Crybaby - Chapter Two
The second chapter of the blockbuster new novel, Crybaby by best selling, multi-award-winning author Mark Watson...
CRYBABY
©Copyright 2024 by Mark Watson
CHAPTER 2
The Stone Bridge
Where was the elephant?
The thief cursed his stupidity. He should have wrangled the beast’s location from the mahout before he slipped into paralysis.
He turned, ready to storm back into the shanty hut and, in his fury, beat the two men to death. But then he spotted the bag: a worn leather satchel, like something a child might own, stashed outside the hut.
Inside were a bunch of keys, some papers, identification documents, and a crumpled children’s crayon drawing of a massive elephant carrying a trio of smiling, waving children. The elephant was shedding a tear, and written underneath was his name:
Rondu Bachcha: CRYBABY!
The thief stuffed everything back into the satchel and sat to think. It was late and getting later, or rather early and getting earlier. The first tendrils of dawn light were beginning to streak the sky.
There was only one road, and it ran in two directions: into the foothills and back to the town, where he’d come from. He was about to set off when he heard a swishing and cracking sound from the trees edging the hut, close by.
Suddenly, he felt another presence, a great presence. The elephant had been sleeping in the forest beside the house, and the sound had been it waking and standing. It couldn’t move far as its feet were chained and linked, the chain wrapped around a tree and padlocked.
The thief whistled quietly in awe. The elephant turned to face him and stood impassively, the only movement the flapping of its enormous ears and the swishing of its tail.
Dawn broke fully, the sky lightened, and the world brightened.
Walking around at a safe distance, the thief could appreciate the sheer enormity of the animal. Its huge brown eyes followed him as he circled it.
At some point, it had been a temple elephant. He could see the faded paint on the elephant's cheeks and, beneath its brown eyes, the tears had worn the paint away, leaving a marked track.
“Crybaby,” the thief breathed and approached slowly, swishing the stick like a mahout, which he now believed himself to be.
He unchained the animal, and together they walked into the hills, the elephant leading the way. The thief smiled. This was all going according to plan, and he was now the proud owner of the biggest elephant in the state, possibly the country. His thieving days were over.
He laughed out loud and, throwing back his head, closed his eyes to bask in his success and the cleverness of his plan. He didn’t notice Crybaby pause momentarily to scrutinize him from beneath the thick lashes with his huge brown eyes.
The thief laughed again and swished the stick across Crybaby’s legs to get him moving again. If he had known more about elephants, he would have noticed the slight wince from the animal—a tiny sign of what was to come, like the first rumblings of thunder. Indeed, a low, low rumble, below the level of the thief’s hearing, began to emanate from Crybaby as his distress at this new person grew.
Crybaby had been bought and sold before, and although he was never present at the negotiations, he was periodically lumbered with a new owner. It had been many, many years, however, and the elephant was used to the kindly old mahout. The beatings, prodding, and poking with a spiked metal rod of the elephant's first captive years had been replaced by a bamboo stick, which the mahout skillfully used to guide him. The old mahout had barely used it; he and the elephant had an understanding forged through years of kind ownership, and the elephant responded to mere flicks and signals from the stick. This new mahout was whipping and poking him again, far more than necessary.
Crybaby continued to walk, stopping to pull up enormous swathes of vegetation from the bushes and trees of the forest for his breakfast, as this was his routine. He was a working elephant, and he was on his way to work somewhere. His life would go on with this new person, and as the sun toasted his skin and his blood began to warm, the elephant felt himself cheering up a little, and his mood brightened slightly. He would go along with this.
For now.
“No fucking way,” said Chris as soon as she saw the elephant.
Jack, next to her, was equally shocked. “He’s fucking enormous,” he spluttered.
The thief roused himself from a drunken stupor and stumbled towards them, all smiles. “Welcome back,” he yelled at the two hungover tourists who had never seen him before in their lives. His companion, a giant male Indian elephant, would be hard to forget.
The thief had a barbed and pointed stick in his hand, and he pointed it at Crybaby. “You are looking for the best elephant ride? Best price?”
Jack was trying to get his head together. He had met Christine the night before at a party in the bungalow next door, and the last thing they’d done before sneaking away to spend the night together was reassure their friends they’d be back for the elephant ride up the mountain to the temple. They’d arrived too late, their hangovers getting the better of them. They’d had to stop more than once in a bar on the way to the foothills for an icy bottle of Coca-Cola. The heat was incredible, and their tongues and mouths seemed to dry up the moment they took the last swig. Two minutes later, hurtling down the tracks in a dusty jeep, they were dying of thirst again.
