[b]SAFARI

Act 3[/b]

The first rays of sunlight broke over the savannah, bringing an end to a troubled night aboard the [i]Queen of Sheba[/i].

[i]"Grayson hired his own steamboat up the Nimubu River and planted two ringers in our crew, and now he knew we were searching for the lost city of Kazima, the capital of one of the wealthiest kings of ancient Africa.  This expedition had turned into a race, and there was nothing we could do to stop Grayson from following us... but we [/i]could[i] do something about his ringers..."[/i]

"You can't just leave us here!" cried Mansell from where he and Carson had been unceremoniously dumped on shore with their meager belongings.
"This is an outrage!" shouted Carson.
"Calm down, you'll be fine until your master Grayson catches up!" Dennis shouted back from the canoes in which he, Robert, and Charlie had "escorted" Carson and Mansell off the boat.
"Look on the bright side, it's your chance to get up close and personal with nature!" added Robert.  "The hippos should be returning to the river anytime now!"
"[i]Hippos!?[/i]" shrieked Carson.  "Do you know how big they are!?"
"That's a plus, they'll scare away the crocodiles!" replied Charlie.
"I'd rather face the hippos!" yelped Mansell, memories of his previous crocodile encounter all too fresh.
"Say hi to them for us!" Robert waved as his group paddled back to Dennis' boat.


[i]"Over the next several days, the river grew narrower and faster as we left the savannah and came into the high plateau region."[/i]

The river originally spilled over the plateau's edge directly onto the savannah.  Over millions of years, however, the powerful falling water very slowly cut a deep groove into the side of the plateau, until now there was a long, deep gorge bisecting the plateau for miles, like a smaller, narrower version of North America's Grand Canyon.  In many places, the sides of the gorge were sheer cliff faces, and yet Dennis' passengers marveled at how shrubs and small trees were occasionally able to grow right out of the sides of the gorge.  A few even had daring monkeys climbing around in them looking for food.  Reginald brought out his spare camera and tried taking a photograph of them.  One of the monkeys apparently didn't like the flash and pelted the boat with tree nuts.
"Hmph, no need to be so critical!" he muttered.

They soon encountered strong rapids churning the river.  Dennis opened the engine up as wide as he could and steered through them with practiced hands while his passengers held on tight.  A large wave crashed over the railing and thoroughly drenched them, prompting Linda to shriek, "Heavens, this is too much!"
Reginald agreed, shouting, "Yes, I think we should ride this out below decks!"
Another wave crashed over them as they scrambled for the hatch.  Robert pulled out a fish that somehow wound up inside his jacket.  He threw it overboard, telling it, "Find your own hiding place!"

[i]"That brought us to the first big obstacle in our path."[/i]

The obstacle was a waterfall at least a hundred feet high, emptying from the top of the plateau into the gorge, where the [i]Queen of Sheba[/i] sat in water that, despite the proximity of the falls, was much calmer than the rapids they just passed through.
"This is as far as the [i]Queen[/i] can go," declared Dennis.  "There's a climb up the right side of the falls.  It's steep, but I think we can port at least two canoes and supplies up.  From there, it's all walking and paddling to the land of the Omlacwa."
Reginald turned to the others.  "Everyone feel up to it?"
"I am, Father."
"Absolutely," said Charlie.
"You have to ask?" added Robert.
For his turn, Dennis hesitated a moment before replying, "Any other time, Sir, I'd agree one hundred percent."  He then looked back downriver with worry and added, "But I just don't like the idea of leaving the [i]Queen[/i] unmanned when Burt Grayson and his chums could catch us up at any moment."
"Perhaps the rapids made them turn back?" suggested Linda.
"Maybe, but not definitely," replied Charlie.  "Dennis is right, for all we know, they could be right behind us."
"Then who got here [i]ahead[/i] of us?" asked Robert.  He pointed to the rocks on the right side of the gorge just below the falls, to where some wreckage was draped over a large boulder jutting up from the water.

