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  “This is fun, don’t you think?” Griff remarked as he headed for the riverbank. “I like doing this new thing…”

  “It’s called swimming,” puffed Little Dream helpfully.

  “Is it?” said Griff, paddling along very nicely. “Well, I like swimming. I’ve got just the paws for it, don’t you think?”

  “Good job!” said Uncle. “Fine work, boy. Now, would you mind getting us onto dry land? Some of us are feeling a little…”

  Little Dream finished the sentence for him. “…weak,” he said. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it and he added, “our legs are too small and too weak for this kind of work.”

  “Really?” said Griff, suddenly looking rather pleased with himself. “And I was worrying that it was only my legs that felt that way!”

  *

  When a honey badger is chased by its enemies, it lets out a stink filthy enough to put off even the hungriest jackal or hyena. There were the remains of such a whiff in the earth hole or scrape, high above the flowing water where Griff was resting peacefully that night. He didn’t mind; he was happy just to be out of the rain. And besides, the honey-badger was delicious. He licked his lips.

  The Really Mads excused themselves from curling up with Griff. They preferred to gather the last of their strength to dig a hole for themselves a little downwind.

  They had never slept more soundly and they woke, refreshed, to the cry of excited birds and the clap and clatter of storks’ bills. When they climbed back into the Upworld again, the clouds had gone, the sun was out, and they were able to look down at the feasting crowds. Along with dazzlingly white egrets and dancing cranes, the storks dipped for frogs and tiger fish and all sorts of new life that wriggled in the wonderful new, brown water.

  The meerkats didn’t have to look far for their own breakfast once their tummy pads were warm. Indeed, breakfast pretty much walked into their open jaws. The moist sand close by attracted countless skinks, lizards, beetles, termites, and scorpions, all just under the surface of the sand.

  Little Dream had work to do. He took his turn to be on watch in the top branches of a camelthorn tree, but even he didn’t go hungry. There were tender new buds to nibble and one or two yellow flowers, and while he lifted his head to keep an eye on a pair of somersaulting bateleur eagles overhead, he was able to snack on sweet, newly hatched moths and winged bugs, drifting by in the breeze.

  “Wup-wup! Let’s go! Far Burrow is calling!” cried Uncle cheerily. “But first we have a promise to keep to Griff, what-what! He would like to be reunited with his mama, I believe.”

  “And I would like to be reunited with mine,” Little Dream reminded him. Reunited was just the word he was looking for.

  “Harrrumph! Yes, well… We’ll have to see what we can do, eh, Dreamie?” said Uncle, trying to sound more hopeful than he was. “Right, then. Is everybody set for the journey?”

  “Ready!” came the answer in chorus.

  “Then hoist up your tummies!”

  “Like this, Griff!” laughed the kits as they showed him. “One-two-three… HUP!”

  And with that, they set off, following the river that Uncle was sure was one of the waterways that fed the salt pans after a good rain. The yellow grasses were already turning green, and pinkish flowers had sprung out of the branches of the soap bushes. In the distance, ostriches boomed, zebras whinnied, and bucks leaped for joy. All around, grasshoppers and cicadas urged them on with their rasping and ticking. Kee-pup! Kee-pup! Kee-pup! Giraffes poked their elegant necks among distant trees, seeking the highest and most tender shoots. When they heard the jackals bark, the meerkats stopped in their tracks—but then they saw that Griff was not afraid, so they were brave and pressed forward.

  Chapter 15

  They left the banks of Wild River and followed the line of another river that was calmer and had spilled into small lakes. Skeema looked carefully at one of the pools where lilies were already blooming, surprised to see no other sign of life. Then, with a whirring sound, the dark water seemed to lift into the air! Just as quickly, it shattered into a whirring flock of tubby birds that flashed off in all directions.

  “Where are they off to in such a hurry, Uncle?” gasped Mimi.

  “Ah, clever birds, they’re sandgrouse!” said Uncle. “They hatch their chicks in the driest part of the desert. So what do they do? They use their breast feathers like sponges to soak up water and fly it to them.”

  “Genius!” agreed Skeema. “And when they keep still, you can’t even see them! What a trick!”

