The other cubs rushed over and mobbed the two of them. Ugas rolled about laughing as a crowd of cubs tickled him, pounced on his tail and tugged at his mane. “Oh, I love you all so much! I could just eat you up!” He would be bouncing bunnies for a long, long time before he got a rest.

Alyssa's mother watched Ugas rolling about, bellowing laughter at the cubs around him. Nudging Adhama with her paw, she asked, "What's got INTO him? You'd think he was young again!"

Adhama smiled. "Young again? Don’t you mean alive again?"

“Up we go!” Ugas cried, hoisting another giggling cub. “Now let your Daddy catch his breath....”

CHAPTER: THE OFFER

Rafiki was languishing in house arrest, unable to leave his baobab without a hyena escort. Once he had tended to be a loner, preferring to deal with one or two friends at a time rather than large groups. But the enforced loneliness was preying on him and he spent long hours in front of the scrying bowl desperate for some shadow of his past to comfort him. His father’s face looked back at him, tinged with sadness. Rafiki didn’t know if he was seeing the past, the present or the future, and tears began to run down his face. “Father, I wish you could be here. I always felt so safe when you held me. So safe and happy.”

Uzuri heard rumors that all access to Rafiki might be cut off without advance notice. She put on her best limp and headed out to the tree. The large number of guards chosen to guard one elderly mandrill was a testament to Taka’s fear of him.

A couple of hyenas stopped her. “My lady, no further please. We insist.”

“I’m injured,” she said. “I need medical treatment.”

“We have good doctors. May I recommend Da’klesh?”

“Rafiki is familiar with my problem. Now if you want me to wake Shenzi from her nap, I’ll do it.”

“No need. Come this way.”

Surrounded by hyenas, she went to the baobab. It was a very tense moment, and she could feel the oppressive sense of being confined already.

The moment she looked in the baobab, the mandrill’s face lit up. He threw his arms around his neck and kissed her. “Honey tree, you remembered old Rafiki?? I’ve missed you so much!” Then he backed off and looked worried. “Are you hurt? I should have asked before I grabbed you like that. What is it, old girl?? Nothing serious I hope.”

She winked and shook her head no. “I think my shoulder is out of joint,” she said loudly. “If you don’t fix it, I won’t be able to hunt for a long time.”

“Do something quick,” one of the hyena guards said, looking inside. “We don’t have enough food as it is!”

Uzuri smiled sweetly and walked over to him. Clearly he was uneasy at her approach despite her smile and he backed out.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” she purred. “You know I’ll always take care of you, even if the others do without.” She gave him a long, slow lick on the cheek. “Meet me behind Pride Rock at sunset, and don’t tell anyone.”

“What’s this??” Krull demanded.

“Nothing, Sir!” The hyena began to tremble. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying!”

“Holding out on us, Dourbet??”

Uzuri looked at Krull pleadingly. “Leave the poor boy alone.” She kissed Dourbet again. “It’s not like he’s the only one to beg for scraps. You ride them so hard, they all wonder who made you a god.”

Krull went into a slow burn. “Well,” he said, his hackles raising, “They won’t wonder any more!!” He looked around. “General assembly, ON THE DOUBLE!!”

Uzuri went back to Rafiki. As Krull cursed the guards loudly in Hyannic, Rafiki began to rub Uzuri’s stiff shoulder.

She grunted in pleasure as the muscles loosened up. “We can talk now. They’ll be busy for a while.”

“I’ll say, you little devil!” He chuckled--his first good laugh in a long while. “So my dear, what is the latest news? I never know when I’m being lied to by those fellows.”

“Lies would have to be better than the truth,” Uzuri said with a sigh. “The land is dying. It’s being hunted out, and the rain has stopped. What’s happening to us?”

“I wish I knew.” Rafiki began to rub the other side, his eyes half closed as his thoughts wandered. “There’s a lion to the east. His name is Ugas. If things go too badly here, you could make the excuse you’re hunting for gazelles. When you cross that border, honey tree, no one is going after you.”

“I couldn’t do that. Not and leave my pride sisters in the lurch.”

“Somehow I knew you’d say that. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

She looked at him in the eyes for a moment and purred. “So you know Ugas?”

“Not very well. And these days I don’t get out much.”

“I know.” She began to groom around his face and neck and he sat still, a look of contentment on his face to feel her closeness. “I’ll mention your name the next time I see him. In fact, I might just arrange for you to drop by and see him in person. You could use some fresh air and sunshine.”

He put his arm around her neck and gave her shoulder a pat. “If those hyenas were all that stood in my way, I’d be out like a sparrow. They raid my pantry when I’m not looking. A little Bumpweed in a honeycomb and I guarantee they’d all be sleeping like little pups while I walked out as big as you please.” He chuckled for a moment, but then looked down at the tooth of Ahadi he kept with him always. Fingering the ivory fang, a wistful look of sadness washed the joy from his face. “My life is rooted to the Pride Lands deeper than this old baobab. I’ve lived most of my life here, and I guess I’ll die here. Whether I die happy or sad is for Aiheu to decide.”

CHAPTER: UZURI AND UGAS

A few evenings later Uzuri was meeting with the pride sisters to discuss the approach for the night’s hunt.

“Tonight we’ll come into the Southern meadow. There is a group of Tommies down there and if we move fast, they’ll still be there if those hyenas will shut up and keep out of our way.”

“How will we approach them?” Ajenti asked.

“We’ll use the double blind method. You take the right side with Yolanda and Isha will come with me on the left while Fini leads the rest of you around through the wadi to wait for the signal.

“Sarafina is sick,” Ajenti said. “Remember?”

“Okay. Then Yolanda can lead that group.”

“And who will that leave on the right with Isha?”

She struggled to concentrate. “Oh, Beesa can do it. I don’t care. Let’s just do this thing before the darned gazelles go home, OK?”

Uzuri paced away nervously. She was in her season, a time in her life that could make her feel very special or very alone.

She sat down and sighed deeply. Rafiki was confined to the baobab or she would have asked his advice on what to do. Maybe he had some kind of herb to find her lost powers of concentration and dull the empty feeling inside of her. The temptation to push past the guards and plead for help was great.

Still she could not risk two visits in such a short time--it might arouse suspicion. She sighed deeply again.

Then she remembered who she could turn to for advice. Ugas was just across the Western Border. She had not accepted his invitation to come back, but this would be the time. He would dispense more of his fatherly advice and compassion.

“Beesa, I don’t feel good. You lead this hunt the way we’ve planned, OK?”

“Sure, hon.” She drew close and whispered, “You got yourself a Honey Tree out in the bushes?”

“Beesa, you should be ashamed!” She added in a whisper, “Girl, I wish!”

“There’s been a rogue male sighted to the south. Maybe you two will hit it off.”

“Beesa!” Uzuri groomed one of her paws nervously. “I’m not selling myself to the highest bidder. Still, thank you.”

Her remark was casual, but her inner turmoil was great. A lioness’ natural drives are as strong as a lion’s. Aiheu did not make them to rebel against the natural order of things, so she found herself at odds with her own body, a conflict that left her no place to run.