"Okay, Job," he called up. "Take her up. Gently, man, gently."

As soon as they reached ground level, Sean made a more thorough examination of her knee.

He rolled up the leg of her jeans and said, "Shit!"

As a Scout commander he had extensive experience of the type of injury a paratrooper is prone to-broken bones, torn cartilage, sprained ligaments in ankle and knee. Already Claudia's knee was ballooning and the first tinge of bruising colored the smooth tanned skin.

"This might hurt a little," he warned, and manipulated her leg gently.

"Ouch!" she said. "That's damned sore."

"Okay." He nodded. "It's the medial ligament. I don't think you've torn it, it would be more painful if you had. Probably just sprained it."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Three days," he replied. "You won't be walking on it for at least three days."

He put his arm around her shoulders. "Can you stand up?" he asked. When she nodded, he helped her to her feet. She leaned against him, standing on her good leg.

"Try putting a little weight on it," he said.

immediately she exclaimed with pain. "No, I can't use it."

He stopped, picked her up in his arms as though she were a child, and carried her back to the village. She was surprised by his strength, and although her knee was beginning to throb, she relaxed in his arms. It was a good feeling. Papa had carried her like this when she was a little girl, and she had to resist the urge to lay her head against Sean's shoulder.

When they reached the village, he set her down in the clearing, and Matatu ran to fetch his pack. Her injury had diverted Riccardo's attention from his own troubles, and he came to fuss over his little girl in a way which ordinarily would have annoyed her.

Now she submitted to it, thankful for his revived animation and attention.

Sean strapped the knee with an elastic bandage from his first aid kit and gave her an anti inflammatory tablet to swallow with hot tea.

"That's about all we can do for it," he told her, and sat back.

"Only thing that will fix it is time.

"Why did you say three days?"

"It takes that long. I've seen a hundred knees just like yours, except that they were usually a lot more hairy and not nearly as pretty. "That's a compliment." She raised an eyebrow. "You're getting soft, Colonel."

"Part of the treatment, and of course totally insincere," he assured her with a grin. "The only question now, ducky, is what on earth are we going to do with you?"

"Leave me here," she said promptly.

"Are you out of your mind?" he asked. Riccardo backed him up immediately.

"That's out of the question."

"Look at it this way," she reasoned calmly. "I can't move for three days, by which time your elephant will be long gone, Papa."

She held up her hand to forestall his argument. "We can't go back.

You can't carry me. I can't walk. We would have to sit here anyway."

"We can't leave you alone. Don't be ridiculous."

"No," she agreed. "But you can leave someone to look after me while you go on after Tukutela."

"No." Riccardo shook his head.

"Sean," she appealed to him. "Make him see that it's the sensible thing to do."

He stared at her, and the admiration she saw in his gaze gave her a full warm feeling in her chest.

"Damn it" he said softly. "You're all right."

"Tell him it'll only be for a few days, Sean. We all know how much that elephant means to Papa. I want to give it to him as She almost said "last gift," but then she changed it to "as MY my special gift to him."

"I can't accept it, tesoro. " Riccardo's voice was gruff but blurred, and he lowered his head to hide his feelings.

"Make him go, Sean," Claudia insisted, gripping his forearm firmly. "Tell him I'll be as safe here with Job to look after me as I would be in the swamp with the two of you."

"She just may have a point, Capo," Sean said. "But, hell, it's not my business. It's between the two of you."

"Will you leave us alone, Sean?" Claudia asked. Without waiting for a reply, she turned to her father. "Come and sit here next to me, Papa." She patted the ground beside her. Sean stood up and walked away, leaving them together in the gathering darkness.

He went to sit beside Job. They sat in the companionable silence of old friends, drinking tea and smoking one of Sean's last cheroots, passing it back and forth between them.

An hour passed. It was dark before Riccardo came to where the two of them sat. he stood over them and his voice was rough and drawn with sadness.

"All right, Sean," he said. "She has convinced me to do as she wants. Will you make the arrangements to go on with the hunt first thing tomorrow morning? And, Job, will you stay here and look after my little girl for me?"