Pride of the Veld

his man’s ear, holding onto him as he cried out his unhappiness and fatigue.
    Danie wished he had the words to take away the pain and uncertainty, but there’d always been so much unspoken between them, and this was a conversation meant for another lifetime. To think that Geo thought so little of them both, it broke Danie’s heart, just as it had obviously broken Geo’s.
    From the very beginning, Danie knew that he could happily spend the rest of his life with the shy teen. But while Geo was only a few years younger than him, their relative stations kept Danie from acting on his attraction.
    His job was more important than a casual summer fling with the boss’ grandson. But summer after summer came, and the attraction grew. Geo grew. Tall and slim, always so withdrawn and pale when he arrived on the reserve each year; But within weeks, the joy returned to his eyes and the color to his cheeks. Danie was mad for him, and it was so hard to stay away.
    He just couldn’t see a way forward. Hefting an exhausted Geo into his arms and wrapping his legs around his waist, he took him into to the tent, nestling him beside Andrea. Grabbing his rifle and a campstool, Danie settled in front of the tent. He deliberately put thoughts of Geo aside, instead sending his senses out into the night, opening himself up to the sounds of the savannah and listening for the men that didn’t belong there.
    ****

CHAPTER THREE
    By the time dawn had pinked the African sky, they had Andrea tucked into the back seat of the Range Rover. They also packed a handful of biscuits stuffed with bacon and hard cheese, and a thermos of Geo’s favorite dark coffee blend was wedged between his boots as they drove across the veld.
    Danie had grumped a bit, watching Geo pulling out his secret stash of coffee from America, just enough to last him for a trip. It was a dark-Italian triple-roast with chocolate. He’d refused to share with Danie after the first time he’d been teased about it.
    Seeing him fill the bottle and hand it all to Andrea felt like a slap in the face until Geo pressed a tin cup of the brew into his own hands. Still, he’d never been gifted with an entire thermos before. Geo could apparently read his mind; he got a roll of the eyes and a slap on the back of his head for his trouble.
    Geo had checked Andrea’s wound, cleaning it again and tossing the old tea bags away. He’d laid them over the stitches last night before wrapping it all up in the bandages. From the looks of it, they’d seemed to do the trick; Danie couldn’t see any fresh bleeding. There was frayed skin that Geo couldn’t stitch, so the entire area was a combination of Steri-strips, stitches, and ointment. It was going to leave Andrea with a hell of a scar.
    “Tell me what happened.” Danie didn’t wait long once the Italian had stirred this morning.
    Danie tried to get a clearer picture from Andrea about the direction he’d come from, though he’d apparently been thoroughly turned around as he fled from his own camp, and Danie didn’t want to take the time for more than a cursory check on his tracks into camp.
    “Danie,” Geo cautioned, taping down the end of the bandage. “Leave it for now. We’ll have plenty of time on the trek back.” Geo went back to mothering Andrea, sending him off to sit in the Rover until they were packed. It wasn’t until they’d travelled for an hour and everyone had finished their breakfast that Geo finally gave Danie a slight nod to proceed.
    “Andrea, how did you get injured?” Danie asked, gazing at the Italian in the back seat. He’d been running various scenarios through his mind, ever since he’d gotten a fresh look at the wound.
    “I was running, I heard them, heard them talking. They said they were far enough away from the normal tracks… no one would know. No one would miss me…” his breath started to stutter, sending Geo over the front seat into the back with his patient.
    “It’s okay, Andrea. We have you. You’re safe,” Geo murmured, pulling the man tightly to him, taking care with the injured arm. Danie watched them in the mirror, catching Geo’s eyes, looking for his silent approval before asking his next questions. “Just tell us about the camp. Where were you and what were you doing?”
    Andrea had calmed enough to continue. “I’d been out for a while, shooting photographs around a ravine, mainly background, landscapes… a few long-range shots of antelope, nothing too exciting. I’d