Engrossed in watching the elephant roll from side to side while blowing dirt over his body with his trunk, Willette didn’t notice anything amiss until Rafael was climbing the massive fence made of pipes. He was up the side, over the top, and back down on the ground on the other side in little more than a flash.
The next moment, her heart leaped into her throat as she realised why.
There was a young child, no more than two or three, who had climbed beneath the pipes and was running towards the elephant. Others noticed, too, and began to scream and shout.
Willette’s throat locked up as the child stopped and turned about. Hugo was mid-roll and was sure to land directly on the child.
Like a flash of lightning, Rafael scooped the child into his arms just as the elephant completed his roll with a ground-shuddering thud and a storm of blinding dust.
Willette’s scream joined in with those around her, and she grasped a hold of the fence, knees weak and heart convulsing.
Then, like the angel of God who had appeared out of a storm to the Apostle Paul, Rafael walked out of the swirling dust, bouncing the child on his hip.
Though a plethora of emotions, everything from relief to admiration, washed over her, Willette was frozen in place as Rafael handed the child through the pipes to a sobbing woman and then climbed up and over the fence himself. Something broke loose inside her when his feet touched the ground, and she couldn’t help throwing herself into his arms.
He held her tight and she kept her head tucked against his chest while he downplayed those congratulating and thanking him for his actions. She would voice her gratefulness too, once she stopped trembling and her breathing wasn’t coming in gasps.
‘There, now,’ he whispered as the crowd turned their attention to the child, confirming the little boy was unhurt.
She lifted her face, gratitude overflowing at how quickly and heroically he’d flown into action.
Smiling at her, he brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb. ‘I was joking earlier when I said I made women cry!’
‘I know,’ she admitted, ‘but for a moment, I’d thought you been crushed, and I just…’ She couldn’t explain how that had made her feel as if the entire world had ended.
‘Just couldn’t help yourself,’ he said with an exaggerated sigh. ‘I have that effect on women, too.’
She smothered a laugh at his teasing, once again amazed by his ability to make her feel better.
Shaking his head, he added, ‘I don’t know why they wish me dead.’
‘Stop it,’ she said. ‘You kn—’
Her words were stopped by a long grey trunk that slid over Rafael’s shoulder and began sniffing at her hair.
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