I arrived just as the staff was preparing for afternoon tea. A long table with drinks, hot and cold, and snacks, pretzels, crackers, and cookies. This was not a vacation you would starve to death on.
I hoped I had arrived early enough to ask Sonny a few questions before the others arrived. My planning was rewarded; Sonny was alone and drinking iced tea by the drinks table.
“Good afternoon, Sonny,” I greeted him, pleased to have a little question-and-answer time.
“Good afternoon to you as well, Naomi. You look refreshed.”
“Thank you,” I answered, as I poured myself a glass of iced tea. A long shower had cleansed me of my earlier adventures. My earlier attire was looking better too after washing them with Charlotte’s detergent. I was wearing another safari drab outfit for our next game drive, while this morning’s outfit hung to dry in the bathroom.
“Are you enjoying your first safari?” he asked.
“Of course,” I answered. Could I say I was enjoying my first murder investigation as well? I didn’t think so. “What’s it like working here?”
“Very good. My family is very proud of me.” He finished his tea and went for a refill. “Would you like another?” I shook my head no. It was limited beverages for me before a three-plus-hour drive without a toilet.
“You must miss them,” I commented.
“Yes, but we talk regularly.”
“But how often do you see them?”
“I use the phone to see them.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Well, not this week. No internet, no FaceTime.”
“And when will that internet be fixed?”
“It is temporary. We’re working on it. It’ll be working shortly.”
I could have said it in unison with him.
“But how often do you get to go home?”
Colin and Hazel, always prompt, arrived. Each headed for the snacks table for a cookie.
“We work for six weeks and then get two weeks off.” I made a face. Working six weeks without a day off sounded overwhelming. “It’s not so bad,” he assured me. He finished his second drink and waved to the trio, who arrived next. “You thinking about joining the staff? You ask a lot of questions about the lodge and how it works.”
“Just curious,” I tried to explain. I didn’t think I had asked him a lot of questions.
I had tried to spread out the questions among the staff. But they must talk to each other. They probably talked about all of us. Isn’t gossip a big part of job? Who better to gossip about than the international guests? I wish I could see them all together, after hours.
“Your sister says you don’t have a good job.”
“Of course she did.” I didn’t think I’d like working a schedule like the lodge’s but it had to be better than having to deal with customer complaints all day. I looked around the lodge and wondered if I could do it. “What could I possibly do here?” I had no experience and no knowledge, except what Sonny and Ray had taught us. “I can’t drive that Land Cruiser.” I’d lose more passengers than I’d keep.
“Oh no, you couldn’t start at my job. You have to work your way up. I started like Ray, as a tracker.”
“You can’t possibly think I could be a tracker?” How could I keep myself on that little seat on the front of the cruiser on those bumpy roads? I’d be run over on day one. And that was probably the easiest part to the job.
“You could learn. It’s just looking for signs of animals and pointing them out. Then you learn animal behaviors. You could study and learn on the job.”
That was partially what I was doing trying to find Dr. Higgins’ killer. I was looking for signs of murder. I was observing the behavior of the fellow guests—“animals.”
The rest of the guests arrived and Sonny summoned us to our ride.
I mulled over our conversation. Maybe I could work in a place like this.
I’d stow it away. Save it for Christmas dinner if Mom gave me a hard time about my customer service job.
I was sitting next to Hazel and Colin when we came upon a lone giraffe grazing from the tall trees.
He slowly moved, with the unique gait of a giraffe, both left legs advancing, then both right. At the next tree, he lowered his head slightly to feed more. I looked around, expecting to see other giraffes.
“Is there something wrong with him?” Zaden asked.
“Just old,” Sonny answered. “We’ve seen him around here the last few weeks. He doesn’t have long now.”
I noticed Hazel crying. Colin was gently stroking her thigh. “Calm down, Hazel.” She cried harder. Everyone was watching the giraffe, and no one else seemed to notice. “He’s not talking about—” He stopped when he saw I was watching.
“Death comes for all of us in the end,” Sonny said, as he pulled away. This made Hazel cry harder.
“What will happen to him?” Zaden asked.
“Most likely, a lion will get him. He’s alone. Easy prey. No longer has the leg strength to defend himself from a lion’s attack.”
Easy prey? Alone? Was that Dr. Higgins? Could he have taken Colin? In a chess match, yes. But a physical altercation? Unlikely.