A massive, antique desk sat at the heart of Bette’s office, its surface weathered by years of careful notes and urgent decisions. Stacks of leather-bound journals and dog-eared maps of the savannah were scattered across it, bearing the red felt-tip circles and blue crosses of Bette’s most recent attempts at catching poachers.

Below the left elbow of the arm in which her head rested was a well-worn ledger filled with patient records , elephants, rhinos, as well as the myriad of orphans which had turned the foundation into a veritable Noah’s ark, all written in the vet’s precise hand.

A green banker’s lamp, its emerald-green glass shade, smooth and slightly curved, diffused a warm, steady glow into the otherwise darkened room, it was gentle on the eyes yet bright enough for the vet to keep on working through the night.

Bette let out a deep sigh as she shifted in her seat, her movement making the little brass pull-chain of the lamp sway slightly for a few seconds. She ought to be going to bed but every time she attempted to move her gaze was drawn once more to the pictures in front of her.

They told yet another horrendous story of needless death, all in the name of superstition, doubtful restorative elixir and more worryingly – greed.

Bette was weary of her day.

She had left early that morning, in the dark, and had returned in the dark, exhausted from her day of playing cat and mouse with environmental criminals and all she had to show for her troubles was the gruesome collection of pictures in front of her.

The advancement in tech had its advantages, readily available account of every day but it also provided HD quality of the sickening scene on her computer screen captured in near forensic details.

The slaughtered rhino cow and her surviving and still very young calf.

The arrogance and ever more daring behaviour of poachers never ceased to take her by surprise.

Bette had no trouble imagining their stalking prowess. Hidden in the vastness of the savannah, they were as difficult to find as searching for a needle in a haystack. Yet, she had helped catch some and was hopeful her new alliance with Nyah would bring along more of a positive outcome.