The entire party carefully moored two canoes to the rocks and climbed over to inspect the wreckage more closely, whereupon it revealed itself to be the remains of a dugout canoe.
"Not much left," Reginald observed, "but it doesn't look like Westerners built it."
"It's amazing there's enough of it left to tell," Robert added.  "It looks like it might have fallen all the way from the top of the falls."  He asked Dennis, "Anybody live up there?"
"Not year round, but there's a narrow lake just past the edge of the falls.  A few native tribes temporarily move to it for a season or two out of the year to fish and trade goods and such."
Charlie sniffed the wreckage a few times.  "I don't smell any scents.  Either the water washed them all away, or there was nobody aboard when it went over."
"Let's hope it was the latter," said Linda.  She noticed something wedged between the canoe wreckage and the boulder.  "Oh, look!"  She plucked it out and held it up.  "It looks like some kind of pendant.  It's pretty, I wonder who it belonged to."
"It's Rifokori," said Dennis, "I recognize the design, they live further upriver.  Guess we now know who the canoe belonged to."
The pendant's string was broken.  Linda somberly tied it back together and placed the pendant over her head and around her neck.  "If we do, I shall return it to them and let them know what happened."
Reginald pulled himself up.  "Come along, we won't learn anything more here, and the sooner we get these supplies up the falls, the sooner we can be off."

