Danger in the Dust Read Free Page A

their table.
    ‘Are we really going to eat crocodile?’ Joe was incredulous.
    ‘I’m not!’ said Aesha. ‘And I’m not going to eat ostrich or zebra, either.’
    ‘But that’s why people come here – to try something different,’ Peter said. ‘You won’t find endangered species on the menu, and the amount of wild meat on offer is very carefully controlled.’
    ‘I don’t care,’ said Aesha. ‘It doesn’t seem right to eat it when we’ve come all this way to see these animals alive.’
    ‘I suppose it’s no different from eating lamb or chicken,’ Joe mused, though he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of crocodile, which he guessed would be tough. ‘I would never eat elephant or rhino, or leopard or giraffe, though,’ he added.
    ‘And yet if they were plentiful and tasted good, there’d be no real reason not to,’ Binti replied.
    Aesha pulled a face. ‘I’m going to have the vegetarian option,’ she said stubbornly.
    ‘That’s fine,’ said Binti. ‘The salads and vegetables look wonderful too.’
    One by one, the waiters came to serve them, each carrying a sword loaded with a single meat. Joe watched with fascination as they held the swords, pointed end down, and carved slices of the different meats on to his sizzling, cast-iron plate. To start with there was beef, lamb and spare ribs. Next came chicken wings and sirloin steak.
    ‘Tuck in,’ Peter encouraged. ‘There’s plenty more to come.’
    Joe tried each of the meats in turn. He had never tasted anything quite so good, even though his father was a brilliant cook. When the sword laden with ostrich arrived, he hesitated at first, then asked for just a small piece. It was so delicious, however, he couldn’t wait for the waiter to return with more.
    ‘The waiters will keep coming back to top up our plates until we take down that little white flag in the middle of the table,’ Peter explained. ‘That’s how we let them know we’re full.’
    ‘I’m full now!’ declared Aesha, who was working her way through a platter piled high with salads and cheeses.
    ‘No room for crocodile?’ Peter asked.
    ‘I’m surprised you didn’t say anything about making it snappy,’ Aesha said scornfully.
    ‘Here’s the crocodile now,’ said Binti, as a waiter approached carrying a sword covered with small circles of pale-coloured meat.
    Joe allowed him to slide two pieces on to his plate.
    ‘It doesn’t look how I imagined it would,’ he remarked, staring dubiously at the two pieces. He tasted one of them, but pushed the other aside. ‘Too chewy,’ he said, and contented himself with a jumbo sausage that had also appeared on his plate.
    Shortly after, he joined Aesha in deciding that he was too full to eat another thing.
    ‘I feel like an elephant,’ Aesha grumbled.
    ‘They don’t serve it here,’ said Peter, which earned him a prolonged scowl.
    ‘Do you think it’s right that we sit here, eating mountains of food, in a continent where some people are starving?’ Aesha asked bluntly.
    ‘That’s a difficult one,’ said Binti. ‘It’s never “right” that some people have plenty while others starve. But our custom here will help put food on the tables of families who might otherwise go without, and this is a one-off evening of indulgence.’
    Despite his parents’ reassurances, Joe felt uncomfortable now with the heap of undigested meat sitting in his stomach. Tiredness was overwhelming him and all he wanted to do was go back to their hotel and sleep.
    The moment the bill had been paid, he struggled to his feet and leant against his mother for support.
    ‘Someone’s had enough,’ she said, stroking his hair. ‘We’d better get you to bed or you won’t have any energy for tomorrow’s treat.’
    ‘Which is?’ Aesha jumped in, hoping to catch her mother out.
    ‘Which is for you to find out tomorrow,’ Binti said, smiling.
     
    As soon as they returned to the hotel, Joe fell into bed and snuggled down under the crisp