Vulture Is a Patient Bird Read online

  Then she heard a gentle tap on the door. Thinking it was Garry, she hastened across the lounge and opened the door. She was confronted by a Zulu who towered above her, the overhead light making his black skin glisten and the blade of his assigai flash.

  She stifled a scream and stepped hurriedly back, her hand going to her mouth. The Zulu glared at her, his eyes like wet stones.

  “You come with me,” he growled and *stepped aside.

  “What do you want?” Gaye asked, her voice husky with shock.

  “The Master wants you… come!”

  She hesitated. So Garry had been right after all, she thought, they had walked into a trap. By now she was recovering from her shock. There was nothing else to do but to obey, and lifting her head high, she walked out into the corridor.

  The Zulu pointed to the double doors at the far end of the corridor with his assigai.

  She knew it was useless to try to escape so she walked down the corridor, followed by the Zulu.

  When she finally reached the double doors, they swung open automatically. Without looking at the Zulu, she walked into Kahlenberg’s office, her heart thumping and her mouth dry.

  At the far end of the vast room, Kahlenberg was sitting at his desk, a cigarette between his fingers, Hindenburg at his side.

  “Ah, Miss Desmond,” he said, looking up. “Please come and join me. I am watching something of great interest.”

  As she moved around the desk, she saw the small TV set was on. Kahlenberg waved to a chair near his, away from Hindenburg who hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she had entered the room.

  “Sit down and look at this.”

  She sat down, folding her hands in her lap and looked at the lighted screen. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Fennel kneeling in front of the door leading to the museum.

  “I believe he is actually defeating my beautiful lock,” Kahllenberg said. “The makers assured me no one could do it.”

  Fennel suddenly sat back on his heels.

  “I’ve done it!” he exclaimed. His voice, slightly muffled, came through the speaker well enough.

  Then Garry moved into the picture.

  “Your friend is clever,” Kahlenberg said. Although he spoke mildly, his eyes glittered angrily. “I didn’t believe he could do it, but as you see, he has done it.”

  Gaye said nothing.

  “Usually, we immobilize the lift,” Kahlenberg went on, leaning back in his chair, his eyes still on the screen. “But I was interested to see if this expert could break in. I will have to talk seriously with the makers. This won’t do at all.”

  They watched Fennel and Garry enter the museum. The picture changed to another angle as Kahlenberg reached forward and pressed a button on the set.

  “I didn’t want to alarm your friends so I didn’t operate this set until they were satisfied it wasn’t operating,” Kahlenberg went on. Now I fear they are in for a disappointment and a surprise.”

  The picture showed the two men staring at the pedestal in the lighted alcove.

  Gaye heard Fennel say, “What is it?”

  Leaning forward, Kahlenberg turned off the set.

  “They will be here in a few minutes, Miss Desmond,” he said. He reached for a gold cigarette box and offered it. “A cigarette?”

  “Thank you.” Gaye took a cigarette and accepted a light. “By the way, how is Mr. Shalik?”

  If he had expected to startle her, he was disappointed. Her face was expressionless as she said, “Last time I saw him, he seemed very well.”

  “He continues to concoct his miserable little swindles?”

  “I really don’t know. He always seems to be busy, but just what he does I have no idea.”

  “It is time he was stopped for good.” The flash of fire in Kahlenberg’s eyes made her remember that Garry had thought this man was unbalanced. “He is developing into a nuisance.”

  “Do you think so? I should have thought he is no more of a nuisance than others,” Gaye said coolly. “After all, Mr. Kahlenberg, surely you are birds of a feather?”

  Kahlenberg’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  “What makes you say that, Miss Desmond?”

  “Mr. Tak tells me everything in your museum is an original. I don’t imagine the authorities of Florence would have sold you the Ghiberti panel or the Bernini David. I do know you stole the Borgia ring. Surely you are just as much a nuisance to the curators of various museums as Mr. Shalik is to you.”

  Kahlenberg smiled.

  “Yes, I admit everything in my museum has been stolen, but there is a reason. I appreciate beautiful things. I need beauty. I am too busy to visit Europe so I prefer to have my beauty here where I can see it when I have the inclination. But Shalik only plots for money, not beauty. He lives for money as I live for beauty. I intend to stop him.”

