CHAPTER

5

The sight that awaited us made me burst into tears. I couldn’t help it. Five rhinos lay dead. Their legs were stiff and lifeless. Where their horns had been was a bloody gash.

“Where—where are Mia and Pablo?” I could hardly talk.

“I was afraid to put them with these adult rhinos right away,” Dr. Langley said. “I had the men put them in another pen, on the other side of the headquarters. They’re all right. But we had just brought these rhinos here two days ago.” Dr. Langley looked as if he might cry, too.

“Why were they here?” Dad started taking notes. “Were you going to tag them?”

“Ironically, we’d brought them here to protect them. Our plan was to move them to a better-guarded area. With so many miles in the park, we have trouble patrolling all of it. But it’s safer than land outside the sanctuary—or it was supposed to be.” Dr. Langley shook his head. “I can’t believe this.”

I knew I needed to take some pictures, but for a moment I dropped back and leaned on the high fence that was intended to protect the animals. I watched Foghorn make a detailed inspection of the fence and the gate.

He stopped beside me when he had finished. “There’s no sign that the poachers had, to break in. The gate isn’t damaged and the lock appears to be intact.”

“What are you saying, Foghorn?” I wiped my eyes and blew my nose.

“I’m saying that whoever killed these animals and took their horns last night knew the rhinos were here.” Foghorn had pulled out a small notebook and was writing down some notes. “And that they had a key to the corral or the office or that someone let them in.”

“You think one of the people who works here let them in?” I asked. I had to admire the way Foghorn had gone to work. I knew he must be as upset about the rhinos as I was, but he kept his feelings inside.

“It sure looks that way.”

Dad was taking some photographs. I joined him, trying to click shot after shot without really looking at the animals.

“You very little for photo girl,” said a voice behind me. “You have expensive camera.” I turned around and looked into a smiling face.

“This is Minto Gitonga, C.C.” Dr. Langley introduced a native man. “Minto is a Masai warrior, but also my right-hand man. He can find rhino when no one else can.”

Foghorn came to meet Minto, too. He extended his hand. “I’m glad to meet you. Do you live around here?”

“Sure.” Minto shook Foghorn’s hand and continued to smile. “My village near here. You come and visit. I work for Dr. Langley long time.” Minto was very tall and thin and handsome. He wore old khaki pants and a gray shirt. “This my brother, Julius. He speaks only a little English. He comes to work for us last month.” Minto put his arm around a boy who was just a few inches shorter than he was.

“Jambo.” Foghorn reached out his hand to Julius. “Habari?”

“Jambo.” Julius appeared to be very shy. He mumbled his greeting while he stared at his bare toes, ignoring Foghorn’s hand.

Foghorn studied Julius, then turned back to Minto. “What time did Mia and Pablo get here yesterday?”

“It was very late afternoon. It was hard work to lift cages and get them out.”

“Who all was here when they arrived?” Foghorn was writing in his notebook again.

If Minto wondered about Foghorn asking so many questions, he didn’t say anything. He just kept answering them. “Michael Mugambi, Benny, Julius, and me.” Minto tried to think of more. “Lorry driver and two helpers. But many people watch.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“People follow truck,” Minto explained. “Want to see us unload new animals.”

“From the villages?” asked Foghorn. “That means dozens of people knew all those rhinos would be in the corral last night.”

“Many, many people,” said Minto, nodding. He and his brother walked away.

“He doesn’t realize he’s just made it impossible to discover who might have told the poachers there were rhinos here, which made them easy prey.” Foghorn snapped his notebook shut and stuck it back into his shirt pocket.

“The poachers might have watched Mia and Pablo being unloaded. Then at the same time they saw the five adults in the compound,” I said. “They just waited until nighttime.”

“Or maybe they didn’t even know about the babies. They found out about the adult rhinos when they were brought in earlier. But someone let them into the corral.” Foghorn held on to the one idea that still worked.

Dr. Langley headed our way. With him was another tall native man, dressed in English-style clothing. He must also have been Masai, but he was dressed better than Minto and seemed to be more sophisticated. I had noticed that all the Masai people I had met so far held themselves tall and proud. Except Julius, but it was probably because he felt uncomfortable around us.

“Foghorn and C.C., I’d like you to meet someone who is doing a lot to help us with our rhino problem. Michael Mugambi, I’d like you to meet Foghorn Flattery and his sister, C.C. These are Mr. Flattery’s children. They travel everywhere with him, and C.C. here is a very good photographer.”

“I’m pleased to meet you kids,” said Michael, putting out his hand. He was very informal and friendly. “Not under these circumstances, of course. You must feel really awful about seeing all this when you just got here. But at least the babies are safe. You had met them in Texas as I understand.”

I nodded, not trusting my voice. I was remembering how friendly Macho was after he realized we weren’t bushes or trees. What a good mother Sam said Chula was. The five dead rhino might have been just as tame if they’d been here long enough. They trusted someone who just walked up and shot them.

“How come no one heard the shots in the night?” I asked.

“Good point, C.C.” Foghorn grabbed his notebook again.

“Maybe the corral was just far enough from the house. I’ll talk to everyone.” Dr. Langley frowned. “Minto,” he called, “did you hear any shots last night when this happened?”

Minto walked back to us. “We hear many shots. Many, many.”

“Why didn’t you go outside and check on what was happening?” Foghorn asked.

Minto looked down at his feet, clad in rubber thongs, the kind you can get at Walgreens for less than a dollar. “I afraid.”