Now that they were short two porters, Robert and Charlie bore the lion's share of the burden.  Bringing up the rear as they climbed the falls, they carried bulging packs of supplies on their backs and carefully dragged one of two canoes up the steep slope on ropes tied between them.  Reginald and Dennis led the way, each with their own backpacks on and handling the other canoe between them.  Linda, the middle climber, insisted on carrying a pack of her own despite the wishes of the men.
Reginald loudly shouted to be heard over the roaring water, "Not much farther now!"  He paused briefly to look down toward his companions and take in the falls from their elevated perspective.  "What an amazing view from up here!"
"I'll take your word for it!" Robert shouted back, his acrophobia making him reluctant to look down.
"Hello, who's that!?" Reginald shouted unexpectedly.
Robert forgot his acrophobia to look downriver with the others, and saw another riverboat come into view and approach the falls.
"It's Grayson's boat!" shouted Dennis.
"So much for the rapids dissuading them!" exclaimed Linda.  "Do you think they'll follow us up here!?"
"Even if they do, by that time we'll already be at the top and on our way again!" Charlie figured.
His eyes lingered on Grayson's boat.  To his confusion, it appeared to be gathering speed toward them instead of slowing down as it should have.  "I think...!" he corrected.
"Have they gone mad!?  They'll ram right into the falls!" shouted Linda.
Robert soon realized, "No... not the [i]falls[/i]!"
To everyone's shock and horror, Grayson's boat rammed straight into the stern of the [i]Queen of Sheba[/i] with a terrible crash of wood and metal, bringing their boat to an abrupt stop and pushing the Queen off his mooring and into the sharp rocks right at the base of the falls, where it impacted with an even more terrible crash.
"My boat..." gasped a stunned Dennis.  His shock quickly turned into rage and he roared, "You . . . you [i]vandals[/i]!!"
With a speed that surprised all of them, Grayson and his four men disembarked with their own supplies and quickly started up the cliff after them.
"I'll have them!" Dennis raged.  "I swear, I'll have them-!!"  He shifted his legs in his fury, and almost lost his balance under the load of his pack and his half of the first canoe.  He grabbed his balance back just in time and growled, "If only I didn't have my hands full!"
"We have to make for the top!" Reginald insisted.  "If for nothing else, to give us more room to have it out with them!"
Everyone else agreed and doubled their efforts to climb the remaining height to the top of the falls.  Once there, they found the top of the plateau adjoining the rushing river was rocky and full of shrubs but afforded plenty of dry ground where they could set down all their supplies and wait for their pursuers to catch up.  Dennis was so mad, nothing could have stopped him from waiting to confront Grayson's gang, all by himself if need be.
Mansell and Carson reached the top first.  "[i]You!![/i]" raged Dennis, who stood back just far enough to let them get to their feet.  "You did that on purpose!!"
Grayson' other two men were helping him to the top at that moment.  Reginald charged toward them and barked, "Destroying Mr. Agner's boat was abominable, Grayson, even by your standards!"
"That was Mr. Ponting's idea, not mine, Forsythe," he retorted pompously.  He then glanced at the man to his left, "May I introduce Mr. Ponting -" and to his right "- and my other employee, Mr. Albertson."
"I remember them!" Dennis snarled.  "They threatened me back in M'gawa if I didn't drop Capt. Forsythe!  Is this your idea of revenge!?"
"I told you your boat was junk!" taunted Carson.  "We probably did you a favor, scrapping it now rather than have it fall apart on the way back!"
"Guess you better start walking, mates," sneered Albertson.  "It's a long trek back to M'gawa!"
"Who says we're going back to M'gawa?" demanded Charlie.
"We are!" declared Ponting as he and his cronies advanced toward them, "and if you know what's good for you...!"
"In case you're not so good at counting, there's four of us you're trying to goad into a fight," retorted Robert.  "Five, if Linda wants to join in.",
None of Grayson's men succeeded in choking back laughs.  "[i]Linda!?[/i]" Carson chortled.  "A mere slip of a girl, put up any sort of fight!?"
"Joan of Arc was a 'slip of a girl,' and I saw her take on a whole army!  Add in the fact that Charlie and I each count for the strength of another five grown men, do you really want to do this!?"
Charlie's head suddenly snapped around, staring upriver with cocked ears.  "Uh fellas, maybe we shouldn't do this right now.  I think we're about to have company.  [i]Lots[/i] of company!"
That's when the rest of them started to hear what Charlie heard, many footsteps charging toward them, their owners swiftly coming out in the open from behind the rocks and shrubbery in the form of nearly two dozen natives armed with spears and shouting in their native language.
"Rifokori warriors!" exclaimed Dennis.
Carson and Ponting started to unshoulder their rifles, but Dennis interfered.  "No, you idiots!  Pick off one or two and the rest will cut us all down before you can even blink!"
"Well we can't just stand here and be caught!" countered Grayson as he turned to the cliff they just climbed up.
Reginald grabbed Grayson's arm.  "Don't be another idiot, Burt, you can't outrun them that way!"
"Let go!  Let go, I say!!" Grayson shouted, struggling against Reginald's strength.
Reginald's balance faltered under Grayson's resistance.  "Stop it - hold still!  [i]Burt![/i]"
With twin yelps of alarm, Grayson and Reginald both tumbled over the edge!
"FATHER!!" screamed Linda as the Rifokori surrounded the party, but not before Robert darted through the closing circle of natives with blinding speed and grabbed Reginald and Grayson's hands before they could completely disappear over.
Robert grunted loudly with the sudden added stress on his arms.  "Hold on!  Try to get a foothold!"
Two Rifokori charged up from behind Robert and grabbed his arms, but not in any way that helped the boy's grip on the two men.  "No, don't do that!  Leggo!!"
His hold on Reginald's and Grayson's hands slipped and he tried to get a better grip, but the struggle with the natives spoiled it and he too lost his balance, slipped out of their grasp, and toppled over the side.  All three disappeared with loud yells over the edge!
"NO!!" screamed Linda as two Rifokori restrained her.  Dennis and Charlie broke away from their would-be captors and ran to the waterfall's edge and peered down.
Dennis then relayed to Linda the reason for their cautious looks of relief.  "They're all right!  They caught that small tree sticking out of the falls about halfway down!"
Before he could say anything else, two Rifokori sprinted over and grabbed him, this time tightly enough that he couldn't wrestle free.  "No!!  Let go!!"
Before Charlie could do anything, two more Rifokori confronted him with spears drawn, and the rest dragged the remainder of their party over to join them.  As he glared furiously at them, Carson demanded to no one in particular, "What are they going to do to us!?"
"I don't know, but they seem especially angry at you, Miss!" said Ponting, referring to Linda.
One of the Rifokori, probably the leader of the party, fingered the pendant around Linda's neck - drawing a terrified squeak from her - and angrily declared something in their native language.
"He says two of their boys went missing yesterday," Dennis translated.  "He thinks [i]we[/i] had something to do with it because that pendant belonged to one of them!"
"Tell them we didn't!" Linda pleaded.
Dennis started to in a stilted version of their language, but the leader interrupted him with rapid, angry shouts to the other warriors, and they began to drag the party away from the falls.
"I don't think they're in the mood for explanations right now!" Dennis declared.
"No, we can't leave Father and Robert!" cried Linda.  "NO!"
Her pleas went unheeded as the Rifokori took them away.  The two who had their spears on Charlie backed away slowly, not taking their eyes off him until they were sure he wasn't going to follow, then they turned and hurried after their fellows.

