The Promised One Read online

  ‘Thank you, Sing,’ replied Chopper. ‘Now,’ he continued, ‘let’s sit down and get straight to business. What’s all this about?’

  Sing began by explaining the tiger business that he had built up and which the twins had helped him with during the last two years. Then he came to the point.

  ‘Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and we are going to have to stop all our operations in Asia.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Chopper.

  ‘The supply of tigers is running out,’ said Sing in a resentful tone, as though these magnificent creatures had been put on the planet solely for the benefit of his business.

  ‘But I thought there were millions of tigers in the jungle,’ said Chopper.

  ‘No, there are probably fewer than five thousand left in the world,’ said Sing. ‘That’s enough to keep us going for a while but international opinion and, in particular, the Wildlife Protection Society of India, is making our life so difficult that we feel the business is no longer economic.’

  ‘Where do I fit into all this?’ asked Chopper.

  ‘As the tigers are becoming extinct,’ Song explained, ‘the demand for their bits and pieces is higher than ever; the rarer they are the higher the price goes.’ Chopper nodded; that certainly made sense. ‘Jaguars, however, though they are also declining rapidly in number, still live in such remote areas that if we can get into those areas we can probably continue in business for as long as we all need to become rich, without the authorities ever noticing. We think that jaguar parts will be just as good as tiger parts and, in any case, the market we are selling into isn’t exactly high-tech. They won’t be doing DNA tests on the teeth and other organs we give them, as long as they look like tiger bits. So, what we are proposing is to move our supply service from Asia to South America. We’ll still sell the stuff into the Asian market where we have a network of dealers who’ll be delighted to find that we’ve got a new source of material. When your esteemed brothers’ – he glanced at Sid and Fred – ‘told me that their brother ran a large lumber business in the Amazon, everything fell into place. If you can give me a base in one of your remote camps we’ll catch the jaguars and give you a percentage on each animal – remember, each specimen is worth a significant amount by the time I’ve finished with it. A well-cured skin alone can fetch up to a million dollars and a skeleton worth ten thousand dollars is worth many times that amount when ground up into powder for medicine.’

  Chopper was looking more interested every minute.

  ‘There’s been a recent development which makes things even better,’ continued Sing, who had originally trained as a vet. He went on to explain how he could operate on the jaguars to insert a tube through the skin into the liver from which bile – highly sought after in oriental medicine – could be collected in a plastic bag every day for several months. He showed Chopper a diagram on his laptop computer and pointed to the screen.

  ‘You just keep emptying the bag – it’s like collecting liquid gold. When the animal eventually dies you can still sell all its other bits: skin, teeth, glands and so on, but by then you’ve already made a small fortune out of it.’ Chopper leant forward, his piggy eyes gleaming.

  ‘How do you catch the jaguars?’ he asked. ‘Aren’t they very dangerous?’

  ‘They are, but the local tribes have techniques for catching them. We’ll bribe the villagers with drugs and guns and, if they don’t co-operate, burn down their village. The method seemed to work quite well in India and Malaysia and I’ve no doubt it will here.’

  Chopper looked at the vile man with growing respect. Here was someone who had got it all worked out and would be ruthless in implementing his plans.

  ‘It so happens,’ he said, ‘that I’m opening a new secret camp close to Colombia. It will have an airstrip because certain … hmmm … trading commodities are going to be flown in there from across the border. If we’re hacking a bit of jungle down I don’t see why we can’t hack a bit more out for your zoo.’ He leant forward and shook Song’s hand. His grip was like a vice.

  ‘You’ve got a deal. My brother Sam will sort out the percentages with you later.’

  ‘When can we start?’ asked Song, rubbing his pale, numb hand with the other.

