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Veronica shook her head, a smile breaking through her initial frustration. “You’re ridiculous.”
Sabrina smiled and gestured at me. “Look at you, August, our brave hero.”
“Yes, clearly,” Veronica said. “Thanks for the rescue, hero.” Her words dripped with sarcasm, but the ice between us had been broken, even if just for the moment.
As we all sat down at the picnic table, I grabbed the spot right next to Veronica.
“Now, what are you doing?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Getting ready to eat, just like you. What else should I be doing?”
She gestured to the oversized picnic table in front of us, which could easily seat ten people. “And you had to sit here next to me?”
I smirked. “Someone needs to protect you from the rabid lizards of Africa. Watch out, they may step on your pinkie toe.”
“I’m not a damsel in distress, so don’t treat me like one.” Veronica glared at me, but I could see the slightest hint of amusement in her eyes, which was an excellent sign.
An employee brought over a tray of gourmet sandwiches, each carefully wrapped and labeled with our names—a detail from the orders we’d placed the night before.
Simon glanced around the open setup nervously as he peeled the wrapper off his sandwich. “Is it safe to eat out here? I mean, could animals approach us to steal our food or eat us alive?”
Nakul, always the warm and reassuring guide, chuckled as he placed his own sandwich down. “Yes, it’s perfectly safe. Our guests dine here all the time. The most you’ll see around here are some birds, small reptiles, and maybe a hyrax or two.”
Caleb, intrigued, leaned forward. “I’ve never heard of a hyrax. What do they look like?”
“They are probably one of the cutest, funniest animals you’ll see in Africa,” Nakul said. “They look like groundhogs and are all around the camp. In the rocks and trees …”
Just then, a small, furry creature appeared off to the right, near one of the acacia trees.
Veronica pointed to the animal. “There’s one! Oh, you’re right, they are so cute.”
Sabrina twisted around to study the creature with curiosity. “He’s adorable. Are they aggressive?”
“They do not consider humans a threat, but we still give them their space,” Nakul said. “They live in colonies, as many as fifty of them, usually dominated by a single male who aggressively defends his territory and females from rivals,” Nakul said. “During the breeding season, the dominant male is particularly territorial and aggressive. And his testicles can grow twenty times larger than their non-breeding season size.”
Caleb smirked. “Shopping for swim trunks must be a nightmare for them!”
Sabrina laughed and pointed at him. “That’s it. I’m adopting you.”
He grinned. “I accept. I look forward to bonding with you and sipping Syrah by the seashore in Slovenia.”
“What’s the deadliest creature in Africa?” Simon asked, still focused on our surroundings. “I’m guessing it’s the lion.”
“I think it’s the snake,” Daphne said.
“Apparently, my sister thinks it’s the lizard,” Caleb said.
Nakul chuckled and shook his head. “None of those are even close to the deadliest. Anybody else care to take a guess?”
“The hippo,” Sabrina tried.
“The mosquito is the deadliest,” I interjected, since I’d read all about them on the jet.
“That is correct,” Nakul said. “The mosquito caused over a million deaths last year alone.”
“Wow. That really is hard to fathom,” Veronica said.
Simon nodded as he checked his skin. “We’ve been lucky so far, not a single bite on this trip.”
