The lodge was eerily quiet. It seemed that even the wind had died away as they stepped inside. Lars had maintained the buildings so that they were clean, and free of the devouring bush that surrounded them. Hannah felt a catch in her throat as she saw the shrubs she had planted, leafing out with greedy energy around the bedroom doors. Two crowned cranes were standing at the waterhole, looking down at their own reflected beauty. Sarah and Hannah stood there, hand in hand, barely able to keep their emotions in check.

‘I’ll start next week,’ Hannah said. ‘I’ll come with David and we will put the furniture back in place and clean it all. And I’ll interview possible staff. I’ve been thinking that some of the wives on the farm could learn to take care of the rooms, and to help in the kitchen too. And now I want to go to his special place. To tell him what has happened. That it is finished and we will go on, just as he wanted.’

They stood on the ridge looking down over Piet’s last resting place.

‘Hannah, I have an idea,’ Sarah tried to keep her voice light, and to banish the sense of desolation that still rushed through her when she thought of him. ‘It was the elephants that made me think of it – when I watched them cover their dead ones so lovingly, with the stones and branches. I don’t think Piet would have wanted a carved memorial. But a cairn, built from the rocks that belong here naturally. That could be right. We could put them where the pyre was, and plant a tree in the centre. Something that would give shade. A place where birds could nest. He’d always have company then.’

‘An acacia,’ Lars said. ‘That would do well up here, and we could see it from the house.’

Hannah said nothing, and Sarah was apprehensive. Perhaps she had been too precipitate, offering this proposal without waiting for the right moment. Another stupid mistake.

‘I think an Acacia tortilis would be perfect,’ Hannah’s face was soft. ‘It will grow very tall, it has that wonderful flat-topped crown like a big umbrella, and when it flowers it’s quite beautiful. He’d love it. It’s a beautiful plan.’

She bent down and picked up two smooth, white stones. ‘These would be perfect for Piet’s cairn,’ she said. ‘Let’s look for some more like them.’