  ‘The camp is already being cleared,’ replied Chopper. ‘We’re going to call it Cayman Creek. I suggest the twins start out for there tomorrow with a list of what you need and stay there until it’s ready. They can start catching jaguars as soon as the compound is secure. You can go out there to operate as soon as there are enough cats to make your trip worthwhile.’ His face relaxed into a crocodilian grin. ‘Well, I think that just about wraps things up for the time being. After lunch I’ll tell the board why we’re adding zoo-keeping to our other activities.’

  At the company meeting in the afternoon Chopper positioned himself at the head of the table and surveyed the assembled board of the Ecocidal Timber Company. He was inordinately proud of the company name which he had composed himself. He had seen the word ‘ecocide’ in a government pamphlet circulated to the timber industry and had thought, spelling not being his best subject, that it meant being on the side of ecology.

  Chopper now called the meeting to order and informed the board of three proposals. The first concerned a major drug-smuggling operation which required the setting up of a secret logging site, with an airstrip, in very remote territory. The second was that the company would employ a scientist to search for new trees that might help medical science. This would look good to the government. He said the third development was particularly exciting, and he explained about the proposed jaguar camp. At the end of his talk the board voted unanimously to approve his recommendations and Chopper closed the meeting.

  The next day the twins left for the remote jungle camp to start preparations for their onslaught on the jaguar population of the Amazon, a venture that was to bring them into bitter conflict with a young girl who at that moment had no inkling of her future destiny.

  An advertisement was placed for a company scientist and just one month later Chopper interviewed a certain Richard Bonaventure and appointed him as botanical adviser to the Ecocidal Timber Company.

  3

  Discussions with Dolphins

  On the Monday morning after Lucy had gone down to the seaside she and Grandpa went off to the new building on the seafront and reported to the director’s office. After Grandpa had introduced himself and handed him Lucy’s teacher’s letter, the director, Mr Finnegan, said that the teacher had already spoken to him on the phone and that they would love to have Lucy there. He took her down and introduced her to Catherine, the woman who looked after the dolphins, and she said that Lucy could sit and watch them whenever she liked, and help to feed them. Lucy was thrilled and settled down beside the pool. Catherine called the dolphins over by slapping the surface of the water and introduced them to Lucy.

  ‘There are eight altogether,’ she said, pointing them out in turn. ‘That’s the eldest, Jonathan, and those are his brothers Tom, Alastair and Harry. Over there are Cordelia, Camilla and Imogen, and that one swimming past us now is Clara – she’s just come from a badly run zoo that got closed down and as you can see she’s got a skin problem. Fortunately the vet says it’s not serious and she’s on some medicine but she hates taking it.’ Lucy could see that Clara had some dull white patches on her skin.

  Grandpa said he would come back at lunchtime with Grandma and take Lucy out for a burger, thanked Catherine and left. After Grandpa had gone, Catherine and her assistant Steve showed Lucy round the dolphinarium of which they were very proud. It wasn’t open to the public until late morning, so they had the place to themselves. As well as having large pools inside the building, the dolphins could now, as a result of the recent rebuilding, swim for part of the day in an area of real sea that was fenced off from the rest of the ocean and which connected at high tide with a tunnel underneath the building. As it got nearer to opening time Catherine and Steve had to go and check on things
before the public were admitted, and they left Lucy sitting on a little balcony overlooking the dolphins. As soon as they had gone Lucy spoke.

  ‘Greetings, O Master Swimmers, I have come to speak to you.’ The dolphins raced towards her in excitement, left the water with effortless power, performed some impressive aerobatics and returned smoothly to the water. Lucy was enthralled.

  ‘Greetings, O Promised One,’ said Jonathan, the largest dolphin, resurfacing as he spoke. ‘We knew that She Who was Expected had come at last and we are greatly honoured that you should come to this place. What is it that you desire of us?’

  ‘Greetings, O wise one!’ replied Lucy. ‘I have much to ask of you for there are many things I do not understand.’

  ‘I know not all that there is to know,’ said the dolphin gravely, ‘but I will tell you what I can.’

