Rhino Charge Read online

  Rhino Charge

  Victoria Tait

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  Thank you, and enjoy Rhino Charge.

  STYLE, SPELLING AND PHRASEOLOGY

  Mama Rose, the main character through whose eyes we view events, has a British education and background. She uses British phrases, spelling and style of words.

  * * *

  Kiswahili words are also used in the book and most are linked to a Glossary at the back, which briefly explains their meaning.

  * * *

  These words add to the richness and authenticity of the setting and characters, and I hope increase your enjoyment of Rhino Charge.

  The Rhino Charge

  The Rhino Charge is a unique off-road event, and whilst it may seem a strange subject for a cozy mystery, it is one of the highlights of Kenya’s sporting and social calendar. It brings together Kenya’s African, Indian, and European communities, annually raises large amounts of money for a conservation charity, and team places are highly sought after. I hope you enjoy the experience.

  * * *

  Officials

  Christian Lambrechts - Executive Director of Rhino Ark Charitable Trust

  Nick West - Chairman of the Rhino Charge Committee

  Tanya West

  Frank Butler

  Wendy Butler

  ‘Mama Rose’ Hardie

  Chloe Collins

  * * *

  Team/Car 27 Bandit Bush Hogs (Team Colours - Blue and Yellow)

  Kumar Chauhan - Manager

  Mayur Chauhan - Driver

  Jono Urquhart - Navigator

  Thabiti Onyango - Mechanic

  Sam Mwamba - Winchman

  George - Runner

  Marina Thakker - Runner

  * * *

  Team/Car 63 Rhino Force (Team Colours – Black)

  Deepak Seth - Driver & Manager

  Suvas Patel - Navigator

  Ricky Singh - Mechanic

  Hinesh Seth - Runner

  Aatma Seth - Runner

  Vijay Thakker - Runner

  Chapter One

  Rose squashed her clothes into her brown canvas bag and forced the zip closed.

  “All packed,” she exclaimed to her husband Craig, who was propped up in bed. Rose Hardie, fondly known as ‘Mama Rose’ by the local community, was a tall, thin, sprightly woman despite being sixty-five years old.

  Her husband Craig, who was in his early seventies, was almost bed-bound. He had caught polio as a child and now a secondary complication was paralysing the left side of his body. Recently, he’d also suffered a mini-stroke.

  “Now you’re sure you’ll be OK?” Rose asked. “I shall be away nearly a week.”

  “Stop fussing, woman. You’ve left me plenty of times before and I’ve survived.” Craig’s jaw set into a thin line. She had spent time away in the past, but that was before he had fallen ill.

  Craig continued, “I have Kipto to look after me, and she’ll make sure Samwell helps me out onto the patio for fresh air, or into the living room so I can watch horse racing from South Africa.”

  At the sound of her name, Kipto, their house girl of unknown age, entered, closely followed by a fluffy white dog which resembled a small sheep.

  Kipto turned to the dog and flapped her arms. “Shoo. Is this dog always hungry?” she asked. “It not stop following me.”

  “Its owner, Thabiti, is the hungry one,” responded Rose. “I think she’s scared of being alone again. She was abandoned in a locked house before Dr Emma rescued her.” Pixel, the dog, jumped onto the bed and started sniffing Rose’s bag. Potto, Rose’s black and tan terrier, growled as it lay beside Craig’s feet.

  “I’m ready.” She walked around the bed and pecked Craig on the top of his balding head. “It won’t be the same at the Rhino Charge this year without you. Do you know, we’ve never missed a Charge since it started in 1989.” Rose looked down as Craig smiled weakly at her. They both knew he was unlikely to attend another.

  “Just keep out of trouble,” Craig told her.

