‘Thanks to the profits from the hotel and the safari holidays that will be run from it, along with the significant endowment donated by you, Saffron, the park will be staffed and maintained without making any demands on the Kenyan government’s budgets.

‘The third and fourth conditions relate to the Maasai people with whom Leon Courtney had such a special bond. They will be guaranteed the right, in perpetuity, to live and herd cattle across the game reserve. In addition, the landmass known as Lonsonyo Mountain, which is sacred to the local Maasai, will be designated as a protected area, over which they have complete control. They will have the right to determine who may or may not visit the mountain, and on what terms.

‘Those are the essential points of the documents contained in your folders. The agreements to be signed tomorrow cover all the various legal and financial issues arising from . . .’

The rest of Izzy’s sentence was drowned by a furious battering on the door to the room. It burst open to disgorge a gang of teenagers in swimming trunks and bikinis, followed by Benjamin and Wangari’s sons, eight-year-old twins who were wide-eyed with excitement at being allowed to play with the big boys and girls.

‘What is the meaning of this?’ Gerhard asked, getting to his feet and giving the youngsters what his children cheekily called ‘Dad’s Luftwaffe stare’, since it looked as if he was about to shoot them down.

Zander took it upon himself to be his generation’s spokesman. At seventeen, he was already taller than Saffron and almost able to look his father in the eye.

‘Oh, hi, Dad, hi, Mum,’ he said with breezy self-confidence. ‘We’re all starving and we heard there were Cokes and biscuits and stuff in here, so, you know . . .’ He flashed the grin that he knew could get him almost anything he wanted. ‘Can we have some, please?’

Saffron watched her husband doing his best to remain fierce in the face of the son he adored. Then she cast her eyes on Kika, who, at fifteen, was already looking much too much like a budding Brigitte Bardot for her mother’s comfort.

How are we ever going to keep the boys away from her? Saffron asked herself, her heart bursting with pride at her beautiful children. She thought of all she and Gerhard had gone through to get to this place, this time, and knew that it had been worth the heartache, the suffering, the bloodshed and the loss that they had endured.

Worth it all, a thousand times over.

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wilbur Smith is a global phenomenon: a distinguished author with a large and established readership built up over fifty-five years of writing, with sales of over 130 million novels worldwide.