Friday Morning 19th September
(continued from 'Murder Most Foul')
4 minutes later
As we reeled from this cruel and incomprehensible death, we did not realise that the 'evil sister' was about to continue her killing spree. She was, even then, running onwards and had grabbed a second cub.
She bit down hard.
Severing the neck.
It was a quick kill.
Two down.
The other sisters were still staring at the first dead cub, and did not seem to see this second kill in the distance.
At this stage, even the other cubs close by had not realised the danger that they were in, and went up to the killer without apparent fear.
2 minutes later
...she ran after yet another cub and set about severing its spinal cord.
Three down.
One of her sisters came over to investigate.
She stared at yet another dead cub.
Realisation dawned.
She swore at her aberrant sister, but she backed-off from attacking her again. Instead she stayed by the dying cub.
Poor choice.
1 minute later
The killer streaks off after another cub!
Four down.
(Hmm. Slight problem with focusing under extreme stress. So here is an 'impressionist' version...)
This time one of the sisters was watching her and attacked with force.
Chaos!
The battle lasted only seconds, blood was spilt, then the mother backed off and tentatively walked over to see the dying cub.
Bad choice.
1 minute later
Therefore giving the wicked sister yet another opportunity to commit filicide.
By now, the whole pride was alerted to the enemy within. This cub knew what was coming.
But there was zero chance that it could stop her.
Five down.
One of the mothers came over to the dying cub.
She was not happy.
By this time, some of the other cubs, realising their impending doom, ran off deeper into the savannah.
The evil sister then tried to kill yet another cub, but she hesitated and the sisters were there to stop her.
About half the cubs were now missing.
2 minutes later
She then went for another cub.
Again, the sisters saw and attacked
The fight was truly a major, and bloody conflict.
Pandemonium.
With dust thrown up everywhere. Probably body parts too.
This was a bridge too far. Sister or not, don't kill our kids!
This was a much longer battle
All three mothers attacked their evil sister.
No holds barred.
The battle finally ended and a strange uncomfortable calm settled over the killing fields.
Five cubs confirmed dead.
The killer still alive and mixing with the remaining pride.
Many other cubs disappearing into the dangerous savannah.
Only ten of the twenty confirmed alive and still with the pride.
We were left there, stunned into silence. There were left fewer cubs and many unanswered questions:
Why all this killing?
Why those cubs?
Was it killing instinct or malice?
Would the others survive?
What triggered her murder spree?
Would she kill again?
Would Phil's intestinal system ever recover?
What will happen next?
All these questions and more will be ignored in the next episode of ....Hergé's Adventures of 'The Endless Plain', Chapter 13: The Aftermath.
Good grief, that was shocking and sad.
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