The Call of the Cobra

THE CALL OF THE COBRA

Chapter 1

A vulture. So what?

Lucy often saw vultures circling over the sun-baked plains of Simba Ranch.

Fupi, Craig’s terrier, was also watching it.

‘It’s probably a white-backed,’ said Lucy; ‘they’re the common ones.’ She smiled as Fupi seemed to nod.

The vulture began to circle.

‘It’s coming nearer.’ Lucy frowned. ‘Why? What’s it seen?’

Fupi cocked her head.

‘Nothing obvious, Fupi.’ Lucy shrugged and turned back to the orphan animal resting on her lap. Setting the feeder-bottle down, she lifted him onto her shoulder and gently patted his back. He gave a hiccup followed by a contented grunt.

‘How do you call that one?’ asked Kiki, the Maasai girl who was kneeling opposite Lucy.

‘He’s a warthog.’

‘A war dog?’

‘Not quite.’ Lucy smiled. ‘Kiki, we have to give him a name. What would be a good name?’

‘I think Tumbo is good.’

‘What does it mean?’

‘It means… I don’t know how you call it.’ Kiki pointed to the warthog’s little tummy swollen with the milk Lucy had been feeding him. ‘There, that is his tumbo.’

‘His tummy. What a great name! Tumbo it is.’ Lucy held him up. ‘Tumbo, Tumbo. How do you like your new name?’

The warthog grunted and Fupi pricked her ears. The girls laughed.

‘You are just so cute,’ said Lucy.

‘I think he is liking,’ said Kiki.

Lucy settled Tumbo onto his back and began stroking his tummy. She was oblivious to the spiky grass digging into her bare legs, the sweaty untidy hair falling into her eyes and the relentless African sun burning the back of her neck. She couldn’t help thinking how lucky she, Kal and Ellie – her elder brother and sister – were, coming to Tanzania for holidays, to the wildlife ranch managed by Mum’s cousin Craig, and his fiancée Anna.

Tumbo began to snore.

Lucy checked her watch. The flight from Dar es Salaam would soon be arriving in Arusha, and Mum, Dad and the others would be back for supper.

She noticed the vulture was nearer. What is it?

Her phone rang.

‘Here, Kiki, take Tumbo.’ Lucy passed over the sleeping warthog, ran onto the veranda at the front of the house and grabbed her mobile off the table. ‘Hello.’

‘Hi, Lucy, it’s Kal. I’ve been trying to call you for ages. Where’ve you been?’

‘I’ve been looking after Tumbo.’

‘Who?’

‘It doesn’t matter. Have you arrived?’

‘No we haven’t! The useless taxi had an accident – the one Craig and I were in.’

‘Are you all right?’

‘We’re fine, but the driver bashed his nose. Serves him right – stupid git. It was all his fault, anyway. We had to get another taxi and when we finally got to—’

‘You missed the flight?’

‘Only me and Craig. Mum, Dad, Ellie and Anna were in another taxi.’

‘When’s the next flight?’

‘Tomorrow afternoon. It really sucks.’

‘Kal, that doesn’t matter. The important thing is that everyone’s okay.’

‘Yeah, but what a way to spend my seventeenth birthday, stuck in Dar in a rubbish hotel.’

Lucy glanced across at Kiki and caught her breath. ‘Kal, I’ve got to go. Talk to you later. Sorry.’ She slipped the phone into her pocket and ran back across the grass.

‘Kiki! What is it?’

Tumbo was still sleeping peacefully, but tears were streaming down Kiki's face.

‘Tell me.’ Lucy knelt down and put an arm round her friend’s shoulder.

She looked vaguely at Lucy but her eyes wouldn’t focus. ‘Ellie,’ she whispered.

‘Ellie? What about her?’

Kiki’s eyes were wild as she stared into the sky.

Lucy followed her gaze. The vulture was even nearer – still circling.

‘Ellie better but not better.’

‘Kiki, what do you mean?’

‘Better but not better’ – still staring.

Fupi whined.

Kiki’s eyelids fluttered. She shook her head and her eyes came back into focus. ‘It was so bad, that plane—’

‘What plane?’

Kiki’s eyes were red with tears. ‘Lucy, I am fearing so much.’

Lucy drew her close. ‘It’s okay, Kiki. Kal has just called; he and Craig missed the flight. That’s all. The others are fine. You don’t have to worry.’

Kiki tried to smile.

