“No, of course not, why would he?” Karen replied. “If he had his own agenda, he wasn’t going to tell me about it now was he?”
“I guess not. But I knew him by a different name – before this trip, I mean.”
Karen gave her a strange look. “I only met him in the hotel in Durban as we were loading the cars. He walked down the steps and introduced himself. His name is Peter. I’ve always known him as Peter. Look, I honestly wouldn’t worry about it, Felicity. It’s all over now and we’ll soon be back in civilization. I, for one, am looking forward to a nice hot shower. Africa might be all right for some, but frankly I can take it or leave it. I can’t wait to get home to Britain.”
Amie sighed, another person who’d failed to be entranced by the primeval call of the oldest continent. It hadn’t worked its magic with Sam and obviously not with Karen either. She was happiest in the wilds of Scotland, in the wind, rain and snow. She guessed it was a good thing that people were different, or they’d all be crowded into one small part of the world. She smiled briefly at the thought.
“What’s so funny?” Karen’s voice was sharp.
“Oh, nothing. I was only thinking about people being different, that’s all. Do you think Peter’s plan would ever have succeeded?”
“Since I was never privy to the plan, I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about. I suppose he spilled the beans when you were all cosy together in the other tent, leaving us trussed up like turkeys.”
“Yes. The plan was …” and Amie recounted Peter’s ambition to return Africa to its original peoples.
“Yeah, right,” Karen sneered. “And ask them what they are going to do about the Bushmen who they systematically wiped out, and the other genocidal attacks, places like Zimbabwe where the Shona are exterminating the Ndebele.”
Her words surprised Amie who’d thought Karen knew very little about Africa. Now she was on a roll, the words spilled out. “All the tribes in Africa are suspicious of each other, that’s why the continent won’t succeed until they see themselves as one people.”
“Perhaps Peter was working towards that?” Amie ventured.
“It would take a miracle. Once one man gets into power, he takes his tribe with him, awarding family and friends all the top jobs, and whether they have the qualifications and education is irrelevant.”
“One man, one vote, once,” Amie quoted.
“Hah! everyone’s heard that old chestnut. Democracy’s not right for Africa, never has been, never will be. They need someone strong at the top to tell them what to do. Then, and only then, will they be happy.”
“Surely MI6 doesn’t teach that!”
“It’s the truth, even if people refuse to believe it. I think we’ve reached the road.” Karen abruptly changed the subject as they turned south onto the gravel. Amie would have loved to hear more from Karen, but the bumping and jarring, which was much worse than the flat open bush, made chatting impossible. Amie looked in her side mirror and saw that Simon was close behind, dust clouding his windscreen, as they made slow progress towards the border post.
They stopped once for a break and then again at a small petrol outlet in one of the villages where it took ages to get service. The owner had apparently gone off for a sleep and the little children, shrieking with laughter, ran off to wake him up. Amie stood close to the Nissan under the shade of the awning which proudly bore the notice ‘Best repares to all veikuls, good prises’. She smiled, Africa abounded with similar signs, but she was surprised to see it was written in English and not Portuguese. Maybe it was aimed at those travelling into Mozambique from South Africa where English was widely used.
Eventually, the garage owner appeared and slowly worked the hand pump, taking his time to fill both trucks. Amie hoped and prayed the fuel was petrol and not diesel, or they would be in big trouble. At least they were able to stock up with bottled water, though it was warm as the fridge had broken down and they were waiting for the men from Maputo to ‘come and make it good again.’
The small children crowded round, begging for Meticals or better still South African cents, but Amie shook her head. She’d retrieved her handbag that had been stuffed under the seat in the Nissan and she had a little money in there, but give to one and you had to give to all. Those that were given anything would be forced to hand it over to the biggest and strongest of the group. She’d often seen young boys deliberately swallow coins rather than lose them.
Shortly after leaving the village they hit a tarred road and the going became easier, even though it was in dire need of repair. Despite being able to travel faster the sun was going down and Amie suggested they stop for the night. It was difficult to see the potholes in the twilight and she was worried about damaging the vehicles.