  “Like Mama and my aunts,” sighed Griff. “They are the color of the grasses and the driedoring shrub. You can look and look and you will not see them. But when they show themselves, they are beautiful and terrible. They are called the Five Beauties.”

  Radiant broke in. “Five, did you say?”

  “Mama has four sisters,” explained Griff.

  “Then, bless me if I didn’t see them once, from far off,—long ago when I began my life as a wanderer!”

  “Where?” said Little Dream.

  “I was hungry,” explained Radiant, “and was searching for damp ground, hoping to surprise a few lizards or blind worms. I stumbled across a water hole where the trees grow upside down. The sun had drunk the water and left only a great marsh with a puddle in the middle. It was guarded by crocodiles and hippos. And when an old hartebeest came down to the water to drink, the lionesses sprang out of the grass to catch it. But the hippos gave them away. They opened their great mouths as hippos do and shouted: “Look out! Look out! Five Beauties about!” So the crocodiles rushed the hartebeest and caught it by the nose. That time the lionesses went as hungry as I did.”

  Griff did his best to turn a whimper into a cough, but he couldn’t quite manage it.

  “Chin up!” cried Uncle. “Upside down trees you say, Radiant? Baobobs, by all that’s strange and carrot-like! I know that water hole. It’s full of crocs and hippos all right! This way! Tally-ho! Follow me!”

  *

  It was almost dark when the searchers reached Hippo Hole. There was a big moon in the sky and another one in the water. After the rain, the water hole was full to the brim. It was easy to see even from a distance that the muddy margins of the pool were pitted with pawprints and hoofprints of every kind. Every desert dweller within galloping distance must have showed up to quench their terrible thirst. Most of them were hiding somewhere in the grove of boabob trees. Little gangs of them were waiting their turn to dash through the tall reeds to splash and guzzle some glorious, cool, fresh water. They hoped by turning up in numbers they would frighten or outrun enemies planning to feast on them.

  Uncle and his search party were lying low on a boulder far enough away to give them a good, safe view of things. Even from there, above the whirring of the crickets and cicadas, they could hear the wild laughter of hyenas. But there was no sign or sound of any big cats.

  Griff was whimpering with excitement, his tail sweeping nervously as if he were about to pounce. His yellow eyes scanned the grasses and shrubs for signs of his mother and aunts.

  Some elephants sauntered out of the darkness at their ease and dipped in their trunks. Taking their time, they began tossing water casually over their shoulders. Made bold by this, a crowd of kudu suddenly appeared at the water’s edge, the females darting nervously. The big bull whirled around and reared up. He dipped his twisted horns and raised them again with a bellow that was meant as a challenge to any lurking enemy.

  His high-pitched fanfare was answered, if very faintly, by a throaty roar.

  “Mama?” called Griff, leaping up, all the bristles on his yellow coat standing on end as if he had been struck by lightning. “Mama! I’m here! Can you hear me? Mama!”

  “Steady, Griff, dear boy!” said Uncle. “I heard that roar myself, but it came from a far distance, wouldn’t you say? Can you be absolutely sure it was your mother calling?”

  Griff didn’t stop to answer. He was off at a gallop, racing around the edge of the
water hole, kicking up great gobbets of wet mud. He was heading for the far side where a forest of papyrus reeds grew tall and thick.

  “Stay together to stay alive!” warned Uncle, but Griff was far too excited to listen.

  “We must head him off!” barked Uncle. “Before it’s too late!” He was aware, as Griff was not, of a great danger. At the sound of the disturbance made by his pounding paws in the water, half a dozen scaly monsters slid across the soupy mud, lowered their snouts, and torpedoed toward him.

  “Crocodiles!” Uncle yelled and was off like the wind. “Follow me, Really Mads, and keep in a straight line, until we catch up with him!”

  Radiant and the kits obeyed his order without question. As usual, wise old Fearless knew what he was up to. Griff’s puppy-legs were bending and lolloping all over the place in his excitement.

  As a result, though it was hard work chasing through the gloopy mud and the shallow water, the meerkats were alongside him in no time.

  “Steer him up onto the bank!” yelled Uncle, and the Really Mads did just that, nipping and nudging at Griff’s legs until they all drifted out of the shallows and were high and dry among tussocks of grass on the shore. The crocodiles skimmed to a stop and lowered their ugly snouts, bubbling with disappointment.

