A lone voice began to sing the first words of the national anthem, and after the first tentative notes the crowd joined in, until the swell of the music rose up through the palm thatched roof and out over the ocean. People crossed the room to embrace each other with optimism or regret, to offer words of hope, to proclaim a determination to stay or a resolution to move on to new and unknown lives. Streamers flew through the air as the countdown to midnight began. Whistles blew, the chanting grew louder and louder, and circles of dancers formed on the floor, jostling and laughing as midnight struck and the band played ‘Auld Lang Syne’.

It was Piet who beckoned them away from the heaving crowd and out on to the beach. They walked along the edge of the water, distancing themselves from the lights and the music, until there was nothing to be heard or seen except the soft splash of waves, and a ribbon of moonlight stretching and flickering all the way to the horizon. Anthony took off his shirt and slacks and plunged into the sea. Piet followed him, flinging his clothes on the sand and soon they were all floating in the water, ringed by the glitter of phosphorescence and reflected starlight.

‘So what are your plans for tomorrow? Are you all staying on a few days?’ Anthony said.

‘No. We’re driving back to Mombasa in the morning. For us it’s home to Langani in a couple of days,’ Piet said. ‘Tim goes back to his medical studies in Ireland next week, taking Sarah off to Dublin.’

‘What about you, Camilla?’ Anthony put his hands around her ankles, and pulled her towards him in the water. ‘You don’t have to leave right away, do you?’

‘We’re all leaving together,’ Piet’s response was sharp. ‘Camilla’s staying with the Mackays.’

‘Lucky Mackays,’ Anthony said lightly.

‘Let’s not go back at all.’ Hannah’s words were apprehensive. ‘Let’s make our lives together, starting right here and now. We’ll open a simple bar and some thatched cottages to rent. The country will keep us captive, as Sarah says. But away from quarrels, and fears about the new government, and all the changes that are looming.’

‘No.’ Sarah was definite. ‘It isn’t time. We should plan to return here, though. We’ll come back, no matter what, during the year that the three of us turn twenty-one. And we’ll stay at Piet’s new lodge, maybe go on safari together, and spend some time down here at the coast.’

‘I’ll subscribe to that idea,’ Anthony said. ‘And if Piet is going to entertain you at his lodge, then I’ll organise the safari part.’ He looked at Camilla. ‘You said you’d come on safari with me, when you’re rich and famous. Remember?’