‘I’ll get you a drink.’ Lucy ran back to the house and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. ‘There you go.’

Kiki turned an anguished face to Lucy. ‘That was not the bad thing. It was—’

Lucy’s phone rang again. She snatched it from her pocket. ‘Hello.’

‘Lucy, it’s just been on the telly and—’

‘What’s been on telly?’

There was a sob from the other end.

‘Kal, what is it?’ A snake writhed in Lucy’s stomach. ‘And why are you talking in that funny voice?’

‘The plane… the plane’s—’

‘What about it?’

‘It’s… it’s blown up… it’s crashed.’

The phone fell from Lucy’s hand.

The vulture drifted away.

Chapter 2

Three months later

Lucy woke to the sound of Fupi and Tumbo scrabbling at the door of the banda – the log cabin – where she slept. She pushed the mosquito net aside, slipped off the bed and opened the door to let them out into the early morning sunshine.

Kal was coming across the lawn carrying a tray. Her elder brother, his face, arms and legs tanned a honey bronze, wore his usual shorts, T-shirt and flip-flops.

‘Hi,’ he called. ‘How’s Ellie?’

Lucy drew the door shut behind her. ‘She’s still—’

‘Kal,’ called a faint voice from inside. ‘Come in.’

Lucy pushed open the door and led Kal into the room she shared with her sister.

‘I’ve brought your breakfast,’ said Kal. He placed the tray on the bedside table and stood awkwardly by the bed.

Ellie took his hand. ‘I’m going to get better.’

‘Yeah, sure.’

She grimaced as she struggled into a sitting position and Lucy placed the tray on her lap.

Ellie had just come out of hospital but still needed constant care, and Lucy insisted on sharing her banda and providing that care. After all those weeks in hospital, Ellie had lost her tan, her eyes were sunken and her haggard face was pasty white. And she was so thin. At least she’d survived, but would she ever walk again?

Dad, Mum and Anna hadn’t been so lucky.

‘What?’ said Lucy, seeing Ellie’s expression. ‘What is it?’

Ellie held her gaze for a moment then flapped her hand. ‘Nothing. Off you go, guys, and have your breakfast.’

‘Sure you can manage?’ asked Lucy. ‘You’ll call us if—’

‘Go on, push off.’

Lucy and Kal made their way across the lawn to the house: the house on Simba wildlife ranch which became home following that day when someone rewrote their future.

Craig was seated at the table on the veranda eating his breakfast and listening to the radio. He glanced up. ‘How’s Ellie?’

‘She says she’s going to get better,’ said Lucy.

He nodded. Lines of pain were etched on his face and there was still that dull look in his eyes.

‘I can’t believe it’s already—’

‘Sh!’ Craig turned up the radio.

“… President yesterday announced that Chief Superintendent Reuben Kalima is to be appointed Commissioner of Police to succeed Patrick Mosolla, who was killed in the terrorist attack on the Air Tanzania Fokker Friendship flight TC 147 from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro Airport in Arusha three months ago.”

‘Reuben!’ exclaimed Kal.

“Commissioner Kalima told our reporter that his first task will be to redouble police efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators of that appalling crime, but he admitted they were still no nearer to identifying the man who called himself Chui and claimed, in a call to Radio-Tanzania, to be responsible for the attack and for Commissioner Mosolla’s death. Meanwhile…”

Craig turned the radio down and went back to his breakfast.

‘That’s good about Reuben,’ said Kal.

‘Sure.’

‘Is anything more known about that Chui person?’ asked Lucy.

Craig shrugged.

‘Why do you think he chose the Swahili word for leopard as a pseudonym – if that’s what it is?’

‘Probably some nutter wanting cheap publicity.’

Lucy struggled on. ‘Do you think Reuben will be able to sort out this mess?’

‘Let’s hope so. Tough assignment, though.’

‘So was winning the Olympic steeplechase,’ said Kal.

‘I guess this could be harder.’

Lucy sipped her tea. Reuben Kalima: the Olympic gold medallist, Craig’s friend, their friend. Hard to believe that someone they knew so well, was now head of the Tanzanian police. Would he really be able to—?

The buzzer Craig had rigged up between the banda and the house, cut through her thoughts. ‘I’ll see what Ellie wants.’ Lucy jumped up, ran across the lawn and opened the banda door. ‘What is—?’

Ellie lay in a heap on the floor, surrounded by the debris of her breakfast.