  He didn’t thank them. In fact, Griff was so intent on finding his mama that he hardly seemed to notice that the meerkats were with him. And it was not until he had pushed to the edge of the forest of tall papyrus reeds that he threw himself down on his belly and the others lay with him. In several places the reeds had been parted by the shoulders of eager, lumbering water-seekers. Eyes darting, ears pricked for the slightest sound, the lion cub and the meerkats watched these green alleyways and waited.

  Unfortunately, they were not ready for the speed and cunning of the brutes that sprang at them, hard and low, from where the reeds grew thickest. The only warning they had was a hot stink and Uncle’s voice bellowing…

  “Jackals!”

  Chapter 16

  There were two of them, a male and a female black-back. They weren’t as big and ugly as hyenas and not so round-shouldered—but they were deadly. They had pointy, foxy faces and tall, sensitive ears that swiveled and honed in on the slightest sound. Like leopards, their slender legs were built for speed.

  “Supper at last!” they announced and moved in toward the meerkats, grinning. Uncle rolled the kits under his body to protect them and Radiant stood beside him, snarling, puffing out her gorgeous fur. Then, in a move designed to terrify them, the jackals suddenly bounced upward on all-fours and landed quickly—one on each side of them.

  Without warning, Griff bristled and leaped between the attackers, showing them his sharp little teeth and claws. “There’s all this big game around, and you decide to hunt little meerkats?” he growled scornfully.

  “What’s it got to do with you?” growled the male.

  “These are my friends,” answered Griff. “Leave them alone.”

  “Or else what?” snapped the female.

  “Or else you’ll have to fight me.”

  “Listen, puss!” sneered the male jackal. “Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew. Just get out of the way.”

  “I’m not moving,” Griff said calmly.

  “That’s the spirit, Griff, old boy!” called Uncle. His voice was full of admiration, but there was worry in it, too. Each of the jackals was bigger than Griff, and with one on each side, there was no telling which one would strike first.

  The female darted at the cub suddenly, snapping at his paw and then pulling back out of reach. Griff stood his ground and snapped back at her. “Run for your lives, meerkats!” he cried. “I can manage these two!” As he spoke, the male closed in from the other side and nipped the opposite leg.

  Skeema couldn’t help being secretly impressed by the way they operated. They must have had lots of battle practice, he thought. He wondered what Uncle’s next move would be and sensed the tension in him as he stood on guard, steady as a rock. The bug disguised as a stone slipped back into Skeema’s mind. I get it, he thought. Keep still. No sudden moves.

  That wasn’t the way Radiant was thinking, though.

  With an athletic bound, she leaped in front of Griff and stretched herself to her full height. “Cowards!” she shouted. “Two against one! Where’s the honor in that?”

  “I always enjoy my supper with a bit of sauce!” snarled the female, licking her lips. “But your impudence won’t save you, nor will a weak little lion cub.” Her teeth were surprisingly long and jagged. “Save your breath and take what’s coming to you!”

  “You can have me if you let the kits go!” cried Radiant. But suddenly Mimi was standing by her side.

  “Thank you, but I’m not going anywhere, not me, not me! I’m armed and dangerous!” And she made a thrusting motion with one of her porcupine quills, “Take that!”

  No sooner had the eyes of the jackals turned to her than Skeema got behind them and gave the Snap-snap a mighty SQUEAK! that made them jump and spin. That gave Mimi a chance to jab the female in the leg.

  But the female was quick, strong, and hungry. With a swipe of her paw she disarmed Mimi, knocking her down and pinning her to the ground.

  “Leave her alone!” screamed Radiant and flew at her.

  “Freeze!” warned the female, lashing out, “or I’ll snap her head off.”

  “You can’t scare me! Not Mimi! I’m a princess!” screamed Mimi defiantly, looking her enemy right in the face.

  “Hey! I recognize you!” said the female. “You gave us the slip once before, if I’m not mistaken? You’re a Sharpeye princess, aren’t you? We caught up with you wandering around all on your own, I remember. Close by Red Ebony Point it was, where the weaver birds drive you crazy with their chit-chat. Then you kicked sand in my husband’s eyes and escaped! Well mark my words, you won’t get away with that trick twice!”

