Kay Peterson

The Elephant Bond: A Sequel to 13 Days in Africa Kay Peterson

When five tourists go on an African safari, they have no idea they will be kidnapped by bandits who threaten to kill them. Tom, their African guide, is forced to drive them to the savanna wilderness where they are abandoned without food, water or transportation. Their survival depends on helping each other and accepting help from a young Maasai warrior who takes them to his village. At the Maasai village, they are appalled to discover Kashima, his fourteen-year-old sister, is dying from an infection caused by a botched female circumcision. The older man who was supposed to marry Kashima is willing to accept her eleven-year-old sister as a replacement. But Namoka doesn't want to marry an old man and is afraid she will further disgrace her family by not being brave during her premature circumcision. When they are finally rescued, Jason saves Kashima's life by bringing her to England and then adopting her. Tom rescues Namoka before her circumcision ritual takes place. That was the story of 13 Days in Africa. This sequel begins four years after the survivors return to their homes in America, England and Africa. In spite of the distance between them, their lives are forever intertwined by a bond of loyalty. It is a bond very similar to the bond that helps endangered elephants to survive on the African savanna. But their lives have changed. Sarah, the American nurse, is happily married to Tom and now lives in the Kenya Highlands of Africa. She helps Tom run their safari business. Although they adopted Namoka, it has not fulfilled Sarah's desire for the complete family she was searching for. She wants to have a baby to replace the son Tom lost during an earlier political uprising. Each time she goes to England to help Rita with her births, Sarah's longing to have her own baby grows deeper. Jason, the wealthy English Barrister, is struggling to understand why Rita, a reformed drug addict, can't love him. They now have two boys, and Rita is pregnant with her third c