  ‘First I must know who the Promised One is, and why you were expecting her. And, how did you know that I had arrived – did the other animals tell you?’ She had only partly understood what Tibbles had tried to explain to her about animal language, and was anxious to hear what the dolphin could tell her.

  ‘Slowly, slowly, O Special One! My kin are among the cleverest of animals, but even our minds cannot run at the speed of yours. Your thoughts seem to me to flash like lightning in the sky. It is true that separate animal species have their own language. I can speak within this pool to my own kin in words that none other can understand. But there is also a common language among all proper creatures – I count not the crawlipods and such like – and this tongue is used when there is common cause or common danger such as a fire in the forest, or a flood of the river, or a massive tide in the Great Salt. It also means that there are links between all animals across the world just like – like –’ he paused to find a suitable description for what he wished to say, ‘– like the silken homes that the arachnopods weave.’

  ‘A web!’ exclaimed Lucy in excitement. ‘A web of information – like the internet! I shall call your web the animanet.’

  ‘We know not of the internet about which you speak but we know that the Tailless Ones can speak in mysterious ways over great distances and if you speak of the animanet we shall henceforth use this name for our web,’ the dolphin replied. ‘This animanet is used only in matters of importance to all creatures. Your long-awaited arrival is a great matter – possibly the greatest of all to us – and so we all know of your existence.’

  ‘But why were you expecting me?’ asked Lucy.

  ‘In the Common Tongue there is a legend known to all animals which is that one day a Promised One would come. My mother’s mother told me that her mother’s mother knew of this and that, back into time unimaginable, the same story has been told.’

  ‘But who made the promise, and what is the Promised One to do?’ Lucy burst in.

  ‘No one knows who made the promise. One day, with your mind of quicksilver, you may know the answer to that yourself, but the destiny of the Promised One is to restore the ancient harmony that once existed among all creatures, including the Tailless Ones.’

  ‘But there is no harmony. How can there be when animals chase and kill and eat one another? How can that be changed?’

  ‘All animals recognize the reality of life,’ the dolphin continued. ‘In the Great Salt the large gillifin eats the small gillifin, and the small gillifin eats the tiny crustakin. On land, the furripelt eats the scurripod and the scurripod eats the crawlipod. This is harmony: it is the true harmony of nature and creation. The Tailless Ones have destroyed this ancient balance, however, because they kill when they do not need to eat, and they destroy the places where animals live so that none can live there any more. It was not always thus and our legend says that one day a Promised One will come who will understand these things and speak to us. Yet she will also be powerful among her own kin, the Tailless Ones, and be held by them in high regard. She will change things to help us: to preserve our forests, to keep our rivers pure and to protect those who live in the Great Salt. She will restore the ancient order of things in nature and will be esteemed among both animals and the Tailless Ones. All creation has waited through countless ages for the day of your coming and I am privileged to be the first of all in the Great Salt to speak to you.’

  ‘But how can I do all the things you have described while I’m just a schoolgirl?’ Lucy asked in amazement.

  ‘I admit that I am perplexed by your youth,’ replied the dolphin. ‘It was told that She would be a female but not that She might be a child. There have been four before you who we thought would be the Promised One and they lived long, long, ago. They were all bearded ones and one of them told our ancestors that the true Promised One would be beardless and fair to look upon, with eyes that reflected the Brilliant One. We never knew what this could mean, but now I understand.’ Lucy realized that the dolphin was referring to her glasses. She took them off absentmindedly and rubbed some tiny splashes of water off them with a tissue.

  ‘They also said that sometimes she would have eyes in her hands,’ said the dolphin with some excitement, ‘and now I see that you are indeed the one about whom untold generations have spoken.’

  ‘Who were the bearded ones?’ asked Lucy, fascinated.

