Thirty-seven Years a Hunter

"We arrived in Mombasa two weeks ago and hired a guide and an interpreter to take us to the Maasai. Once we were there, the guide and his porters left with the promise to come back for us a month later.

"Our work progressed as planned except their healer seemed to be disturbed that we were examining the men and women. Through our interpreter, we learned the healer believed we were casting spells on his people. We attempted to convince him we were just looking for physical problems during our examinations and our questions were only to determine how Maasai society functioned.

"That it was of no avail became clear yesterday. The healer stormed about the village in an agitated state the entire morning. That afternoon, a young girl I was interviewing stopped answering my questions and told me through the interpreter that I should immediately leave the village. Apparently the healer was going to do both the doctor and I harm.

"The young girl gave me her shawl and said I should leave my other clothes and wear the shawl to cover my head as I left because I would look like another Maasai woman. Most of the people were gathered around the healer by then, and after doing as she said, I made my escape.

"I kept running until I could run no more and then walked until it began to grow dark. I heard a lion roar and remembered the village women saying lions could not climb trees. I found that tree and climbed up to the first branch. Unfortunately, the shawl caught on another branch, slipped from my shoulders and fell to the ground. I was going to climb down and get it, but I heard the laugh of a hyena nearby so I didn't.

"I was able to sleep a little by wedging myself in a fork of the branch. When I woke this morning, I looked down and saw the lions looking back up at me. If you hadn't come along and frightened them away, I would still be there."

I had to laugh at that.

"Well, your Massai women were wrong. Lions can and do climb trees. That pride had probably made a kill during the night so they weren't hungry. They were just curious about a person in a tree. So, what are you going to do now?"

She took another sip of scotch and then frowned.

"I do not really know. I need to find out what happened to Doctor Mann, though I fear the worst. According to the girl who warned me, the healer has as much power as the village leader, and that combined with their superstitions...well, I fear for his life."

I called to Knumbo and asked if he knew of the Massai tribe in the area. He said he had been to their village once with Harold, and that he spoke enough Maasai to talk with them. I asked him to go there tomorrow and ask them about Doctor Mann. Then I turned to Sharon.

"You must be starving. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Do you need to do anything before we eat? If you do, I'll come with you."

Sharon said she was fine, but that she was hungry.

The next morning at daylight, Knumbo started for the Maasai village. He returned in early afternoon with bad news. According to the villagers, Doctor Mann had wandered off in the middle of the night and they hadn't seen him since. Knumbo asked which direction the doctor had taken and nobody knew.

He didn't believe them and neither did I. I knew of the power of a healer in most native villages. It was likely the healer had either driven the doctor into the bush and left him there, or had taken him into the bush and then killed him. Either way, the doctor was probably dead.

When I explained this to Sharon, she asked if we could at least search the area to be certain. It was against my better judgement, but I saw tears in her eyes and couldn't very well refuse. After breakfast, Knumbo and I went back toward the village. I left Sharon with the headman and the porters with the instructions that under no circumstances were they to allow anything to happen to her.

My intention was to track the doctor to his final location assuming I could find evidence of his trail. Shortly before reaching the village, Knumbo and I circled the area and found that evidence. The Maasai wore no shoes, but the doctor wore hunting boots similar to mine, and had left tracks heading to the South and East. That was the direction back to Mombasa, and the direction he would have probably chosen if he knew where the village was.

After following those tracks for about an hour, we saw vultures circling in the air a few hundred yards away. As we got closer, we heard the distinctive sounds of hyenas. Knumbo and I both understood what that meant. He handed me my Winchester and we set off at a trot in the direction of the yelping hyenas.

When we rounded a large rock, we were surprised to see a white man with his back to the same rock and fending off three hyenas with a long, thick stick. A quick shot from the Winchester sent the hyenas running away. The man collapsed on the ground then.

He looked up at me and gasped, "Thank God you came along. I've been fighting those bloody bastards off all night and I'm about done in."

