She was determined to find out and made her way over to the tent she had seen Kate emerge from. She unzipped a tiny part of the tent door and shone her torch inside, immediately perplexed as to what Kate would want in Rydell’s tent. She closed the tent and stood for a moment, thinking. Then she walked off to her tent and climbed in, still confused, and a little afraid, too.
Back in her own tent, Kate put her hand into her pocket and withdrew the item she had found in Rydell’s sock. It was her underwear. What was Rydell doing with her underwear? She felt nauseous and violated. She looked at her bikini panties with tiny yellow daisies patterened along the waistband. She had thought the design so cheerful and happy, now the flowers seemed abused, sullied. But shocking as it was to find these in Rydell’s tent, she came up empty with any evidence linking him to Rosalee’s murder.
His tent was not as neat inside as she had expected and it was easier than she had thought it would be to rifle through his belonging and then to put things back exactly where she found them. She stumbled across her underwear in a rolled-up pair of socks near the end of her search; she potted a tiny part of a flower peeking out and she had grabbed the socks, and then pulled out her panties, in disbelief.
“Sick bastard.” She looked at her watch. She was not ready to go to bed and she decided to go for a walk and phone André. She made her way over to the swimming pool, thinking that it would be deserted but to her surprise she found Richard and Mia reclining on the deck chairs, casually drinking beer, and commenting on the night sky.
“Come and join us,” Mia called out.
Kate went over and sat down. “I don’t know if you’d want me,” she said, “if you knew the sort of mood I’m in.” She tried to laugh.
“Understandable. Vile, absolutely vile what happened,” Richard said languidly. “We saw Sofie earlier, she was on the phone in the security guards area. We’ve got no idea who she was calling but she was crying.”
“Where’s she now?” Kate asked.
“Don’t know. We haven’t seen her walk by since, and we’ve been keeping an eye out for her. What do you think really happened?” Richard asked.
“Not a clue,” Kate replied, and she shook her head at the beer Mia was waving at her. “No thanks, Mia.”
Sofie appeared out of the darkness, a glassy-eyed wraith with a flashlight in her hand. She seemed to be heading back to the camp. “Sofie,” they called out to her, “We’re here, come over.”
She looked over at them, not sure who it was.
“It’s Kate, Richard and Mia,” Kate told her.
Sofie gave a slight start and wound her way through the deckchairs. “Why is this place so deserted?” she demanded. “Where’s everybody? I mean the other tourists? Why are we the only ones here? Where are all the other people?”
She began to cry. Kate leapt up and helped her sit down. Sofie put her head on Kate’s shoulder and sobbed. “This is all so sick,” she sobbed. “I want to go home. I never want to come to Africa again in my entire life. If I get out alive, that is.”
“Ah, it’s not Africa’s fault,” Kate soothed her and stroked her hair, “It’s true that things have gone terribly wrong but why do you think anybody would want to hurt you? We all love you, you’re probably the safest person on the entire trip.”
“Because … because … I saw, I heard … oh nothing, nothing at all. I’m going to bed. But I really don’t want to share with Helen any more, I don’t.” She started to cry again.
“Come and stay with me,” Kate said firmly. “There’s only me in my tent now, what do you say?”
Sofie nodded and wiped her face. “Will you come with me to get my stuff?” she asked.
“Of course I will,” Kate said. “Come on, let’s do it now. Have you had a shower?”
“No,” Sofie was crying again. “Somebody was in there, so I was frightened.”
“We’ll go and shower together and get you nice and clean, but first we’ll get your stuff and set up your bed. Hey, you guys,” she said aside, to Richard and Mia, “I thought you were going to the waterhole?”
“Didn’t feel like it,” Mia said. “We thought we’d have a nice cool swim and go to bed. It doesn’t get cold here at night like the other places so a swim would be nice.”
“Did Rydell go to the waterhole?” Kate asked.
“I imagine he did,” Richard said. “To be honest, I didn’t notice.”
“Me neither,” Mia wriggled her toes. “Barking mad, he is anyway.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. Come on, Sofie, let’s get you settled.”