  ‘Alas, I know not the names by which they were addressed among their own kin,’ replied the dolphin, ‘but the oldest and greatest of them lived countless generations ago through a time when the waters consumed the earth and my own kin from the Middle Salt could even swim above the great mountains in the lands of sand. Then, much later, another came: he also lived in those lands of sand from which the Brilliant One rises from his sleep to warm the Middle Salt. He lived in the City of the Great River in the Sand, when it had trees and flowers such as had never before been seen in those desolate places. All these things my kin were told by the dromedkin who roam those lands. There were yet two more that we thought would be The One for whom all animals waited. They both lived in the land of olives and the great fire mountain. The first of these lived in the City of the Seven Hills where many animals were cruelly used for untold moons. The second, the last of such kind, before you, O Promised One, loved animals of every kin and many thought he was truly the Promised One; but it was he who said that the true One would be of womankind. This bearded one had a ring of brilliant fire about his head, a ring which never faded until his days were over.’

  Lucy was puzzled by this description but pursued it no further; she could come back to it later. In the meantime she had plenty of other questions to ask. After some further discussions the dolphin asked:

  ‘Do other Tailless Ones know you are the Promised One?’

  ‘Only my sister,’ said Lucy, ‘and she will tell no one.’

  ‘That is good,’ the dolphin went on. ‘Because you are but a child there are many who will wish to use you for their own ends and this would end in evil for you and many animals. Is there one who is trustworthy and wise that can help you in your task, for it may yet be the case that The Promise will not be achieved until you reach full womanhood?’

  ‘The mother and father of my mother are those to whom I can speak,’ Lucy said.

  ‘Speak then to them,’ said her companion, ‘and return to me when you are able. Fare thee well.’

  For Lucy the morning had passed in a flash and she couldn’t believe it was already lunchtime when her grandparents appeared.

  ‘Well,’ said Grandpa, smiling as he looked at the blank sheets of her notepad, ‘you don’t seem to have written much yet!’

  Lucy grinned.

  ‘I’ve been making some observations, Gramps, and I’ll write it all up later.’

  ‘You sound just like one of my old students,’ said Grandpa, who was a retired medical professor, ‘full of convincing-sounding excuses. Never mind, you’re here to relax and get better. I don’t care if you don’t write a single word all week – but you may have to produce something for your teacher at some point.’

  For the rest of the day Lucy was very thoughtfu
l and after tea Grandma looked across at her.

  ‘Are you homesick, Lucy? You’ve been very quiet all day. Or aren’t you feeling well?’

  ‘No, I’m not homesick or ill,’ said Lucy. ‘It’s just that I’ve got something very special to tell you about, but you must promise not to tell Mummy.’ Her grandparents looked at each other.

  ‘I’m not sure we can do that before we’ve heard your problem,’ said Grandma, ‘but we’ll listen to you and help you as we’ve always done.’ She looked across at Grandpa who nodded in agreement.

  Her grandparents sat and listened intently while she told them the whole story. They did not interrupt at any point but Lucy saw them glance at each other once or twice when she was describing something particularly extraordinary. She ended by describing the events of that very day, and the strange things the dolphin had told her.

  When she had finished there was a long silence. It was eventually broken by Grandma.

  ‘This is an amazing story you’ve told us, Lucy, and we need to think very carefully about all you’ve said. Let’s sleep on it now and have another chat in the morning. Don’t worry; we’ll sort it all out one way or another.’

  Lucy kissed them good night and went to bed, the conversation with the dolphin running round her head until eventually she fell asleep.

  Grandma and Grandpa sat up late into the night discussing what they had heard. They were extremely worried, for there only seemed to be a few possible explanations for what Lucy had described. The first, which they couldn’t bring themselves to believe, was that it was all true. The second was that she was teasing, but they knew her too well to think she would tease them over something so important. The only other possibility was that the accident had damaged Lucy’s brain in such a way that she now really thought she could talk to animals. If this was the case they didn’t know if there was any way she could be cured. They eventually went to bed but neither of them slept well that night.