“Thank you, Falcon and Jaq, for making this possible for me,” Josie tells them emotionally.
“You’re welcome, Josie. Besides, this is helpful to me too because we can work together on getting the data so that you know from the start the condition of your animals. We’ll be tagging some of them because some may get off the reserve, but at least this way we can keep track of their health and such. This will give you experience, and I’ve been chatting to your new vet. He’s got experience in this already. He’s working with Bull as we speak to ensure that everything is ready for their deliveries throughout the day. He was a great hire, by the way,” Falcon replies.
“He was,” Josie agrees. Other than the background check we’d had done on her new vet, I hadn’t dug into the man too much. He deserved privacy after everything he’d been through. And he’d stepped up big time at the clinic while Josie had been struggling with morning sickness. All of us liked him and hoped that he’dbe happy enough to stay. He’d only signed a year’s contract, but I hoped that he’d stay when that was up.
“What’s the plan for today?” Josie wants to know.
“We’ll land on the Russos in about twenty minutes,” Falcon tells us. “They already have the bomas set up and the trucks ready. We’re going to do a few different runs over different parts of the property. Initially, we were only going to do a herd of impala, but we were able to get additional experienced hands from the chief, and the fish and wildlife rangers asked if they could come out and use it as part of their recruit training, so we’ll also be moving zebra and kudu today. For this first run, you’ll go up with Jaq as she uses the chopper to herd the animals into the boma and down the funnel into the trucks. Once that’s done, then she’ll land, and you can help me before we’re onto the next site to repeat it all. At the next one, you can decide if you want to go up in the chopper or be down on the ground. I’m good with either. It’s going to be busy, and we’ll be working fast, but I think you’re going to love it.”
The wide smile gracing Josie’s face tells me she already is. “There they are,” Jaq tells us, pointing towards where we can just make out a line of trucks and a cone-shaped canvas structure. Jaq does a once-over so that we can see the scale of what we’d be working with. It’s impressive.
“Oh, wow. This is amazing,” Josie breathes as Jaq slowly lowers the helicopter to the ground, kicking up dust that has those outside shading their eyes. Once we’ve landed, Jaq starts to power everything down.
“Careful getting out, people; the blades will take a little while to stop,” she warns us.
I get out and help Josie down before we walk over to where Anton and Luca are standing and greet them.
“Hey, how are you both doing?”
“All good here, brother,” Luca replies, then turns to Josie, “Happy Birthday, Josie, I hope you enjoy today.”
“Are you kidding?” Josie exclaims, “It’s like all my Christmases have come at once.”
We chuckle at how excited she is. It’s been a little while since I’ve seen my wife so animated, and it makes my heart happy that I’ve been able to give her this before our baby arrives and our lives change again.
Falcon and Jaq walk up hand in hand, greeting the Russos before we go over what was going to happen today. When everyone was happy with what they would be doing, only then did Falcon, Anton, and Luca let everyone leave.
“You ready, Jaq?” Falcon asks his wife, grabbing her and laying a loud kiss on her lips. “I was born for this,” Jaq replies with a laugh and turns towards Josie. “What about you, Josie? Shall we get the show on the road?”
“Fuck yes,” Josie exclaims, rolls to her toes, kisses me quickly, and jogs away all in one motion, only to suddenly stop, turn, and point her finger at me, shouting across the space between us, “You are getting so lucky later, Skinny Adams.” I bark out a surprised laugh, along with everyone else. While her first words hit me right in my cock, her next words fill my heart, “Love you, William, thank you for the best birthday present ever.”
And then the two women are gone, leaving us men shaking our heads and laughing. “Come on, brother, let’s get you up on that truck until you know what to expect,” Anton says, clasping my shoulder and turning me toward the waiting truck. “Lay flat on the roof and watch and learn. You can help with the next one.”
I’m happy to do as instructed. The last thing I want to do is get in the way. Because we are so far away from civilisation, everyone is using radios to keep up. It’s controlled chaos, but once Jaq is in the air and doing her thing, it moves fast. I’m torn between watching the acrobatic manoeuvres of the chopper and the way those on the ground work like a well-oiled team to close off sections of the boma as the animals run through and into the truck before slamming shut the truck’s doors.
Falcon, Anton, and Luca seem to be everywhere at once. When we have them loaded, Falcon climbs up next to me and shows me how the roof opens. The inside of the back of the truck is sectioned, something I hadn’t realised. He darts a few of the males and females before he climbs into the truck with them once they are completely sedated, adding plastic pipes to the males’ horns so that they can’t damage each other as they wake up. He tags a few of them before making notes and moving on to the next ones. I’m so engrossed I don’t realise that Josie is back and in the thick of things, taking down data that Falcon’s barking at her. As always, she amazes me with how she adapts so quickly to the situation.
Once Falcon and she have done their thing, they clamber down from the back of the truck. I’m there to help her down. She’s still smiling from ear to ear. “Did you see that, Skinny? How awesome was that? And wow, Jaq,” she turns to look for her, finding her standing in the shade of a tree drinking a bottle of water. “Jaq, can I just say wow, the way you fly is amazing.”
Jaq laughs softly and replies to Josie’s exuberant statement, “Thanks, Josie, I love what I do.”
Taking hold of Josie’s hand, I walk us over to where Jaq is standing and grab a bottle of water from the cooler box and tell her, “I’m glad you’re having a good time, baby. Come on, let’s get something to drink and find out what’s going to happen next.”
It’s only just gone nine in the morning, but it’s hot as Hades, and the sweat is running down my face. Opening the water, I hand the bottle to Josie before grabbing one for myself and downing it while I watch Anton talking to the driver of one of the trucks. Before long, the trucks are moving out along with the other vehicles that had carried all the helpers. The silence that followed their exodus was peaceful, and slowly the noise of the bush started coming back with the sound of insects buzzing, baboons barking at each other, and in the distance the sound of a fish eagle’s cry.
“If I haven’t said it before, I’m so glad you moved us here,” Josie whispers as she leans against me. Lifting my arm, I wrap it around her shoulders and press my lips to her head. I’m happy to know that she loves living here as much as I do. That’s not to say that some days I don’t miss the UK because I do, but those days are few and far between.
“Okay, are you ready for the next one?” Falcon asks as he walks up to us and takes the bottle of water that Jaq holds out to him. “Anton and Luca are going to follow on by car, but they won’t make it in time to start the next one, so Dex and Zane are waiting for us at that one and then Joel and Duke are at the next one.”
“We’re ready,” I tell him, finishing off my water. Holding out my hand to Anton and then Luca, I tell them, “Thank you for today and for stocking our reserve.”
“No problem, brother. We’re happy to help. It’s good that they’ll be going to a reserve that will care for them.”
We say our goodbyes and climb back into the chopper. “I’m going to have to fill up at the next one,” Jaq tells Falcon, who nods. “No problems, love, Dex has that covered.”
It doesn’t take long for us to arrive at the next site, and it’s the same ritual as this morning. The Sanctuary guys are well-organised and work like machines. They send off the last trucks just as the sun sets. It would be late by the time they made it home, but I know that Bull and the others know and are ready and will be expecting the late arrival.
It was only us and the last of the rangers and volunteers left now that the trucks had driven off.