She helped Sofie to her feet, said goodnight to Mia and Richard and they walked off, Kate’s arm protectively around Sofie’s shoulders.
Helen was lying on her stomach on her sleeping bag and reading with her camper’s light on. She looked up when Sofie stepped through the tent door. Sofie wordlessly gathered her gear and quickly handed her things to Kate who waited for her outside. Helen watched silently, then she rolled over onto her back and carried on reading. Kate found it awkward and uncomfortable. Sofie was even more subdued after seeing Helen and sank into silence.
Kate led Sofie over to her tent and helped her settle in and find her toiletry bag. Then she guided Sofie over to the washroom. “Sofie, let’s have a nice, long hot shower,” she said. “Don’t go back to the tent without me, okay?”
Sofie nodded. Kate propelled her towards a shower cubicle, trying to get her started. Sofie was becoming increasingly withdrawn.
“Sofie,” Kate’s tone was sharp but kind, trying to jolt Sofie back to reality, “get undressed and shower, dear. Now.” Sofie started to undress in slow motion with Kate helping. “I’m not going to wash you in the shower too,” she said, “in you go, turn on the water.” She finally managed to get Sofie under a steady stream of hot water with a bar of soap in her hand.
Kate had a quick shower and washed her hair. She got out and dried herself quickly. She peered into see how Sofie was doing and saw her in the same spot, the soap unused, the water running cold.
“Oh, Sofie, I’m so sorry,” Kate said and she led Sofie out of the shower and gently dried her off.
Betty came in. “Hello ladies.” She did not seem to notice anything unusual in a blank-eyed Sofie being dried off by a naked Kate.
“I’m so glad to see you, Betty,” Kate exclaimed with relief. “I think Sofie’s gone into shock.” She quickly explained about meeting Sofie at the pool, getting her things from Helen’s tent, and how she had stood in the shower, not moving.
“Eish, poor girl,” Betty said, “here, let me help you.”
Sofie was docile and unresisting as they dressed her.
Kate quickly got dressed and brushed her teeth. “Betty, is there a doctor here? I think Sofie needs one.”
“I agree, she’s in a bad way. I don’t think there is a doctor here but we can ask Jono to radio ahead to Fort Namutoni.”
“I guess I could ask Mia for advice…” Kate took a quick look around and spoke in an undertone, “she’s a psychiatric nurse, but don’t tell her I told you, she asked me not to say anything to anyone. Besides from what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t have much faith in her nursing abilities and by this time of night, she’s most likely drunk.”
“Let’s not even ask her. Did you know,” Betty whispered, her mouth close to Kate’s ear, “that Richard is a surgeon? It said so on the forms he filled out to come on the tour, Jono told me. But he told me that Richard has told everybody he does life insurance or something, so I don’t think he would help either — for some reason he wants to hide the fact that he is a doctor.”
“A doctor? A surgeon? Knock me down with a feather.” Kate was shocked into immobility. “And yet he did nothing to help Charisse. Not too big on the old Hippocratic oath is he?”
“Eish, I shouldn’t have said anything, please never tell anyone I told you,” Be
tty looked anxious. “I wasn’t supposed to know except that Jono told me that night in Swakopmund, the night you all had the big dinner together, and he came to see us afterwards and he was really quite drunk. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember that he told me, and he also said, like you, that he couldn’t understand why Richard hadn’t tried to help Charisse when she was so sick.” She spoke in an anxious rush.
“Don’t worry, Betty,” Kate reassured her, “I won’t breathe a word of it, we’ll keep each other’s secrets. Let’s have a doctor at the ready at Fort Namutoni and we’ll try to get Sofie there as soon as we can. Will you let Jono know?”
“Yes, I will let him know. Let me help you get her to bed.”
“That’s okay,” Kate said, “I can manage. It’s late. You have your shower, you must be exhausted. By the way, I’m doing all the dishes from now, I see that we’ve lost our roster, so count on me for that.”
“Yebo, thank you, Kate. I’m very tired.”