  “Perhaps he needs the money,” Gaye said. “You have more than enough. Perhaps you would be like Mr. Shalik if you had no money.”

  Kahlenberg crushed out his cigarette. She could see he was controlling his temper only with an effort.

  “You are a spirited woman, Miss Desmond. I am sure Mr. Shalik would be flattered to hear you defending him.”

  “I am not defending him. I am just saying I see no difference between you and him,” Gaye said quietly.

  At this moment the double doors swung open and Garry and Fennel walked in.

  The four Zulus paused in the doorway, looking towards

  Kahlenberg who dismissed them with a wave of his hand. They stepped back and the doors closed.

  “Come in, gentlemen and sit down,” Kahlenberg said, waving to chairs opposite his desk. “As you see, Miss Desmond has already joined me.”

  Garry went to a chair and folded himself down into it, but Fennel remained standing, glaring at Kahlenberg.

  “Please sit down, Mr. Fennel,” Kahlenberg said quietly. “Let me congratulate you. I didn’t believe it was possible for anyone to open the door to my museum and yet you have done it. It is an achievement.”

  “You can cut out the soft soap!” Fennel snarled. We came for the ring and we haven’t got it so now we’re getting the hell out of here and you’re not stopping us!”

  “Certainly you shall leave,” Kahlenberg said, “but we have something to discuss first.”

  “I’m not discussing anything with you!” Fennel snapped. He was livid with rage and disappointment. He looked at Gaye and Garry. “Come on… he daren’t stop us.” And he started towards the door, grabbed the handle but found the door locked. He spun around, glaring at Kahlenberg. “Open this door or I’ll break your goddamn neck!”

  Kahlenberg raised his eyebrows.

  “That could be dangerous for you, Mr. Fennel,” he said and made a soft clicking sound with his tongue against his teeth. Immediately, Hindenburg stood up and began to move slowly forward, his eyes on Fennel, his lips off his teeth in a ferocious snarl that made Fennel back away. “I assure you,” Kahlenberg went on, “my pet would tear you to pieces if I give him another signal. Sit down!”

  Cowed by the cheetah, Fennel sat down abruptly by Garry. “Thank you,” Kahlenberg said, then went on, “I don’t want the effort you three have made to get the Borgia ring to be wasted. As Miss Desmond has rightly pointed out, the ring doesn’t legally belong to me. Since you all have shown so much initiative in getting as far as you have, I have decided to give you the ring on certain conditions.” He opened the drawer in his desk and took out the glass box, containing the ring. He placed the box on his desk where the three could see it.

  Fennel glared at the ring and then looked at Garry.

  “Is that it?” and when Garry nodded, Fennel turned to Kahlenberg. “What do you mean… conditions?”

  Kahlenberg addressed himself to Gaye.

  “Miss Desmond, although I live in considerable luxury, although I am an exceedingly busy man, there are times when I get very bored with myself. As you see, I am a cripple. I am chained to this chair. One of my ambitions when young was to
be a hunter. Nothing would have given me more satisfaction than to go on safari. But being a cripple, this has been impossible and I admit to a certain frustration. Any form of frustration to a man of my power and wealth is intolerable.”

  “What the hell is this?” Fennel demanded impatiently. “What are these conditions you are talking about?”

  Kahlenberg ignored him.

  “Here is the Borgia ring.” He picked up the glass box and handed it to Gaye. “I understand each of you will be paid nine thousand dollars when you hand the ring to Shalik.” He smiled bleakly. “You see, I have an excellent spy system. Nine thousand dollars to you is important money and naturally it will give you incentive to deliver the ring to Shalik.”

  “You mean you are giving us the ring?” Fennel demanded.

  “Miss Desmond already has it. I am now going to give you a further incentive… a much more important one… to deliver the ring to Shalik. But in spite of these two incentives, you still have to get the ring out of my estate.”

  “So that’s it,” Fennel’s eyes narrowed. “Your savages are going to stop us… is that it?”

