Jon Evans - The Night of Knives

"I think something's wrong," Susan says.

It takes some time for the words to trickle intoVeronica's mind. She is too busy breathing to pay much attention toanything outside her body. Her lungs feel on fire, her feet arealive with blisters, her mind is lost in a fog of exhaustion. Shedoesn't even think to wonder why they have stopped until sheregisters the concern in Susan's voice.

Veronica lifts her head, looks around, tries tore-engage with the world. It seems like they have been trekkingforever in this damp heat, up this steep and muddy trail. They arestill in deep jungle. Montane rainforest, technically, but it feelslike jungle, in the most alien and forbidding sense of the word.There is a reason this is called the Impenetrable Forest. Thevegetation here is so violently, densely fecund that even thegreenery has greenery: roots and branches are covered by moss,vines hang on vines, the boulders that dot the trail look likeverdant hillocks. Leaves and ferns glisten with water from recentrain. Birds chirp, monkeys hoot, water burbles, clouds ofpure-white butterflies flutter through the damp air. Only a fewshafts of light fall through the massive canopy trees into thedense thickets below.

Ahead of them a walkie-talkie emits a burst ofstatic, followed by a half-dozen sentences in some Africanlanguage. Their guide holds the walkie-talkie close to his ear. Inhis other hand he holds his panga, a viciously curvedmachete. He looks carved out of ebony, short and powerfully built.After a pause he pushes his radio's red TALK button and speaks in aslow and careful voice. Veronica can't remember his name. Somethingbiblical.

"What happened?" she asks Susan. "Why did westop?"

The blonde British girl shrugs. "I don't know. Ithink he saw something. On the ground."

Veronica looks down and sees nothing but mud andunderbrush. But then she is a city girl, while their guide hasspent decades tracking gorillas through this rainforest, he canprobably deduce volumes from a broken twig she wouldn't evennotice. She had total faith in him when they departed parkheadquarters, he seemed so tough and self-assured. Now his voicesounds uncertain.

She looks around at the others. The Canadians, Derekand Jacob, are about ten feet away. Derek stands erect, breathingeasily, his lean and muscled body already ready for furtherexertions. She can see the dragon tattoo coiled around his leftbicep. Veronica has hardly admitted it to herself, much less anyoneelse, but Derek is the real reason she is here. Jacob is besidehim, his pale, lanky, goateed form doubled over with hands onknees, gasping for air. Veronica feels sorry for him, but alsograteful that she is not their foursome's weakest link. Susan lookslike a model, willowy and fine-boned, and Veronica expected her towilt like a fragile flower; but it seems she's tough, too.

The rest of their gorilla group is far enough behindto be invisible, but Veronica can hear the rustling of the hangingvines and underbrush as they catch up. The Brits appear first, Tomand Judy, slow and portly and middle-aged but surprisingly durable.They look like they're still enjoying themselves. Diane and Michaelbehind them do not. The two fiftysomething Americans are thin butnot fit, and Diane in particular looks haggard. The Ugandan guardsbring up the rear, two men in camouflage uniforms withscary-looking rifles slung over their shoulders.

"What's this then? Elijah finally call for a teabreak?" Tom asks, hoarse but cheerful. Elijah is their guide'sname, Veronica remembers. "Why start now, just when we're having somuch fun?"

"We don't know yet." Susan too is British, but herclipped upper-class accent is entirely unlike Tom and Judy's broadsyllables. "He saw something on the ground."

"Gorilla dung?" Judy asks, excited.

Susan frowns. "I don't think so."

"Then what?"

Elijah's walkie-talkie crackles with new life, andeveryone goes quiet.

"What's the story, mate?" Tom asks, when thedisembodied voice falls silent.

Elijah shakes his head. "Silence, I beg you. Give mesilence."

His low singsong voice is hypnotic. They obey. Elijahturns in a slow circle, peering intently into the jungle, so darkand overgrown it feels almost more like a cave than a forest. Theidea makes Veronica uneasy. She doesn't like confined spaces.

Veronica glances back at the guards in time to seethem exchange a tense glance. A tendril of anxiety slithers intoher gut and begins to tighten into an icy knot. Susan was right.Something is wrong.

Elijah completes his rotation, considers a moment,and says quietly, "We must turn back."

It is Michael, outraged, who breaks the silence."What? No. We can't go back now."

"You may return tomorrow."

"No. Out of the question. We have to go to Kampalatomorrow, we've got a flight the next day. We are absolutely notgoing back now. We've already climbed an hour, we're already here.They can't be far away now. You said it would only be an hour."

"Really, Michael, if he thinks it's better -" Dianebegins, looking like she wishes she had never come to Africa.

He cuts her off. "We paid four hundred dollars each,for a full hour with these gorillas, and we're going to stay hereuntil we find them. You can bring these other folks back tomorrow.My wife and I need to see them today."

Veronica winces. She hates being around Americanslike Michael, the ugly tourists who give her country a bad name.Elijah is wholly responsible for their collective well-being, inthis jungle literally on the edge of civilization, and Michael isberating him like he would a dishonest taxi driver. He remindsVeronica of her ex-husband Danton at his worst. She wants to shoutat him but knows it wouldn't improve the situation.

Elijah doesn't answer directly. Instead he barks outsomething in an African language, and both guards unsling theirrifles. Michael takes a step back, eyes wide, as if they mightrespond to his demands with gunfire.

Elijah says, "We go back, all of us, now."

"What's going on? Poachers?" Derek sounds icilycalm.

"Yes, poachers," Elijah agrees quickly. "Nowgo."

The group turns around and begins to retrace theirtrail, moving fast, any remaining reluctance snuffed out by thesight of readied weapons. They move through silence, the birds andmonkeys have all ceased their chatter. Veronica is right behind theguards. She can see the tension in their muscles, and feel herheart thumping rapidly inside her ribcage. She tells herself thatnothing will happen, this has nothing to do with her. Just poachershunting gorillas, they won't come after tourists, and even if thatwere to happen, they have two armed guards with them, they'll befine.

She jumps as the silence is broken by a loudcrack from somewhere within the jungle. It sounds like thebreaking of a sturdy branch. Veronica thinks she might have seen acamera flash. One of the guards twitches, slips on the mud andfalls face-first only a few feet ahead of her.

"Stop!" Elijah shouts. He sounds alarmed now.Frightened. "Fall down! Fall down, all of you!"

None of them obey. Veronica turns to stare at him,unsure that she even heard him correctly: fall down?Elijah's eyes are wide and he is waving his arm violently as ifmiming a falling tree. He grabs Jacob by the shoulder and actuallyshoves him to the ground. Beside him, without furtherencouragement, Derek drops gracefully into a push-up position. Tom,Judy, Michael and Diane, closer to the guards, stand frozen inplace.