He listened a while longer and then feeling a little more satisfied about the safety of the venture, moved on in the direction of the kill. We were extremely excited about the whole thing and kept looking ahead to try and get a look of the kill. There wasn’t a sign yet. We need not have bothered concentrating so much on the search because as we reached around 20 yards from the kill, the stench of the already decaying carcass began to fill the air. The kill had obviously been there for more than a single day and was already partly eaten. I could see our "tutor" relax a little as he could see that the tiger had already had quite a meal the previous night. He then began our lessons.
We were still wondering what to do when two of us were quickly pushed into facing one direction, while the other two faced the other. Initially I thought my heart was going to explode but I think once the mind kind of reconciled itself to death, everything seemed to calm down. Or so I thought! I could see we were being slowly edged towards the only tree in the surrounding area. Just as we got to around the middle of the clearing we were in, there was this earth-shattering roar from the direction of the tree. Following this roar, I remember the vision of a bush almost blowing apart to make way for this tiger coming straight at us, at a speed I didn’t think was possible except for jet planes!! It was a massive tiger, his muscles rippling, his teeth all bared, his eyes a brilliant bluish-grey, his body kept really low and his roar sounding like a million thunderbolts going off at the same time. I think my friend and I screamed at the top of our lungs out of horror and fright but his father and the forest guide very purposely raised their arms and let out very impressive "roars" of their own. The tiger came up to within 10 feet from us when this loud retaliation luckily had it’s desired effect and he changed direction all of a sudden. As quickly as he had come down on us, he disappeared into the jungle to our left. We all edged our way a little faster towards the tree. I knew that tigers were known to be able to sometimes climb trees but somehow at that time that tree was the only glimmer of hope I could see.
The sun was now very low and it was very important to move fast. Without thinking twice, my friend’s father tore his T-shirt into strips and using some straight pieces of wood, made a splint for the guide’s leg. He tied two of the strips together and strapped the dislocated arm to the chest. He looked around to try and find something to use as a makeshift stretcher but there was no such luck. So the only other option was for the three of us to walk shoulder to shoulder and carry the man in our arms. This is a difficult enough task under normal circumstances but when you are faced with thick and thorny bushes it is almost difficult to even describe. All of us reached the jeep with torn shirts and trousers, scratches all over with blood streaming out of them. Just as we were moving the guide onto the rear seat, he started to regain consciousness. As he came around, his eyes wildly looked around to check where his attacker was. He was slowly calmed down. I think, that evening, we were all calming ourselves down too with the soothing talk we gave the forest guide. The old man then asked us to undo the strapping around his chest as he was quite used to his shoulder dislocating. To our shock and horror, with a very slight indication of pain, he just popped his arm back in!! His leg was later plastered properly at the local hospital. I don’t think the pain of his injuries even registered in the old man’s brain anymore! He just beamed proudly as we told the driver of our jeep about what all had happened. Since the driver was also from the old man’s village, he knew the tale of his bravery would be etched in the village’s history long before the first person fell asleep that night.
There was not a sound except the chirping of some birds. Some of them on their way back to their nests for the night and others that were startled by our intrusion into their territory.
We were now only around ten yards from the tree. My friend’s father had picked up an abandoned bamboo stick. I wondered what good that would be against a very angry tiger!! Suddenly, just as we thought we were about to make it to the tree, came the terrifying roar once again. This time the two of us were more prepared with exactly what to do. We faced straight up to the oncoming tiger, raised our arms, looked the beast straight in the eyes and screamed as loud as our vocal cords would allow. It made no difference whatsoever this time!!! He just kept coming!!!!! He was only some ten to twelve feet from us and I was having visions of meeting my creator, when there was a loud cracking sound to my left. I don’t know how much it shocked the tiger but I know that I almost died of fright before the tiger could have had the pleasure of killing me!! The "useless" bamboo stick had been smashed against a rock at the very last moment. It was a sound that the tiger was obviously not expecting because he deflected off his initial line of attack as if struck by a bullet. This time he didn’t disappear into the bushes but instead stopped near the opposite edge of the clearing and began pacing up and down. We stood perfectly still, watching his every move. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks!! I don’t know whether it was a coincidence but it was exactly the same moment I felt my heart had stopped dead in my chest!!
