Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion: A New Case for Precious Ramotswe Read Online Free Page A

adventure. Aunty Bee was relieved that they had got home without getting into any trouble, and was
very proud of the fact that they had managed to find Teddy. She was perfectly happy for Precious to go out again, this time with Tom and the other people from the film crew.
    “They’ll look after you,’ she said. And then she stopped and thought. “Or maybe you will be the one to look after
them
.”
    Precious smiled. “We’ll see,” she said.
    Aunty Bee looked at her fondly. “You know something?” she said. “Your father said that he thought you had the makings of a great detective. And I think he might be
right.”
     

     
    They took a much bigger boat this time – large enough for ten people to sit in it quite comfortably and not get at all wet. This boat had an engine, and it made a throaty
roar as they set off from the camp. Precious looked back and waved to her aunt, and Khumo waved too, continuing to do so until they rounded a bend in the river and lost sight of the camp.
    It did not take them long to make the trip. There were quite a few islands, but Tom was able to identify the right one from the description that Precious had given. Now they were in sight of the
place on the shore where the lions had been, and were able to steer their boat gently in to the muddy bank.
    They got their feet a bit wet as they went ashore, but the water was warm and that did not matter.
    “We must be very quiet now,” said Tom, putting a finger to his lips. “Lions have very good hearing and we don’t want them to take fright and run away.”
    Once everybody was on dry land and the boat had been firmly tied to a tree trunk at the edge of the water, the whole party began to walk very slowly and carefully through the thick grass and
scrub bush. Tom led the way, and then came one of his men, and behind them were Precious and Khumo. The other men who had come with them brought up the rear, looking anxiously around them from time
to time.
     

     
    “You have to be very careful when looking for lions,” Tom whispered. “Sometimes when you are looking for a lion, the lion creeps round behind you and then, before you know
what’s happened, you’re being stalked by the lion rather than the other way round.”
    Precious gave a shiver when she heard this. She did not like the thought of a lion creeping up behind her.
    “Don’t worry,” said Khumo. “Tom will be very careful.”
    “I hope so,” said Precious.
    They walked for about an hour. “No sign of anything yet,” said Tom. “Have you seen any tracks?”
    Precious shook her head. “Only old ones,” she said. ‘I think lions must have been here once, but I think it was quite a few days ago – maybe even weeks.”
    She had just finished saying this when she noticed something. It was not something that most people would notice, but you have to remember that she was a detective-in-training and so she saw
things that other people walked right past.
    “Wait,” she said, her voice low. “Look at this.”
    The whole line of people came to a stop.
     

     
    “What have you found?” asked Tom.
    Precious pointed to a bush at the side of the rough track they were following. One of the branches had been bent back so that it had snapped. There was still fresh sap where the break had
happened.
    “Something passed by this way not all that long ago,” she said. “Some big animal.”
    “But it could have been anything,” said Tom. “A zebra. A buffalo. Anything.”
    Precious was now down on her hands and knees, examining the ground. “No,” she said. “It was a lion. Several lions, in fact. Look at these.”
    Tom and Khumo, along with the other men who were with them, now bent down to look at the ground where Precious was pointing.
    Khumo, whose father was a game scout who had taught him how to track wild animals, saw what his friend meant. “Precious is right,” he said. “Lions went this way – and
only a few minutes ago.”
    At the news that the