But he could not go there. He could not return to the place where he had crawled up into the cold forests and lived like an animal, where he had lain at night alert to the telltale crack of bamboo, or the startled movement of an animal that told of fugitives in flight – men he must hunt down and kill. He would never forget the sight of his brother’s savagely mutilated body, with the flies buzzing and humming in a black halo around the half-severed head. He could still see the men in their animal skins, squatting around the fire, eating and laughing in the early light. Laughing as he descended into madness. He could not return to Langani where the ghost of his son would stalk his every step, and his daughter would look at him with silent hatred. He reached for the whisky and drank straight from the bottle, listening to the sound of his wife’s sobbing from behind the bedroom door. Then he went out to join his cousin.

Kobus van der Beer enjoyed the vigilante-style patrol he had set up with his neighbours, and their forays were becoming more frequent. The man gloated over the number of rebels he had hunted down, and the harsh punishments meted out. Jan had been strict with his labour at Langani, swift in disposing of any worker who cheated on him or did not obey the rules. But he had always been fair, providing food rations, money for education, sound advice and medical care for his staff. His cousin dealt with wrongdoers as though they were animals, throwing them off his land, shouting at them and tossing their belongings out of their huts to lie broken and scattered in the dust. Jan had seen him beating men that he found asleep in the tobacco fields. And since the farm attacks had begun, Kobus was in his element. His patrol would set out heavily armed and ready to go ‘kaffir hunting’, as he called it. The man derived a vicious pleasure in shooting down his quarry. Jan’s early objections had resulted in barely veiled threats about losing his job. And since Piet’s death, he no longer cared.

‘Man, you’re needed here,’ Kobus said. ‘These terrs are no different from the one who killed your son.’