The Visitor Read Free

injuries began to bleed profusely and the pain became stronger than his fear. He dropped to the floor of his prison and contorted a groan. Mahisa’s image entered his mind. Was she looking for him? Where was she? How was she? He fervently hoped that she hadn’t been struck down.
     
    *
     
    “ You see, my daughter, that we have done well to confine him," said Akkal while removing his gloves. Even with two bullets in its body... see how this animal is enraged! It would have bitten you through to your blood! Okay, I'll go fetch the mobile crane to move it. Where do you want it put?  
    “Well, not i n the garage or nor in our shed!” launched Akkali. “I prefer to avoid the stink...”  
    “Let's put it just under the cover of the first trees at the edge of the forest," proposed Akkaliza.  
    Deeply worried as she watched the bov bleed, she was eager to be alone with him to provide care.
    “ It’s okay with me," said the father.  
    “ Me too," said the mother.  
    “ I guess that you don’t care, Akkalo," asked Akkali.  
    Her brother took off his protective gloves and confirmed his aloofness by taking an aping expression.
     
    *
     
    Akkaliza threw a look towards the mobile crane that was moving away. It was a sort of pickup truck, with a small lifting device attached to the rear part of the chassis. It's with this contraption that Akkal had picked up and then brought the cage up to the agreed place. In the center of its roof, the cage had a ring to facilitate its transport. Her father, at the wheel of the machine, turned briefly to send her a hand wave that she distractedly reciprocated.
    Now alone with the injured bov, she would be able to give him all her attention. He was lying on his side. He no longer moaned, but he was still losing a lot of blood. His poor shape was painful to see, probably not for everyone, but at least for her. It even greatly upset her. The teenager began to talk to him gently to try to reassure him:
    “ I mean you no harm. I’m very unhappy to see you trapped and injured. I know that it’s one us who's responsible for what happened to you, that it’s my own father even. Yet, I swear that I’m sorry. It even breaks my heart...”  
    She was silent for a moment, wondering how to clean the coagulated blood that stuck the hairs on his skull and formed dry plates on his left shoulder. Then, seeking his gaze she continued:
    “ I would like to heal you, heal your wounds, but I dread making you afraid. I don’t know how to win your confidence. If you let me take care of you, then, I can free you and you can return among your own. I didn’t say that to my father, of course, but it’s what I think.”  
    She jumped when she heard the bov make one of the very deep sounds that his kind uttered. She had listened and observed these animals, with very sustained attention, long enough to be convinced that it was a complaint, a moan, but there was also something else. She was sure of it. Perhaps surprise... or curiosity, rather... Something like that, yes.
    He began to put pressure on his trembling arms. At the expense of visible effort, he managed to rise up enough to sit.
    “ Gently," she whispered. “Gently. Don’t overextend yourself.”  
    He stared at her with more curiosity than fear. At least, that is what she thought was conveyed by his hairy face spotted with muddy crusts amalgamated with coagulated blood. She advanced her gloved hand between two bars and stated in a quiet and gentle voice:
    “ You’ll have to let me touch you so that I can treat you. Your wounds will worsen if I don’t disinfect them. I don’t know how to persuade you that I don't mean you any harm.”  
    She advanced her hand a little more. This gesture was more intended to make him understand her intention rather than actually touch him, because he was too far away to reach even with an outstretched arm. The bov looked several times at the glove and at Akkaliza’s eyes with an expression of growing