They had to improvise by using the current garden boy instead of Themboniso, and Edgar was very puzzled by what they wanted him to do, but like most Africans he was willing to cooperate and very easy to direct. He was especially pleased not only to have a break from gardening, but also with his payment for an interesting few days’ work.
“Nothing as exciting as this has ever happened before.” Alice exclaimed.
The evening before they left, Tim Robbins took Dave aside and handed him a long package wrapped in cloth.
“Take this,” he said “it’s a Remington sports rifle. There is ammunition in the gun bag pocket. You don’t know what you’re going to meet on the other side of the border. Hopefully you won’t have to use it, but at least it might give you some protection.”
“I can’t …” Dave began, but Tim cut him off.
“I know you couldn’t fly in with any firearms, but this is just in case. Anyway, when you come back safe and sound, you can return it. Let’s go outside and you and the other guys can fire off a couple of shots to familiarize yourselves with it.”
Even though Amie knew they were only firing off test shots, every time there was a bang, she winced.
“Now for the difficult bit,” Dave said the next day as they prepared to retrace Amie’s journey into the bush. “Do you think you can remember where Themboniso’s village was? I was counting on Edgar to tell me, but he doesn’t know Themboniso at all.”
“I think so,” Amie replied. “I know we drove for almost a day on the gravel road and then turned off inland and walked for maybe three hours. You lose all sense of exact time living in the bush. I do remember there was a very large Baobab tree where we hit the road, so I should be able to identify that.”
Loading the two hired Land Rovers with all their gear, including tents, plenty of water and food, they set off north. Without mentioning it to the others, Amie was worried whether she would be able to find the village again, but much to her surprise it was easier than she thought. Life was simpler with modern transport, as the vehicles ate up the miles. When she thought about it later, Amie was not absolutely certain they had found the right village, but she knew she would recognize the Chief again if she saw him. Most of the villages were very similar, and as she had only spent one night there, she didn’t recognize any of the people. Themboniso was nowhere to be seen, but the villagers they did meet, were very friendly. They were kept waiting for a long time in the sun to see the chief, who was the only one who could give them permission to film, or even stay in the village, but while they waited, they were offered several cups of sugared tea.
“How can they drink this stuff?” gasped Bill.
“Shush,” said Amie, “we don’t want to offend them. It’s something you get used to, trust me.”
As they sat in the shade under a tree, Dave carefully moved his shoulder bag in different directions. He was secretly taking footage of the huts, the chickens, the children running around and daily scenes around the village. Often his view was blocked by the row of people who came to stand in a line and stare at them.
Finally, the Chief appeared, and yes it was the same one and Amie breathed a sigh of relief. He was now ready to talk to them. He sat down outside his hut. The crew was escorted across the middle of the village and invited to squat down on the ground.
Between them, Amie and Dave explained they wanted to take pictures so that Amie would remember the time she’d spent with them. They had bought a variety of things in Atari as recompense. The Chief debated this for some time, but after eyeing the spoils and the money they offered, he said they were only too happy to co-operate.
Once again, Amie pretended she was being brought into the village and once again the local actors played their parts well. If we make this too realistic, she thought, it will all look like a fairy tale. They had one piece of luck when Amie saw one of the little bush dwellers working in a nearby field. Marabi and Amie embraced each other like family members, and Amie waved her arms about to show that she and her friends wanted to go back with him to the forest.
He smiled and nodding his head indicated by making signs she knew stood for the sun and the moon, that they could leave in a couple of days. This gave some of the crew enough time to drive back to Atari to replenish supplies before returning again to Themboniso’s village.
While they waited for the right time to head to the little peoples’ village, Dave took lots of extra footage of daily village life with one of the larger cameras, much to the delight of the children who couldn’t get enough of looking at themselves on the playback monitor, and Amie drank in the familiar sights and smells of the land she had grown to love.
Riding in a truck was a first for Marabi, and his pure pleasure at the experience reminded everyone of the huge gulf between their two cultures. Amie wasn’t sure if he hadn’t directed them in a very wide detour as they bounced across the savannah, avoiding thorn bushes and termite mounds. There were no roads to be seen, but the terrain was relatively flat. However, once they reached the edge of the forested area, it wasn’t possible to drive the vehicles any further. They unpacked their supplies and shared them out for carrying, while Bill disabled the Land Rovers by removing the rotor arms. Marabi led the way through the trees, knowing exactly which way to go.
When they reached the collection of leaf houses and Amie saw her old friends, she burst into tears. They were all still there, except for little D’epto who had died a few weeks earlier. E’lft and X’ome welcomed them solemnly and shyly. They seemed much in awe of these tall strangers.
A’ncah shrieked with joy and threw her arms around Amie, ululating loudly. Her actions melted the ice and the rest of the tribe in turn welcomed her with tears of joy, presuming she had come back to stay.
Amie introduced the other members of the team, though few of the little people were able to pronounce such difficult names as Dave, Bill, Neil and Sandy. They laid out a cloth on the ground and indicated their visitors should sit, and several of the women brought out home brewed beer, fruits, berries, and small pieces of dried meat.