[i]"This is one time keeping my mouth shut paid off.  They thought I was just an animal and not worth worrying about.  I was all for giving them [/i]plenty[i] to worry about, except Robert, Reginald, and Grayson were still hanging over the falls.  I had to help them first, [/i]then[i] go rescue Dennis and Linda."[/i]

As the Rifokori left with their prisoners, Charlie quickly sped to the edge of the falls and looked down.  The tree was still there, but...

[i]"Except they weren't there anymore!"[/i]

Robert might have been able to survive a fall from that height, but Reginald or Grayson?  Unless Robert somehow found a way to cushion their fall, in which case what did that do to his own chances of survival!?

What Charlie didn't know at the moment was that none of them fell.  They were inside a shallow cave behind the waterfall.
"Lucky you spotted this opening, Robert," said a panting Reginald.  "I doubt that branch could've held us much longer!"
"Now, how do we get out!?" demanded Grayson as he peeked out through the narrow gap in the opening that wasn't covered by falling water.  "Even if we could make the jump to the side of the cliff, we'd probably slip right off and plunge straight to the bottom!"
"We'll find a way, Burt," Reginald insisted.  Fear crept into his voice as he added, "We [i]must[/i]!"
"At least we might have found the owners of the canoe," Robert noted.
"That's as may be," Reginald retorted impatiently, "but I'd much rather my daughter and our friends weren't their prisoners right now!"
"I mean them," replied Robert, aiming his thumb toward the back of the cave.
Two young, bedraggled Rifokori men were huddled against the rear wall, staring fearfully at the new arrivals.  They had been obscured by the darkness and by a slight cleft in the wall until Reginald and Grayson's eyes adjusted.
"Good grief!" exclaimed Reginald.
"How long have [i]they[/i] been in here!?" exclaimed Grayson.
Robert approached them slowly.  He pointed to them, then pointed at the falls, and then mimed a canoe going over the falls with a questioning look.  The two men nodded as one also mimed the canoe going over, and then mimed grabbing the branch and pulling themselves into the cave.
"If we could only get these lads back to their tribe, it might put us on much friendlier terms with them," Reginald noted.
"Which brings us back to [i]how[/i]," Grayson replied.
"ROBERT!!"  They just barely heard the shout through the roar of the falls.
"It's Charlie!"  Robert looked through the opening and yelled, "CHARLIE!!  WE'RE IN HERE!!"
Charlie was in the middle of climbing back down the side of the gorge looking for them, a rope looped around his right shoulder.  At Robert's reply, he stopped dead and looked around.  "WHERE!?!"
He then spotted Robert's arm waving through from behind the falling water.  "I SEE YOU!!"  He quickly climbed further down but slipped and almost lost his footing on the damp rocks, knocking several stones loose.  Just in time, he grabbed a small handhold and steadied himself, then more carefully climbed down the rest of the way until he was level with the cave.  "Is everyone all right in there!?!"
"Yes, we're all here!!  So are the two natives who lost their canoe!!"
Grayson peaked through over Robert's shoulder.  "Good, he brought a rope!"
"Yes, but I don't see anything in here to secure it to!" said Reginald.
Charlie had the same problem outside.  "There's nothing here to tie my rope to!!"
Robert had an idea.  "There is [i]one[/i] thing... at [i]both[/i] our ends!!"
Charlie slowly realized what Robert meant.  "Get ready!!"  He plucked a small loose stone from the side of the cliff and tied one end of the rope around it.
Inside the cave, Robert ushered everyone to flatten themselves against one wall.  "Stand clear!"
A second later, the stone shot through the falling water and onto the cave floor, dragging one end of the rope with it.  Robert quickly grabbed it up, held the rope tight in his hands, and declared, "Charlie and I will anchor the rope ourselves!  The rest of you climb out on it one at a time!"
The Rifokori muttered to each other in fear and confusion as their eyes darted between each other and the boy with the rope.  "I don't think our native friends like this idea," noted Grayson.  "I know [i]I[/i] don't like it!"
"You got a better one?"
Reginald didn't have one either.  "Right then, I'm the heaviest, I'll go first.  If it holds me, it will hold the rest of you!"
Robert angled the rope so that it squeaked through the narrow gap in the falling water.  Reginald carefully climbed hand-over-hand along the rope across the chasm, to where Charlie was bracing himself against the uneven rocks lining the steep climb.  As Reginald reached the end of the rope, Charlie temporarily let go with one hand to grab his hand and help pull him up onto the rocks.
"He made it!" exclaimed Grayson, who watched from the opening.
"Who's next?" Robert invited.
One of the Rifokori was next.  As soon as he made it across, his friend started out.  As soon as he made it...
"Your turn, Grayson!"
Grayson gave him an accusing look.  "Your feet have been slipping this whole time!  I can tell!"
"They have, so the sooner you get going, the better!"
Grayson looked like he'd rather do anything else, but then resigned himself to the reality that it was either climb out or become a caveman for the rest of his life.  He reluctantly took hold of the rope and set out, hand-over-hand, not daring to look down, especially as he felt the rope shift more and more and his fear mounted as to why.
He was right.  The constantly falling water had worn the cave floor smooth and kept it constantly damp.  Despite his best efforts, Robert's boots had kept slipping, and as Grayson reached the halfway point, they slipped once too many.  Robert lost his grip on the floor completely and his feet flew right out from under him, sending him hurtling through the water and out into space!
With a yelp of fright, Grayson found himself arcing rapidly downward toward the cliff face, and just barely managed to hold his grip on the rope as he slammed into it.  Robert of course went down even farther, hitting the cliff face with enough impact to rattle his teeth.
Reginald and the two Rifokori reached down to help Grayson climb up, while Robert needed several seconds to recover his wits before exclaiming, "Well, that's [i]another[/i] way to get across!"