  Rose parked her battered, red Land Rover Defender in a free space beside Mr Obado’s garage in the centre of Nanyuki, a small market town, three hours’ drive north of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. A crowd of people gathered outside the garage and watched a blue 4x4 car being loaded onto a long flat-bed trailer. The vehicle started life as a Range Rover, but it had been stripped down to its skeleton and rebuilt into a robust off-road machine capable of travelling across rough terrain.

  Rose stood next to a young African man with cropped hair and a neat beard and moustache.

  “Thabiti, am I OK on your side?” the driver shouted as he drove onto the trailer’s ramp.

  “Plenty of room,” the young man called back.

  A well-dressed, attractive blonde-haired lady joined them. “Morning, Chloe,” Rose greeted the new arrival.

  Chloe pressed her hands together and exclaimed, “So this is the car you’ve been hiding. It’s a beast.”

  Thabiti grinned. “This event is not called the Rhino Charge for nothing. The vehicles have to be strong enough to navigate sandy slopes, rocky ground, and force their way through bushes, just as a real Rhino would.”

  Chloe slipped on a large pair of sunglasses. “I’ve never really understood the fascination between men and cars, but I am looking forward to spending a week in the Maasai Mara. I can’t wait to see all the wildlife.”

  Rose turned to her and said, “We’ll be working, so I’m not sure how much time we’ll get for safaris.”

  Chloe’s mouth drooped.

  At that moment Rose’s mobile phone rang. The voice on the other end said, “Hi, Rose. Are you busy?”

  Rose’s heart sank. The caller was Dr Emma, who was technically her boss. Rose called herself a community vet, but when the Kenyan authorities altered the veterinary regulations, she became a veterinary paraprofessional, working under the only qualified vet in Nanyuki, Dr Emma. “Why? What’s happened?”

  “I’ve had a call from Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Ringo, the orphan rhino, is unwell.”

  “Just a minute,” Rose said into the phone. She lifted her head. “Dr Emma needs my help at Ol Pejeta.”

  “But we’ll miss our lift,” cried Chloe.

  “You go. I’ll see if I can find someone else travelling to the Mara.”

  Chloe shook her head. “I’m not going alone.”

  Chapter Two

  Rose steered her trusty Defender around another large pothole in the dirt track. Chloe and Dr Emma were squeezed together in the passenger seats beside her. Dr Emma was a diminutive figure, but she had a huge afro hairstyle and wore enormous, round, yellow-rimmed glasses.

  “Why don’t they mend this road?” Chloe wondered aloud. “I’m surprised it’s in such poor condition considering the number of tourists who visit Ol Pejeta.”

  They arrived at the conservancy entrance and, after signing the visitor’s book, were ushered through.

  “It’s so green after the recent rains,” pronounced Dr Emma.

  “Look, impala,” cried Chloe.

  Rose’s two passengers bobbed up and down like excited school children. Sweeping plains opened out ahead of them, interspersed with denser areas of bushes and solitary acacia trees.

  “This is fantastic.” Dr Emma ga
zed out through the windscreen. “I don’t get to visit Ol Pejeta very often. I just don’t seem to have the time.”

  Rose turned off the track beside Morani’s Restaurant and parked outside the Rhino caretakers’ wooden hut.

  A serious-looking African man wearing green trousers, shirt, and matching short-brimmed hat strode to meet them with his arm outstretched. “Habari. I’m Zachariah.” He shook hands with each of them. “Follow me.”

  They entered a large wooden enclosure with a dirt floor. At the far end stood a tiny dejected rhino, with a drooping head and ears pinned back against his stocky neck.

  This was Ringo, who had been abandoned by his mother when he was only two weeks old. The team at Ol Pejeta had done a wonderful job nursing him back to health from his severely malnourished state. At an outreach day for the Giant’s Club Summit, earlier in April, he had been the star attraction.

  “He’s so sweet,” cried Chloe. “Why’s he called Ringo?”

  Zachariah answered, “After the famous musician who raises money for wildlife conservation, and has spoken out against rhino poaching. I think his band was called The Bugs.”

