‘No.’ Piet stared at her, puzzled. ‘I was having a kip, and next thing I woke up to see you crouched down and yelling your head off. What happened?’ He could see her distress. ‘Come on now, little Sarah, you can’t go spooking the animals like that. You’ll undo all the hard work we had, coaxing them in here.’

‘There’s no one else here? Where are Kipchoge and Simon?’

‘I don’t know. Out at the back with the horses, I reckon. Probably gone for a kip themselves.’

‘I thought – oh, never mind.’ She smiled weakly, embarrassed by her behaviour, but unable to banish the terror she had felt when that hand had gripped her. Surely she could not have imagined it? But there was no one else on the platform. ‘I must have been half asleep myself, in some kind of weird daydream. Stupid. I’m sorry.’

‘Well, if it frightened you, it frightened the hell out of me too. I thought you were under attack from an army of buffalo, or God knows what. Let’s get Simon up here to make some tea.’

‘No, I’ll make it. I can produce a pot of tea without too much trouble, I hope.’

She went into the kitchen, still shaken by her experience. Piet had called her his prophetess and his seer, and she was acting like a hysteric. ‘Get a grip on yourself, Sarah Mackay. This thing you have for Piet is sending you insane. You’re like some Victorian miss with an attack of the vapours.’

She came out with the tray and sat down again, glad that she had the wall of the main lounge at her back, so that no one could come up behind her.

‘Better?’ He was looking at her curiously as she poured the tea.

‘Yes, thanks.’

‘So. Do you really like the place? Apart from the spooks on the viewing platform, that is.’ His tone was teasing.

‘It’s—’ God! She must shake off the panic that had taken hold of her. This was Piet’s dream. She wanted to be enthusiastic, encouraging. ‘It’s the most amazing place in the world. You’ve done a fantastic job creating it all. You can only succeed, you and Hannah. I know it.’

He hugged her from sheer exuberance. ‘Ach, I am so excited about this. The animals are coming in regularly now. We’ve seen all kinds of buck, elephant, some big cats, plenty of buffalo, and more! Hannah has worked very hard, getting the furnishings ready and training up staff.’ He was standing out on the platform again, shouting for Simon. Sarah could not bring herself to join him.

‘Bwana?’ Simon appeared from the door of the lounge, making her start.

‘Where have you been? Memsahib Sarah had to make the tea. Did you not hear the commotion earlier, hear her calling out?’