[i]"Once we were all safely back on the plateau, we wasted no time following the Rifokori party to their trading camp, where our new friends quickly got our friends off the hook."[/i]

The whole camp rejoiced at the safe return of their two lost fellows.  Dennis, Linda, and Grayson's men were released, and one of the rescued young men recognized the pendant around Linda's neck.  She took it off and gave it back to him, and he said, "[i]Mo-bai[/i]."
"[i]Taylo-fa[/i]," Dennis replied.  To Linda, he explained, "He said, 'Thank you.'  I said, 'You're welcome.'"
Linda turned to the young Rifokori and said, "[i]Taylo-fa[/i]."

[i]"The Rifokori invited us to supper and then to spend the night before continuing on our way.  They even offered us a couple extra canoes, so that the 'other' members of our party wouldn't have to walk."[/i]

The next morning, Reginald's party packed up their belongings into the two canoes they brought up the falls.  Grayson and his men took the two gifted canoes for themselves.
"Didn't you tell the Rifokori they're not in our party?" Robert asked Dennis.
"Yes, but it turns out Ponting knows enough of their language that Grayson could make a separate deal with them."
"That's right," Grayson interjected, "I'm not letting Forsythe grab all of Serikubi's riches for himself!"
"So, Carson and Mansell [i]did[/i] tell you," accused Reginald, deciding there was no point in concealing his destination anymore.  "That's why you set it up so we'd have to hire them."
"And made up that curse to scare the local porters away from us!" added Charlie.
"But [i]every[/i] local?" asked Dennis.  "How?"
"It's not as difficult as it sounds, young man.  A word here, a whisper there, a few rumors of horrible fates...  It's really quite easy to scare these savages with talk of curses, they're so superstitious."
"[i]You[/i] can talk!" retorted Reginald.  "Still carrying that rabbit's foot everywhere?"
Robert glared at Albertson.  "And you...  You knocked out that native kid who was trying to tell us about your so-called curse, I saw you!"
"Couldn't have the locals scare [i]you[/i] off the trail, not before I could learn just what trail you were following," replied Grayson.
"Anyway, turned out he wasn't hurt badly, was he?" Albertson added callously.
"That's hardly the point!" Linda seethed.
"[i]Enough![/i]" barked Grayson.  "What's done is done!  There's no point in dwelling further on the past, we should focus on the present and continue on our way to Kazima.  Don't you agree, Forsythe?"
Reginald glared at him as he placed the last of his supplies into his canoe.  "You'll forgive me if I don't completely forget what's past... [i]Grayson[/i]."


