16
MARGARET
4th October 2020. Somewhere outside of T’Kalanjathu, in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Margaret awoke with a start, emerging from a tar-pit-trap nightmare in which she had been trying, with futile desperation, to run, fleeing from some evil apparition. She peered around, bleary-eyed, dehydrated and drenched in sweat, and the terror from the nightmare remained when she realised that she was perched atop the back of a towering elephant, who was lumbering calmly through the forest beneath her, and was followed by a motley army of wild animals. The events of the previous evening came rushing back to her, and it was all she could do to stop herself from hyperventilating and tumbling off the back of the great beast in a fit of panic. Before the sensations of fright and disbelief could dislodge the tenuously bound blocks that somehow held her mind together and tumble them in an avalanche-collapse into insanity, however, the General’s voice echoed inside her skull.
‘Good morning Dr Green,’ he said in his calm, measured register. ‘I’m glad to see that you got some rest up there. I want to just reassure you that you are completely safe, and let you know that we will soon reach a stream where you will be able to refresh yourself and quench your thirst. I know how the heat of this jungle can sap one’s strength if one is not used to it.’
‘Th-, thank you,’ she managed to utter in reply, through cracked lips.
After another half hour of journeying, they reached a clear stream that gurgled over smooth black rocks in its passage through the unrelenting green. When they reached the water’s edge, the elephant lowered himself to his knees. However, even in this position the height was too great for Margaret to make a safe descent.
‘One of my troops will help you down,’ he said to her, his voice a soothing balm to the suppurating lacerations that crisscrossed her mind.
A gorilla rushed out of the line of animal troops and beckoned to Margaret.
‘You will be quite safe with him,’ the General told her.
She nodded and crept cautiously down the elephant’s flanks towards the open arms of the gorilla. The ape gripped her gently, but with undeniable power in his thick hands, and lowered her down. A rush of relief washed over her when her feet finally touched the ground, but she also felt a mild sensation of seasickness after all the swaying and lurching atop the elephant.
‘Drink. The water is quite clean, I assure you.’
Margaret knelt down at the edge of the stream, cupped her hands and began to imbibe the cool water, feeling instantly refreshed as the liquid slicked a soothing passage down her parched throat. Despite her desire to chug as much of the water as she could, she knew that it would not be a wise course of action, so she exercised some restraint and drank slowly. When she was done, she struggled to her feet and stood on shaky legs.
‘How much further do we have to go?’ she asked.
‘We will be there just before nightfall.’
‘Do you have any food that I can eat? Please, I’m starving.’
The General nodded.
‘The baggage carriers have provisions in their saddlebags, and I’ve instructed them to provide you with anything you need. While we’re stopped here, you may go and look through the saddlebags and satiate your hunger. I apologise again for the conditions you must endure at the present, but I assure you that everything will make sense in time.’
Margaret realised that in spite of the General’s politeness and generosity, the fact remained that she was still his prisoner, and there was nothing she could do about that. If she was to flee, even if she could somehow outrun the leopards and lions who were padding along with the rest of the animals, where would she go? How would she survive out here in the middle of the jungle, dozens or possibly even hundreds of miles away from the nearest settlement, without supplies, without a compass, without anything?
She trudged back along the line of patiently waiting animals, feeling a chilling sense of unease and surreality at her proximity to this imposing mass of wild creatures, all of whom were standing stock-still, like the most disciplined of soldiers. Sure enough, as the General had said, the baggage carriers were at the back of the train; two rhinoceroses and a hippopotamus with huge saddlebags strapped to their flanks. The middle rhinoceros, a female black rhino, snorted and tossed her head back as Margaret approached her. Margaret jumped back in fright, her heart suddenly pounding, but the General’s voice resounded in her mind.
‘Don’t be alarmed, Doctor. She is only trying to tell you that hers is the pack carrying the human food. She cannot communicate with you in the manner that I am able to; indeed, most of my troops cannot. Please, approach her and dig through the pack. There is plenty of wholesome and nutritious fare for you.’
With a gulp and a gush of anxiety, Margaret approached the massive beast on trembling legs. She remembered seeing a black rhinoceros at the San Francisco zoo, and recalled the guide’s words about the black rhino being the most aggressive and unpredictable of the rhinoceros family. Fear trickled along the course of her skin and crawled across her limbs on prickly beetle feet.
‘It’s not an animal, it’s a person, it’s a soldier, it’s … it’s…’ she muttered to herself, trying to bolster her courage with these insignificant utterances.
Despite her fears, however, the beast remained calm and still, and she was able to open the zipper on one of the saddlebags. Inside she found a wealth of nuts, along with both fresh and dried fruit, and fermented as well as fresh vegetables.
‘Please, partake of whatever tickles your fancy,’ the General said.
‘Okay … okay, I’m okay,’ she whispered under her breath, her mind still adrift in