  Chloe wrinkled the corner of her mouth but Rose laughed. “I think he means Ringo Starr from The Beatles.”

  Chloe jumped as they heard a grunting noise and something hit the wooden partition against which she leant.

  “It’s OK, Sudan,” soothed Zachariah. An enormous rhino on the far side of the fence stamped a foot. “He’s really taken to Ringo. We were worried about his health as he’s getting old, until this little one arrived and he perked up.”

  “What are you feeding Ringo?” asked Dr Emma.

  Zachariah replied, “A mixture of lactose, porridge oats, glucose and salt. We usually feed him five or six times a day, but he won’t touch it now.”

  “What about his usual routine?”

  “Normally he is bright and loves his daily runs with one of the caretakers. He’s less keen on his mud-wallowing lessons, but now he refuses to leave this enclosure.”

  Rose said, “It’s notoriously difficult raising young rhino. Is someone always with him?”

  “Yes, and one of us always sleeps next to him at night.”

  Rose nodded. “Even so, it’s not the same as having a mother. However hard you try, you can’t replicate the care or education she should be giving him.” She laid a hand on Zachariah’s arm. “We’ll do our best for him.”

  Rose knelt beside the small rhino. She ran her fingers gently across his thick hide, but couldn’t find any cuts, or anything caught in or sticking out of it. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “He doesn’t feel too hot. Actually, I think we should put a blanket on him.”

  Zachariah placed a red and blue checked shuka over Ringo’s small frame.

  “Keep trying him with water. We don’t want him getting dehydrated,” directed Dr Emma. “If he still refuses to eat his normal food, try some milk formula. And if he continues like this, and there is no obvious cause, we will need to test his blood to see if he is fighting a virus, or lacking any vitamins or minerals.”

  Rose, Chloe and Dr Emma were subdued as they left the conservancy, and took little notice of the warthogs, rushing away from the noise of the car, with erect tails.

  Chapter Three

  The next day was Friday. Rose and Craig were enjoying breakfast at their outdoor dining table on their cottage’s covered patio.

  “Nick West sent me a text,” said Rose. “Jono Urquhart, a pilot with Equator Air, is collecting provisions from Nanyuki tomorrow and flying back to the Rhino Charge with Nick’s wife Tanya. He can give Chloe and me a lift.”

  “That’ll be much better than an eight-hour drive. Jono Urquhart, he’s Kenyan isn’t he? I’m sure there were Urquharts living in Lavington in Nairobi.”

  “I’ve no idea, but I am grateful for the offer.”

  Craig buttered his toast. “I also received a text, from Thabiti. He’s arrived safely and inquired about Pixel. He asked if you have time to visit his sister in the Cottage Hospital.”

  Pearl, Thabiti’s older sister, was not physically ill, but after the traumatic events surrounding her mother’s death she had stopped eating, become very weak, and was suffering with mental health issues.

  Rose dolloped yoghurt onto her fruit and muesli. “That works well. I’ve agreed with Dr Farrukh to drive you to the hospital for your appointment today. Her husband’s been called away to Timau, so she’s covering his morning clinic and cannot conduct her scheduled home visit.”

  Craig and Rose sat patiently on padded plastic chairs in the waiting area of the Cottage Hospital’s new administrative block. Rose wrinkled her nose, which was overpowered by a strong smell of disinfectant from the recently washed floor.

  They watched an elderly African man being led though the entrance. Although he walked slowly, his back was straight and proud. But his eyes had the milkiness of a blind man. He was assisted to a chair outside the registrar’s office.

  Rose turned to Craig. “Isn’t that Mr Kariuki?”

  “I haven’t seen him for years,” replied Craig. “I didn’t realise he’d lost his sight. I’m sure the last time I saw him he was still a practicing psychologist.”

  “I wonder if he can help Pearl? I heard that his approach of combining the craft of a traditional Kikuyu medicine man with modern psychology works wonders for a troubled soul.”

