"Dad, back there." "We hit it." "No, we didn't hit it." "Come on." " Where is he?" " Listen." "Over there." " See it?" " Come on." "Come on." " Over there, look." " Yeah." "Go around behind." " Got it!" " Xan!" "Xan!" "Here!" "Here!" "Here!" "Slow down, you!" "All right, what's that?" "How the devil did you get out here, fella?" " He's shaking like a leaf." "See that?" " Yep." " You think he's lost, what?" " Yeah." " Yeah?" " See his mom?" "No." "Well..." "I think you're right, yeah." "Come here, you." "Here, take him." "Take him." "Hey, you." "How's he doing?" "He's hungry, huh?" "What on earth are you doing?" "Watch and learn, my friend." "Ice cream goes in here." "Flower goes on top." "Baby bottle." "Enjoy." "Cheers." " He's a feisty guy." " Yeah." "And voilà." "He's drinking." " His face." "Black streaks." " Yeah." " You know what that means." " What?" "A cheetah." "A cheetah." "Yeah." "The world's fastest animal." "From zero to 60 in two seconds." "I bet it's faster than your Porsche." "Maybe." "You think we should hang on to him?" "Yeah." "Why not?" "Where else is he gonna go?" "Xan?" "We can't keep him forever." "Not any more than your mom and I can keep you." "He's gonna go back to the world he came from one day." "Mom!" "Mom!" " Get it off!" "Get it off!" " Mom, hurry!" "It's got Dad!" " It's a monster!" "Come on!" "Come on!" " Save yourselves!" " God, it's ripping me apart!" " Xan?" "Stop tearing at me, you terrible animal." "It's..." "Oh, hello." "Hello." " Look what we found." " And who's this?" "That was a close one." " Not nearly close enough." " I was almost torn asunder." " What is this?" " See what we found?" "I'm glad I'm not his mum." "I'd be heartbroken to lose him." "Hey, sexy mama." "Your place or mine?" "What?" " Dad?" " Xan." "Did I tell you about teaching that bird questionable phrases?" "What did I tell you, huh?" "Wait." "Wait!" "Wait." "Now go." "In Africa, they say that when you give someone a name they become your responsibility." "A proper name should capture the most important qualities and point them towards a certain kind of life." "I tried different names for the cub like Fuzzy, Spots or Speedy." "But nothing stuck." "As he became part of our daily lives he got to know everything around the farm." "And I think he started to feel like it was his place too." "Then Mom thought of Duma, the Swahili word for cheetah." "We all thought it sounded pretty good." "So then Duma became our responsibility." " How fast does it go?" " Don't worry about how fast now." "Don't worry about how fast." "Just worry about how to start, all right?" " Yeah." " A little petrol, just a little." " Press this down." " And what is that gear?" "One down..." "Yeah, one down, four up." "All right?" "Put your hand on it." "Let it go." "Let it go." "Go ahead." "That's it." "Feel that?" " Yep." " You like that, right?" "All right, hold on." "You want to go fast now?" "That's it." "Try one more time." "If you let it out too fast, look." "Here, you're popping it like that." "You don't want to do that." " Tight." " Pull it to that side." "Tight." "Tight." "Pull on it." "There you go." "Beauty." "One more." "There you are." "One more, one more." "Tight, tight." "All right." "Now, wait." "Watch it, watch it." "Don't ever underestimate what you can do with a bit of baling wire." "It's good, eh?" "Come on." "Hang on!" "You got it!" "There he goes!" "Dad!" "Dad!" "It seemed impossible that anything bad could have happened to my dad." "Before he got sick he never let anything stop him." "He was always looking at the bright side." "Mom and I took care of the farm while Dad was in hospital." "The doctor said he recovered really well and that everything was going to be okay." "Come on, Duma!" "Let's give it some stick!" "That's 50 K!" "Come on, Duma!" "Look!" "There it is!" "Look at that stride, now." " Come on, Duma!" " Come on, boy!" "Hey, we're at 60!" "Now he's overtaking us!" "Seventy, man!" "Hang on!" "I lost my hat!" "Eighty!" "Ninety!" " Beauty!" "You, beauty, you!" " Go, Duma!" " Beauty!" " A hundred, now!" "From too much love of living" "From hope and fear set free" "We thank with brief thanksgiving" "Whatever gods may be" "Pause after each line." "Read it like you're singing a song." "The sound of the words are the melody." "That no life lives forever" "That dead men rise up never" "That even the weariest river" "Winds somewhere safe to sea" "Mom?" "I'm sorry." " Yeah." " Got any room for me?" "Sure, Dad." "So..." "We gotta talk about our friend here." "He's almost grown." " But Duma's..." " Hang on." "He's nearly too old to survive out there." "Duma's got to live the life he was born to." "So we gotta take him back." "Now." "He doesn't want to go." "He doesn't want to be wild." "No, you can't decide that for him, Xan." "He's a wild animal." "Remember?" "His wildness is something he knows without even knowing it." "It's in his bones." "It's in his blood." "Like