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A bachelor herd of rooibok (6) galloped in front of them for a while, and then veered of into the brush, startled by the roaring engine.
     
    “Oh, my God. They’re beautiful,” Shilo sighed impulsively, “They’re just so graceful.”
     
       Once the words were uttered, she could not remember if she was referring to the graceful antelopes… or the half-naked man next to her. She tried to stifle a laugh as she realised how ridiculous she was being.
     
    Stratt smiled: “So you’re enjoying Africa then?”
     
    Shilo remained silent and stared straight ahead.
     
    “You’re really burning,” he continued casually. “You are going to be very sore tonight.”
     
       It was almost a triumphant statement as he watched Shilo suddenly become aware of her bright pink shoulders and thighs.
     
              “Here,” he said, thrusting his discarded shirt at her. “Put that on and cover yourself up before it gets worse.”
     
            Shilo took the outsized shirt in her fingers as if it were some repulsive object and gingerly put it around her stinging shoulders. There was instant relief from the direct rays of the sun, as due to its size, it fell loosely over both her arms and thighs.
     
    “Thanks,” she said reluctantly, feeling rather inadequate and unprepared.
     
                  She hated feeling this way … and it had happened many times before … especially in front of strangers. She was always so confident and self-assured. Something about this particular man and this particular place made her feel very insecure and extremely vulnerable.
     
                 Lunch was a picnic in a hide, next to a small dam. They hungrily devoured fresh cold cuts; cut salad vegetables; delicate egg salad sandwiches; spicy chicken drumsticks and fruit washed down with cartons of fruit juice, bottles of water or cans of Cola. Then they had the opportunity to watch the water birds on the small lake with Stratt’s binoculars. They saw a flock of flamingos at the far end – a pink haze; a pelican swoop down and scoop his catch out of the water and a fish eagle circling on high. There was also a pair of spoonbills sifting through the mud in the shallows. Brightly coloured kingfishers and many cormorants, Egyptian geese and birds of shocking red, shimmering green and sapphire blue which darted in and out of the reeds. She could feel Stratt’s dominant presence behind her as she had her turn with the field glasses.
                    He bent over her right shoulder and whispered,” Look over there towards the shore. See those two rocks? … just to the right of that is what looks like a log on the sand … it’s a crocodile.”
                  She felt a thrill pass through her, and was not quite sure if it was the allure of this vicious prehistoric carnivore, or the fact that this hulking man was bending over her, and she could feel his breath in her hair as he pointed into her field of vision.
     
     
                                                                        *
     
         In the early afternoon, they roared back into the car park, and Shilo immediately returned to the coolness of her room. She sat on the edge of her bed and wrapped her arms around herself in a self-piteous gesture and stared blankly into the mirror. She looked a wreck: her face was red and tender, and flecked with dust from the ride in the open air vehicle; her hair was windblown and again the dust had made it lose its lustre, her carefully made-up eyes were smudged and she was still wearing that detestable Stratt’s shirt. She slipped it off, and impulsively held it to her nose – it smelt very masculine with the tinges of a woody cologne, of wood smoke, of dust … it smelled of Africa, and it was … she had to admit …. Incredibly good. Then she folded it neatly on her lap. What was it about that brute of a man