Fearless Master of the Jungle (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure Read Free

’s
only garment-apart from his archer’s armguard—was a leopard skin
loincloth which left little to be imagined about his magnificent
physical development. Exceptionally handsome, his face denoted
similar qualities to those of the girl. He had a tremendous spread
to his shoulders, with massive biceps and forearms to augment the
strength they could put out when it was needed. Bronzed by long
exposure to the elements, his torso slimmed down to a lean waist
and a flat stomach ridged by cords of powerful muscles. His hips
sat on legs so perfectly proportioned and puissant that they could
carry his two hundred and twenty pounds’ weight with effortless
speed and agility. For all their bulk and quantity, due to the high
tone and quality of his muscles, there was nothing slow, clumsy or
awkward about him.
    Like Dawn, the blond giant was
well—if primitively —armed. Hanging in its sheath down his left thigh he was
equipped with a Randall Model 12 ‘Smithsonian’ bowie knife. The
concave ivory handle and brassed lugged hilt made Dawn’s efficient
weapon seem almost puny. xiv He too could indulge in archery.
Custom built to his specifications, the recurved Fred Bear Super
Kodiak bow had a draw weight of one hundred pounds and was fitted
with an eight-capacity bow quiver. As in the case of his adoptive
cousin—although he no longer thought of the girl in that
relationship—he had left his back quiver with their off-saddled and
hobbled mounts in order to make stalking and observing the quaggas
less difficult. Nor had he brought the other piece of equipment
with which he had been helped to effect Dawn’s rescue.
    Realizing that
Bunduki ’s
duties on Zillikian would call for him to be adequately armed, the
‘Suppliers’ had delivered his m ’ kuki— Masai throwing spear—and his shield. Although he had decided
against encumbering himself with the m ’ kuki when setting out in search of Dawn, he had carried the
shield hanging from the horn of his captured mount’s saddle. The
shield was of the same elliptical shape and size as those carried
by Masai moran, warriors. However, beneath the convex outer cover—made from
the shoulder hide of a Cape buffalo bull, with all the wrinkles
smoothed out and decorated by a red and white paint heraldic
device—the saucer shaped interior was formed of the kind of light
weight, ultra strong fiberglass material used for the manufacture
of bullet proof protective garments and it had a rim of the finest
quality Swedish high carbon tool steel.
    ‘ Aren’t they magnificent?’ Dawn inquired, holding her voice
to little more than a whisper and turning her gaze from the
quaggas.
    ‘ They’re the finest mounts I’ve seen on Zillikian,’ Bunduki
answered, just as quietly. ‘Neither of the banar-gatahs you and I are riding comes anywhere
near to matching them for quality.’
    ‘ You would insist on leaving the People-Taker’s quagga gelding
behind as a gesture of good will to whoever becomes High Priest,’
Dawn pointed out, blatantly disregarding the fact that she had
expressed complete agreement with the blond giant’s decision. ‘Not
that it was as good as either of them, if it comes to that. I
wonder how they come to be out here?”
    ‘ They
must have escaped from the Mun-Gatahs,’ Bunduki guessed. ‘If not,
they’ve been bred from a sire and dam that did.’
    ‘ My,
how clever of you to work that out,’ Dawn sniffed. ‘And there was
poor simple little me thinking they might be just ordinary,
run-of-the-mill wild stock.’ Then, becoming serious, she went on,
‘As they’re domesticated, or at least feral, they’ll be able to
survive in captivity and be trainable. If we can catch them, that
is.’
    ‘ I’m all for trying,’ Bunduki declared, duplicating the girl’s
line of reasoning. ‘They’re just what we need, provided we can
catch and train them. Our work on Zillikian is far from finished
and, if we’re to do it properly in future, we’ll need to be able