Fearless Master of the Jungle (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure (22 page)

Thanks to the organizing
abilities of Tav-Han, his wife, Joar-Fane and At-Vee, the Earth
couple
’s
wedding day had passed most enjoyably and without a hitch. Thinking
of how close they had grown recently, Bunduki and Dawn were
relieved when they were finally united in matrimony. Both had felt
sure that, in the absence of a minister ordained in a Christian
Church, their adoptive and, in the girl’s case, actual families
would consider the union completely honorable, legal and
binding.

So it had been with a clear conscience
that the blond giant had carried his bride to the tree-house and,
having made the ascent on the elevator with her in his arms
(several hunters supplying the motive power) across the threshold.
Left alone, they had entered the comfortable double bed to
consummate the marriage.

Now, in the light of early
morning, Bunduki had brought a meal which Joar-Fane had prepared
earlier for them. Much as he loved the beautiful girl before him,
he
had been
unable to resist pulling a hoary old joke on her.

‘
And
that’s
not
how you’re going to get it every morning from now on!’ Dawn
stated, with her eyes sparkling. ‘Hurry up and eat, then go out and
do some work—or something.’

‘
Something?
Bunduki hinted.

‘
Something
’
Dawn replied, her expression showing what she was really
meaning.

I
’m damned if I feel like going out to work
now I’ve eaten,’ the blond giant declared, after they had finished
the meal and he was setting the tray on the floor.

‘
Then
it looks like—
something
,’
Dawn answered, tossing back the sheet which was her only
covering.

‘
Something
it is,’ Bunduki said firmly and climbed back into
bed.

‘
Darling,’ Dawn breathed, as she and her husband lay relaxed
in each other’s arms about an hour later. ‘You
really
don’t mind if I continue to use the
contraceptive tablets now we’re married, do you?”

‘
Of
course not, dear,’ the blond giant assured her.

‘
It
isn’t that I don’t want your children, or that I feel they would be
illegitimate,’ Dawn went on, repeating a point they had discussed
at length on the day preceding their wedding. When she and Bunduki
had felt a growing need for each other’s love, Joar-Fane had
presented her with the means to avoid offending their host nation’s
conventions.
^lxii
‘But there’s still so much work to be
done. And for some time yet, it will need
both
of us. What’s more, I want to make sure
everything is comparatively peaceful, or at least until you have
some support you can count on, before I start bringing children
into the world.’

‘
You
won’t get any arguments from me about that,’ Bunduki promised,
agreeing whole-heartedly with every word his wife had said. Until
he could rely upon the other Telonga hunters as well as At-Vee, he
might need the kind of assistance she would be unable to render if
pregnant or with children demanding her attention. ‘Now, what about
it, my girl. Shall we get up or—
something?
’

‘
I
can’t see the slightest thing against doing—
something
’
Dawn breathed and gave herself freely
to
her
husband.

~*~

‘
Hey
there, brother,’ At-Vee greeted, strolling up shortly after lunch
and grinning broadly as he watched Bunduki reaching for
Shambulia
’
s
double-girthed saddle. ‘Can you manage to lift that all by
yourself?’

‘
Why
shouldn’t I be able to?’ the blond giant inquired, with assumed
innocence.

‘
I
thought
everybody
knew
it
’
s
weakening unless it’s had in moderation,’ the Hunter
explained, glancing to where Dawn and his wife were descending from
the tree-house. ‘But I’ve never heard of a newly married man
remembering—until it was too late.’

‘
From
what
I
remember, that’s the voice of experience speaking,’ Bunduki
commented, lifting the heavy rig with no more than his usual
expenditure of effort. ‘You’re the one we had to carry out of
bed
three
days after your wedding.’

‘
That
was
then
’
At-Vee countered, ignoring the fact that there had been
more desperate and serious matters demanding all their attentions
at the time his companion had mentioned. ‘Now I’ve been married to
Joar-Fane for this long, it’s a very different matter. When I ask
her to come to bed with me these days and she says, ‘No’, I’m
grateful to her for being so considerate.’

‘
They’re telling rude stories, sister,’ Joar-Fane guessed,
studying the two men as she and the new Mrs. Gunn were walking
towards the lean-to by the corral in which the saddles could be
left hanging over a wooden “burro” shaped like an upturned
roof.
^lxiii

‘
Disgusting, isn’t it, dear?’ the Earth girl replied, her
beautiful face alive with merriment and deep content.

‘
It
is
,’
Joar-Fane agreed, exuding an air of pompous disapproval
which Dawn had come to know was entirely false and which never
failed to amuse her. ‘Did I ever tell you about the last time I
tried to give that lazy lump of mine a pleasant
surprise?’

‘
No,’
Dawn admitted, contriving to sound resigned. ‘But I’ve a terrible
feeling that you’re going to.’

‘
I
bathed, anointed myself all over with the sweetest smelling perfume
I could make, then put on my most fetching bed gown,’ the little
Telonga girl continued, as if she had either failed to hear the
other’s last remark, or considered that it implied a desire to hear
the story. However, having reached that point, she paused for a
moment and darted a conspiratory glance at her companion, going on,
‘And
you
know just how
fetching
one of them can be, don’t you, sister?’

‘
I
really can’t
imagine
what you mean,’ Dawn declared, modeling her manner upon
that of a games-mistress at Roedean whose proclaimed belief that
“it” was bad for one’s hockey caused her to express a similar lack
of knowledge. ‘We “Earths” don’t do such things.’