  Rose approached the old man. “Habari, Bwano.”

  Mr Kariuki clapped his hands together. “Mama Rose, how wonderful, but you don’t sound ill.” His voice steadied. “Is it Craig?”

  “I’m afraid so. He’s had some health issues and we’re here for a check-up.”

  “Mama, you cannot deceive me. I am a dying man and I recognise from your voice that Craig may be, too.” She had forgotten how perceptive Mr Kariuki was. “Make sure his last precious days are overflowing with joy and wonder. You’ve always known how to live a full life.”

  She was relieved the old man couldn’t see her blush as she asked, “Have you come across a young woman called Pearl in the hospital?”

  “Ah yes, she has a troubled heart, but it will not heal while she remains inside her own head.”

  “If you see her again, can you speak to her? Her mother, a childhood friend of mine, died recently. I think she was rather over-protective and controlling when it came to Pearl. And Pearl’s current state has been made worse by choosing a man who, well, let’s say he treated her badly.”

  “There is much you are withholding, but I will look out for the young woman, although she may not wish to speak to a blind old man.”

  “Craig Hardie,” a nurse called.

  Rose returned to Craig and helped him into Dr Farrukh’s consulting room.

  Chapter Four

  Rose’s stomach lurched as she was thrust against her restraining seat belt. Chloe screamed as tree tops rose rapidly to meet them. Suddenly, the forest vanished and they were thrown back into their places as the six-seater Cessna plane levelled off and they soared out over the vast expanse of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley.

  “Sorry, ladies. We caught a downdraft as we flew over the edge of the Aberdare Mountain range. It’s always the trickiest part of the flight,” announced their jaunty pilot.

  Rose fell back against the headrest in relief. She had been born and brought up in rural Kenya and was well aware of the perils of its third largest mountain range. Despite the dangers, it was the route most planes flew between Nairobi and northern Kenya, including Nanyuki, where she lived. She looked down and wondered if she spotted the outline of a plane wing. The mountains had claimed many lives and not all the bodies had been recovered.

  Rose glanced towards her younger companion. Chloe’s suntanned face was pale and her neat, manicured hands gripped the seat rests. Rose was not sure of Chloe’s precise age, but thought she was in her mid- to late-thirties. Chloe’s husband Dan had left the British Army and taken a job with a security firm in Kenya.

  They had only arrive
d in Nanyuki a few months earlier, but Dan already spent most of his time away with work. Chloe tried to keep herself busy and had jumped at the chance to take Craig’s place as an official at the Rhino Charge.

  A woman’s voice sounded through Rose’s headphones. “That was exciting,” she shrilled. “Are you all right back there?” Although Tanya West was only in her late-twenties, her voice took on a bossy tone. “You are lucky Jono was flying to collect me, and my husband suggested he offer you a lift after you missed yours.”

  The colour returned to Chloe’s face and she turned to Rose with flushed cheeks and large questioning eyes.

  Rose shook her head and said, “Thank you, Jono. Yes very fortunate, my dear, but your husband relies on volunteers like us. He wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of running the Rhino Charge if he had to pay for helpers. Besides, we are all doing this to raise money for a wildlife charity.”

  Rose heard a deep intake of breath over the headphones. She spotted Chloe clamp a hand over her mouth as her shoulders began to shake.

  “Ladies, if you look down you’ll see Lake Naivasha,” instructed their pilot. Jono Urquhart must be in his late thirties, Rose thought. He had unruly ginger hair, a bushy beard and a relaxed, genial manner.

  The Rift Valley spread before them with tarmac roads and brown dirt tracks criss-crossing it like strands of a spider’s web. She looked down on several neat plots, each consisting of a tin-roofed house with a small field, enclosed by a wooden fence or trees.

  She said, “I can hardly believe this area was so influential in our evolution. I understand our ancestors roamed here three million years ago, and it’s where they developed the ability to walk upright.”