Dr. Langley was quick to defend Minto. “They couldn’t have done anything. The poachers were using automatic weapons. If Minto had tried to stop them, they’d have shot him, too. We’ve lost a lot of rangers this year in just that way.” Dr. Langley shook his head. “The rhinos didn’t have a chance.”

“They couldn’t run away, and even if they charged the poachers, it didn’t help,” I said. Killing these rhinos would be like going into one of our zoos and shooting the animals.

“Why didn’t you call me this morning in Nairobi when you discovered this had happened?” Dr. Langley asked Minto.

“We know you come soon. We call, you not come any quicker. You worry all the way.”

“You’re right, Minto, I would have.” Dr. Langley couldn’t fault Minto for trying to keep him from worrying.

For a minute no one said anything, each person lost in thought about what had happened. I looked around, trying to pick up some feelings about any of the people who worked at the headquarters, but nothing came to me.

Michael broke the silence. “If you have time while you’re here, I’d like you to talk to some of my people, Foghorn and C.C.”

“Michael has walked thousands of miles across East Africa in the last few years,” Dr. Langley explained. “He teaches conservation in schools and in the villages. We’re trying to get the African people to understand how important it is to save the rhino and the elephant, not to mention many other animals.”

“Most of them respect the animals, but the people are so poor,” said Michael, “it’s hard to make them understand that even though a rhino horn brings quick money, they are destroying all of them.”

“Isn’t tourism one of your biggest industries?” asked Foghorn.

“Yes, people come here from all over the world to see our animals. That brings a lot of money into the country.”

“I’d enjoy going into one of the native villages, if you don’t think my voice will scare them.” Foghorn smiled.

“Who gives you this name, Foghorn?” asked Michael. “It suits you well.” Michael spoke with a slight British accent, as if he’d been educated in England.

“His first-grade teacher,” I answered. “She complained one day because he wasn’t singing.”

“Then when I did, she was sorry.” Foghorn wasn’t at all self-conscious about his funny voice. He laughed at it himself.

I continued the story. “She said, ‘Good grief, Dexter, stop singing. You could replace any of the foghorns on the east coast.’”

“The kids started calling me that, and it stuck.” Foghorn grinned. “No one has asked me to sing since.”

“I won’t either.” Michael smiled. “But I’ll let you make any announcements I have.”

“We could probably go with you tomorrow,” said Foghorn. “I’ll ask my dad what the plans are. Unless you know, Dr. Langley.”

“We’ll be going out into the park to decide where to put Mia and Pablo. But that will be early morning or late afternoon. You could go with Michael in between.”

“Will the Masai people mind my taking photos?” I asked.

“I’ll make it all right with them beforehand, C.C.,” promised Michael. “Just don’t take any pictures until I say it’s okay, though.”

Minto motioned to Michael to come and see something about one of the rhinos. Before we could follow, Foghorn stopped Dr. Langley.

“Dr. Langley, have you had any thoughts about who might have killed the rhinos? I’ve done some looking around and some thinking about it. Has it occurred to you that it may be someone you thought you could trust?”

“You’re pretty sharp, Foghorn.” Dr. Langley propped one foot up onto an overturned bucket and lit his pipe. “I have just that suspicion. Since we got the plane and a helicopter from the World Wildlife Association and have hired some extra rangers, we’ve been able to discourage poachers, though not stop them. Coming openly onto the reserve is a big risk for them, so they’ve had to go underground.”

“Didn’t I read about your losing three rhino that you had in a compound at Tsavo West three months ago?”

“When did you read that?” I blurted out. Sometimes I think Foghorn soaks up information from the sky or the ground or someplace equally impossible.

“After we found out where Dad was going, I went to the library. The public library has a vertical file about black rhinos,” explained Foghorn. “Research librarians go through dozens of newspapers and clip new items. There was a tiny clipping I came across telling about it.”

“I’m afraid you’re right, Foghorn,” Dr. Langley said. “It was a similar situation to this. The locks on the compound weren’t broken. It seemed that the poachers had a way to get in. Then they slaughtered the rhino quickly. I just can’t believe we’ve let it happen again.”

“I don’t think you can say you let it happen. It sounds very much like someone was on the inside to let them in.” Foghorn stared at the people standing around in the enclosed yard of the ranger station.

“I’ve had no reason to distrust any of my employees, Foghorn,” said Dr. Langley, lighting his pipe again. “And most of them have been with me for a long time. They work just as hard as I do out here, and care about the rhino just as much. However, big money can corrupt anyone.” Dr. Langley paused, deep in thought for a minute. Then he continued, “If you can find a bad penny in our operation, you’re a better detective than I am.”

Foghorn and I looked at each other and smiled. I knew how good a detective Foghorn really was. And I knew the challenge that Dr. Langley had thrown out to him.

Foghorn might be the brains of our team, but I did a lot of the legwork, especially with my photo-taking. Once he’d spotted something in a photo I took that solved a mystery in our neighborhood.

I tried to put aside the sadness I felt for the rhinos. I’d take more photos. And I’d go spend some time with Mia and Pablo. I didn’t want them to be scared. Tomorrow we’d get acquainted with the Masai people in this area. We’d both have our eyes open.

“I don’t know about you, Foghorn,” I said, when Dr. Langley went to find out what Minto had spotted, “but seeing those rhino lying there dead makes me really angry.”

“Dr. Langley is right. This is a war. And in any war there are spies. I’m going to find out who the traitor is here, C.C.”

“Count me in, Foghorn. I’m going to help you. Mia and Pablo could be next if we don’t find these killers.”