The idea of writing a story set in the Tsitsikamma came about during a hike there with several dear friends. After our first night in the mountains, one awoke with a debilitating migraine and was not up to hiking that day. She insisted we go on, saying she’d medicate and sleep it off, and hitch a ride to our next stop with the rangers. I was uneasy about leaving her in so remote a place without the ability to communicate with her or the rangers, but she was adamant and we went on without her.

As we walked, I imagined various scenarios, picturing what could go wrong. Nothing did. We were happily reunited that evening and, over the next several days, completed a wonderfully restorative and congenial hike. But the idea of what could have happened under different circumstances, to different people, took root and what grew was this story. As such, I thank my Tsitsikamma hiking friends, Dawie, Didi, Eloise, Lala, Michael, Philip, Rina and Rodney for accompanying me on a most memorable adventure, which, though no one suspected it might, became a book. Where shall we go next?

I am also deeply grateful to my smart, funny and supportive writing group friends, Gail, Justin, Paul and Peter, who encouraged me to keep going because of their enthusiasm and engagement with the story and characters.

Thank you too, to my running friend, Sue, who, while we were active half-marathoners listened, not only to me huffing and puffing alongside her, but also to lengthy literary monologues about who is who in my work-in-progress and what might happen to them—or not. And, to my unofficial business guru-friend, Karen, for letting me prattle on about the business of writing and guiding me towards the right decisions, many thanks.

My gratitude too to the Köehler Books team for responding to a submission from an unknown African. To Hannah for seeing enough in the story to pass it to Greg, to Greg for championing it, and to John and Joe for taking it on, and, along with everyone else involved at Köehler Books, for turning it into this—thank you.

Finally, I am eternally grateful to Jan-Lucas, Sebastiaan and Claudia, who nod, smile and encourage me in everything I write—and never roll their eyes when I burst into the room, asking once again, “What do you think. . . ?”