After much smiling, pointing, and arm waving, Amie began the protracted negotiations about the filming. This was a lot more difficult than she had imagined it would be. The tribe members were very suspicious of the camera and when Dave demonstrated how it recorded their movements, there was a near riot.
“I thought it was well known that some people believe taking a picture also takes away the soul?” Neil asked quietly.
“Yes, in many parts of the world,” replied Dave, “but if they’ve never seen a video camera before, how do you explain it to them?”
No progress was made on that first day, but the tribe was happy to offer them a hut for the night and cheerfully shared their food. Amie explained it would be better to use the hut, rather than try and put up one of the tents. The villagers would be insulted if the crew appeared to prefer their own accommodation, and practically, there was not much space between the trees to pitch a tent anyway.
Amie was surprised to see that Sandy was coping quite well, but the person who was finding it all very foreign was Bill. He was totally out of his comfort zone, and kept a sharp eye on the ground looking for snakes and insects, and an even sharper eye on the trees.
Amie tried to reassure him. “In the months I lived here, I only suffered a few bites and scratches,” she told him. “It’s unlikely any large or dangerous animals would come close to the villagers here – they keep their distance.”
Bill however did not look convinced. Amie began to feel quite sorry for him as he nervously followed her to the water hole where it was customary to wash.
It was obvious the tribe would not cooperate with filming. Each time they saw the camera, they rushed past, eying it suspiciously, so Dave resorted to filming their activities secretly. Not realising he had a camera running in his shoulder bag, the women proudly showed off how they made beer, prepared the food and washed their clothes. They set about building another leaf house and took t
heir guests foraging among the trees, pointing out what was safe to eat. The men were happy for Dave and Neil to go hunting with them, but thought it strange that Dave insisted on taking his bag with him. Amie couldn’t help feeling guilty. She knew they were being deceitful, but if this was the price she had to pay to get back to Apatu and look for Jonathon, she would go along with it.
After a week in the forest, Dave pronounced himself happy he had enough footage, except for the shots of Amie he needed. While the tribe still refused to cooperate in any role play, Dave was forced to film her mostly on her own, and she was sad to think that anyone watching it, would think her new family were unfriendly and left her alone.
While Dave, Neil and Amie stayed in the forest, Sandy and Bill had driven the second Land Rover to and from Umeru several times, replenishing supplies and charging batteries. The Robbins were only too happy to offer them all the help they required. They arranged for the recorded tapes to be sent back to England in the mail bags used by the mining company. If they were making for a possible war zone, Dave did not want to lose the footage they’d already shot. He also contacted Petra back in England to give her up to date reports. She was the only one they could tell, since no one else knew what they were doing, or where they were going.
Amie hadn’t been surprised when Bill had volunteered to drive back to Umeru for supplies. She could see he was uncomfortable so far away from civilization and took every opportunity to stay with the Robbins, sleeping in a comfortable bed and eating familiar food. As for Amie herself, a large part of her wanted to stay with the tribe. The peace she had discovered living with the forest people returned the moment she walked back into the main clearing. She welcomed the simple, friendly, unconditional love they all showed her. She admired their way of life, living in harmony with nature. She loved the way they quite literally, left only their footprints behind them, and she was quite in awe of their extensive knowledge of plants and their many healing qualities.
Sadly, Amie said a fond farewell to her friends, feeling both pleased and guilty at the same time as she handed out the buckets, bowls, mirrors, cloth and other goods they had brought from Umeru. Is it best to leave them totally in the past? Amie wondered as they walked back through the cool forest. They do have some contact with part of the modern world when they hire themselves out as labourers, but there are so few peoples these days that live so simply and happily. It was only the thought of finding out what had happened to Jonathon that allowed her to tear herself away from the tribe as the Land Rovers headed north towards Togodo.
“If you found yourself almost by accident in Ruanga, I guess that means there isn’t a border fence all the way along,” Dave remarked as he set up the GPS.
“I don’t remember any fence. I don’t remember a whole lot about the journey,” Amie replied, “only that it was a nightmare. I must have crossed at some point, but where, I have no idea.”
“Well we can follow the road for a while and then maybe cut inland when we approach the border. I only hope this GPS is accurate.” Dave studied the route on the small screen. “Sandy, can you find the paper maps as well? I don’t want to rely on only one source of information.”
They made good progress on the road going north for two days, with only one or two other vehicles travelling either way, until Neil who was navigating, directed them off into the bush.
“We’ll pull over well out of sight of the road and set up camp,” he suggested.
“Good idea,” agreed Dave, “and then tomorrow we can film Amie doing her walking across the savannah bit.”
“Dave, I’m not an actress,” Amie moaned. “You don’t need too much footage, do you?”
“I can cut it down if I used the camera from your point of view, but I want to show how you found food and collected water.”
“Yes, I can see those are important parts of the whole story,” Amie admitted. Now she was back on the open plains, away from the peace and comfort of the forest people, much of the horror of her long walk became more vivid, and she shuddered at the memory.
But this time she had company, and with five of them together Amie felt safe and to her surprise she began to enjoy her acting role. Sandy made her up to look as if she’d been living rough for days, and now her feet had grown soft again she didn’t have to pretend the agony she felt walking barefoot.
