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“How do you know this is the direction we’re going?”
“Because of the silver line.”
“What line?”
“That line.” She pointed ahead and I was completely confused as I searched the landscape in front of us. This wasn’t a place Jeeps would be driving. It was hard enough to make our way between thorn bushes on foot.
“I have no clue what you’re talking about. I don’t see any silver anywhere.”
“It’s something people from tribes around the world has spoken about forever; from the native Americans in the US to the Aboriginals in Australia. The best trackers don’t follow physical signs only. They connect to the animal’s spirit and a silver line appears above the ground at times to show them the way.
“And you see that line now?”
“I do. We’re going in the right direction.”
Ten minutes later, we saw small dots of lions in the distance and when we finally came close enough to see them up close, I realized they were chewing on shoes and bones.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” Even though I wasn’t religious, I’d grown up in Ireland and knew when a situation called for strong words.
Fleur scanned the bushy area and dipped her head in the direction of fabric hanging on a thorn bush. “Let’s pick up what we can find.”
“Wait, we should film this first, otherwise no one will believe us.”
I pulled out my pocket camera and zoomed in on the lions chewing on the shoes from the poachers. After that, we collected torn fabric from pants and shirts, some bones, and two skulls that had been picked to the bone. When the lions lost interest in the shoes, we picked up three chewed-up sneakers as well. They weren’t from the same pairs, which confirmed Fleur’s message that three men had been killed here.
Fleur kept walking around as if looking for something.
“I think this is enough to prove your point,” I said with the bag in my hand.
“Someone knows about this and is covering it up,” Fleur said in a matter-of-fact tone. “If the lions had gotten all of the poachers, there would be a car left behind, but someone got away.”
“What are you saying?”
“The lions and elephants both showed me a lodge car, but I can’t tell which one it is. I’m looking for anything that could give away which lodge the ranger works at.”
“How many lodges are there here?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Mike.”
Most of the lions were napping but I still kept my distance from them as we kept searching.
I was the one to find a wire cutter and ten minutes later Fleur found a long axe.
“Yeah, they definitely came for rhino horns,” I muttered as we continued searching the area.
“Check this out.” Fleur waved me over and pointed to a thorn bush. What looked like a beige-colored cap was stuck under it.
We managed to get it out by pulling off sticks from a tree and working together.
Fleur held up the cap to the lions, but I saw no big reaction from them.
“This is what they showed me.” She looked at the logo with the sun and a tree. “There’s no name, but hopefully, Mike will know what lodge this logo belongs to.”
“Are we done now?” I asked.
“Yes. Let’s get out of here before the poacher who got away alive comes back to stop us.”
I carried the bag as we trekked back to the car. The drive back to Mike’s lodge was faster since we didn’t have to follow walking lions. A few times, we stopped to watch rhinos, wild dogs, buffalo, and zebras, but never for long as we were both eager to get back.
