National Park

Chapter 12

There was a stunned silence following Josie's exclamation, disturbed only by her sobbing. Most of the animals stared at her in shock, while a few attempted to console her. The remaining council members had moved closer and were being watched intently. It was clear that no one really knew what to say, so they all waited for the council members' lead. The silence was broken as Niol spoke.

"What has happened, council members? Is this true? Has the body of Lenoh been found?" Niol asked, a slight quiver in his voice.

Raja sidled closer to hear the response and Chairperson Hhati, the elephant, stopped as she noticed Raja approaching. The other council members also watched the little puggle, almost happy for the distraction.

"This is Raja; he has been separated from his human family," Niol said impatiently. "Please shed some light on what has happened that has led you to the conclusion that our dear Lenoh has been killed?" Niol's voice faltered as he spoke with a large lump in his throat.

Hhati once again attempted to talk, but was cut off by Josie, who had now joined the other council members.

"Apologies, Hhati, but I would like to answer," she said, her eyes filled with tears. "I left this morning for my first council meeting, feeling very nervous. I spent a lot of time considering how I would introduce myself to the other members and, in the process, I missed the path and got myself slightly lost. I managed to regain my bearings, though, but arrived at the council meeting area slightly late." Josie lowered her head and once again burst into noisy tears.

Busi placed her head on Josie's back in an attempt to console her, and Josie sobbed even more.

Hhati looked over at the two for a second, then continued where Josie had left off.

"To my surprise, I was the first to arrive at the spot. Lenoh has always been the most punctual of all council members. He would make a point of mentioning this. We all found it quite irritating, as he would always have something to say even if one of us was late by only a minute. I would be lying if I said we all waited for the day when Lenoh would be late, but today was different. I approached the lion stone, taking note of his absence; I hoped that he was just delayed, as I was there early. So I waited. All the other members slowly came through, on time, but not Lenoh and not the Umzantsi representative. Josie arrived late and introduced herself, adding that she was Dhinoo's niece and was keen on discussing the way forward. I welcomed her, explaining that the final council member was not present yet, and we all introduced ourselves. I did not want to scare her and suggested we give Lenoh a few more minutes. In the interim, Josie mentioned that a human pet was in the park, and that Niol was looking after him. We all agreed that he would need to return to his human family as soon as possible, or unnecessary human attention would be brought to the park at a time when there are many animals convening. After some time, we decided to search the area, worried because there had been instances of animals caught in human traps. We split up to search the immediate surroundings."

Josie seemed to have composed herself and had moved away from Busi, and now she interjected to continue the story. "As Hhati just mentioned, we split up to search. This, as you know, was my first time, and, therefore, the surrounding area appeared quite strange. I had taken the north of the area and was quite glad that the meeting was being held while the sun was still up. I searched all the places I thought a lion could possibly fit into, from a large fallen tree to the deep crevices in the hills, but with no luck. The plants and shrubs all appeared untouched. I was about to continue further north when I heard Hhati's trumpet! I quickly ran in the direction of the sound, to find the members surrounding a small pool of blood. To the right of the pool, I could see a path of blood leading away deeper into the bush. It appeared as if something large was dragged away, but, oddly, there were no footprints! When I got closer, I could make out patches of fur, which looked like a lion's!"