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
By the time Bruce reached Diane and Derek, the pair had recovered enough for Diane to turn and hold the rope with both hands. Derek didn’t have the strength to prevent his body from pressing tightly up against Diane’s, but they were able to inch their way towards Bruce. With her husband and their friend huddled close around her, Diane stopped crying and, teeth chattering, pulled herself towards the bank. The trio made their way to Geoffrey, who helped them out of the water one at a time. Helen and Bev tugged them up the slippery path and onto the bank, Bev still sobbing.
Diane sat, Helen kneeling alongside her, as Bruce unbuttoned her shirt so that Bev could examine her wounds. Geoffrey held his head in his hands, his cap saturated and glued to his skull. Derek limped a short distance from the group, pain shooting up his spine with every step. When his knees gave way, he sank to the ground and rolled onto his back, silent and spent.
Eight
Eight
Faye was restless. She wished she’d brought her book to the lapa when she changed her clothes in the cabin earlier. It would be awkward to go back after Clare had clearly gone there to escape her. The girl might think she was checking up on her, or coming to make amends. It would only add to the tension between them.
She looked around, fidgety and unaccustomed to not being busy. If she was at home, she’d have been cleaning something, sorting out cupboards, gardening or baking. The wind had calmed a little but the rain was relentless. As it poured off the roof in the curtains across the open section of the lapa, Faye imagined she was sheltering in a waterfall. With the earth drenched, several channels of water flowed fast towards the stream. A pair of hadedas hid beneath a bush on the edge of the lawn, drawing their long, curved beaks towards their puffed-out chests and looking into the rain like two disapproving, double-chinned authoritarians.
As soon as the rain let up, Faye would, she decided, go to the bridge to see how the water-course had changed. She wondered again about the others. If they’d been unable to cross the river and had to retrace their steps, they would have appeared by now. They must be safe, though without supplies, at Grootkloof Cabin.