Pride of the Veld

Italian looked surprised and a little pleased.
    “Be well, Danie. Go get our boy,” he murmured, turning his attention to the glaring man laying still in the shade of the tent.
    ****

CHAPTER TEN
    Geo held his breath. The grass and leaves sheltering him itched. He wanted to scratch his nose. His left foot was going numb. He could feel a burn running through his back muscles as he kept himself wrapped into a tight ball. He ignored all of that and focused instead on the sounds around him.
    That was the real problem. It had fallen silent. Even the whirring of insects had faded away, which meant that either his hearing had failed completely, or the man was virtually on top of him. He couldn’t risk any movement that would identify his location. Crap.
    “I think it’s time to give up this little game, don’t you?” The voice was rich and deep, the Afrikaner accent had a sultry quality. This was a man used to seducing as much as he forced. Geo tried to swallow. “I could just shoot you where you are, but there’s not much sport in that. You were doing so well, too.” He now sounded a little regretful, and it brought to mind all those low-budget horror films that Geo had watched in the dorms about kidnapped co-eds turned into human prey for depraved hunters, turned out into the woods with their false head starts.
    Right now Geo didn’t feel very optimistic that he was about to be rescued. Where are you Danie? Oupa?
    “I’m losing patience here. I need to finish this little farce and get back to my recovery operation. So if you would be so kind…?”
    The barrel of a rifle eased the few branches away, leaving Geo in plain view. He couldn’t help himself, and he looked up into the eyes of the man Danie had identified as Ronson. They were a cold steel-grey. The tight smile playing across the man’s lips never reached them.
    He was almost handsome. Geo could see that in the right circumstances he would attract attention. He had an air of mystery and danger that was always a potent combination over drinks in a Cape Town bar. Geo wondered what it was that made him think of that, given that he was likely within moments of his last breaths.
    “Oh, this is interesting.” The man’s brows flew up in surprise as he got a good look at him. “I thought I was hunting bush fowl, and I manage to capture a peacock in my trap, instead. How delightful. And inconvenient…” He motioned with his rifle for Geo to rise, stepping back as he did so.
    “I saw you two summers ago. You attended a fundraiser in Johannesburg with your grandfather. You’re the next Christiansen heir. Pride of the Veld, apple of the old man’s eye, savior of the reserve to hear the old man brag about you. Some sort of environmentalist, aren’t you?” He made the word sound dirty, as if Geo was a disease or a foul substance tracked in on the bottom of your shoe.
    “Why are you here?” Geo really wanted to understand. He’d been worrying that question in the back of his mind since Andrea had appeared. It never made much sense to him that a man like Ronson would bother masquerading as a guide. He’d assumed that poaching was the reason, but that wouldn’t explain dragging the Italian into this mess, unless he needed the illusion of a legitimate cover.
    “I misplaced something, which I’ve since found, thanks to your friend. He was just a convenient excuse to be out here, searching. Finding you, however, poses an interesting problem for me, Christiansen.
    “I only have a few more things to clean up and then I can be on my way, but I think I can use you… at least for the moment. I’d recommend keeping your nose out of my business and doing exactly as I say. By the look of you, I imagine you’re used to being under another man’s… thumb. So let’s see how well trained you are, shall we? Let’s go.”
    Geo wanted to puke. He only hoped that Danie was somewhere safe, that he would stay hidden until Oupa and his men arrived. He worried about Andrea, about the arm, about the missing third man. He was less worried about himself at the moment, his blood too valuable to be wasted in the bush, apparently.
    They worked their way back to camp, and Geo had to admire Ronson’s skills. He knew what he was doing. It also took a little of the sting out of being discovered. They took a circuitous route, backtracking several times until Ronson was sure that they weren’t being followed themselves. Geo didn’t bother telling him that Danie was far