Africa Calls.

                                                                     

                                                                     

Chapter 4.
                                                                     

The baboon barked loudly as the long grass shifted slightly in the cool of the evening.
Nothing else seemed to stir, stillness hung in the air, as if waiting for something to happen. The young baboon separated from the troop which had moved into the nearby crop of rocks which was their home.
                                                         

 They were getting ready to settle down for the night. The one left behind, a youngster, not quite streetwise yet, had spied some rather  moreish looking  berries on a nearby bush. Looking around carefully, although not as to alert one of the adults on watch. He wanted the food for himself. It was his find. Maybe he could just grab some before catching up with the others.
He was still young and had a lot to learn.
Never noticing, the slight twitch in the long grass, the shadow of the leopard slunk down, belly scrapping the ground, ears flattened, and not a twitch in the tail.
The leopard had been waiting. He had noticed the troop the last several days, but had not been able to get close enough without being seen. The old one on watch was wise to it's surrounds, he had very sharp eyes, but had been distracted, just long enough .The leopard had learnt to be patient. Now they had moved away.
Stopping, then inching forward, eyes focused on the young baboon busily gobbling down the berries. The baboon gorged himself on the fat berries, distracted in his pleasure. Food was not that plentiful at this time of the season. This had been a good find.
With a slight twitch of the tail, the leopard inched forward and then with a bunching up of the muscles sprang up and forwards.
In that split second, the baboon saw a flash of tawny fur, but it was too late. With a shriek that pierced the evening, startling the birds starting to roost in the tree and making them flee to the sky.
The leopard locked it's jaws around the baboons throat and held on, as the screech died away with the last light in the baboons eyes fading. Death had been quick.
Dragging its kill back to the crop of rocks, before any other predator caught a scent of the kill, the leopard knew it could not hang around.  First,  the kill had to be stashed away. It would eat later, and feed the cub it had hidden away in a small cave in the rocks.
The baboons startled by the noise, had since settled back down for the night.
No one had missed the youngster.
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It does not look like I have done very much this week, but there is a lot of building up in the colours of the fur. Seems to takes ages sometimes. I have also strengthened the colour in several other places.

Join me again next week.