We let him rest for half an hour and then started back for camp. On the way, I explained that we'd also found Sharon, and that she was well. He seemed happy about that, happy enough I wondered if the doctor and Sharon were more than researcher and assistant.

Upon our arrival at camp, that thought came to me again. When Sharon saw him, she ran up and embraced him, then asked if he was all right. The look on her face told me she was very concerned.

I started our group back to Mombasa after a light lunch. It was slow going at first because Doctor Mann had not yet recovered all his strength. To give him some relief, the head man and one of the porters made a stretcher of sorts from two branches and the hide of a gazelle the head man had shot that morning. They carried him from that camp to our night camp.

The next day, Doctor Mann said he would rather walk, so we started after a light breakfast and made good time. By nightfall, we were half a day away from Mombasa.

Sharon had not stopped her attentions to Doctor Mann, and though there was obviously at least ten years between their ages, she seemed devoted to him. I knew many English men took much younger wives and I figured this was the case. In any event, it was none of my business. I had found Sharon to be a very interesting woman, and a woman I would have enjoyed knowing better, but apparently she had found her mate in Doctor Mann.

Kam was surprised at our arrival because I had planned to stay in the bush for another two weeks. She took it in stride though, and said she had enough food for us all and would make sleeping arrangements for Sharon and Doctor Mann.

At dinner that night, I asked Doctor Mann what he was going to do now. He frowned.

"I had intended to study the Maasai, but after that heathen witch doctor drove me out of the village and left me for the hyenas, I shall book passage on the first ship leaving for England. I have enough information to write a paper on my findings. Perhaps that paper will enable me to form a proper expedition to further my studies."

I assumed Sharon would go with him, so I did not ask the same question of her.

Doctor Mann and Sharon went into Mombasa to book passage the next morning and buy some clothes for Sharon. When they came back they said they would be forced to stay in Mombasa for another two weeks. Doctor Mann said he had enough money to book hotel rooms for that time. I'd grown accustomed to having other white people to talk with, so I offered my house instead. Kam was happy too. As I suppose is normal for most women, Kam and Sharon had taken an instant liking to each other, though I thought it a little different since they were of different races.

I still had business to attend to, though my scouting trip for lions had been the end of my far-ranging trips. I had only to arrange for sufficient supplies and porters to carry them for the pending expedition. As a result, for most of the next two weeks, I was out of the house in Mombasa or in the surrounding villages. After my first trip to a village to recruit porters, Sharon asked if she could come along on the next one.

"I enjoyed talking with the Maasai women and would like to continue to find out about the women in the tribes around Mombasa. I can talk to them while you find your porters."

Over the next two weeks, Sharon accompanied me on most of my village trips. She wore either the wrap Knumbo had given her or one of Kam's dresses. She said she'd fit in better that way.

The native people living around Mombasa were a mix of tribes drawn to the city by the promise of work after their herds had been killed off by the rinderpest epidemic. As we rode in my carriage back from each village, Sharon would tell me how each tribe differed and what she found most interesting about them. I found those trips to be very enjoyable myself. I had little difficulty finding porters, and Sharon's company during the trips coming and going was refreshing.

One week into the two weeks before the steamer sailed, my client arrived. One day later, after saying goodbye to Doctor Mann and Sharon, Knumbo and I led the way into the bush.

It was an excellent hunt for both me and the client. Everything went as right as rain, from finding the trophy animals he wanted to him being an excellent shot. At the end of the month, my client had specimens of most of the African wildlife prepared and preserved for mounting when he got back to England, including a massive, black-maned lion. I had never and still do not understand the need to have the stuffed heads and tanned skins of animals decorating my home, but if the client was happy, I was happy.

After taking the trophies to a packer to be crated for the return voyage to England, I left my client in a good hotel and returned home.

It would be good to be home after a month in the bush. I loved the bush and the animals there, but living in a tent for a month made me wish for a soft bed inside a sturdy house. I knew I was home when I smelled Kam's kudu roast as I reached for the door. She knew when I would be home and had cooked my favorite meal.

