The two boys, Ralph and Kagiso, had been an unlikely pairing and not just because one was white and the other black, or because one was the son of a servant and the other the son of the employer. Those things didn’t matter in the Seaton household. No, it was their temperaments that were so different. Ralph was boisterous while Kagiso was solemn; one was loud, the other quiet; one confident, the other diffident. Harry and Helen had often thought Lindi a better playmate for Kagiso. They were both earnest, so neither would dominate the other.

‘Where is Kagiso now?’ asked Ralph. ‘You must try to hook up with him, Lindi.’

‘Maybe he’s moved on,’ she replied. ‘He might not want to be reminded that he was the housemaid’s son.’

‘That’s a bit harsh,’ said Harry, clearly affronted at what Lindi was implying. ‘We treated him exactly the way we treated you two.’

‘The last time Maude talked about him he’d left his government job,’ said Helen. ‘Apparently he’d gone to work for some cooperative or other in the rural areas. He’d told Maude it was real grassroots work. She wasn’t even sure that he was being paid properly. He hadn’t sent her any cash for months and he was always so good about that. Maude was so funny talking about it on the phone.’ Helen now mimicked Maude at her irritable best. ‘I asked him what for he was so worried about grassroots. I told him we are not inkomo pulling grass from the ground. I told him what we need is maize-meal and medicines. I tell you! That boy he likes to dream.’

‘It’s certainly going to take more than dreams to turn things around now,’ said Harry. ‘I’m not sure how you recover from a thing like Lesedi Motlantshe’s murder.’

Harry had known Lesedi’s father. His interview with him had angered the apartheid government of the time. The article had ended with Motlantshe saying he looked forward to the day Harry would interview him in a Pretoria office, and BOSS (the notorious Bureau of State Security) would be protecting him rather than monitoring him. In fact, it was shortly after the double-page spread that the first threats against Harry and the family had begun to drop through his letterbox.

Harry recounted the occasion, then added, ‘Well, he certainly took to life in Pretoria.’

‘And then some,’ said Ralph. ‘Isn’t he one of the richest men in South Africa?’

‘He certainly is. I suppose I should say, “Good luck to him,” but it still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.’