Saturday, July 11, 2015

For the Love of Ivory





I am offering a small sampling of my latest book, available through Amazon in the next few days. I hope you enjoy it.

An excerpt from, “For the Love of Ivory

***

In the darkness of the deep woods, on their way to the spot Dr. Song last saw the herd, the hope held that Rupiah remained alive and with his inoperative Jeep. Kalanzo listened for any warnings of predators above the birds shrieking their annoyance at being disturbed.

He stopped the Jeep, shifting to neutral, and turned off the headlamps. “Dr. Song, please turn the light off for a moment.”

“Why?”

“Because, I don’t want to be a beacon in the night for predators. Also, the birds will settle and I’ll be able to hear more than their protests.”

Song huffed, but complied. The sudden darkness took a moment to adjust to. The rain had stopped and the cloud cover lightened enough to allow a soft glow of the full moon to shine on their trail. Kalanzo shifted into first, and drove on without headlamps.

A tingling sensation raced up Kalanzo’s spine. Something was not right, but he could not say what. The night birds called, the trees swayed in the night wind, no growls of large cats in the distance to announce a feeding. So, why this feeling of dread attempting to squeeze his heart to bursting?

A gunshot shattered the relative quiet of the jungle.

Dr. Song shrieked as a second deafening blast burst the small trunk of a palm next to them. Kalanzo swerved the Jeep off the trail.

They knew this to be poachers, warning them off their course. The gunmen were not trying to kill them, or else they would be dead. With hate-filled gratitude, Kalanzo spun the Jeep around and raced back down the dirt path.

Song now had his shotgun in hand, barrel pointed behind them, bouncing hard with every hole in the trail. The jeep sped through the dark until they hit a sharp rise in the road. The tires left the earth for a moment and crash-landed with such ferocity as to slam his jaw together. Kalanzo’s head spun, but he realized no blasts were following them. He heard neither the sound of engines or shouts of man. He slowed the Jeep to a halt.

*** 

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt. Please check out  the rest of the story on Amazon.