Dave shot a little footage each day and in between, they broke camp and moved a little further north. At last he pronounced himself satisfied. Amie was impressed when she saw what he’d captured on tape, it looked very real.
“Not so much acting as re-enacting,” she remarked, watching the monitor. “I could never have behaved like that if I hadn’t lived through it.”
“This is going to make a great series,” said Dave happily. “It’s going to make a lot of money for all of us.” Amie realised she hadn’t even considered the financial side of the adventure. She knew Dave had good contacts, and yes it was a good story, maybe they could even sell it in America. But for her, the most important part of the trip was to find Jonathon. If she was honest, it seemed most unlikely, but inside, she had this really strong feeling he wasn’t dead. In the past, she’d always scoffed when people said they just knew their missing family member was still alive, when it was patently obvious, they weren’t. But she couldn’t shake off the feeling he was still in Apatu.
At some point they must have crossed the border into Togodo, as they saw burnt out villages, abandoned vehicles riddled with bullets, and neglected crops in the fields. Dave insisted on stopping and recording many of the scenes, while Bill remained in the truck, ready to take off at a moment’s notice. If he’d been nervous before, he was really scared now. Amie noticed Dave have a quiet word with him, since his fear began to infect the group, and everyone found themselves looking over their shoulders every few minutes.
A few days later they approached Apatu. When they saw the remaining high-rise buildings in the distance, they knew they weren’t far away from the city; they had no idea what they would find there.
18 APATU AND BEYOND
“Strange they should build such tall buildings when there’s so much space and empty land everywhere,” remarked Neil.
“It’s a sign of prestige,” said Dave. “In first world cities, they were built to save space …”
“… so, they copied the idea to look modern, I guess,” added Sandy.
During their last night at camp, they discussed their strategy. Amie drew a basic map of the city as she remembered it, reminding them there were many parts she was not familiar with, and even the bits she remembered well might not be accurate. She drew in the main street, the area where the Club had been, the orphanage, Spring Glen School, her house, and the desalination plant, all areas that Dave needed to record.
“We can mock up the prison stuff in the studio if necessary. We’ll keep that bit simple and not labour it. The main focus of the series is to show your survival and we don’t want to get embroiled in politics. From now on, we use the miniature cameras and the small radio mikes for natural sound.”
“How dangerous is it going to be?” asked Bill, nervously.
“We can’t tell, but I think Sandy and I should go in and do a recce first,” replied Neil. “We will blend in better – be less obvious.”
“Fine with me,” said Sandy. “This is the biggest adventure of my life.”
It was hard the next day when Amie watched the two African members of the crew set off to investigate the city suburbs. She couldn’t sit still, jumping up every few moments looking for something to do. To keep her occupied, Dave had her pretending to dig for water and re-enacting her testing the plants to see if they were edible. When Amie picked up a Mopani worm, crushed it and ate it, Bill was horrified, declaring that no matter how hungry he was he would never, ever, put one of those in his mouth. Amie chuckled at his reaction, releasing the tension she felt being so close to Apatu, and yet so far away.
When Sandy and Neil returned later that evening, t
hey reported that everything in the capital seemed quiet. There was no fighting, although there were troops here and there carrying AK47’s, but generally everyone seemed to be going about their everyday life. It was impossible to tell who was in power – the previous government, or tribe members from the north who’d been labelled as rebels.
No one had stopped them or asked questions, and the traffic in the main streets was busy and chaotic. They both felt it wasn’t safe for everyone to go into town. They had seen no white faces at all; it would be wiser for Amie, Bill and Dave to keep a low profile.
Bill immediately volunteered to stay with one of the trucks and guard their supplies, which didn’t surprise anyone, but there was a lot of discussion as to whether Dave should enter the city.
“You’ll stick out like a sore thumb mate,” said Neil. “Even with that tanning stuff we brought it just wouldn’t work. But when we go back in tomorrow, Amie could wear that burka so she’ll be mostly covered up anyway.”
Reluctantly, Dave agreed – it made good sense. Although there had been no information about Togodo in the international press, he’d thought a few foreign businessmen would have arrived, in the hope of getting lucrative contracts with whoever was now running the country.
Amie was both nervous and excited the following morning, as swathed in a suffocating black burka which only showed her eyes, she climbed into the Land Rover with Neil and Sandy. Looking in the rear-view mirror, she could see the look of relief on Bill’s face as he was left behind with Dave. Today, Amie would be using the small spy camera and as they drove into town, she rubbed more dirt and sand onto the back of her hands, hoping it looked more natural than the dark brown tanning lotion they’d rubbed into her skin.
Some of the city was as she remembered it. The main street was much the same, except some of the rubble had still not been cleared away. There were several empty spaces once occupied by shops and offices and the Grand Hotel did not look quite so grand any more. There were two broken windows on the ground floor and several gouges in the walls which had taken direct hits from the mortars, and the paint was peeling off the walls. The army and government offices appeared intact, the usual bored-looking guards on duty were lazing against the gate pillars smoking and chatting to each other as before.
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