Lucy rushed over and knelt beside her. ‘What happened?’

‘I tried to get out of bed.’

‘But why? Your legs.’

‘I thought I was getting stronger.’ She gave a wistful smile. ‘Getting out was the easy part.’

‘Ellie, you should have called us.’

‘But I’ve got to start doing things for myself.’

‘You can’t rush it. Come on, let’s get you back. Put your arms round my neck.’ Lucy lifted her sister off the floor and pretended not to notice the tears, or the scarred matchstick legs that flopped like those of a puppet.

‘Thanks.’ Ellie lay panting.

‘You’re not hurt?’

Ellie shook her head. ‘Sorry about the mess.’

‘Forget it.’ Lucy gathered up cereal, toast and broken crockery, and wiped the floor.

‘What happened?’ asked a voice.

Lucy turned to see Kal standing in the doorway with their Maasai friends Kiki and Matata. ‘It’s okay, the tray slipped off the bed.’

‘Here, Kiki, come and talk to me.’ Ellie patted the covers beside her. ‘Kal.’

‘Yeah?’

‘That box.’ She pointed. ‘There at the end of her bed: the big one. Could you and Matata take it outside and put the thing together.’

‘Sure.’

‘The others have all Dad’s geology papers. I’ll sort through them one day.’

‘Cool.’ Kal beckoned to his friend. ‘Come on, Mat.’

They carried the box into the sunshine and began ripping away the cardboard.

Twenty minutes later, Lucy and Kiki joined them.

‘That is very fine!’ cried Kiki.

Kal finished tightening the last nut. ‘There you go, Kiki. You can be the first passenger. Go for it, Mat.’

Matata gave a huge grin as Kiki seated herself in the wheelchair. He then grasped the handles and raced with her across the lawn whooping and laughing.

Fupi and Tumbo, who’d been asleep under a tree, ran over to join in. Fupi barked encouragement and Tumbo ran behind grunting.

‘Now you, Lucy,’ cried Matata.

Lucy swapped places with Kiki and placed Fupi on her lap.

As Matata set off, Craig came to the edge of the veranda to see the cause of all the noise.

Matata waved and lost control.

The next thing Lucy knew, she was lying in a heap on the lawn shaking with laughter.

‘You guys are crazy,’ said Craig. ‘Here.’ He came over, held out his hand and pulled Lucy to her feet.

‘Thanks.’

He studied her.

‘What?’

‘I guess it’s… it’s time to move on.’ He said this as much to himself as to her.

She held his eyes for a moment. She knew what he meant. They’d done enough grieving.

Somehow, the sun seemed to be shining more brightly.

Lucy turned and raced across the lawn. ‘Come on, Kal,’ she yelled over her shoulder as she burst into the banda.

Ellie looked up, startled. ‘What is it? What was all that shrieking?’

‘You’ll see.’

‘What? What do you mean?’

‘Mat’s taking you for a ride,’ said Kal. Before Ellie could say anything, he lifted her off the bed and carried her outside, where a grinning Matata waited with the wheelchair.

‘This gari very fine,’ he said.

‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’

‘I very excellent driver.’

Kal lowered Ellie onto the seat, adjusted a blanket over her legs and indicated the arm-rests. ‘Hold on here.’

‘Just go slowly, Matata,’ she said.

‘Slowly, slowly,’ he assured her.

Ellie gripped the rests and tensed her body. Gradually, though, the pain seemed to ease and she relaxed as she looked around: the orange creeper cascading over the roof of the house, the sunbirds exploring its flowers, the zebras grazing no more than a hundred metres away, the giraffes in the distance.

‘I never thought I’d ever see these wonderful things again.’ She took a deep breath. ‘And smell those acacias.’

Craig came to join them. ‘How’s it going?’ He took one of Ellie’s hands.

She looked into his face. ‘I’m going to get better.’

‘Yes, I know.’ He kissed her hand.

Lucy blinked away tears, hoping the others hadn’t noticed. ‘Let’s get some elevenses. I’ll put the kettle on.’ She ran back to the house.

The others made their way across the lawn. When they reached the veranda, Kal and Matata carried the wheelchair up the steps and turned it so Ellie could look out over the ranch.

‘Thanks, guys,’ she said. ‘It’s so much more beautiful than I remember.’

‘What do people want to drink?’ called Lucy from the kitchen.

Before anyone could reply, a voice came crackling over the radio in the office at the end of the veranda.

