Reluctantly she clambered down from their vantage point and set out towards the place where they had left the Land Rover. By the time they arrived the daylight was gone, and a huge yellow moon hung low in the night sky. Sarah had driven the vehicle deep into a thicket, hoping that maximum shade would save the interior from turning into a furnace. They opened the doors, rolled down the windows and sat in the shadows to drink some tea from the Thermos.

Sarah was about to start the engine when the noise reached them. Shots. Coming from the direction they had just left. Then they heard the high screaming of an elephant in pain, the enraged trumpeting of its companions, the panicked crashing of animals in full flight. And human voices, shouting. Sarah was transfixed with shock for a few seconds. Then a maelstrom of fury flooded her as she pictured her beloved herd being attacked. She rammed the vehicle into gear and started the engine, a wild notion of pursuing the poachers in her mind. But Erope leaned forward, signalling for silence, his fingers closing over her arm in warning, gripping her wrist, forcing her to turn off the ignition. She glared at him, but he put his finger to his lips and shook his head. She could not dislodge his hand, and she sat, seething with frustration, listening to the sound of slaughter. It was some time before she realised the reason for Erope’s insistence. The lorry that the bandits were using came around a bend in the track. As they approached, Sarah saw that there were at least ten men, heavily armed, in the back of the vehicle. Shifta from the Somali border. If they had revealed their presence, she and Erope would now be dead. They watched, unnoticed, as the truck crawled past with several men on watch, rifles at the ready. Sarah could see two pairs of tusks in the back, and panic rose in her as she wondered which of her precious family had been slaughtered. Erope kept a restraining hand on her arm until he was sure the poachers were gone. Then they started the car and drove slowly and cautiously, without lights, down the rough track towards the place where they had left Judith and her little entourage.