Chapter 14
Aunt Agatha had hinted and teased all through dinner. She flirted with her family about her stories but promised a full accounting after dinner was over when the family was comfortably settled in the drawing room where they could focus their full attention on her.
After coffee was served, Agatha stood and announced, “My dears are you ready to be swept away by my tales of romance and adventure?”
“Dear Aunt, you know we are,” Maria said sarcastically.
“Excellent.” She turned to Chilton who was seated in a chair near where she was standing. “You may correct me if I veer off course.”
“If you promise not to snap my head off if I do.”
She waved her hand, “You are being overly dramatic, dearest.”
She began her narration by going into agonizing detail about how she met Chilton at the booking office and how they then took the clipper to the port city of Cogo which is in the middle of the west coast of Africa.
“It seemed to us to be a good entry point into the heart of Africa. We wanted to experience our adventures to the fullest, so we hired a guide to lead us into the interior.”
“Hatuani,” Chilton added. “The guide’s name.”
“Yes. And we thought some sort of a hunt would be amusing, so we headed to this place they call a savannah where all of these delightful creatures roam. I was hoping for a tiger or a lion. We spent several days scouting for some, but we came up empty. We had decided to head up river thinking there might be a better selection, but just as the native bearers were packing up the campsite— much to our surprise— we were charged by this enormous beast with the most obscene protuberance on the front of its face. Just imagine… What was it called?” She turned to Chilton.
“A rhinoceros.”
“Exactly. I have never actually been up a tree before, but you cannot imagine how quickly one can learn to climb when it is necessary. It was quite dreadful when thisthingthen proceeded to butt the tree with his head. No doubt hoping to dislodge us from the treetop. But finally, it seemed to give up and quite casually wandered away.”
Chilton put his hand up, “I think it was your piercing screams that saved the day. Neither man nor beast could bear to hear that for very long.”
She scowled at him but said, “In any case, my taste for hunting had diminished by that point and we decided a less thrilling adventure might suit us better.”
“So, there are to be no hunting trophies for above your mantel?” Harry asked, seemingly amused.
“I believe we acquired a couple of spears and a shield. I was thinking crossed spears behind the shield would look quite nice. Very chic at my next social function.”
“And is there more?” Maria asked.
“There was our Tinkisso Falls adventure,” Chilton suggested.
“Oh, yet that. However, I am ashamed to say, that did not go too well, did it?”
“We neglected to take Hatuani with us on what we thought would be a leisurely excursion in a canoe,” Chilton said. “However, we ran into an inconvenience.”
“It was certainly more than that!” Agatha insisted, and she related their paddling down the river until they realized their boat was headed into an unexpected descent—over a waterfall.
“But obviously, you made it out alive,” Maria exclaimed.
“It was quite thrilling actually. However, as we neared the edge and the canoe began to tip over, I did feel a brief moment of apprehension. But then we plunged arse over heels in the falling water. There was a moment when I thought it might all be all over and I issued the quickest little prayer. But even though there were numerous boulders below the falls we somehow managed to land in a pool deep enough for us to be able to plunge without breaking our necks. I was all arms and legs as we tumbled, but all that really happened was I ended up losing my very favorite hat and wedidget thoroughly soaked. I do not know how we managed. By the grace of God, I expect.”
“It was my splendid padding that did the trick and saved us,” Chilton bragged.
“If you thinkIcould scream at a rhinoceros, you should have heard Chilton as we tipped over the edge of the waterfall. He abandoned his paddle, lost his hat, and threw his hands up in the air and, I swear, they must have heard him in Cairo.”
“And before we fell, you held on to the sides of the canoe in a vice grip and your face was ashen white.”
“But always—every bit the lady.”
“And how did you get back to camp? Did they send out a search party?” Harry asked.
“No. We trekked. We had to go around the cliff that formed the falls.