I found Kam in the kitchen spooning the juices over the roast to keep it moist. She looked up and smiled.

"You got back a little early. Dinner won't be ready for about an hour. That is good though. We need to talk about something that has been bothering me."

I poured myself a scotch and sat down at the table.

"What has been bothering you?"

Kam closed the oven door, put her spoon on the counter and then sat down across from me.

"You have been bothering me."

Since she'd never complained before, I wasn't sure what she meant so I asked her to explain.

Kam put her hands together and looked at me with a stern face.

"When you brought Miss Sharon back with you, I started thinking that it was time you took a wife. A Swahili man would already have a wife and four children when he is your age. You need a wife to take care of you."

I said I thought she was doing a very good job of that, but Kam shook her head.

"I am not the same as a wife. I can not warm your bed at night and I can not give you children. You need a young woman to do that for you."

I shrugged.

"In case you haven't noticed, there aren't many young women around Mombasa except for native girls, and you know what the people of Mombasa would think about that."

Kam put her palms on the table.

"There was one, but you let her go back to England."

"You mean Sharon? It was obvious she and Doctor Mann were together."

Kam smiled.

"Men do not understand women. Yes, Miss Sharon was concerned about Doctor Mann, but not in the way you think. She told me he was too old for her liking."

"Well, it doesn't matter now. She's on a steamer bound for England and I doubt she'll come back."

Kam smiled again.

"You did like her, didn't you?"

"Well, yes, I did. She was a lot different from the other white women in Mombasa. She seemed to like going out into the bush and talking with the natives. When I found her in that tree, she seemed to be more aggravated than afraid. That was a lot different too. Most women would have been terrified."

"So, if you had known she didn't have feelings for Doctor Mann, you would have asked her to stay?"

I wasn't sure how to answer Kam. I had liked Sharon. I'd liked her a lot, but wasn't about to try to get between her and Doctor Mann.

"I don't know, Kam. She seemed to be smarter and more sophisticated than I am. If I'd asked her to stay, she'd probably have said she couldn't. Like I said, it doesn't matter now."

Kam grinned.

"I told you, didn't I?"

I started to ask Kam what she was talking about, but the voice behind me stopped me from saying anything.

"If you had asked me to stay, I might have surprised you."

Sharon walked into the kitchen smiling. She was wearing an actual dress, a dress that fitted her like a dress is supposed to fit a woman.

"Sharon, you didn't go back to England."

"No. After you left on your expedition, I asked Kam if you were seeing any women. She said you weren't and asked why I wanted to know. I said I liked you and I liked Mombasa. Then she told me she thought you liked me. I decided to stay until you came back so I could find out. If you don't want me to stay, I'll go back to England, but I'd rather stay here with you."

I couldn't answer her right away. There were too many thoughts running through my head. When I finally did, all I could say was what was wrong with her staying.

"Sharon, I don't have much to offer you. This house isn't what you're probably used to and I don't have a lot of money. I'll be away more than I'm home so you'll spend a lot of time by yourself. When I am home, I'll be busy arranging for the next hunting or exploring trip. I can't ask you to go through all that. Besides, you hardly know me."

Sharon smiled.

"From the way you've always treated me and by what Kam says, I know you well enough to know you're a good man who would care for me just like I would care for you. You also obviously care for the natives, the same natives I can call friends after the past weeks.

"As for the rest, you don't have to ask me to do that. In spite of what you think, my parents didn't have a lot of money and we didn't live in a nice house. I just decided I wanted something better out of life so I went to school and then to university. I had to work hard to do it, but I did it.

"I won't be alone when you're gone. Kam and I have decided that she should stay. She's become a second mother to me."

All I could say was that she and Kam seemed to have planned out everything for me. Sharon just smiled again.

"John, I'm not like other English women. Just as when I went to university, when I see what I want, I'm not shy about it. I know what I'm doing isn't proper, but I don't want to be proper and wait until I'm thirty years old to finally find a husband."

