“I’m her sister. I’ll handle it.”

“Well, you asked for it. These two little hellions....” She bent close to Sarafina’s ear and while Togo and Kombi huddled behind her for protection they strained to hear what she was saying.

“You’re kidding!”

“No, I’m not! I caught them in the act!”

“I’ll take care of them, Isha. It won’t happen again.”

“Well it had BETTER not!”

“I’m sorry,” Togo said, sniffling. “We’ll be good from now on.”

“I’ll give them a good talking to,” Sarafina said.

“I sure hope so. That mother of theirs ought to cuff them more often.”

Kombi began to bawl. “We were just funning! I’m sorry, Isha.”

“Well, OK I guess,” she said, somewhat mollified. Isha could not stand to see cubs cry, even Togo and Kombi.

When Isha walked off, her dignity defended, Sarafina glared at the twins. “What am I going to do with you two??”

Togo and Kombi pleaded with all their charm and hound-dog expressions of remorse for her not to tell Mom.

Sarafina softened a little. “Kombi, don’t you understand that a joke isn’t funny when people get hurt? I like a good joke as much as anyone, but when you love someone you should respect them and try to think about how THEY are going to feel when they find a fully-grown.... Well, you know what I mean.”

“I’m sorry,” Kombi said, tears coming to his eyes.

“And you, Togo. I know you probably didn’t start this, but you went along with it. That’s almost as bad. You love Isha, don’t you?”

“Yes ma’am.” Togo was the shy one and he looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock.

“Do you think what you did was the best way to show it?”

“No ma’am.” He began to wail and huddled up tight against her. “She’s really mad at me, isn’t she?”

“Yes, but she’ll get over it. Look, we’ll forget it this time. But you have been warned.”

For the rest of the day at least, Togo and Kombi were as good as two Nisei, but whenever Kombi had to pass Isha, he’d look at her suspiciously and change direction. By contrast, when Isha awoke from her mid-sun nap, she felt something warm and soft snuggled against her, and she fondled Togo with her paw. Kombi, sitting off a discrete distance, watched uncomfortably. Isha jerked her head ever so slightly and grunted. Then Kombi stirred himself and gamboled over, a relieved smile on his face. He rubbed his small back and tail under her chin and over her strong neck. “I really am sorry. Please don’t stay mad at me.”

“I really should, you know.” She nuzzled Kombi and kissed his cheek. “I hope you learned your lesson.”

Uzuri also stirred from her nap. “Fini, where are the boys?”

“Oh, around and about.”

“That’s not good enough. Nothing must happen to them, Fini. Not just for my sake, but for their father’s sake.”

She stretched and yawned, then quickly began to search Pride Rock for her children. They were not in the small cave where they liked to play. They were not by the cistern. Still, there were several places left where they MIGHT be. Oh if only Zazu were on the job, they would be properly supervised. Zazu loved children though he often had an odd way of showing it. Gopa didn’t really give half a minnow for the children. “Smelly, noisy things,” he would croak with irritation. “They really should be hidden away till they’re old enough to behave themselves.”

And then Sarafina had an odd thought. She knew Togo almost better than he knew himself, and she led Uzuri to Isha’s rock. And there, snuggled to her side, were Togo and Kombi.

Uzuri breathed a relieved sigh. “Look at them, Fini. Isn’t that sweet! They’re just a pair of little angels!”

Sarafina quickly bit her tongue to keep from laughing. “They’re a pair, all right.”

The hunt mistress had been having a hard time finding food in the overhunted and parched Pride Lands. There was little to do except to hunt for all kinds of unwholesome creatures that only desperate lions would attempt to choke down. Togo and Kombi were growing drastically emaciated, and Uzuri was even worse off. The only way her twins survived was the generosity of Ugas who would have Adhama pass her an occasional hare. He did not know about his sons yet, but he suspected that she was struggling even harder than she would admit.

Disgusted, she returned empty yet again to her favorite rock, there to wait for one simple pleasure she allowed herself. Every night, Shimbekh would come and talk with her. From Shimbekh, Uzuri learned many stories of the hyenas and even a few phrases in their language. In return, Uzuri taught her about Aiheu and all the stories of the great kings of the past. These brought her comfort in her distress, and of late Shimbekh had looked strangely tormented.

Time passed. One Called Alligator and The Three Monkeys rose above the horizon. The moon sailed like a silent swan to the zenith of the heavens, crested at midmoon, then settled lower in the western sky. And still Shimbekh did not come. Irritated, Uzuri was ready to leave. “She knows we have a standing date.” But it occurred to her that the hyena might be sick.

Shoving through the brush, a look of desolation on her face, Makhpil went to Uzuri and fell before her, sobbing.

“There now, my child! What’s wrong?”

“It’s Shimbekh,” she gasped. “Holy Mother Roh’kash, she jumped into the gorge!”

“Oh no!” Uzuri pulled Makhpil close with a paw. “Oh gods, no! You poor creature!” Tears began to stream down her face.

Togo and Kombi were attracted by the commotion. Miserable, they huddled next to their mother and Makhpil.

“We have to set her soul free,” Makhpil sobbed. “I don’t want Shenzi to know. I hate her! It has to be just us, and maybe Ber. She liked him, you know.”

Sadly, Uzuri trudged with Makhpil and Ber to the side of the gorge followed by her twin sons. They sat on the spot where her trail abruptly ended. Togo looked over the side.

“Get away from there!” Uzuri shouted, pulling him back by the nape of the neck and then grooming him nervously.

Makhpil wailed--a high-pitched, heart rending cry that made Togo and Kombi’s hackles raise and their tails bristle. “Roh’kash, give me strength to walk this path alone, for my companion is gone into the east.”

“We look to the dawn where comes our salvation,” Ber said. “May your firstborn find no fault in her. May he recognize her righteousness.”

Uzuri put her paw on Makhpil’s shoulder. “Great Mother, let our friend rise with the sun to meet you and nurse at your side. Roh’kash, hear our prayer.” Falling on her back in a hyannic posture of prayer, she pawed at the sky. “Go to the sun, Shimbekh. Rise with the sun, Shimbekh. It is the dawn of your eternal bliss.”

Uzuri then went to the edge of the canyon and drew in a deep breath. She unleashed a roar--a loud, terrible roar that echoed off the walls in a thousand protests of grief. When the sound finally died away, she added softly, “You have put a thorn in my heart, old friend! I shall miss you.”