5. THE LEOPARD GANG
Chapter 1
KIDNAPPING
Carefully, the Jungle Hawk follows the six strange figures at a distance. It is dark in the jungle, and in his pursuit, he is almost completely dependent on his hearing.
Above him, the tree trunks creak and groan in the wind that weaves gustily through the dense forest growth. Far away, the cough of a lone leopard male is sounding.
High above him, light, feathery clouds speed past under the star-studded firmament and the full moon. The full moon that is spreading its pale silver light over the mighty forest landscape, but never penetrates down to the ground, except in open patches, which one then finds like small islands in the jungle.
In one such open patch, the six figures stop. Quietly, the Hawk sneaks closer in the game path and then quickly ducks behind a tree trunk. The moonlight folds around the animal heads of the six men with their speckled cloaks that reach down to their calves and with claws where their hands should be.
The six converse in whispers for a while and then resume their nightly journey again through the jungle. Like a shadow, the Hawk follows them. He wonders where the lurkers are heading, what makes their mission so important that they even dare to brave the nightly dangers of the jungle now.
At midnight, the six come to a stop again, this time at the bank of a broad-flowing tropical river.
Here the masked figures do not hesitate for long. Two quickly drag a hollowed-out tree trunk boat from somewhere from under the undergrowth, push it into the water, and clamber into the craft. Their comrades follow immediately.
When the Hawk reaches the bank, he only notices the dark shadows on the moonlit water and hears the light noise of oars that are being handled very carefully so as not to attract unnecessary attention.
A frown creases deeply into the Jungle Man’s forehead as he follows the dark boat’s journey to the other side of the river. Three hundred paces further, he notices the dark forest growth that indicates the other side of the river. A few miles further, the grotesque outlines of a hill are etched against the lighter dome of the sky.
The Hawk wonders what his next step must be. He has already been following the masked figures for miles through the jungle. If he does not devise a plan soon, they will evade him, at least temporarily.
He steps forward, lingers for a while at the water’s edge, and then walks into the water. He does not fear an attack by crocodiles here because he knows from experience that their favorite hunting time is just before sunset and just after sunrise. However, a hungry crocodile will also stalk its prey in the middle of the day, but very seldom at night.
The Jungle Man has to swim almost immediately. The water is fortunately lukewarm and flows fairly strongly. Carefully, to make as little noise as possible, the Hawk moves forward. He can no longer see the boat at all and suspects that it has already reached the other side.
When he finally reaches the place where he saw the boat disappear into the shadows, the Hawk lingers for some time in the dark water while he listens carefully to see if he can perhaps hear the six somewhere. But apart from the usual sounds of the night, it is relatively quiet. Carefully, he swims further towards the edge, wiggles slowly through the reeds and water plants, and then slides-crawls out of the water.
His eyes slide from one dark object to another, but nothing of importance draws his attention. He is just about to move further forward when he stumbles over an object on the ground in front of him and then makes hard contact with the ground. Like lightning, he is back on his feet again, hunting knife ready. With his one hand, he feels quickly in front of him. He finds a rough object, feels further, and decides that it is the masked men’s boat. They are therefore in the jungle again. But where to? The Jungle Man realizes that in his c