[i]"The river narrowed further upstream as the open savannah gave way to thick jungle.  From here on, we had no idea what was up ahead other than vague rumor.  As far as we knew, no other visitor had ever come to this part of Africa."[/i]

Four canoes glided at a slow and steady pace up the river, which was now flanked on both sides by dense and often overhanging vegetation.  Reginald and Charlie shared one canoe, Robert, Linda, and Dennis another, Carson and Mansell the third, and Grayson, Albertson, and Ponting in the fourth.
One had to admit, for all of Grayson's faults, over the next several days he took the uncharted territory around them in stride and pulled his weight in paddling a canoe just as much as Reginald.  The two had come from similar backgrounds and came of age in overseas service with the British army.  They had even been friends to begin with, but then their personalities, beliefs, and goals gradually pushed them apart, culminating in Grayson's attempted betrayal at the ruins in India.  Over the years since, Reginald tried a few times to reconnect with Grayson, if not to forgive completely but at least to put it behind them, but Grayson kept rebuffing him and eventually Reginald stopped trying.  This was the first time they had even seen each other in nearly a decade, and Grayson's bitterness had only grown stronger.  After what happened just below the falls, Reginald now feared his former friend would do anything in the name of settling the debt only he seemed to believe existed.
Everyone could see Grayson's impatience was growing day by day.  "If this jungle gets any thicker, we could paddle right by Kazima and never know it!"
"You of all people should know there's no guarantee in this business," Reginald replied.
"It was just dumb luck that you found those ruins in India, right?" added Robert.
"Oh yes," Grayson sneered, "'dumb luck' after Forsythe was [i]dumb[/i] enough to get us hopelessly lost."
Reginald shot back, "Only because [i]you[/i] hired a mapmaker who was all thumbs and drew river courses and cliff edges exactly the same way!"
"I'm beginning to hope we [i]don't[/i] find Kazima," Linda sighed to Dennis and Charlie.  "Can you imagine how Father and Mr. Grayson will argue if we find the treasures there?"
Having overheard her, Reginald reined in his temper and told her, "I'm sorry, my dear, and you're right, bickering is pointless now.  Let's just focus on finding the Omlacwa, they're the key to finding Kazima and the tomb of Serikubi."
Grayson reluctantly conceded the point.  "Agreed."
He then noticed - unlike Reginald, who was looking away - that Robert was looking intently in every direction.  "What's the matter with you, Robert?"
"You ever get the feeling you're being watched?"
Everyone hushed and started looking everywhere as well.  Linda broke the silence first with a quiet, "I don't see anything."
"That doesn't mean a thing," Dennis replied just as quietly.  "In this part of Africa, people [i]and[/i] animals are experts at camouflage."
Robert asked, "Charlie, smells or sounds?"
"Too many.  But I think . . . somewhere just up ahead . . ."
As Charlie said that, Robert, Dennis, and Linda's canoe passed close to a dense overhang from a giant tree.  Camouflaged almost perfectly among its dappled leaves was an equally dappled leopard perched on a branch, staring inscrutably at the travelers passing below.  Whether he was just curious, suspicious of potential trespassers in his hunting grounds, or eyeing his potential next meal, no one would ever tell just by looking at him.
The question was rendered moot when the branch suddenly snapped under his weight, and on reflex, the big cat leaped off just as it broke off.  He landed in the canoe right on Charlie's back!
Roaring with surprise and frustration, the leopard struggled and clawed at Charlie as he tried to regain his balance and make sense of the strange log he landed on.  In return, Charlie thrashed and pushed against the wildcat, shouting, "[i]Get off!!  Get off, you crazy cat!![/i]"
Linda screamed.  Dennis instinctively grabbed his rifle but held back.  "I can't get a clear shot!"
"Don't shoot, I've got an idea!" exclaimed Robert as he started digging furiously through their supplies.
Reginald wielded his paddle like a club and shouted, "Charlie, hold still!"
"Easy for you to say!"
"Ha!! - [i]HA!![/i]" Reginald shrieked, trying to draw the leopard's attention away, but any attempt to swat the cat away was spoiled as the canoe rocked erratically back and forth under the force of the struggle.
"Do something!" cried Linda.  "That leopard will sink them!"
Though the leopard came equipped with hundreds of pounds of muscles and fought like... well, like a wildcat, Charlie managed to fold his hind legs under the cat's belly as he grunted, "Not... if I get him... to try flying... in-STEAD!"
With his last syllable, Charlie kicked out, catapulting the leopard clear out of the canoe and arcing high into the air...
...to land feet-first in another canoe right between Ponting and Grayson!
Grayson uttered a short scream as the leopard shook off his brief disorientation and got his first clear look at him and growled.  "[i]Back!!  Get back!![/i]" shrieked Grayson as the leopard's struggles now threatened to capsize their canoe.
An extremely loud whistle interrupted everyone, followed by Robert shouting, "KITT-E-E-E-E!!!"
The leopard turned his head and saw Robert with a big grin, holding up a large fish that he caught earlier that afternoon and was saving for dinner.  He waved the fish in the cat's direction and exclaimed, "Mmmm, doesn't that look yummy!?  You want it, kitty!?  Want the lovely little fishy!?"
The leopard actually licked his chops as he stared at the large, tasty fish.
"[i]Fetch!![/i]" Robert barked as he tossed the fish overboard.  The leopard jumped into the river and swam after it, scooped up the fish in his mouth, and paddled back to shore.
Robert sighed.  "That was my biggest catch since that salmon run outside Seattle."
"Better to lose our dinner than to [i]be[/i] dinner," Dennis pointed out.
Charlie told Grayson, "Thank your lucky rabbit's foot that leopard preferred the taste of fish to weasel."  Grayson replied with the most ill-humored scowl imaginable.