"So, you're proposing to me. I always thought it was supposed to be the other way around."

Sharon chuckled.

"It is supposed to be that way if the man is brave enough to take the lead. Otherwise, it must be a woman's option if the man is the man she wants. I'm just exercising that option."

I still wasn't sure. I mean, yes, I liked Sharon for a lot of reasons. Was I ready for something permanent? I honestly didn't know.

I spent a month with Sharon living in the house with Kam and me while I was arranging for my next safari. That was quite a change from how I'd lived when it was just Kam and me. After dinner, Kam would clean up the kitchen and then retire to her room. I would be left to myself. I'd grown accustomed to that life.

With Sharon there, my nights were filled with lively discussions with Sharon or sometimes just a quiet evening on the porch with a scotch. While I didn't realize it at the time, I was becoming very accustomed to that new life as well.

The next expedition would take a month in the bush because the client didn't want to hunt animals. He wanted to photograph them. African animals are very good at hiding when they want to, so one must keep searching until the animal is willing to stand still long enough to take a photograph.

The day after the client arrived, we started into the bush with seventy-five porters to carry the rations and equipment. I had my doubts about one head man being able to handle that many porters, so I'd hired a second. I spit the caravan into two sections -- one to carry the camp and rations, and a second of ten men to carry the photographic equipment. One of those men would accompany the client, myself, and Knumbo to carry a spare camera and several cans of the new roll film the client was going to use.

Normally, my days in the bush went by quickly. This time, they seemed to drag on forever. I told myself it was because we might walk half of the morning before finding a particular animal only to have it run away when we approached close enough for the client's liking.

Nights in the bush were even longer. As was my usual plan, after dinner I would engage the client in conversation until nightfall at which time we would retire to our cots. Both the conversation and my cot were lacking in pleasure on this trip. I found myself looking to my left or right to see Sharon, only to see the client or Knumbo. In my cot, it was difficult to fall asleep. I would lie there and wonder if Sharon had visited more natives and what she had discovered.

After twenty-five days, the client had almost all the photographs he wanted and was convinced finding the animals he lacked would take more time than he was willing to expend. We packed up everything and started back to Mombasa, and arrived there five days later. I escorted the client and his equipment to a hotel and then went back to my house.

The same excited feeling I'd had when I went on my first expedition with Harold grew and grew as I approached my home. I expected to smell another of Kam's kudu roasts, and indeed that wonderful scent filled my senses when I stepped onto the porch. I didn't expect Sharon to meet me at the door, throw her arms around me and hold me tight.

It wasn't the embrace I'd felt often, first from my mother and then from Kam. It was more. I felt Sharon's soft breasts pressing into my chest and her soft cheek beside mine as she whispered, "I'm so happy you're back. I missed you terribly." When I looked through the door, I saw Kam standing there and smiling.

"If you two can separate long enough, dinner will be ready in about an hour."

Every night since I'd first moved into the house with Harold, Kam had eaten with me. After Sharon decided to stay, Kam ate with both of us. That night, she served Sharon and I, and then said, "I will eat in the kitchen. You two must have some talking to do."

I turned to Sharon then.

"You to planned this, didn't you?"

Sharon shook her head.

"No, we didn't. Kam did. She said we would want to talk about things that she didn't need to hear. Do you think we do?"

As I'd come back from the hotel, I'd done a lot of thinking, and as my excitement built, I realized my life had taken another fork in the road without me realizing it had happened. The excitement I felt wasn't a feeling of coming home to my house and comfortable life. It was the excitement of coming home to Sharon.

I'm afraid my conversation with Sharon was a little disjointed that night, because I'd never talked to a woman like I talked to Sharon that night. She didn't say much. She just sat there eating her kudu roast and nodding at what I said. She smiled when I told her about thinking about her every night. She smiled again when I said I'd been excited to be coming home.

When I told Sharon I didn't like not being with her, I saw a tear trickle down her cheek.

"Does that mean what I hope it means", she asked.

I reached across the table and touched Sharon's hand.