  Suddenly, Little Dream went crazy! He grabbed the female’s tail and yanked it. “What Sharpeye princess are you talking about? When did you see her? Where was she?”

  “Dreamie!” called Uncle, trying to keep his voice steady. “Keep out of the way, there’s a good boy.”

  “Don’t you understand, Uncle?” cried Little Dream. “She thought Mimi was Mama!”

  Griff seized his chance and lunged at the male, only to be sent sprawling by him.

  “Tally-ho!” cried Uncle Fearless, launching himself at the brute and sinking his teeth into his flank. At the same time, Skeema poked at him with his pointed stick and was thrilled to hear the jackal shriek with pain.

  But the jackal was too strong for them. He shrugged the meerkats aside and rolled Griff over, giving him a couple of nasty bites on the shoulder and finally gripping him around the throat.

  “You haven’t got a chance of saving these sand rats!” scoffed the female. “Give up now before you get choked!” Griff struggled bravely, but the jaws at his throat were squeezing the breath out of him.

  “Now say goodnight to your princesses… Uncle!” the female whined in triumph, having finally pinned down both Mimi and Radiant with her strong paws.

  Suddenly there was a dreadful, deafening roar like the thunder of a summer storm.

  “Mama!” shouted Griff as his mother, rippling with muscle and furiously angry, sprang from the forest of reeds and sent the jackals screaming into the darkness.

  “There you are, at last!” thundered the fearsome creature, lifting him by the scruff of his neck and shaking him. “Where have you been my naughty, lovely boy?”

  “It’s a long story,” laughed Griff, thrilled to be roughed up by her, purring as he felt her rough tongue licking his wounds. “But Mama, I want you to meet…”

  At that moment, the other four of the Five Beauties crashed through the papyrus into the open.

  Now THAT was scary.

  “Great to m-meet you all, I’m sure,” stammered Uncle, making a hasty retreat and pushing Radiant along ahead of him. “Sorry to ha
ve to rush off.”

  As Uncle and Radiant scampered away, the three kits turned to say a tearful goodbye to their friend. The unlikely little mob exchanged group licks and rubs and then it was time to go.

  “Thanks for saving us, Griffy!” said Mimi. “Don’t forget that you’re an honorary meerkat now, so come and visit us some time at Far Burrow! You were amazing!”

  “You put up a heck of a fight!” agreed Skeema, and for the benefit of Griff’s fearsome Mama, he added, “he’s terribly brave, you know! See you soon, Griff.”

  “Sorry we can’t stay!” sniffed Little Dream. “We’ve got to find our Mama now. Happy hunting and please visit us, won’t you!”

  “I’m an honor—roary meerkat!” rumbled Griff. “Of course I’d like to see Far Burrow!” He turned to his mother and added hastily. “If Mama doesn’t mind.”

  She dipped her great head under him, nuzzled him, and rolled him over to remind him what a young cat he was. It was clear that she didn’t plan to let him go again just yet, but she didn’t say no, so that was something.

  Uncle and Radiant had stopped at a safe distance and were calling anxiously. A little reluctantly, the kits turned and raced after them.

  And thus began the long journey home.

  *

  As Uncle Fearless said later when they had put some distance between themselves and the Five Beauties, “Did you have to mention hunting, Dreamie, in front of five hungry lionesses? Whew! Well I hope they didn’t think we were rude. I mean, manners are manners, and all that! But Radiant and I didn’t think that was the ideal moment to wait around to be introduced to them, what-what!”

  Chapter 17

  The Really Mad mob was almost home at Far Burrow. They had just stopped off at Green Island on the way, because the kits were eager to show its secrets to Uncle and Radiant.

  “Remarkable, what-what!” agreed Uncle. They cooled their tongues in the ostrich egg-wells and were surprised and delighted to find enough food for everyone folded up in broad, green leaves, laid out on the ground nearby. There were kicking beetles, spiders, some centipedes, a knot of worms, some jumpy crickets, and a bunch of roots. It was not the Meerkat Way to wonder how the food had got there. For Shadow, up in his watching-tree, the pleasure of seeing them eating was all the thanks he wanted.