a memory, yeah?" "Like how I know I belong here on Grandpa's farm." "But there's hardly any cheetahs left." "Where else would he go besides our farm?" "We're here, yeah?" "And then all the way up there." "We found him here." "And just north and west mountains, yeah?" "Little valley." "The river." "Lots of springbok and gazelle." "Big-cat heaven." "Chase, trip, bite." "How hard could it be?" "Chase, trip, bite." "So you and I will take him up next week." "Okay?" "We'll camp out do a bit of fishing." "It'll be lekker, man, send him off." "What happened?" "Where's Dad?" " Hey, Xan." " What?" "Honey, we're making some changes." "Like what?" "I have to lease the farm." "We'll still live in the house, won't we?" "No, we're going to the city to live with Aunt Gwen for a while." "I need to get a job." "What about Duma?" "Duma will get a new home as well." "A big preserve where he'll have lots of room to run around." "Xan, I have to take care of us." " And the only way I can do that is if we..." " That's not what Dad wanted." "Xan!" "Xan, your father and I talked about this." "It's the only thing we can do." "It's the only thing that makes sense." "I know this is scary." "I know it won't be easy." "We can do this if we stick together, Xan." "Thanks for having us, Gwen." "No worries." "The man from the reserve will be here in a day or two." "Xan, wait." "All you have to do today is look around and get the lay of the land." "Those kids don't know anything you don't know." "You want to be a winner?" "You gotta have passion, passion, fire!" "Gentlemen, our day is made." "So, what have we got here?" "Have we got winners, or have we got losers?" " Winners!" " Let me hear it again." "Winners or losers?" "Winners!" "Right." "Bombardment." "One hit, and you're out." "Hello!" "I'm going to go pick up Xan." "No worries." "He's lovely." "Bye-bye." " this incredible offer!" "Look how lovely and creamy..." "I tought I taw a puttytat." "Oh, boy." "Hello, breakfast." "Doggy!" ""There are many theories about how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids." "Some people think they used slaves or unknown machines." "I think they used water." "They could have dug canals then loaded the huge, heavy stone blocks using ropes."" "Excuse me, young man where are you going?" " Out there." "Nobody leaves my room without my permission." " "The Egyptians..."" " Fire drill!" "Exit by row!" "Orderly, please!" "Duma?" "Duma?" "You in here?" "Who's Duma?" "Is that your boyfriend?" "Give me that." "Hey, that's mine!" "That?" "That's very nice." "My father gave it to me." "And you are going to give it to me or pay me to let you keep it." "Run!" "Good job." "Come on, Duma." "Hey, kid!" "Get down!" "This is outrageous." "Xan!" "Come, boy." "Come." "Come on." "Let's get out of here." "Come on." "We have to go far." "Go home." "Like Dad said." "We started here and went up here." "That must be the Salt Pans." "So we've got a lot of map to go." "Should we keep going?" "Yeah, that's what I think too." "It had to happen sooner or later." "But I was hoping for later." "Do you even know what "wild" means?" "Yeah, I thought so." "Hey." "What do you think you're doing?" "What are you doing?" "Do you hear me?" "I am going south." "Do you have a problem with that?" "Yeah." "We're going west." ""We're"?" "You and who else?" "My buddy and I." "Do you have any water?" "Maybe." "What do you got?" "The motorcycle." "I could give you a ride." "You are thirsty, yeah?" "Hey, hey." "I did not say you could give some to your animal." "There is not enough." "Does this thing work?" "If you have gas." "Opuno Kjadi Ripkuna." "You?" "Xan." "Thanks for the water." "A bush baby." "How did it get here?" "Same as me." "Too many wrong turns." "Mashaka." "Troublemaker." "Do you know there's a big river?" "It's maybe five days' walk from here." "But to get there we must have food." "So which one?" "So which one what?" "Which one we eat first?" "You understand, for us to live we must eat them." "Don't worry." "We have a few days before we have to make our decision." "Explain to me this idea." "Get more wood." "You know, I don't like your cat looking at me like this." "Where did you learn this, boy?" "Where did you learn these ideas?" " My dad taught me." " Your dad?" "Wait for me, man." "Show me the plan..." "What you are going to make, man?" " Put it up." " I am." " Holy smoker." " Come on, hang on." "Quickly." " Let her go." " We are doing it, Xan." "We are doing it." "Hang on." "Holy smoke." "Xan, look." "Say goodbye, Xan." "Bye-bye, plane." " Hello, river." " To the right." "To the right." "Oh, Xan." "We are going to live." " We need water." " Don't worry." "We find it." "I told you so." "This is your big chance, boy." "Remember what Dad said?" "Chase, trip, bite." "You can do this." "Come." "Duma." "Duma." "Come, boy." "Come." "Go get him." "Yeah, yeah." "Your cheetah is a great hunter." "I'm very impressed." "He caught