and looked at Jade. “What about you, Jade?”
She tried to stifle a smile, but her twitching lips betrayed her. “I’m not sure Avery’s ready for a ménage à trois. I know I’m not.”
Beverly looked in vain for something else to throw at Jade and settled for scowling at her. “Don’t make me slap you, missy,” she said.
Jade hugged herself and rocked with silent laughter. “Poor Avery,” she said as she pointed to him. “He’s positively beet red with embarrassment.” She wiped a tear from an eye. “Couldn’t resist. But seriously, I want to develop those pictures I gathered up today. I really need to see if this trip wire process is worth the time and film, especially for the night shots. And I want to jot down some thoughts on the night sounds in my notebook. They’re almost worth an entire article by themselves, don’t you think?”
The Dunburys retired to their tent, and Jade sent Biscuit off to watch over Jelani. Then she began the careful process of developing her negatives. She planned to develop most of the film back in Nairobi. Consequently, she had brought only a small amount of chemicals with her, enough to develop some test pictures and hone her technique.
The nocturnal shot revealed a leopard rather than the hoped-for elephant, but Jade still smiled at the glimpse of hidden life at night in the forest. Leopards were shy animals, and even a profile of one amounted to a good catch. The first day shot showed the rump of an elephant, enough for her to know that the system worked only if the animal would step on the wire with a front foot rather than a hind one. Jade made a mental note to raise the wire height another inch or two.
The last daytime film sheet went into the developer. Jade took it through the series of baths needed to fix the image and held it up to her red-tinted lantern for a better view. At first she couldn’t make out what sort of animal had gained immortality in her lens. Then a slow smile spread across her face.
“Well, well. What have we here? Looks like some of our German friends were having their own wilderness experience today. Gracious me.”
Jade clipped the negative to the drying line at eye level. One face, at least, was identifiable amid the tangle of intertwined, half-clothed bodies and disheveled bush gear. Jade wondered first if Herr von Gretchmar knew that his doting Frau was cheating on him. But who was her lover? The pair stood clenched in a tight embrace, the man’s back to the camera. All Jade had in her negative was the back of his head as it nuzzled deep in Claudia’s bosom. No discernible bald spot gleamed from this man’s thick head of hair, but his one visible ear certainly stuck out far enough. Did Harry’s ears protrude like that? These are big enough to belong to an elephant. She couldn’t recall and wondered if it might have been the younger German of the party, Mueller. She’d have to pay more attention to his and Harry’s ears when they next met. Not that it was any of her business. Harry was a grown man; he could do as he pleased.
CHAPTER 7
During the day, the forest gives the impression of being entirely devoid of mammalian life. The rhino and buffalo hide in some donga, grazing; the leopard naps unseen in a tree; and the elephants, well, the elephants drift silently like slippered wraiths. Night, on the other hand, introduces a cacophony of coughs, grunts, growls, rumblings, snorts, and screams, all overlain with the reverberating crack of snapping limbs. Sleep is difficult at night.
—The Traveler
C HIUMBO POINTED to three piles of elephant droppings and held up two fingers, which meant the spoor was two days old. Blast, thought Jade. The elephants could be anywhere by now.
“Time for a rest.” She shrugged off her pack and leaned it against a tree. If she’d had her way, they would all have been bivouacking farther into the forest, around the crater lake itself rather than a mile below it. Unfortunately, she hadn’t
She tried to stifle a smile, but her twitching lips betrayed her. “I’m not sure Avery’s ready for a ménage à trois. I know I’m not.”
Beverly looked in vain for something else to throw at Jade and settled for scowling at her. “Don’t make me slap you, missy,” she said.
Jade hugged herself and rocked with silent laughter. “Poor Avery,” she said as she pointed to him. “He’s positively beet red with embarrassment.” She wiped a tear from an eye. “Couldn’t resist. But seriously, I want to develop those pictures I gathered up today. I really need to see if this trip wire process is worth the time and film, especially for the night shots. And I want to jot down some thoughts on the night sounds in my notebook. They’re almost worth an entire article by themselves, don’t you think?”
The Dunburys retired to their tent, and Jade sent Biscuit off to watch over Jelani. Then she began the careful process of developing her negatives. She planned to develop most of the film back in Nairobi. Consequently, she had brought only a small amount of chemicals with her, enough to develop some test pictures and hone her technique.
The nocturnal shot revealed a leopard rather than the hoped-for elephant, but Jade still smiled at the glimpse of hidden life at night in the forest. Leopards were shy animals, and even a profile of one amounted to a good catch. The first day shot showed the rump of an elephant, enough for her to know that the system worked only if the animal would step on the wire with a front foot rather than a hind one. Jade made a mental note to raise the wire height another inch or two.
The last daytime film sheet went into the developer. Jade took it through the series of baths needed to fix the image and held it up to her red-tinted lantern for a better view. At first she couldn’t make out what sort of animal had gained immortality in her lens. Then a slow smile spread across her face.
“Well, well. What have we here? Looks like some of our German friends were having their own wilderness experience today. Gracious me.”
Jade clipped the negative to the drying line at eye level. One face, at least, was identifiable amid the tangle of intertwined, half-clothed bodies and disheveled bush gear. Jade wondered first if Herr von Gretchmar knew that his doting Frau was cheating on him. But who was her lover? The pair stood clenched in a tight embrace, the man’s back to the camera. All Jade had in her negative was the back of his head as it nuzzled deep in Claudia’s bosom. No discernible bald spot gleamed from this man’s thick head of hair, but his one visible ear certainly stuck out far enough. Did Harry’s ears protrude like that? These are big enough to belong to an elephant. She couldn’t recall and wondered if it might have been the younger German of the party, Mueller. She’d have to pay more attention to his and Harry’s ears when they next met. Not that it was any of her business. Harry was a grown man; he could do as he pleased.
CHAPTER 7
During the day, the forest gives the impression of being entirely devoid of mammalian life. The rhino and buffalo hide in some donga, grazing; the leopard naps unseen in a tree; and the elephants, well, the elephants drift silently like slippered wraiths. Night, on the other hand, introduces a cacophony of coughs, grunts, growls, rumblings, snorts, and screams, all overlain with the reverberating crack of snapping limbs. Sleep is difficult at night.
—The Traveler
C HIUMBO POINTED to three piles of elephant droppings and held up two fingers, which meant the spoor was two days old. Blast, thought Jade. The elephants could be anywhere by now.
“Time for a rest.” She shrugged off her pack and leaned it against a tree. If she’d had her way, they would all have been bivouacking farther into the forest, around the crater lake itself rather than a mile below it. Unfortunately, she hadn’t
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