Summary

In Chapter 12, Alice records the grief of the elephants in Mmaabo’s herd, and even the matriarch from a different herd, when Mmaabo died. Alice realized she was crossing a line when she attributed emotion to these animals but continued with her work anyway. She stayed with the dead matriarch for nearly 36 hours because she wanted to see if the daughter, Onalenna, would come back. She did and as Alice watched the interaction, Anya drove up in the Land Rover. She said that Grant had something for Alice to do. Alice replied she’d be there soon. Alice told the dead elephant’s daughter that she would have to let go, but wasn’t sure which one of them she was trying to convince.

Alice felt as if Grant was punishing her by making her escort a man from New...