Several days more, and the Nimubu River became narrower and shallower, and the jungle canopy closed in on both sides, threatening to block out the mid-afternoon sun.
"It can't be much farther," noted Charlie.  "If this river gets any shallower, we'll have to get out and walk."
Robert paused his paddling and peered ahead.  "Looks like the jungle thins out up ahead.  Could be a lake or a . . .  I think it's a clearing!"
"Everyone take care," warned Dennis.  "Where there's a clearing by a river, there's large animals looking for a drink... or a meal."
Robert didn't resume paddling.  Instead he started looking around in all directions.  "Charlie...?"
Charlie had stopped paddling too.  "Yeah, we're being watched again."  He sniffed the air deeply.  "But this time, it smells like a [i]two[/i]-legged onlooker."
"Then that clearing up ahead," said Carson, "it could be a village."
"What do we do?" asked Mansell apprehensively.
"Nothing," declared Reginald.  "No sudden moves, nothing to make them think we're hostile.  We'll just pull into shore and, if they talk to us, we ask what they know about the Omlacwa."
"Unless..." wondered Linda, "could they [i]be[/i] the Omlacwa?"
"Could be..." replied Robert.  "Look!"
As they got closer to the clearing, several very tall, thick stone buildings emerged from the tree canopy up ahead, all partly covered in jungle growth.  The ancient city was positioned well away from the river's edge, but even at that distance they showed clear evidence of beautiful and sophisticated architecture, and the obvious power that the kingdom behind its construction must have wielded.
"Bless my soul, if that isn't Kazima, I'll eat my hat!" exclaimed Reginald.
As they finally reached the wide clearing, at least a couple dozen large men armed with spears and other deadly implements quickly emerged from the trees and the clearing and took up aggressive stances toward the visiting party.
"Question is," Robert noted, "how much will the admission cost?"