Читать книгу The Boy and the Poacher's Moon - Pamela Newham - Страница 5

Billy spotted the bus as soon as he walked out of the airport terminal. It was yellow with “WILD2SAVE” written in massive orange letters on the side and a cartoon sketch of a lion cub in a school uniform. A small, plump woman, dressed in a khaki skirt and shirt, was waiting next to the bus. She started waving as Billy walked towards her. He took a deep breath.

“So, here you are at last,” she said, rushing up to him. “You must be Billy. I’m Bokkie Kriek. We’ve talked on the phone. You found us okay?”

But before he could explain that he was late because the plane had been delayed, she went on, “You’re the last one, so we’re going to have to get going. Is this all your luggage?” She glanced at his backpack. “You can take that on board with you. All right?”

Billy nodded and climbed onto the bus behind Bokkie.

The man at the wheel had a brush cut and the shoulders of a rugby lock forward. He nodded at Billy.

“This is Karel Smit,” said Bokkie. “Now, quickly go and find yourself a seat.”

That wasn’t difficult. The bus was big enough to seat about twenty people, so the three other passengers looked lost. As strangers thrown together on a bus or train usually do, they had each chosen a seat to themselves. Billy forced himself to smile at the boy and two girls as he walked down the aisle. He dropped into the seat behind the boy.

He’d barely sat down before Karel started the bus, and it lurched forward. Billy looked out of the window. He couldn’t believe he was actually in Johannesburg. Not that he was going to see anything of it.

“Welcome everyone, and congratulations!”

Bokkie was standing in the front of the bus, smiling.

“You’re the fantastic four, you know. The ones who made it to the finals of our WILD2SAVE Eco Competition. We know it wasn’t easy. Sixty schools entered, and now here you are. The ones who ended up with top marks. It’s taken a lot of hard work, and you should be extremely proud of yourselves.” She clapped her hands and looked at each of them in turn.

“Mmm, now I wonder which one of you is going to win that bursary? Exciting, hey? You know what that means? When you finish matric next year, one of you will be able to go to university to study conservation. And ALL your costs will be covered. Worth winning?”

The boy in front of Billy called out, “Yesss!”, and they all laughed.

Bokkie continued. “Okay, but forget about all that. This is your weekend to relax and have fun. A weekend at the Kruger Park. Your prize for getting this far. You won’t believe all the exciting things that lie ahead of you. Okay, I’m going to hand out your itineraries for the weekend, and while I’m doing that, I think it’s time for you to get to know each other.” She reached down and took some folders out of her briefcase.

Billy glanced around. Sitting across the aisle from him was a girl with long dark hair, wearing a bright pink baseball cap. She’d been texting ever since Billy got on the bus and hadn’t glanced up once while Bokkie was talking.

The boy sitting in front of Billy turned around. “Hey, dude! Howzit? I’m Vusi Mabuza from Durbs. And sitting behind you is Jabulani Ntuli. She’s a Jozi girl.”

Billy turned around. Jabulani looked up from the wildlife magazine on her lap. She smiled and pushed her glasses further up her nose. “Hello. Just call me Jabu.”

Billy’s throat was dry. The way it always was when he met strangers. He said, “Um, hi, um, Jabu.” He turned to face forward again. “Hi, Vusi, I’m, um, Billy Samuels from Cape Town.”

He and Vusi bumped fists.

“Okay, from Cape Town, hey? Didn’t know they had any wild animals there. Thought you only had Table Mountain and the sea. Oh, and gangs. They’re pretty hectic, hey.” He paused and eyed Billy. He widened his eyes. “You aren’t in a gang are you, dude?”

Billy stared at Vusi for a moment and then shook his head.

Behind him, he heard Jabu click her tongue.

“What kind of question’s that?” she asked. Before Vusi could answer, she said, “So, Billy, what made you enter the WILD2SAVE competition?”

“Er, actually, I’m really interested in conservation. I’ve read a lot, and I’ve watched wildlife programmes on TV but …”

“Oh,” said Vusi. “TV. Wow! But have you actually ever seen a wild animal, dude?”

Billy felt his face get hot. “Um, porcupines, baboons, small buck, things like that. I saw an elephant at the circus once,” he added lamely. And then immediately wanted to kick himself.

Vusi laughed. “I’m just yanking your chain, dude. About the gangs. Everything. You’ll get used to me.”

Billy gave a weak smile. He knew Vusi wouldn’t joke about gangs if he lived in a place where they were a constant threat.

But Vusi had turned his attention to the girl in the pink baseball cap. She was still busy with her cellphone.

Billy flopped back in his seat. Aaargh! Why did he always sound like an idiot? He wished he could be like Vusi. Never without a smart answer. Nothing shy about him.

Vusi had moved across and was sitting next to the cellphone girl.

“WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat?” Vusi asked.

“What?” she said and looked up, startled.

“You haven’t stopped since we got on the bus,” he said. “Am I interrupting a long conversation with your boyfriend?”

By the expression on her face, Billy could tell she was not happy to be interrupted. “I’m just …” Then she glanced at the three curious faces watching her, shrugged and swiped her phone.

“So, what’s your name?” asked Vusi.

“Surina Govender,” she replied.

“Riiight,” said Vusi. “I’m guessing you’re from KZN too.”

“No actually, Bloemfontein,” Surina said. She raised her eyebrows at Vusi and tilted her head to one side. Then she turned her big dark eyes on Billy.

He gulped. “Um, hi,” he said. “I’m Billy.”

Vusi pointed to himself. “And I’m Vusi, and that’s Jabu. So now we all know each other. Bloem, hey? What do you do for fun in Bloemfontein? Seems pretty dead to me.”

“Oh really?” Surina said in a bored voice.

“What do you think, hey Billy? Ever been to Bloem?”

Billy shook his head.

“Oh well, I guess you just ain’t a travellin’ man, my bru.” Vusi’s attempt at an American accent was dismal.

Surina looked at Vusi and sighed. Then she gave Billy a smile and rolled her eyes. She turned back to her cellphone.

Billy felt his mouth go dry again. He wanted to say something, but his mind was one big fat blank. He was saved by Bokkie trotting up the aisle towards them.

“Good, you’re all getting to know each other,” she said, handing them each an itinerary. “Have a look through it, and if you’ve got any questions, just ask. You’ll see that before we get to Kruger, we’re going to stop off at our farm, which is also the WILD2SAVE headquarters. My husband, Schalk, can’t wait to meet you all. You’ll also get to meet Thandi. She’s a young ranger at Kruger, and she will be showing you around this weekend. Sound good?”

They all nodded, and Vusi said, “A farm, hey. What do you grow there?”

Bokkie had a strange way of twitching her nose, Billy noticed. With her big brown eyes and soft ginger hair, she did look like a little buck. Maybe that’s where she got her name from.

“Well, we don’t actually grow things or keep cattle on the farm anymore because we’re busy setting it up as a wildlife sanctuary,” she said. “Our plan is to keep injured animals or those that are endangered. We’re also going to set up a learning centre to teach young guys like you about conservation.”

“Sounds cool,” said Vusi.

Jabu asked, “What animals have you got?”

“We’re just starting out so not too many yet. Some impala, kudu, a few zebra. But we do have something very special, which you’ll see when …”

There was a loud shriek. All eyes turned to Surina.

“What’s up?” asked Vusi.

Surina held up the itinerary. “It says here that when we get to Kruger, we have to hand in our cellphones.” She looked at them, her dark eyes wide. “But that’s insane. I can’t survive without my phone!”

Billy and Vusi glanced at each other, then burst out laughing. The look on Surina’s face was something else.