When they finally arrived, everybody had gone. The huge, flattened space in the jungle, surrounded by crumbling ancient walls, was deserted except for the guide next to the drinks stand and, sheltering under the trees and standing entirely still, the enormous bull elephant called Crybaby.
“Him very gentle,” said the thief reassuringly, sensing their trepidation. “Him Crybaby. Look! See him crying.” He pointed the stick at a dusty tear running from the elephant’s eye. “Crybaby see. Him very gentle.”
Chris was too scared to move or speak. The elephant was beyond huge, bigger than any of the elephants she’d seen gathered here yesterday when they’d booked the group trip. Where had this drunken man come from? Way out of the village and into the heart of the jungle was this ruined old colonial courtyard where the painted elephants had lined up so majestically. But today, there were only these two, skulking in the shadows of the covered corner. The elephant stood motionless in the shadows of the tree behind the stall. It moved slightly now, shuffling its massive feet. The tourists felt it each time the elephant’s feet brushed the ground as a deep trembling that reached as far as their knees.
The little man cajoled the elephant into kneeling down.
Christine and Jack climbed onto the beast's knees, aware of the low rumble coming from the elephant. Flies swarmed over the eyelashes of the giant animal, but Jack was sure he caught a glimpse of the huge eye scrutinizing the elephant handler with growing suspicion and contempt.
The first few minutes were chaotic as the tourists clung and slipped. Despite the unexpected physical exertion, they managed to summit the beast. They whooped with joy as they sat upright, Jack behind Christine, snug behind the elephant’s ears. The elephant rolled and swayed like a ship with the two hungover tourists on top. There were only two pieces of rope to hold onto. Christine placed her hands on the massive brown-gray hairy domes forming the elephant’s skull and leaned forward, supporting herself on her elbows. Smiling, she tossed her head and looked back. Jack gulped huge breaths of air. As normality crept in, his enjoyment of the experience grew.
As the journey progressed up the mountain, through the ruins of the country’s colonial past, the tourists, the handler, and the elephant settled into a slow walking rhythm. Christine noticed the sweet smell of temporin and swatted at the flies drawn to it but paid little mind to the fluid leaking from behind the elephant’s ears.
Unbeknownst to the handler and tourists, the elephant was entering a dangerous phase. The thief, in his rush to steal and use the elephant, hadn't considered that the animal had been chained for everyone’s safety and hadn't brought enough water to cool Crybaby down.
As they crossed a crumbling stone bridge, the huge elephant stopped suddenly, almost throwing the two tourists off. The mahout, who had been leading the elephant, carried on a few more steps, then turned back. The two tourists, particularly Jack, who was sitting behind, struggled to pull himself back onto the top of the elephant’s back. The mahout swished his bamboo stick at Crybaby and stepped closer, looking for a pressure point to poke the elephant back into life. As he came within reach of the elephant’s trunk, it seemed almost as though Crybaby stumbled forward, but he barged into the handler, knocking him to the floor of the bridge. Swiftly, so fast the tourists didn't have time to see what was happening from the height and obstructed view, Crybaby stood on the mahout’s head, crushing it like an egg. He scooped up the body with his trunk and flicked it, spinning into the ravine below.
END OF CHAPTER TWO
Next Chapter: The Merry Procession
ARE YOU ENJOYING CRYBABY? HELP SUPPORT ME HERE:
Thank you for reading.
Your time and curiosity are truly appreciated. Stay tuned for more exciting content and stories.
Until next time!
All the best,Mark 🤩
P.S. Tell your friends…
Share 🎪 The Travelling Circus 🎪
Join us on future adventures! Subscribe for the latest projects, creative insights, and exclusive content…
Be the first to dive into upcoming releases, get behind-the-scenes access, and enjoy special treats.
Don't miss out—sign up now! Unlock a world of imagination, inspiration, and storytelling joy with every newsletter.
Thanks for being part of our journey—subscribe and let the enchantment continue!
EXCLUSIVE: UPGRADE TO PAID and enjoy the exclusive, hilarious science fiction novel The First Mann On Mars…
This story is very interesting. I’m on chapter 3 right now. Reading about the elephant’s suffering and distress is difficult. I hope this story will help raise awareness for the plight of these majestic animals all over the world.
This story amazes me every time I read it! And that ending 😳