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trying, but was diverted when she heard the voice of Nadia, with whom she shared the tent.
    â€œShhh, Kate! Don’t turn on the light,” the girl whispered.
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œLions. Don’t be afraid,” Nadia answered.
    The flashlight dropped from the writer’s hand. She felt her bones turn to mush, and a scream from her gut lodged in her throat. A single slash of a lion’s claws would rip the thin nylon tent and the cat would be on them. It wouldn’t be the first time that a tourist had died that way on safari. During their treks they had seen lions so close that they could count their teeth; she had decided that she didn’t care to meet them in the flesh. An image flashed through her mind: early Christians in the Roman coliseum, condemned to be eaten alive by the beasts. Sweat ran down her face as she groped on the ground for the flashlight, by now entangled in the mosquito netting that hung around her cot. She heard the purring of a great cat and new scratchings.
    This time the tent shook, as if a tree had dropped on it. Terrified, Kate dimly realized that Nadia was purring back. Finally she found the flashlight and with wet, trembling fingers she switched it on. She saw Nadia crouching down, her face against the cloth of the tent, enthralled, engaged in an exchange of deep purrs with the beast on the other side. The scream that had been stuck inside Kate escaped as a terrible howl that took Nadia by surprise, literally knocking her off her feet. Kate swept up the girl in one arm and began trying to pull her. New screams, this time accompanied by the chilling roars of the lions, shattered the quiet of the camp.
    Within a few seconds, staff and visitors were outside, despite the specific instructions of Mushaha, who had warned them a hundred times of the dangers of leaving their tents at night. Kate was still tugging at Nadia, dragging her outside as the girl kicked and struggled, trying to get free. Half the tent collapsed in the tug of war, and one of the nettings broke lose and fell over them, enveloping them completely. They looked like two larvae trying to break out of a cocoon. Alexander, the first to arrive, ran to them and tried to untangle them from the netting. Once she was free, Nadia pushed him away, furious because her conversation with the lions had been interrupted in such an uncivilized fashion.
    As that was going on, Mushaha fired his pistol into the air, and the roars of the lions faded into the distance. The guards lighted torches, sheathed their weapons, and set off to explore the area around the camp. By then the elephants were in an uproar, and their keepers were trying to calm them before they escaped their corrals and stampeded through the camp. Crazed by the smell of the lions, the three pygmy chimps were chattering and clinging to the first person who came by. Borobá had leaped onto Alexander, whowas ineffectually trying to pull him off his head by tugging his tail. In all the confusion, no one had any idea what had happened.
    Joel had run outside yelling, his heart in his mouth.
    â€œSnakes! A python!”
    â€œLions,” Kate corrected.
    Joel stopped short, bewildered.
    â€œIt’s not snakes?” He hesitated.
    â€œNo, only lions,” Kate repeated.
    â€œAnd you woke me up for that?” sputtered the photographer.
    â€œFor God’s sake, man, cover your privates!” joked Angie, who had appeared in her pajamas.
    Only then did Joel realize that he was stark naked; he backed off toward his tent, covering himself with both hands.
    Michael Mushaha returned shortly afterward with the news that they had found the tracks of several lions around the compound, and that Kate and Nadia’s tent had been ripped.
    â€œThis is the first time anything like this has happened in the camp. Those animals have never attacked before,” he commented, worried.
    â€œThey weren’t attacking us!” Nadia interrupted
    â€œOh.