BooksBarbecue
Back The Ringmaster
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. The Ringmaster
  3. Contents
  4. Prologue
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. Epilogue
  72. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  73. Copyright

The sight of this broken man and the thought of the task ahead led me to do something I would never have believed possible, considering my feelings towards him. I bent down and kissed Terry Bennett on the forehead. When I looked up, I could see the van man running towards us. Hopefully, he’d be able to get some help. Right now, my priorities were elsewhere. I got up, and holding the shotgun army-style in front of me, began to run up the road. Despite the nearness of so many police and emergency staff, I’d never felt quite so alone. I’d often gone out hunting with my dad and brothers on the farm, but there was one hell of a difference between potting a few possums and the odd deer, to having to hunt down an elephant – an elephant I considered to be a friend.

The night sky tinged watery blue at the horizon, which along with the orange fiery glow to the north, the distant sirens and the toots from passing motorists added to the surreal nature of the situation. I supposed, to people who had just seen an elephant on the road, the sight of a woman running with a bloody great gun was not so out of the ordinary.

How would Cassie react to the sight of me? Would she recognise me? I thought elephants were supposed to have poor vision, and it was still pretty dark. Could she smell me? Would she recognise a gun, see me as a threat? Maybe, with the state she was in she’d see any human as a threat. If the first round missed or didn’t drop her I was going to have to reload real fast. If I stuffed this up completely, there was no plan B, and I could be left with an injured and very pissed-off elephant. ‘Stop it, Shep,’ I muttered aloud. I was thinking too much. I had to focus, trust my instincts and not succumb to analysis paralysis.

Suddenly, there she was: two hundred metres ahead of me, standing in the middle of the road, her back towards me, seemingly mesmerised by the headlights of oncoming traffic. Several cars had pulled over onto the side of the road – I only hoped no one would be stupid enough to get out of their car and approach her.

‘Don’t be dumb, please don’t be dumb,’ I said to myself as I upped my pace. Now I was closer I could see she was waving her head and trunk from side to side. She slapped at the ground with her trunk. I read that as not a good thing.