Even with the time it took them, after the last roadblock, to move the rods, tackle and buckets from the boot to the back seat, Spokes and Lukha arrived at the Beauford Farm and Estate an hour before they had planned. Spokes brought the car to a stop opposite a gorgeous field of green and gold as far as the eye could see – sunflowers.

It was only once the car was parked that Spokes allowed himself to release the anxiety he had felt, but could not show, throughout the drive. He did something he had not done since his days as a soldier in the African Rifles: he borrowed a Madison cigarette from Lukha, lit it, took a drag, rolled down his window and blew smoke rings out of the window. When he made it back to Krum’s Place, he would blow smoke rings at Daisy, and, knowing her, she would try to catch them before they disappeared. Spokes found himself smiling at this imagined future.

‘Saskia Hargrave writes this week that Emil Coetzee has been sighted in Angola fighting as a mercenary in their war,’ Lukha said as he read The Chronicle. ‘Look, she even provides a photograph,’ he chuckled as he showed the picture to Spokes.

Spokes looked at the grainy image of a man who could have been anyone because of the photograph’s poor quality. ‘I understand why she does it,’ Spokes said. ‘But people need to let that man go.’

‘So he is definitely dead?’ Lukha asked as he folded up the paper.

‘Emil Coetzee walked into the bush and did not walk out of it. That is the end of his story,’ Spokes said.

Lukha helped himself to a scone, and then a meat pie, and then a samosa.

‘Do you feel as though we are being watched?’ Spokes said, allowing himself to be a little more at ease. A place without curiosity was something to be highly suspicious of.

‘Yes,’ Lukha said as he opened the car door and got out. He walked to the edge of the sunflower field and casually made as though to relieve himself as he surveyed their surroundings. ‘Two children in the field. No one else,’ he said as he washed his hands with water from a bottle before getting back into the car.

Lukha was reaching for another scone when they heard three gentle taps coming from behind the back seat. They waited as the boot of the car opened and Golide Gumede slowly and painfully climbed out. Spokes and Lukha also got out of the car, their eyes vigilant. Once satisfied that there was no one around but the two children in the sunflower field, they allowed themselves to feel happy and hopeful.