When she hung up, Sarah sat down in an armchair. There had been something about Camilla’s proposal, some missing element, but she didn’t have time to work it out now. It was so tempting, the idea of going home after all, to the coast and to Langani and maybe even on safari. She had never dreamed that she might be able to stay in a private tented camp like Anthony’s. She heard a sound and looked up.

‘Who was that on the phone?’ Tim was leaning against the door. ‘I’m supposed to have the evening off, but I don’t think it will last because they’re short-staffed. Everyone seems to have the flu.’

‘It was Camilla. She wanted to know if I was coming to Kenya in August. Apparently Anthony Chapman could take us camping in Samburu, to celebrate our birthdays. Camilla said she’s just landed some big contract and she wants to pay for the whole thing. Even my fare to Nairobi.’

‘Jesus. She never lets up, does she?’ he said in disgust. ‘Can’t you see she’s trying to buy your approval? It’s pathetic, Sarah. How many times are you going to fall for this?’

‘If there’s one genuine thing in her life, it’s her friendship with Hannah and me,’ Sarah insisted. ‘I’m not willing to turn my back on that. Not entirely, anyway. Why don’t you come with us? You’d love the safari, and you’ve been working so hard.’

‘Take Camilla’s guilt money?’ Tim gave a scornful laugh. ‘Not a chance! Besides, Mum and Dad might need us here. Or are you so taken with your rich, spoiled friend and what she can buy you, that they’re not important any more?’

‘That’s absolutely horrible!’ Sarah was yelling. ‘You know how much I care, how frantic with worry I’ve been. But this trip is more than two months away, and the thought of going home is all that’s kept me sane this last year. Mum and Dad wouldn’t mind if I went out, just for a few weeks. They might even be back there themselves, by then.’

‘They won’t. Can’t you get that into your thick skull?’ Tim thumped a fist into the sagging couch. ‘You’re a half-wit, Sarah. And Camilla is a calculating bitch. I can’t believe you’d be dim enough to go back there on her terms. I can just see you making sheep’s eyes at Piet van der Beer, while he ignores you and pants after her. Where’s your bloody pride? Where’s your common sense?’

‘Common sense? What about your common sense, and the way dreary Deirdre seems to have got her hooks into you? She’s turned you into a grumpy old badger. You have nothing in common with her at all.’