She drew to a halt, and called out of the window of her van. “Where are you going, Mma?”

“I am going down that way,” said the woman, pointing down the road. “Just beyond Molepolole. I am going to Silokwolela.”

Mma Ramotswe smiled. “I am going there too,” she said. “I can take you all the way.”

The woman let out a whoop of delight. “You are very kind, and I am a very lucky person.”

She reached down for the plastic bag in which she was carrying her possessions and opened the passenger door of Mma Ramotswe’s van. Then, her belongings stored at her feet, Mma Ramotswe pulled out into the road again and they set off. From old habit, Mma Ramotswe glanced at her new travelling companion and made her assessment. She was quite well dressed—the jersey was new, and was real wool rather than the cheap artificial fibres that so many people bought these days; the skirt was a cheap one, though, and the shoes were slightly scuffed. This lady works in a shop, she thought. She has passed her standard six, and maybe even form two or three. She has no husband, and her children are living with the grandmother out at Silokwolela. Mma Ramotswe had seen the copy of the Bible tucked into the top of the plastic bag and this had given her more information. This lady was a member of a church, and was perhaps going to Bible classes. She would be reading her Bible to the children that night.

“Your children are down there, Mma?” asked Mma Ramotswe politely.

“Yes,” came the reply. “They are staying with their grandmother. I work in a shop in Gaborone, New Deal Furnishers. You know them maybe?”

Mma Ramotswe nodded, as much for the confirmation of her judgement as in answer to the question.

“I have no husband,” she went on. “He went to Francistown and he died of burps.”

Mma Ramotswe gave a start. “Burps? You can die of burps?”

“Yes. He was burping very badly up in Francistown and they took him to the hospital. They gave him an operation and they found that there was something very bad inside him. This thing made him burp. Then he died.”

There was a silence. Then Mma Ramotswe spoke. “I am very sorry.”

“Thank you. I was very sad when this happened, as he was a very good man and he had been a good father to my children. But my mother was still strong, and she said that she would look after them. I could get a job in Gaborone, because I have my form two certificate. I went to the furniture shop and they were very pleased with my work. I am now one of the top salesladies and they have even booked me to go on a sales training course in Mafikeng.”

Mma Ramotswe smiled. “You have done very well. It is not easy for women. Men expect us to do all the work and then they take the best jobs. It is not easy to be a successful lady.”