Lottie was smiling, but the lines that now tracked her face told the story of a time that had tested her endurance and left its mark on her. She was watchful and subdued, holding herself a little at a distance from the rest of the gathering. When lunch was over she stepped out on to the verandah and Sarah followed.

‘Is everything all right?’

‘Of course it is, my dear. I’m a little tired, that’s all,’ Lottie said.

‘It will be so wonderful to see Jan for Christmas,’ Sarah said.

‘He’s changed the date twice,’ Lottie said. ‘I think he’s afraid to come. He’s so changed, Sarah, and he cannot see how he can take up where he left off. I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing in coming back.’

‘It might be hard to begin with. But when he sees this place that he loves, looking so good . . .’ She hesitated, then decided it would be better to be open about what she knew. ‘Lottie . . .’

‘Yes?’

‘Hannah told me. About how it was down there. About why she left. So I know it’s been hard for you.’

‘When we left, Janni said he was uprooting himself to help his son.’ Lottie was facing Sarah, looking directly into her eyes. ‘But now I think that he was running away. Quitting the farm for Piet’s benefit was only a part of it. Since then, I’ve tried to forget how beautiful this place is, and I know that Janni has tried too. Perhaps I shouldn’t have come back, to see all that we have lost, only to feel that we should leave again. Piet is the young bwana here now. He has earned his place, and he must run the farm as he sees fit.’

‘Yes. And Hannah has found her role too,’ Sarah said.

‘Where is Mike Stead?’ Sarah realised she had not seen the new manager.

‘Piet has given him a few days off. He has elderly parents who live at the coast, so he’s gone down there for Christmas and New Year,’ Lottie said. ‘And Hannah is very unhappy, because Viktor has gone.’

‘Does she think that Viktor has gone permanently?’ Sarah’s first reaction was relief that she would not have to be the one to break the news.

‘She was angry with me for not coming back after the robbery, when she was so frightened by what had happened to you all.’ Lottie’s shoulders were hunched and tense. ‘She thought I didn’t care about what had happened to her. But I couldn’t leave Jan at that moment. Now I wonder if I could have prevented this disaster with Viktor, if I’d made her a priority and flown up here.’