  “If they can they will. I am going to arrange a hunt. You three and Mr. Jones who is waiting for you will be the hunted and my Zulus will be the hunters. You must regard it as exciting a game as I shall. You will have a reasonable chance to escape the hunters because I am going to give you a three hour start. You will leave here at 04.00 hrs. when it will be light enough for you to make good speed and you will need good speed. At 07.00 hrs. my Zulus will come after you. It will be entirely up to your speed and ingenuity to avoid them.”

  “Are you serious?” Garry asked.

  “Certainly I am very serious as you will discover should you be unfortunate enough to be captured.”

  “Suppose we are captured? What happens?”

  Kahlenberg inclined his head.

  “A sensible question, Mr. Edwards. If you are captured, you will be cruelly put to death. My men are extremely primitive. In the days of Shaka, the famous Zulu chief, when he caught his enemies, he had them impaled. This is done by hammering a sharpened skewer into the lower intestine and leaving the victim to die slowly and in extreme agony.”

  Garry’s face tightened.

  “And your savages would do that to us if they caught us?” he asked.

  “Yes, they would.”

  There was a long pause, then Garry said, “So you are staging this hunt to pander to your perverted, sadistic frustration. Is that it?”

  Kahlenberg’s face changed: from a courteous, mild spoken man he turned suddenly into a cruel, vicious looking lunatic.

  “I am going to teach you not to trespass on my estate,” he said, leaning forward and glaring at Garry. “You have dared to come here with your ridiculous tale and now you will pay for it!” He gained control of himself and sat back, his mouth working and he remained motionless until his rage died down. “It is necessary to get rid of you all since you have seen my museum. It is essential that you don’t escape to talk.”

  A little shaken to realize that his idea that Kahlenberg was mentally unbalanced was now confirmed, Garry said, “Then why give us the ring? Why not call your men in and kill us now?”

  “The hunt will amuse me. You have the ring because if you do happen to escape, you deserve to keep it… but I assure you, it is unlikely you will escape.”

  “Suppose we give you our word not to talk and leave the ring with you?” Garry said. “Would you allow us to use the helicopter and fly out?”

  “No, and in case you are hoping to use your helicopter, I will tell you at once that it is under guard. Ten of my Zulus surround it and tomorrow early, one of my pilots will fly it back to the company you hired it from.” He pressed a button on his desk and a panel slid back on the opposite wall revealing a relief map of the estate and the house. “I will give you a reasonable chance and I would be disappointed if the hunt were over in a few hours. I would like it to last several days. So please look at the map and study it. You will see the exit from the east is blocked by a range of mountains. Unless you are all expert rock climbers, I wouldn’t advise you to go that way. I will warn you my Zulus think nothing of scrambling down the mountainside of these dangerous heights and they would quickly catch up with you. Nor would I recommend the exit to the south. As you can see from the map there is a river there, but what isn’t shown is that the approaches to the river is swamp land and infested by crocodiles and some of the most deadly snakes in Natal. The north exit is straightforward. That is the way you came in. However, twenty of my Zulus are always guarding that approach. You didn’t see them as you came in, Mr. Fennel, but they saw you and Mr. Jones and were continually reporting your progress. So I would advise you not to leave that way as although they let you in on my instructions, you may be sure they won’t let you out. So this leaves only the west. It is not easy, but possible. You will find no water there, but there is a good jungle track that leads finally to the main highway to Mainville. It is some hundred and twenty kilometres and you would need to hurry. A Zulu can easily keep pace with a fast moving horse, but you do have a three hour start.” Kahlenberg looked at his watch. “It is past my bed time. Please return to the guest suite and get a little rest. At 04.00 hrs. you will be released. Again I advise you to move as quickly as you can.” He pressed a button on his desk and the doors opened. The four waiting Zulus came in.

  “Please go with these men,” Kahlenberg continued. “There is an old African saying which you will all do well to remember. It is that the vulture is a patient bird. Personally I would prefer a vulture to one of my Zulus. Good night.”

  Back in the guest suite and when Fennel closed the door, Garry said, “He’s a pathological case. I had a feeling about him the moment I saw him. Do you think he’s bluffing about the Zulus?”

