Chapters (39)
- Cover
- Title
- Author’s Note
- Glossary
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Acknowledgments
She left the house again, but returned that evening. They didn’t talk about it again until Geoffrey told her he’d submitted his resignation letter a few weeks later.
“Well, I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said, “because it’s not just about you and me anymore.”
He stared at her, mouth agape.
“Yes, I’m pregnant.”
It was one of the best days of his life.
The track through the trees to the river was dotted with puddles. Watching the sun fighting its way through the clouds, Geoffrey felt hopeful a vehicle would arrive within the day to fetch them. He was anxious to see Clare. It wasn’t only that he felt responsible for her, but they’d undertaken the trip together. He hoped they would be able to salvage the next two days and continue the hike, even if the others couldn’t join them. Of course, Derek wouldn’t be up to it, which inevitably counted out Faye, too. Faye. Thank God she’d disregarded his instructions and gone back to the cabin to be with Clare. Geoffrey was not sure how he would have coped knowing his daughter was either alone and stranded at the cabin, or elsewhere with strangers. The fact that Faye was with her was comforting. It was one of the reasons he’d offered to stay with Derek. If Faye could selflessly return to be with Clare when she was ill, how could he, with a clear conscience, leave Faye’s ailing husband alone?
As he drew nearer, Geoffrey heard the rushing of the river, punctuated by the solid knocks and cracks of deadwood against the rocks and the lapping of agitated water against freshly excavated dongas. He realised then it was likely he and Derek would have to wait it out at Grootkloof Cabin for at least one more day. The Bloukrans was angrier even than he recalled it being when the surge had suddenly appeared and almost taken Diane with it.
He took his cap off and scratched the side of his head as if trying to dislodge the image of Diane being flung against the ropes and then with Derek and Bruce, the three edging their way towards him in the swirling mass of water and debris. What idiots they’d been to cross and yet, as they’d sat around the fire in the lapa hours later, not one of them had conceded their foolishness. Did they think saying it aloud would be to admit culpability? Or were they just in shock? Would they ever speak freely about it?