On the last day of her stay, Sarah found the atmosphere between Lars and Hannah particularly brittle. Hannah had been edgy all day – Viktor had not phoned, and she did not know when he would return to Langani. When the call had come through in the afternoon it was Lars who had answered. He did not know where Hannah was, he told Viktor. Later there was a furious argument outside the office, and Lars stormed off and did not reappear until dinner.

‘You’ll be back for Christmas, Sarah, and for the opening of the lodge and the ngoma too,’ Piet said, breaking the icy silence at the table. ‘Maybe the Briggses would like to join us for that. It will be a fine thing for the labour, and the local elders, and the wives and totos.’

She was glad when the meal was over and Piet pulled back her chair and asked her if she would like her coffee outside.

‘It’s chilly,’ he said. ‘But not as bad as it is inside.’

‘You’re right,’ she said, laughing. They were leaning on the railing of the verandah, their shoulders touching. ‘You look a bit preoccupied. Because of what’s going on in there?’

‘No,’ he said. He lit a cigarette, scanning the dark area in front of the house as he smoked. ‘I had a phone call from Jeremy Hardy today, and he may be right about the incidents here all being linked. No one else round here has had problems like ours recently. And if there’s more trouble on the way, I don’t have enough security in place even now. More and more, I think Pa was right when he said we wouldn’t get any support from the British organisations, because we’re Afrikaners.’ He punched his fist against the verandah post. ‘And the new whites on loan to the government are almost worse than the old guard. Because they’ve never set foot in Africa before, but they’re armed with manuals and ready-made prejudices and solutions that can’t work here. And they won’t listen to those they see as old-time whites.’

Piet took a final drag of his cigarette, then stamped it out angrily. He looked back into the sitting room, but it was empty. Hannah had gone early to bed, and Lars was in the office catching up on his paperwork.