  “No.” Gaye suppressed a shiver. “He is a sadistic pervert. That expression on his face when he let the mask drop! Let’s go now, Garry. They think the terrace doors are locked. We might gain seven hours if we leave at once.”

  Garry went to the terrace doors and opened them. He paused, then stepped back, closing the doors.

  “They are out there already… waiting.”

  Gaye joined him and peered through the glass. She could see a half-circle of squatting Zulus, facing her: the moonlight glittered on their spears, their ostrich plumes moved in the slight breeze. Feeling frightened, she moved away from the doors and sat down.

  “What are we going to do, Garry?”

  “Are you any good on a mountain?” Garry asked, coming to sit by her side.

  “I don’t think so… . I’ve never tried.”

  “You can cut the mountains out,” Fennel said, wiping his face with the back of his arm. “I’ve no head for heights.”

  “We’ll have to consult Ken. We have to start north to pick Themba up. Without him, we’re not going to get out.”

  “That’s right,” Fennel said. “Ken says that the guy has a compass in his head. He’ll get us out.”

  “Let’s have a drink.” Garry got to his feet and went over to the bar. “What will you have, Gaye?”

  “Nothing at this hour.”

  “Lew?”

  “Scotch.”

  As Garry mixed the drinks, he asked, “Has Ken got the Springfield with him?”

  “No. We left it with Themba.”

  “We could need it.”

  “Yeah. We’ll pick up Ken, and then go straight to where we left Themba. He’s not only got the rifle, but extra water and most of the food. If we have to walk all the goddamn way, we could be at it for three or even four days.”

  Garry saw Gaye was examining the ring through the glass of the box. He joined her and peered over her shoulder.

  “Take it out and wear it,” he said. “That box is awkward to carry and could get smashed. The ring will be a lot safer on your hand than in the box.”

  “If anyone’s going to wear it, it’ll be me,” Fennel said, putting down his drink.
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  “She’s wearing it,” Garry said quietly. “I trust her, but I can’t say I trust you.”

  Fennel glared at him, but Garry’s steady stare made him hesitate. Finally, he sat down with bad grace and picking up his glass, he drained it. Okay, you sonofabith, he thought. I’ll fix you,

  when I fix her.

  Gaye took the ring out of the box.

  “The diamonds are lovely, but the ring isn’t very beautiful, is it?” She tried the ring on the third finger of her right hand, but found it much too loose. “Of course, I was forgetting… it’s a man’s ring.” She slid it on her thumb. “This is all right. It’s a little awkward, but it won’t come off.”

  Garry looked at his watch. The time was 02.00 hrs.

  “Go and lie down, Gaye. I’m going to my room. We want all the rest we can get. We don’t know when we’ll get our next sleep.”

  He watched her go to her room, then he went to his, ignoring Fennel.

  Fennel stretched out on the settee. He knew he wouldn’t sleep. All his desire and frustration came back to him as he thought of Gaye.

  If he had to follow her back to England, he told himself, he would get even with her. He had hoped to have found a chance of fixing her on the way back to Mainville, but they would have to keep moving if they were to shake off the Zulus. Fennel shifted uneasily. The thought of being hunted by a pack of Zulus dried his mouth.

  A little before 04.00 hrs., Gaye was awakened by the sound of the beating of a drum. She sat up, swung her feet to the floor and listened.

  Not far away, she could hear the rhythmic sound of the drum like a pulse beat. She looked hastily at her watch and saw it was two minutes to the hour. She snatched up her rucksack and went into the lounge.

  Garry and Fennel were standing by the terrace doors.

  A giant Zulu came across the terrace and beckoned to them. He was a magnificent specimen of a man in his leopard skin and ostrich plumes.

  “Here we go,” Garry said and opened the terrace doors.

  The drum beat now was very loud. A row of some thirty Zulus made a wall of glistening black bodies, covered with leopard skins. The ostrich plume head-dresses bobbed as they shuffled and stamped to the drum beat. They carried long narrow shields of buffalo hide and held in their left hands six throwing spears as they bent, straightened, shuffled and stamped. They made a frightening, awe-inspiring sight.