Chapter 38

Over the next six weeks Shaun was assisting Aunt Vicky and learning the administration of The Crater and animal reserve. He and Sharon had driven to Nairobi for him to inspect the processing plants there and for Sharon to have some clothes made and also select some furnishings for the home.

The war was continuing with advances in Italy and everyone was speculating when the invasion of Europe would begin. Sharon had begun teaching some of the classes in the Crater’s school, the children ranged in age from 5 years old to 14 years. They were a mixture of Ghurkha and Matabele boys and girls who were learning reading and writing, math, history and geography. Sharon taught the English classes for the older children and loved it.

On an evening she would enthuse to Shaun about the progress of some of her pupils which would bring a smile to his face.

Then one day he announced that they were going to visit Sultar and Yasmin at the Game Reserve. “We’ll be staying for a few days as I need to build my hours up”.

Sharon frowned “What do you mean?”

He laughed, “My flying hours. We have a Piper Moth at the Reserve and you’ll get the chance to really see the animals and the country from it”.

“I didn’t know you could fly. when did that happen?”

“When I was at university I gained my wings in the University Flying School. I had intended to join the RAF at the outbreak of war. But as I had lost my parents through flying Aunt Vicky talked me out of it. Anyhow we bought the aircraft prior to the war for checking on the Reserve. Poachers were getting too ambitious so the aircraft gave us an edge in tracking them. Now Sultar uses it to keep a check on things”.

The next day they loaded up Ford pickup. Shaun packed his rifles in the back and then handed Sharon a holster with a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver. “You’ll need to wear this as a protection against snakes or cats. Normally if you fire it the noise frightens them away”. She noticed he had his .45 semi-automatic strapped to his waist.

It took almost six hours of driving before they reached the Reserve’s base camp. Yasmin was on hand to welcome them. She conducted them to one of the guest bungalows. After seeing them settled in she said she would see them for dinner and left.

“Does the Reserve have many guests?”

“Not now with the war on, but before the war we got quite a few. They came to photograph the animals. It was better than shooting them and gave quite a good cash injection for the reserve,” Shaun replied.

Later that evening in Yasmin’s bungalow as they sat eating dinner Shaun asked Sultar if the Piper Moth was ready for flight in the morning.

“All fuelled up and ready for you. While you are up there check along the river because we’ve been getting quite a bit of attention from poachers. Mainly after the rhino’s and elephants. Jason tracked them back to the river just last week”.

“Who are the poachers?” Sharon asked.

“Most of them are white hunters. With the war on there’s no call for safari guides, so they try poaching to get some money. There’s a ready market from the Arab and Chinese”. Yasmin replied.

“So what happens if you catch them?” Sharon asked.

“They go to jail,” Shaun replied”, the problem is they would rather fight to stay out of jail and they are prepared to kill to do that”.

“The main problem is Mueller who lives just across the border. He’s completely ruthless and won’t hesitate to kill anyone in his way. We lost a Ranger and another was badly shot up by him five months ago. The authorities won’t act on him unless there is proof, which he makes sure there is none”. Sultar murmured.