He is just a junior officer, a lieutenant or captain, he decided.
The women were harder to place. They were all young, in their twenties he estimated. They were all very well dressed and they sparkled with jewellery. They were very attractive and wore evening gowns that exposed ample cleavages. But they also seemed to be acting, as though they were nervous or anxious and trying not to show it.
I wonder if they are here voluntarily? Willy speculated.
Then the big African chortled with laughter again and Willy heard one of the men address him as General. At that the penny dropped. Images from ten years of television news seemed to click through his head.
He is General Tambo, he thought.
For several seconds, Willy stared in bemusement. General Tambo, former dictator of Kadonga, the megalomaniac of Central Africa. He was ousted in a coup a few months ago. What is he doing here? How did he get here? he wondered.
As Willy puzzled over this the dinner guests continued their pre-dinner drinks and chatter. Willy studied the group intently and after watching for a few more minutes he had absolutely no doubt that the man was General Tambo.
Tambo got away and is supposed to have taken a fortune in diamonds, platinum and gold with him, Willy remembered.
He also remembered that Tambo had a fearsome reputation as a killer. He was reputed to have shot dead a cabinet minister during a conference and was repeatedly named as having personally tortured and executed hundreds of his enemies.
He had secret police called the Midnight Machete Men. They specialized in cutting up the opponents of the regime and feeding them to crocodiles, Willy thought.
At that moment, a dog began to bark—a big dog. It came racing around the corner of the house and down the lawn towards Willy.
Chapter 8
A TERRIFYING SHOCK
The dog was on a long leash and appeared to be dragging its handler behind it. The savage animal dashed to the fence near Willy and sprang at the wire mesh. It snarled and barked and Willy cringed against the tree trunk in terror. He heard the sound of shouts and running boots.
So great was his fear that he could not bring himself to run, even though his racing mind told him that he must have been seen and that every second counted. Then his fear was ratcheted up a notch when he heard a man call out from close by. It was Zoltan.
“Lights! Turn off the lights!” Zoltan commanded. The house and patio lights were doused and for a few seconds Willy could see almost nothing.
He will have his rifle. If I run I will be shot down, Willy thought.
It was all he could do not to lose control of his bowels and bladder and he bit his lip so as not to whimper aloud. His heart hammered and he tensed in anticipation of a desperate flight.
Out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed movement and he flicked his eyes to look. Through the wire mesh he glimpsed a human shape but it had a strange misshapen head. Then Willy saw what looked like a single green eye and he knew a whole extra level of terror.
He’s got a night vision device, he thought.
Meanwhile the dog continued its barking and scratching at the wire netting. Willy flattened himself against the trunk as far from Zoltan as he could get.
Then his fear was sent up to a bowel watering level when Zoltan cried out exultantly. “It is him! He is here! Turn on the spotlights.”
They’ve seen me! thought Willy.
Desperate thoughts of stepping out with his hands up fluttered in his panicking mind.
Suddenly three floodlights on the rear of the patio roof came on. They were so bright that, even though he was in the shadow of the tree trunk, Willy was momentarily blinded. All he could do was stand shivering with his back to the tree.
Zoltan added to this by calling, “There he is general! See him? Isn’t he a beauty?”
Willy heard women scream in horror and he flinched. The men all called out and began to talk excitedly. Zoltan cried excitedly, “Will I shoot him?”
At that Willy almost collapsed with terror. He cringed and when he heard the dog jump against the wire close to him he flinched.
General Tambo called out, “No, do not shoot the beast. He is one of my creatures. My, he is a good specimen.”
What on earth is he talking about? Willy thought in bewilderment. And then his eyes focused on the shape halfway up the lawn and he experienced yet another level of fear. Oh my God! he gasped.
Facing him about ten paces away, mouth wide and rows of teeth showing, was an enormous crocodile.
Waves of fear washed through Willy. He saw the monster’s eyes glint red and then yellow in the light and he was sure it was looking at him. The reptile’s stare transfixed him.
Then more fear was added when one of the men cried, “There are more of the beasts, look!”
Willy did. In the bright light, he clearly saw at least half a dozen sets of red eyes glinting from among the trees at the bottom of the bank. As the implications of what he was looking at sank in his hair seemed to stand on end with fright and he gasped with shock.
Holy bloody hell! Those things must have been there in the billabong when I was lying in the water drinking, he thought.
But what to do? Willy was sure that the monster croc—it looked to be four or five metres long and so fat around the middle he was sure that if he had sat on its back (Perish the thought!) his feet would not have touched the ground.
That bloody thing has been stalking me, he told himself. And it was still looking in his direction although its head was waving from side to side and it was letting out little grunts and hissing noises that sent his blood cold.
But how to escape? If I move the men will see me. Then I am dead for sure, he told himself.
The people had all moved closer so Willy could hear every word. General Tambo chuckled with delight and said, “He is a magnificent specimen. Do not harm him. I have often found crocodiles to be very useful creatures.”
“How is that General?” Mr Dragovisic asked.
“They make sure there is no inconvenient evidence,” General Tambo replied, then he chuckled again. As Willy understood what he meant he shuddered.
That might be me, he thought.
His terror was added to by hearing Mr Dragovisic say, “That will be what happens to you Carla, if you try to escape again.”
Willy heard a woman sob and say, “I won’t Mr Dragovisic, I won’t.”
Carla? Willy wondered. Is she the woman who tried to escape?
Another man commented. “The crocodiles certainly guard your back very well.”
“They do that,” Zoltan agreed.
A woman then said, “I hope this fence is strong enough.”
“It is,” Zoltan replied. He then belted the dog around the head and snarled, “Shut up, you stupid mutt, or I will let you out.”
“I hope there are no holes in the fence,” the woman went on.
“There aren’t. I check it every day,” Zoltan said.
Willy then realized that the fence was more to keep creatures out than to keep people in. And I am on the wrong side of it!
But how far did it extend? He cautiously turned his head and looked to his right. The fence went on out of sight into the darkness. It can’t go too far. I didn’t run into it when I went between the houses, he reasoned. He presumed the fence enclosed the house and