The Lioness

As the attackers drive them away, Margie worries about her baby, which she and Billy are calling “the kid.” She was cut by the shattering glass from the car window and fears that she will get an infection. She wonders where Peter Merrick and Charlie Patton are and if the two men will save them. She recalls how Juma, their chief guide, taught them about the animals they were seeing. One evening around the campfire, as Margie sat on Billy’s lap, Charlie said that he was feeling “leopardy,” and Juma told a story about a leopard attacking one of the animals they were trying to shoot. Billy has told Margie that David Hill’s father is involved with a CIA task force called MK-ULTRA that performs experiments using LSD. Once, at David’s house, Billy found a message from a CIA agent named Frank Olson, who died by suicide.

Now, Billy says that violence among leopards and buffalo seems much more natural than the fighting between the Simbas and Mobutu. Charlie says that the Russians, who are intervening in the conflict, are dangerous.

Peter reflects on how he grew up hunting with his grandfather. Too old for combat in World War II, Peter instead helped make morale movies. Watching the attackers ransack the camp, Peter wishes that he had a gun and thinks about sneaking into Charlie’s tent. He reflects on their drive the day before, when they saw a wildebeest herd crossing the Mara River. One of the wildebeest was attacked by a lioness, and others were eaten by crocodiles as they crossed, but the whole sight was a memorable spectacle.

As he sneaks into Charlie’s tent, Peter wonders if he would be able to shoot a human. He’s hoping to stay an extra week after the others leave to hunt with Charlie. He finds a pistol and crawls away from the camp, where he is attacked and killed by a leopard. Two porters in the camp see the cat hauling the body away.

Katie is beginning to believe that David is right: This is a kidnapping. She saw the driver slip a pistol beneath his seat and devises a plan involving David and Billy distracting the driver while she grabs the pistol. She reflects on their courtship and visiting David at his gallery, which seemed to be empty of people. Several canvases were by an artist who is a friend of Ken Kesey. There was one remarkable painting by a woman named Nina, who defected from the Soviet Union. David had told Katie that his father worked in personnel, but Katie suspected that he did more.

David’s accountant was at the gallery and was impressed to meet Katie. David talked about Katie being six years old and singing “Come On-A My House” (103). The accountant asked if they were dating, and Katie was glad when David said yes. Now, as she tries to tell David her plan, he discourages her, and she is frustrated that he is not being brave.

Billy realizes that they have driven off the animal reserve and watches the Maasai people they pass. He guesses that their attackers are Russian. He is worried for Margie, but when he speaks to one of the Russians, the man strikes him in the face. Billy recalls the one time his father, Roman Stepanov, hit him. Usually, it was his mother who punished Billy by locking him in the front coat closet, though Roman never intervened when his wife was torturing the children. Roman hit Billy because he had made fun of one of Katie’s performances.

The attackers bring them to a cluster of eight Maasai huts, which are deserted. Each of the five captives is taken to a different hut. Billy protests when Margie is taken away, so one of the Russians uses his gun to strike Billy again. Billy is astonished that David isn’t trying to fight. Terrance asks why they are being targeted, and the Russian threatens him to be silent. Billy is tied up in the hut. He wonders if this kidnapping has anything to do with David’s father’s involvement in the CIA. He decides that being tied up here is worse than the coat closet.

Benjamin’s hands are bound. He sits in the back of a truck with the other porters and the bodies of Juma Sykes and the two rangers. The Russians ordered Patton’s employees to collect the food, gas, and guns from the camp before they left. Benjamin wonders if the men are poachers, but Muema does not think so. Benjamin is upset by Juma’s death. He realizes that the Americans will be valuable hostages but that the Africans are not.

Benjamin remembers how his grandfather worked in a gold mine near Lake Victoria, where he learned that his survival depended on white people. Benjamin’s father supports African independence. Benjamin recalls the Swahili word for independence, “uhuru,” which has become “synonymous now with the liberation of the East African nations” (121). Still, Benjamin and his father both work for a white man.

Benjamin thinks about the differences between pursuit predation and ambush predation and how both human and animal predators can be both. Their attackers, he decides, are pursuit predators. He thinks of movies he’s seen and wonders if he can come up with a way to escape. Muema advises him to wait, as this isn’t a movie, but Benjamin says, “I’d rather die charging like a rhino than bleating like a goat” (122).