AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I had to admit it was nice to spend some quality time with my brother outside the formalities of our royal lives—and I did think he was funny occasionally—but I still didn’t understand how he’d ended up on this trip with August. Was he the one who had suggested that August try to find me? I would need to pull him aside later and have a little chat with him, but my guess was that Caleb was there solely to get closer to Daphne, just like August was attempting with me.
Unfortunately, just ten minutes later, we experienced the unpredictability Nakul had mentioned. The safari cruiser hit another pothole, but this time, the vehicle came to a grinding halt. The engine went silent and the lights on the dash disappeared, leaving us in the unsettling quiet amidst the vast African savanna.
Nakul tried the ignition again, but the safari cruiser didn’t respond.
“It seems we’ve got a minor problem—no need to worry,” he announced. “These things happen.”
His calmness was impressive, considering my heart rate was speeding up at the thought of being stranded in the middle of Africa with wild animals all around us.
“I have to check the engine,” Nakul said. “I need one person to watch out for any movement in the grass directly behind me while I look under the hood.”
August shot to his feet without hesitation. “I’ll do it.”
“Thank you. Everyone else, please stay seated and quiet,” Nakul instructed.
They both exited the vehicle, and Nakul immediately popped open the hood.
August took on a vigilant stance, scanning the horizon and the nearby grasses. His readiness to face potential danger head-on wasn’t a surprise, but it stirred a mix of emotions within me—admiration mingled with a piercing sense of worry. If anything happened to him out here, it would be my fault, since I was the reason he was half a world away from home.
The atmosphere inside the vehicle was thick with tension; even Sabrina and Simon, usually so upbeat, held their breaths, listening to Nakul tinker with the engine.
A few minutes into the silence, August stiffened while surveying the landscape. He’d definitely spotted something.
“There’s movement,” he whispered sharply, not taking his eyes off a patch of tall grass a few meters away.
“Can you see what it is?” Nakul asked. “A lion? Or a cheetah?”
The grass rustled again, more definitively this time.
My heart raced even more.
The familiar knot of unease churned in my stomach, reminiscent of the anxiety that had plagued me during August’s travels in South America. Every daring social media post heightened my fears of potential dangers he couldn’t escape … a motorcycle accident, a kidnapping, or maybe a run-in with one of the drug cartels I had seen on the news. Despite trying to forget him after he had broken my trust, deep down, I had dreaded receiving bad news that something had happened to him.
“I can’t see it, whatever it is,” August said, then added, “Now, I can. It’s on the smaller side. Yellowish-brown coat, face like a raccoon, with huge ears.”
I strained my eyes to see what he saw, but the open hood of the vehicle partially blocked my view.
Nakul chuckled softly, easing the tension. “Ah, that’s a bat-eared fox. No worries. They’re harmless. He’s looking for his breakfast, likely termites, dung beetles, or small reptiles.”
August relaxed slightly, watching the small creature with fascination as it darted in and out of the grass with its oversized ears twitching alertly.
“Just a loose battery cable, it seems,” Nakul said from under the hood. “I just need a few seconds.” A minute later, he closed the hood with a confident bang. “That should do it!”
“Thank God,” Daphne mumbled in front of me.
Just then, an elephant emerged from the brush, its massive form looming dangerously close. It flapped its ears, assessing our group with intelligent eyes. Daphne and Caleb both slowly raised their phones to take pictures, while I just sat there in awe, not taking my eyes off the magnificent creature.
August and Nakul quickly climbed back into the vehicle without a hitch. The elephant eyed us for a moment longer, then, as if deciding we were neither threat nor interest, turned and ambled back into the thicket. I exhaled, not realizing I had been holding my breath for so long, then I slumped back into my seat.
Nakul restarted the engine successfully this time, then steered us back onto our path. “And away we go again.”
“That was a little scary,” Simon said.
“Indeed,” Sabrina added. “We were so close to the elephant.”
“As long as we respect their space, the animals will normally not feel threatened,” Nakul said. “We are on their land. We need to always remember that.”
“Amen!” Sabrina said.