Craig hurried through to answer it.

‘Who was it?’ asked Kal, when he reappeared.

Craig paused. ‘It was Reuben.’

‘Reuben!’

‘Yes. He’s flying himself here. He’s due in twenty minutes.’

‘Did he say why he was coming?’ asked Lucy, emerging from the kitchen carrying a tray.

‘No, but he mentioned the word cobra.’

‘Cobra!’

‘Yes. And he wasn’t talking about snakes.’

Chapter 3

With things still so fresh in her mind, Lucy couldn’t bring herself to go with Kal and Craig to meet a plane landing at Simba’s sandy airstrip. Instead she fiddled around arranging biscuits on a plate, making fresh tea and rearranging the biscuits. Why was Reuben – even though he was a friend – coming here when he must have hundreds of things to deal with in his new job? And what was that about cobras?

‘Hello, Lucy.’

She hadn’t heard the vehicle return and he’d caught her by surprise. He looked cool and relaxed in jeans and T- shirt. Perhaps this was a social call after all – a catching-up after the disaster.

‘You’ve arrived safely, then?’ she said.

‘Yes.’

‘I mean, was it… was it a good flight?’

‘Yes, thanks. How are you?’

‘Fine.’ She tried to hide her confusion as Kal and Craig joined them on the veranda. ‘Sit down everyone,’ she said, handing out mugs of tea.

Reuben settled into a chair and looked round. ‘How are you all?’

‘We’re okay,’ said Kal.

‘Ellie?’

She shrugged.

‘It’s good to see you up and—’

‘Congratulations on your new appointment,’ she said, staring into her tea.

‘Ellie, I’m so pleased to see you’re recovering. You were still unconscious in hospital last time I—’

‘Why have you come?’

Reuben sipped his tea and regarded her, a slight frown on his face. ‘To put forward a proposal: a proposal which concerns everyone – including you, Ellie.’

‘Me? How?’

‘Not least your fluency in Swahili and Maasai.’ He held up a hand before she could interrupt. ‘What I am about to say goes no further than those of you here. Understood?’

Ellie glowered. Others nodded.

‘Let me explain: soon after the terrorist attack on flight TC 147, the President asked me to take over as Commissioner of Police. I told His Excellency that I would be honoured to accept the role, on one condition.’

‘Which was?’ said Craig.

Reuben rose to his feet and gazed out over the ranch. ‘What a beautiful place.’ He remained, apparently lost in thought; then turned. ‘The President has now agreed to my condition which was that I be allowed to set up Cobra.’

‘Cobra?’ said Lucy. ‘What’s that?’

‘An organisation to investigate and tackle terrorism – something which seems to be on the increase in this country.’ Reuben returned to his seat. ‘We’re making some progress but if we’re to get closer to the problems, I believe we need a different approach one which terrorists won’t suspect or identify.’

‘And that’s Cobra?’ said Ellie.

‘Yes. Cobra is an acronym for the Covert Operations Branch of the Tanzanian police.’

‘An undercover police operation, then?’ said Kal.

‘More than that. It will be a cross between Britain’s SAS and the American CIA. The only people who will know about its existence – apart from the President – are those of us here. Plus others I recruit.’

‘Why are you telling us this?’ asked Ellie.

Reuben gazed again over the ranch.

‘Why?’ she repeated.

‘I want people in Cobra with a range of skills; people I can trust, people I can train. They will be young people who, because of their age, will be able to operate without attracting attention or suspicion. They will, though, have a commitment to the organisation and its aims because… because of tragic personal circumstances.’ He paused. ‘You fill those categories,’ he said softly.

Lucy’s eyes widened. ‘You want us to join Cobra?’

‘Cool,’ breathed Kal.

‘But there’s no way I could go storming buildings to rescue hostages, or whatever it is the SAS do,’ said Lucy.

Ellie pulled a face. ‘I don’t think I’d be very good either.’

Reuben gave a slight smile. ‘Each of you has unique skills which Cobra can use.’ He finished his tea and stood up. ‘Talk this through among yourselves. While you do, I’d like to take you for a walk, Ellie.’

‘Shouldn’t I stay and discuss with the others?’

‘Trust me,’ he said. ‘Craig, would you help?’

As the two of them carried the wheelchair down the veranda steps, Reuben said: ‘I hope I’m not tiring you, Ellie.’

Lucy was just able to hear her reply: ‘No. You may be giving me the will to live.’