Makori appeared and shouted, ‘Two whites dead! One man, one woman!’

‘There’s another down here,’ Saffron said as she headed towards the kitchen, with Benjamin right behind her.

A woman’s corpse, horribly mutilated by a myriad panga blades, lay across the opening where the kitchen door had been. Beyond her, through the door. Saffron could see a mass of Mau Mau. They were laughing and cheering, firing rifles in the air.

We’re too late, she told herself.

Then she spotted the knot of men gathered round the door to the storeroom, smashing rifle butts against it and firing at the woodwork and lock. It wasn’t over yet.

‘There’s someone in there,’ she called at Makori.

He nodded, lifted the Sterling to his shoulder and walked towards the kitchen with Saffron beside him and Benjamin, Wambui and the pseudos behind them. They were outnumbered five, even six to one by the Mau Mau. But they had the advantage of surprise and plenty of ammunition.

Maybe we’re going to be on time. Maybe it’s going to be all right, Saffron thought.

And then silence fell on the kitchen. The men nearest the door backed away and the grenade went off.

At least four of the Mau Mau were killed by their own blast. But the rest were running for the open door and suddenly Saffron knew this was the endgame. The battle could still be lost.

She had to stop them before they could get inside the storeroom. She opened fire the way she had been taught at Arisaig, not taking careful aim, but looking at her target and letting the gun follow her eyes.

Look, burst, kill.

Look, burst, kill.

Beside her, Makori was dealing out carnage at a brutal rate. Wambui was shooting like a born marksman. Benjamin had forgotten his oath and his political principles as he took out one man after another. The pseudos were locked in combat with guns and knives.

But though the casualties kept falling, it seemed to make no difference to the men by the door. Saffron saw two faces she recognised, and realised that they belonged to Kungu Kabaya and the sidekick he had brought to the meeting with Jomo Kenyatta. Their attention was focused on killing whoever was in the storeroom.

Saffron felt a desperate hope that her father and Harriet were safe in there, mixed with a terror that all was lost. She swapped magazines, lifted her gun and fired at the two men. Gitiri went down, clutching his chest, high up by one shoulder.

That got Kabaya’s attention. He saw her and shouted orders to his remaining men to turn and face the new enemy. He raised his gun towards Saffron.

She fired a lone sustained burst from her Sten gun that blew Kungu Kabaya’s head to pieces.

Kabaya’s men saw that their leader was dead. They started throwing down their weapons and begging for mercy. Several more of them were shot before Makori shouted, ‘That’s enough!’