‘You were flailing about, shaking your head as if a bulldog had got hold of it. Or a bloody terr, maybe. Ach, that’s it! You were dreaming about what you’ll do when we catch these kaffirs. I tell you, it seems to me you’ll be bloody dangerous!’

The whole patrol group was looking curiously at him now. Jan wiped away the rivulets of sweat that fear had caused to run down his face.

‘Must be something my wife put in the dinner,’ he said, and was relieved at the sound of laughter, and for Faanie’s heavy arm that reached out to slap him on the back. He took another slug of whisky and accepted a cigarette as the truck shuddered on through the blaze and dust of the afternoon. They travelled for most of the night, rattling through the bush, taking it in turns to drive, stopping only to refuel and to eat. When the Bedford pulled up at their base camp, Kobus jumped down from the cab.

‘From here on we’re on foot,’ he said. ‘This is where the fun starts, heh? We’ll rest up for a couple of hours now, and then we have a long walk to where this munt said he’d be meeting his friends.’

The men dropped out of the back of the truck and put up a canvas shelter. Most of them were soon asleep, lying on rolled-out mats or wedged against low bushes and trees. As the sun rose they cooked breakfast on a small primus stove and assembled their gear, glad to be on the move, eager to start the operation. Faanie hauled down their shattered captive, dragged him over the rocky ground and tied him to a tree. There was no need to restrain the quivering ruin of humanity – he would never be able to go anywhere again. Jan could hear the rasping of the man’s breath, and a pink fluid was bubbling from his twisted mouth. He was finished. They should put him out of his misery. What else could he tell them, in that state? Jan turned away as Kobus made a game of extracting some last item of information from the wreckage of the scout. The rest of the patrol moved closer to join in the charade. Jan deliberately walked away. He tried to concentrate on the noises of the wilderness around him, the rustle of small animals, the bird calls, the hum of insects and the hot wind sighing in the thorn bushes. Then he heard Kobus call out to him, and he went back to the group and opened his map to show them the route he had chosen through the bush. The captive lay still, his eyes half open and flickering, his limbs twitching although he was barely conscious.