an egg." "You know, your cheetah he will not live long out there." "For what he would be worth, you know you could build a house." "You could build a lot of houses." "Maybe even buy a nice car." "With DVD." "You don't sell a friend." "You know, the rich they buy animal like him every day." "Pay big money, make business." "You know?" "Zoo, fun park." "And then they make more money." "Where are you going, boy?" "Do you know where you are going?" "My dad and I found him over here." "So you plan to cross the Okavango." "Yeah, so?" ""Yeah, so?"" "That is a place of many teeth, my friend." "It is a place to die." "I'm not afraid." "Be smart." "Be afraid." ""I am not afraid."" "Stupid boy." "Don't know nothing." "Don't know nothing." "You know, you could end up in a lion's belly." "Fire." "Fire is the only thing that scares them." "You know, I know that place." "I could take you a little way that way." "But then I have to go back south, eh?" "You would like that?" "Okay." "I won't take you all the whole way." "Just some of the way." "Come on, boy." "Who are they?" "People." "People who never dreamed that they would die here." "This place is full of angry spirits, eh?" "There's a story in this." "I'm not sure I want to know it, eh?" "You know, in the right hands this will kill anything." "Hey." "Come here." "Come." " Hide now." " Why?" " Who is it?" " Bad people." "In here." "Come on, Duma." "We need to go farther." "There's nothing here but sand." "I can't see anything." "Come here." "Get down." "Do you know how he got those black lines on his face?" "They say it's to stop the glare from the sun during the day while they hunt." "There was a mother cheetah." "She loved her cub very much, and one day he got lost." "And she searched, and she searched." "And she called, and she called." "And she cried so long and so hard that her tears made black streaks down her face." "Her face was stained forever from her crying." "An honorable weapon if there is such a thing." "For a real warrior, you know." "For you to face your enemies and show your courage eye to eye." "A lot of diamonds came out of here." "I know they did not get them all." "Always I look." "One day, I'll get lucky." "Make rich." "You." "Stay." "I want to keep going." "Just one quick look." "I'm coming, man." "Oh, it's an old one." "Lots of smelly old ghosts in here." "Now's our chance." "Let's go." "Come, boy." "Rip." "Rip!" "Rip!" "Rip!" "I'm here." "Hang on." "I'm trying, Rip." "Xan." "Thank God for you, Xan." "Thank God for you." "Grace, we are lucky." "This little stuff." "No big stuff." "Dig, boy." "Dig." "Why you are stopping?" "Where have you been taking us?" " I'm taking you where you want to go." " No, you're not." "You're taking us north, not west." "I am taking you the way to the mountains." " It's the way to town." "To the police, and..." " What are you talking about?" "Collecting a reward for me and selling Duma." "How do you get such ideas?" "I am taking you north to go west." " Lf you go straight west, it is a way to..." " You're just trying to scare me." "You want me to go your way so you can turn us in." " Xan." " You go your way, and I'll go mine." "Xan, where you are going?" "Xan." "Come back." "You can't leave me like this, Xan." "Xan." "Come back, Xan." "Xan." "Xan!" "Xan, come back!" " I don't want him to follow us." " Xan, come back." "You can't leave me in here, Xan." "We're gonna have to cross the river tomorrow." "We're better off without him." "Come on, Duma." "You're not gonna get wet." "Quickly." "Fine, you stay there." "We're going." "Hang on." "Duma!" "Duma, Duma." "Quickly." "Come out." "Come on, Duma." "Two fast cats, eh?" "Mashaka." "Come here, boy." "High chance of thunderstorms due to a low-pressure system moving into the country from the coastal area." "Back." "Hey." "Come on, run." "Duma, no." "Duma, wait." "Oh, man." "Duma?" "Duma." "Duma?" "Well, Mashaka." "What happened?" "You found Duma." "Yes." "He was in a poacher's trap." "You were in a hog's house." "That is better than being in a lion's belly, no?" "I'm sorry for what I did." "It was a mistake." "But you were right." "I was thinking about how much money I could get for you both." "I had big plans, Xan." "I left my village, my wife, my children to be a big man." "Went to the big city to make big money." "But I did not find work, eh?" "And soon, I was a small man that did small things." "I ended up in the biggest jail you ever see." "That is a place I never want to go to again." "Do you understand?" "My mother probably hates me." "Because I left her." "Mothers never stop loving their children." "What do you know about mothers?" "I am a father." "This is dinner." "This way, this way." "Quickly, come." "He's got him." "We are not going to eat tonight." "Now, that food that will be an easy catch." "Maybe." "You have any ideas?" "Yeah." " Only blue one I've seen." " You look, and I'll focus." "A green-breasted fluffy