The White Giraffe

Concerned about the proliferation of dangerous snares in the preserve, Martine determines to go searching for Jemmy. Gwyn Thomas goes to visit a friend in the hospital, leaving Martine alone, and as soon as her grandmother is gone, Martine ventures into the preserve. She senses danger and hears voices, so she hides in the brush. As she listens to the voices discuss the urgency of catching something, she realizes that Jemmy is beside her. She urges him to run from the danger, but as the giraffe looks into her eyes, she realizes that he is staying to protect her. The trackers spot the giraffe, and Martine climbs onto Jemmy’s back. He takes off sprinting through the preserve, and for a moment, Martine forgets the impending danger as she experiences the exhilaration of riding on the back of a giraffe. Jemmy runs to the edge of the preserve to a place that feels ominous and desolate and is marked by a dead, twisted tree. Martine hears an approaching vehicle and fears the worst, but Jemmy leaps and disappears into thin air with Martine still on his back.