Kate gathered her and Sofie’s things and led Sofie to their tent. On the way, she saw Rydell on his way back from the waterhole and she was relieved that he must have been there the entire time. She had been worried he might have seen her go inside his tent.
She helped Sofie climb into her sleeping bag and then she checked her phone.
Sunshine, so quiet, no goodnite? U ok? Miss you. Luv talkng 2u
Kate sighed with relief and punched in her reply.
miss u2. BAD nite, Stepfan ‘fell’ off twr. Cldnt call cos Sofie in shock. Will fone 1st thing
She lay back in bed and switched off her flashlight. She was certain she would lie awake all night but before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
Two tents away, Rydell was on his hands and knees inside his tent, sniffing his bedding. “Someone’s been snooping around my tent,” he chanted quietly, again and again. “Someone’s been going through my clothes, someone’s been eating my porridge, someone’s going to be very sorry.”
The Etosha Pan
and on to Fort Namutoni
THE NEXT MORNING KATE WOKE to find Sofie sitting upright, and staring straight ahead. “Sofie?” Kate asked gently, “How are you?”
There was no reply.
“Let’s get you dressed, will you help me?” She struggled to get Sofie out of her pajamas and into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
“We’re going to the washroom, here’s your toothbrush.”
Kate climbed out backwards, leaned into the tent and held out her hand to Sofie.
Sofie stepped out of the tent and let out a bloodcurdling scream that turned Kate’s blood to ice. She swung around to follow Sofie’s gaze. Directly in front of the tent was a dead jackal, hanging upside down over a garbage can with its tongue lolling out to one side and its eyes wide open.
Kate was unable to move. She stood stockstill. Sofie carried on screaming and her high-pitched siren call brought the others running towards them in various states of dress.
“What’s going on now?” Jono demanded.
Speechless, Kate pointed to the jackal.
Jono put his arm around Sofie and led her away.
“Betty,” he yelled, “I need you now.”
Betty rushed up to him and they conferred while Sofie stopped screaming and stared unblinkingly ahead. Jono took out a phone and began dialing. He talked to someone in Xhosa, his voice agitated, his hands waving. The others milled around, some with toothbrushes in hand and tousled hair.
Rydell looked over at Kate when no one was watching and made the sign of a slit throat and she marched up to him. “Got something to say to me?” she said, her hands on her hips, her eyes boring into his.
He giggled. “Someone’s been eating my porridge, someone’s been touching my socks, someone is going to be very sorry.”
“Jono,” Kate called out loudly, “I want security to arrest this weirdo, I’m not getting back on the bus with him. He was in my tent, he stole my underwear, it was hidden in his socks. Let me ask you this, who killed the jackal? Huh? It was him. We’re leaving him behind, Jono, I’m telling you now. I hope he dies here.”
Jono looked uncomfortable. “Ei, Kate, we cannot do that. He has committed no crime that we can be sure of, I cannot leave him behind. Maybe your underwear got caught up in his laundry. We have no proof that he killed the jackal, it could have been a local person. Only yesterday security was saying they were having real problems with things such as these.”
“Ah. There you go again, Jono. The quintessential man of inaction. Wonderful. I see.” She turned back to Rydell, her mind whirling for a solution. “Rydell, you’ve been a bad, naughty, worthless boy, no wonder your mother hated you and had to punish you like she did. If you don’t behave, I’m going to hate you just like your mommy did, do you understand me, because you’re such a bad boy.”
It was a desperate move on Kate’s part but to her surprise, it worked and the scales of love and hate that Rydell felt for Kate tipped and broke. She had reminded him of his mother from the start; the similarity in their appearance, as well as the memories of that erratic maternal affection followed by her inexplicable and bullying cruelty all swirled and mixed in Rydell’s psyche and his fragile hold on reality snapped like a twig. He fell to his knees like a child and began to cry, clasping his arms tightly around Kate’s legs.
“I’m sorry. Don’t hurt me, mommy, love me, don’t hurt me. I’ll be a good boy, mommy, I promise I’ll be a very good boy.”