tail." "No, I think it's fluffy-breasted, isn't it?" " You're wrong." "Quite wrong." " And now." "What do I do now?" "You're quite wrong." "I think it's an African red-eyed bulbul." "You are ready?" "Yeah." "No, no, you're quite wrong." "No, I'm talking about the..." "That's a water bird, darling." "Well, I don't see anything there at all." " Are your contacts in?" " They're in." "Help me." "It bit me." " It bit me." " What bit you?" " What bit you?" " This." "It's a black mamba!" "That's right, lad." "Eat." "You will go far, Xan." "As long as you stay out of jail, eh?" "I want you to have this." "What is that?" "It's for helping me." "No." "I can't." "I want you to have it." "I don't want it." "You don't understand, Xan." "People die for that stuff." "I can't take it." "Okay." "Then the water has it." "Five, four, three, two, one..." "Okay, okay, okay." "I am sure I'm going to help you at least one more time, eh?" "I will safe-keep it." "Come." "Look." "You see this?" "These pretty little stones I found when I had to dig myself out." "Do you remember?" "It's okay." "Take them." "I want you to remember your friend Ripkuna." "I'll remember you, Rip." "But I hope you remember me." "Because now I'm gonna say goodbye." "Xan?" "Xan." "What you are do...?" "Wake up, Xan." "Xan." "Don't do that." "That was not funny." "I'll kill you myself next time." "Stupid boy with no ass." "Get on." "You wish." "What is that noise you are making?" "When two cheetahs are lost, and they're looking for each other they make that sound." "Hey." "Lions." "Not so long ago." "Come on, Duma." "You're being selfish." "Leave him." "Remember, it's what you wanted." "That meat is in his bones from way back." "It's all right." "My grandfather would bring me to this place when I was younger than you." "The old ones they talk to me." "See how they lived, feared who they loved." "Their world is gone." "But we are not so different." "You know, nobody comes here anymore." "They are all forgotten." "I myself am no better." "My own father, I do not know whether he lives or not." "My father he died recently." "How can someone just disappear like that forever?" "Yebo I, too, would be angry." "You know, Xan people go when they are ready to go." "Not when you are." "We are all just travelers on the same river." "Grandparents, parents, their sons and daughters." "We all have our time on the river." "We just..." "We do what we can before we disappear." "This is your time, Xan." "Duma's." "And mine." "Very soon we will be where Duma is going." "After I am going to go and see my family." "See if they welcome me or not." "And you can go and see your mother." "Your father is dead for her too." "Everything's changed." "It's not the same." " It's different." " That's it, Xan." "Change, yeah." "That's what happens." "All the time." "The little boy that left home is not the little boy that is with me now, eh?" "See?" "Change." "Xan, can you see?" " Above that cliff, in the canyon." " Yeah." "A village." "My village." "Xan, stop." " What is it?" " Tsetse." "Do what I say, yeah?" "You have to run." "Hey." "Wait." "Wait!" "Now, breathe." "Keep breathing." "Rip, what is wrong?" "I'm sorry, Xan." "Long time ago, got very sick from tsetse." "Was bad." "Real bad." "We hurry now." "Fire." "We have to build a fire." "They see us." "They are coming down now." "Yeah, yeah." " It's going." "Up a bit." " Yes." "It's too wet." "Hold it up." "I can't hold it." "My hands don't work." "Look." "That is it." "See, they are still dry." "Easy come, easy go." "Take it." "Burn it." "Yes, yes." "Very good." "Duma, you have to stay here." "Rip." "Hang on." "I'm gonna get help." "Hello?" "Is anybody here?" "My friend is sick." "I need your help." "Duma." "Duma." "Rip." "Ripkuna." "Ripkuna." "Otorno." "Otorno." "Ainu." "Ainu." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Xan." "I want you to meet my family." "This is Ainu." "Otorno, my son." "Melika, my wife." "I said we have been on a long journey together." "That you are a mad-cat boy." "That we are family." "All of us together." "Duma." "Duma." "He's a wild animal." "Remember?" "His wildness is something he knows without even knowing it." "It's in his blood, his bones." "Like a memory, yeah?" "You and I will take him up next week." "Okay?" "Camp out, do a bit of fishing." "It'll be lekker, man, send him off." "Hey, you." "You got it, boy." "Found a buddy and everything." "You take care of yourself." "I'm gonna miss you." "There are things you know without knowing." "For Duma, it was his wildness." "For Rip, his family." "For me, it was my dad." "Everything he was, everything he believed in is now part of me." "I was taking Duma home, but he took me somewhere too." "Finding Duma's true home brought me back to mine and showed me that love doesn't stop when time passes or you live in different places, or somebody's gone." "That's how it was with me and Duma." "SubPack Por: ~GRuPoUToPiA~"