Small buried his face in the dirt.
"Hold the light," Wilson said.
They have me, thought Small. They've seen me.
"Look there," Wilson said.
"Oh, yeah," Cannon said. "Go on and shoot."
Small awaited the shot he would never hear. But he did hear it. The rifle cracked, he jerked slightly. Lay still. How in hell could they have missed from that distance?
"Biggest python I've seen in ages," Cannon said.
Yeah, but I got him."
"What about them idiots?"
"What about them?" Wilson said.
"I can hear one of 'em crashing along out there. He ain't so far."
"Yeah, well, he ain't so close neither. We might could find him easy, and might not. We could get hurt out there, dark as it is, storm coining. Jungle will take care of both of them, especially tonight. I got the main thing I wanted, that wild-man fella."
"And us?" Cannon asked. "What are we gonna do?"
"We're gonna find that trail and start back. That's what we're gonna do. Later, we'll get what we want from that safari."
"Like the girl," Cannon said.
"Yeah, I reckon," Wilson said. "You want her that bad, you and Gromvitch can divvy her up."
Small listened to them move away. He began to breathe again. They had missed seeing him by inches, had spotted the snake crawling away, and had focused on that.
Miracles did happen.
Small waited a while longer. Just as it began to rain big hard drops, he rose from his position and moved deeper into the jungle, trying to travel in the direction where he had last heard Hunt pushing his way through the foliage.
Chapter 8
TARZAN, NKIMA, AND Jad-bal-ja had not traveled far when the storm hit. It hit with tremendous fury. Rain, high winds. Even Tarzan could not maintain the trail in weather like this, and he knew they would have to seek shelter and ride it out His only consolation was knowing the big black man and his partners would have to find shelter too, and that would keep them away from Hanson and Jean and their safari.
Suddenly, the brush crackled and there was movement, and Tarzan, without really thinking about it, spun in response to the sound and swung the leg he had ripped off Gorgo, struck a moving body with it, and knocked it backwards.
Tarzan leapt on the form and pinned it to the ground, a savage growl emitting from his throat. Realizing his prey was a man, Tarzan dropped the buffalo leg and his powerful hands found the man's throat.
"Don't kill me," Hunt said, but his voice was strained by the pressure of Tarzan's fingers around his neck.
It was too dark for Tarzan to recognize the man's features, and the voice was not familiar.
"Who are you?" Tarzan said, releasing his grip.
"You knocked out my wind," Hunt said. "My ribs ... they're killing me."
"Who are you?" Tarzan said again, and this time there was no room in his voice for delay.
"Hunt. You're the one they called the wild man."
Tarzan grunted, realizing who the man was now. He said, "You were with the ones who tied me to the tree. You and the young black man."
"Small," Hunt said. "But we didn't have anything to do with that. We didn't want it that way."
"I know," Tarzan said. "You are supposed to meet up with Hanson and Jean. They told me about you."
"That's right. Small and I. Listen, I didn't have anything to do with what happened back there. I didn't want it to happen."
"You said that."
"I just didn't know what to do. And if I had known, I don't know if I could have done anything to stop it. From listening to Wilson and the other two, I learned they'd had a run-in with you earlier. With Hanson and Jean. Oh, goodness. That's where they were going. To take the safari from Hanson. To kill him and the others and take Jean."
"I know," Tarzan said. "But I doubt they will go far in this. We must find shelter. And quick."
"We have to help Jean. And Small. Small and I got separated in the storm. I don't know if he's alive or not. Wilson and Cannon were trying to kill us."
"Shelter first. We are no good to anyone if we get ourselves killed."
"It's dark and it's rainy," Hunt said, "but that's no reason to give up on finding Jean."
"Suddenly you're brave."
"Just a little brave."
"It's not the rain," Tarzan said. "Though that will be bad enough. It will be a bad storm. A tornado. No one can withstand the force of Usha when he has gone berserk."
"Who did you say?"
"Usha."
"Who's he?"
"The wind," Tarzan said, as if speaking to one of great ignorance.
"They have tornadoes in Africa?" Hunt asked. "I thought that was in Texas."
"Surprise," Tarzan said.
Tarzan located the buffalo leg, grabbed Hunt, and yanked him to his feet. "You'll have to hold on to me, or you'll be lost."
"How did you get loose?" Hunt asked. "I figured you'd be dead by now. Choked to death by that drying leather."
"How does not matter. It only matters that I escaped." Tarzan turned to the lion, said, "Jad-bal-ja."
The lion roared back a response. Hunt said, "My God, there's a beast out there." He strained his eyes, just making out the great lion's form in the darkness.
"Have no fear," Tarzan said. "He will only eat you if I say so. And if you keep talking, I will say so."
"Mum's the word," Hunt said, gingerly feeling of his ribs to see if anything was broken.
Tarzan began to speak in the language of the jungle. He said to the lion: "Do you know a place?"
The lion growled softly and began to trot. Tarzan strained his nostrils for the lion's smell, perked his ears to hear the great beast's movement. He said to Hunt, "Put a hand on my shoulder and keep it there."
Hunt did that. Nkima, who had been cowering in a nearby tree, came down and leapt onto Tarzan's other shoulder and chattered.
"Hush, monkey," Tarzan said in the language of the apes.
Nkima went quiet. Hunt said. "You speak to lions and monkeys?"
"Yes," Tarzan said. "I find they have to be spoken to. Neither can read notes."
Tarzan began to trot, sniffing the air for the great lion. Hunt kept his hand tight on the ape-man's shoulder. Tarzan moved swiftly, yet Hunt knew the jungle man was traveling slower than normal so he could maintain his grip on the wild man's shoulder. Still it was difficult to keep up. The man never seemed to tire, and even in the dark, he was moving with self-assurance.
"Are we following the lion?" Hunt asked.
"Be quiet," Tarzan said. "I must hear."
Hunt listened. All he could hear was the confounded wind and rain. And the wild man had been right. The rain was coming faster and harder. The drops actually hurt when they struck him.
"We must move faster," Tarzan said.
"I can't keep up," Hunt said.
Tarzan stopped running and wheeled so fast Nkima went flying. Tarzan popped Hunt a solid one on the chin, knocking him cold. Before Hunt could fall, Tarzan scooped him up, flung him over one broad shoulder, and began to run. Nkima scurried angrily behind them, complaining loudly about the loss of his seat.
Then, as if a faucet had been turned off, the rain stopped. The wind stopped. It was deathly still. Even Nkima, who had finally caught up with the ape-man and perched himself on Tarzan's free shoulder, no longer fussed and scolded. One arm was around Tarzan's neck and he used the other to cover his eyes.
Presently, the silence was broken by a dismal soughing. The trees bent as though pushed down by a giant hand. Then, quite suddenly, all hell broke loose. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the wind howled like a wounded panther. Limbs of great trees tore loose and spun through the air, crashing into trees or smashing to the ground with terrific impact. Trees were uprooted, sucked upward, and hurled about.