‘
Then
where do all the little “Earths” come from?’ Joar-Fane countered,
thinking of certain significant sounds she had heard that morning
on arriving to make breakfast and which had suggested her “sister”
was not speaking the truth. ‘Anyway, there I was, all ready and,
even if I say it who
should,
I’ve never looked more seductive. So I went into
the bedroom and said, “Darling, it’s your wife.”—’

‘
Not
that I’m interested,’ Dawn said, with well simulated boredom, as
the other girl paused for dramatic effect. ‘But what did At-Vee
do?’

‘
Jumped out of bed shouting, “Then hide me!”‘ Joar-Fane
replied.

‘
Who
says the Telongas don’t have a sense of humor?’ Dawn sighed,
although she had found the story as amusing as it was intended to
be even while she knew it to be untrue. ‘I mean, apart from
everybody.’ Then, as they were now close to the two men, she went
on with a smile, ‘Good morning, At-Vee.’

‘
It
was when I got up,’ the Hunter responded.

‘
Which
was a long time after I—!’ Joar-Fane put in.

As in her
husband
’s
case, the Telonga girl was prevented from completing her statement.
However, the reason was more serious than her light-hearted
interruption. She noticed that Bunduki and At-Vee were not
listening to her, but felt no pique as she was aware of what had
caused the distraction. Barely audible, the rhythmic rumble of a
drum came from far to the north. A few seconds later, although
still at a considerable distance, the cadenza was exactly
duplicated from another source.

‘
That’s from Rol-Mat,’ Joar-Fane estimated, mentioning the
only other Telonga village to have received a visit from a member
of the “Earth’s” nation so far. ‘But I can’t make out what they’re
saying. Can you, dear?’

‘
I
might if
somebody
would stop shouting in my ear,’ At-Vee answered, but the
timbre of his voice and the affectionate way in which he laid a big
hand on and ruffled his wife’s hair robbed the words of any
sting.

‘
I
never had
this
kind of trouble before he started going around with that
lazy lump of yours, sister,’ Joar-Fane told Dawn in mock
exasperation, knowing that it had not been her speaking which had
prevented her husband from reading the message that was relayed by
the drummer in Rol-Mat.

Although every person on
Zillikian could understand the general word-sounds sent on their
respective nation
’s ‘talking drums’—Dawn and Bunduki had been conditioned by
the ‘Suppliers’ to be able to ‘read’ those of every race—only the
men and women who inherited the duty of beating the percussion
instruments possessed the inborn keenness of ear to detect and
duplicate exactly messages at great distances. Each race’s drummers
could also transmit information of a confidential nature by means
of secret codes known only to the initiates to their profession.
However, it was distance and not secrecy which was preventing
At-Vee and the other three from learning what was being passed on
from elsewhere by Rol-Mat’s messenger.

The two couples were not kept
in ignorance for long. Booming forth with great clarity, the
‘talking drum’ at
Jey-Mat began to repeat the information. They found it to be of the
greatest interest.

‘
From
Tik-Felum of Wurka to Bunduki,.
Dapan-Dankara,
at Jey-Mat. Our people have great
need of your help, Fearless Master of the Jungle. Come as swiftly
as possible.’

Crouching in the concealment of
a clump of bushes at a point which allowed him to draw and hold the
recurved Fred Bear Super Kodiak bow at its anchor point, Bunduki
made
very
sure of his aim. As his target—which could have a very
great effect upon the success of the mission that had brought him
to the Wurka-Telonga village—was only nine inches in height, about
a third of that wide and some thirty yards away, he knew that he
was going to require all his skill if he hoped to make a
hit.

Even before the blond giant had
visited Jey-Mat and arranged to have a request for further
information passed over the
‘talking drums’, he had been suspicious of the
summons sent by the Wurka’s Senior Elder. It was either a trap, or
a way of testing his newly attained status of Fearless Master Of
The Jungle. He had also been aware that the way in which
Tik-Felum’s message had been worded did not leave him any other
choice but to signal that he would accept. Although no Telonga
hunter had gained sufficient merit to be given the title of
Dapan-Dankara
for several generations, tradition decreed that
any man who did achieve it must be willing to travel anywhere
within the nations territory should his services be
needed.

On learning the details,
Bunduki had spoken with the four men from Wurka, who had not yet
taken their departure due to the effects of the
wedding-night
’s festivities. What they had told him suggested that
Tik-Felum was making a test of his eligibility to be the
Dapan-Dankara.
Which, as his wife, At-Vee the Hunter, Joar-Fane,
Tav-Han and the Wurka villagers, had all agreed was probably a
trap. It was, the unanimous consensus of opinion had assumed,
unlikely that the Senior Elder would want Bunduki to succeed in
establishing his right to the title. However, they had all conceded
that he could not refuse without a considerable loss of
face.

As the blond giant had anticipated
that he would be faced with such a situation, he had already been
considering how best to deal with it. However, when he had begun to
mention his intentions, he found that one aspect was not in his
hands. Dawn Gunn had stated, in tones that warned she would brook
no argument, her intention of accompanying him. Even if he had
meant to leave her behind, he would have known that doing so would
not be tolerated.

Another aspect of
Bunduki’s plans had
been the subject of revision. It had been his intention that he,
Dawn, At-Vee and Joar-Fane—whom his instincts had warned would also
refuse to be left behind—would make the journey on their quaggas
and
banar-gatahs.
Having conferred with one another in soft tones,
the four Wurkas had offered an alternative means of transport. They
had said that they would put themselves and their boat at the blond
giant’s disposal. Appreciating the advantages of travelling in such
a fashion, he had accepted the invitation.