Hannah shook her head slowly. ‘When I saw him lying there that night, with blood pouring out of him and his face like putty, I was terrified he was going to die. I thought I couldn’t survive without him. And afterwards, in the hospital, it was good, holding him up, feeding him soup, seeing how grateful he was.’ She stopped, awkwardly. ‘I kissed him once or twice, in a sisterly sort of way. But when I came back here after the robbery, it was so awful. I was afraid. All the time. I kept hearing things, seeing figures in the bushes outside, or on the verandah. I could only sit down if I had a solid wall at my back. And at night, that was the worst. I didn’t want to be alone, but I couldn’t run to Piet like a baby, and ask if I could sleep with him. It was a waking nightmare. You saw what they did to the dogs.’ Her eyes filled with tears. ‘I couldn’t think of anything but the smell of that carpet over us, and the sound of the shots, and thinking they’d killed Piet, and then Camilla’s face and Lars bleeding and making stupid jokes to keep me from falling apart.’

‘I wish I could have stayed.’ Sarah reached out and took Hannah’s hand. ‘I know what the nightmares are like. If we could have been together.’

‘In fact, I did go to Lars’s room one night. Quite soon after he came back to the farm. I was so scared and I wanted someone to hold me. But Piet heard me tapping on Lars’s bedroom door and he called out. So I went to the kitchen and made a hot drink, and then Lars appeared. He’d heard me too. He took me back to my room and tucked me into bed like I was a child, and went away. I cried myself to sleep. But if he’d stayed with me, well . . .’ She shrugged. ‘Then Viktor came along. My prince of darkness, that’s what he calls himself. I can’t even begin to describe how he makes me feel, Sarah. When I’m not with him, every bit of me is burning until I can see him again.’

‘When will I meet him?’

‘He’s supervising a job at the coast this week. I count every hour that he’s away, and every second of the time I have with him when he’s here. Wild, heh? Me turning into a quivering jelly at the touch of a man!’ She gave a little laugh, but when she spoke again, her voice was full of sadness. ‘I really miss Ma, you know.’

‘How are things going down there?’ Sarah said. ‘That was a big turning point, with Smith and his Unilateral Declaration of Independence.’