Kate pushed his face back and stared at him. “Go and tidy your tent,” she said, sternly. “Then go and sit on the bus and stay there, do you understand?”
“Yes, I do, mommy, I’m sorry,” Rydell sniveled, untangling himself, and got up. “I’ll be a good boy and you’ll love me, I’ll be a good boy, you’ll see.” He walked back to his tent, still crying, his head down; for all the world a dejected, five-year-old boy.
“That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen,” Helen was revolted.
Kate glanced over at her. “I’m sure you’ve seen and done worse,” she said pointedly.
“I didn’t mean you,” Helen was quick to reply. “I meant his reaction. Do you think he killed the jackal?”
“I have no idea,” Kate said, acidly.
“We’re going to wait for a helicopter,” Jono announced. “They’re sending one from Windhoek and they’ll take Sofie to a hospital. It should be here within the hour and we’ll leave directly after that. Kate, please let me talk to you,” he called after her, but she marched off and he watched her go. “Ei, I do not blame her,” he said to Betty, “but honestly, what else could I do?” He and Betty looked helplessly at one another.
At that moment the security guards arrived to investigate the dead jackal.
“Excuse me, don’t touch that,” Kate reappeared with her camera. Anger radiated off her. “Step back for a moment, please.”
“What are you doing?” Jono asked.
“Collecting evidence.” Kate photographed the animal’s corpse from every angle: close up, footprints in the sand, pieces of garbage. When she got closer she saw that a piece of twine had been used to strangle the jackal and she peered at it more closely, thinking that it looked familiar.
“Jasmine,” she called. “Get me a pair of tweezers.”
“I don’t use tweezers,” Jasmine objected.
“Well, go and get some from somebody else then,” Kate shouted.
Ellie rushed off and returned with tweezers.
Kate dug inside the jackal’s torn neck and pulled out the piece of rope. She knelt down and fished a ziploc bag from her camera bag, emptied it of flash cards, and put the rope inside. She closed her camera bag, swung it over her shoulder and walked off.
“Wag ’n bietjie,” one of the security guards called out. “Wait a moment, that rope belongs to us, it’s evidence.”
“And I’m simply making
sure it doesn’t disappear, do you have any problems with that?” Kate swung around and confronted the guard angrily.
“Uh no, mevrou,” he stammered. “That’s fine, but don’t lose it, asseblief.”
Kate went over to Betty. “Betty, we need to make sure Sofie’s papers are in order so they know who she is, who to contact, who her embassy is, that kind of thing. I learned this well from Charisse’s death, the first death of many shall we say.” She tried to be less sarcastic; none of this was Betty’s fault. “Can you accompany her?”
“Ei, Kate, believe me, I would love nothing more but there’s no room on the helicopter, they are very small.”
They turned to Sofie who was singing to herself and pulling at strands of her hair.
Betty and Kate both looked over at Richard and Mia who were helping themselves to breakfast, pouring milk onto cereal, unconcerned by the bedlam around them.
Kate and Betty exchanged a look. “You can’t explain some people,” Betty said, shocked nevertheless.
“Yes,” Kate agreed. “A nurse and a doctor too. Well, let’s get Sofie’s things ready. Jono should try to have someone at the hospital to be with Sofie. She shouldn’t be alone like this. I’m sorry I snapped at you Betty, it was rude of me.”
“Don’t be silly. Terrible things have happened. I agree, I will tell Jono now. I know he always has a list of emergency contacts and such on these trips.” Betty went to talk to Jono while Kate sat with Sofie. She longed to phone André but it would be impossible to talk to him, given the situation. She grabbed her phone; she had not had the chance to look at it since she had texted André about Stepfan’s death. There were three messages from him, all saying a different version of the same thing: That is BAD NEWS. I must come+get you? I will. Plse tlk 2me, am v worried
She thought about it. There was only one more night left and besides she calculated, it would take André too long to get to Fort Namutoni.
Don’t worry, but I will need u asap in Wndhk, cant wait 2cu.
He replied almost instantly:
The Witchdoctor's Bones Page 33
