see, let me see!” he pleaded.

“Shhh! You’re making too much noise!” Ibrahim warned, as he tried to find the figures he had seen earlier. After a minute or two of searching Ibrahim let out a loud groan.

“They’re gone,” he moaned.

“They?” Yusuf asked. “You mean there was more than one lion?”

“I… I don’t know. There was definitely more than one, but I didn’t get a good enough look,” Ibrahim explained.

“What do you mean, isn’t this your job? I mean, you are a detective aren’t you?!” Yusuf asked in disbelief.

“It was dark, so I didn’t really see much. I’m sorry,” said Ibrahim. He was frustrated and didn’t want to tell Yusuf it was his fault for making too much noise. “Listen, let’s just get some sleep. Hopefully, I caught something on my surveillance equipment. Zayn and I can check it out tomorrow. I don’t think there’ll be any more lions tonight. I’ll have to spend another night here, but this time with Zayn.”

“Sure,” Yusuf answered with a yawn as he got back into bed.

“And Yusuf?” Ibrahim continued.

“Yeah?”

“Tomorrow night it might be better if I wake you up after we catch what’s out there,” Ibrahim suggested.

“Hmm,” Yusuf replied, as his steady breathing quickly turned into light snoring.