At that moment they heard heavy footsteps in the corridor leading to the kitchen. The door burst open and Hannah stared, aghast, at the five men standing in the sitting room. They all held pangas, the blades shining in the lamplight. Their faces were taut and angry, and they were shouting. Piet bent down, reaching for the knife he kept in the side of his boot. But two men leapt on him, overpowering him instantly, and within seconds he was lying helpless on the ground. Hannah watched in terror as one of them lifted his machete and cut the telephone lines. He squatted down beside her brother, and bound his hands and feet with the wire.

‘Do not make noise,’ he said. ‘If you cry out we will kill you. Do not look at us. Get down on the floor. Keep your eyes away from us, or you will die. Take off your watches and bracelets and rings, and give them to us. With any money you have. And guns. We want guns. You, Mama, take off your jewellery.’ The words were directed at Camilla as she slid from her chair, the gleam of the raised machete reflected on her face.

‘We don’t have guns here in the house. They’re out in the storeroom.’ Piet spoke through clenched teeth, his face pressed on to the floor by his attacker.

Camilla’s hands trembled as she tried to take off her jewellery, but her fingers were awkward and stiff with terror. The atmosphere in the room was alive with menace.

‘Faster, Mama, or we will cut them off.’

The man spoke in a low voice, but he had raised his panga. She cried out as she saw the savagery in his eyes and he brought the long knife down sideways across her forehead. The skin broke easily. Blood ran down her face into her eyes as she blindly held out her jewellery with shaking hands. Then he lifted his foot and kicked her so hard that she fell, spread eagled, on to the carpet.

‘Get on the floor. All of you, get down.’

Hannah put up a hand to her mouth, trying to muffle a sob, and the man shouted at her in his native Kikuyu, screaming abuse. She could not understand all the words, but she felt his hatred, sensed his craving for violence as he moved towards her. She cowered down, covering her head with her arms and hands as he threw her down on to the floor beside Camilla and Sarah. They were shaking with fear as their hands were tied behind their backs, each one expecting the sharp sensation of the knife blade as the panga was raised against them.