“Couldn’t give a toss about that,” was Karen’s response when Amie suggested it to her. “Peter was in charge of hiring, and the car company can fight with a dead man, if there’s anything left of him. There’s nothing to link any of us to them. Might be a good idea to leave them somewhere outside Durban. But you knew him as Ken, right? Heck knows what name he used at the hire company. No, we’ll dump them.”
Amie thought that was a very strange thing to do, but said nothing. It flashed through her mind that maybe Karen was reacting badly to the recent shooting, and losing Bob. One moment she was all friendly and relaxed, then the next sharp and icy. Maybe it was the result of all the stress of the last few days, it affected different people in different ways.
She offered to drive for a while, but Karen assured her she was fine so there was no point in starting an argument.
A few miles further down the road, Simon began flashing his lights behind them then pulled off to the side of the road.
“What’s the matter now?” grumbled Karen.
Amie jumped out and walked back to the Isuzu and saw for herself, it had a puncture.
“We’ll never make the border before it closes,” Karen complained, but she gave a hand as they unpacked the gear to retrieve the spare wheel. Amie had to admire her efficiency. Between them they had jacked up the car, removed the studs, swapped the wheels over and tightened everything in less than ten minutes.
“You should both enrol in the Formula 1 team.” Amie smiled as she offered them the water bottles. Karen took hers and then announced she was going for a pee, leaving Simon to repack the truck.
“Good idea,” said Amie, “I’ll go commune with nature as well.” One accident a day was enough, and her mother had always told her to ‘go’ every time she had the chance, she’d never know when or where the next loo would be.”
Simon sighed and spread his arms wide. “It’s just one big loo here, so take your pick.”
“Yeah, right.” Amie walked towards the bushes, but a wave of sadness swept over her at the thought of her mother. Would she ever see her again? She sniffed hard, scrunched up her eyes and looked for a suitable place.
Karen was right about one thing, when they approached the border post, they could see it was closed for the night. Several trucks were parked up next to the gates, their drivers in groups by the side of the road. Some had started fires and were cooking a meal.
Karen stopped the Nissan and made a three point turn to go back the way they’d come. As she drew level with Simon she said, “I don’t like the look of that crowd, let’s park a couple of hundred metres down the road. I don’t feel like staying awake all night to make sure we’re not robbed, or worse.”
Amie thought that was a little extreme. It was very unlikely that hard working, long distance, lorry drivers would attempt to steal from them. To her surprise Simon argued with Karen, pointing out that it would be a better idea to stay near the crowd, but Karen just shrugged and without further ado drove down the road to park parallel to the main highway, but a little way into the bush. Simon reluctantly turned the Isuzu around and followed suit.
Amie could see Simon was nervous but she couldn’t think of a single reason why. At one point, after they’d made c
amp, he grabbed her and tried to pull her away from the vehicles while Karen was unpacking their food, water and blankets. Amie resisted him, she didn’t understand what he wanted and she still didn’t trust him. There were too many unanswered questions. She was anxious about what was going to happen when they returned to Durban. Was she to follow instructions from Karen, whose behaviour had become quite erratic all of a sudden, or obey Simon who admittedly, was the government representative. But having seen him at the weapons demonstration, she had no idea if his actions were honest and above board. Could she trust either of them?
“I need to talk to you,” Simon had hissed at her, glancing at Karen to see if she had overheard.
“Not now,” Amie shot back. “I don’t want to hear it. Leave me alone.”
He’d dropped her arm and grumpily walked back to the Isuzu shrugging his shoulders.
“Right, dinner is served,” Karen trilled. With a beaming smile she placed three plates on an old tree trunk behind the Isuzu. “Very exciting, canned corned beef from Botswana, and Simba crisps. A feast fit for a king. Wait …” She went back and dragged out a couple of chairs and the small table, “… we might as well be civilized and comfortable.”
Despite her confusion Amie chuckled as she sank into one of the chairs. A cheerful Karen was much better company.
Simon ignored both of them and moved his chair so he was facing away from them.
“So, what are we going to do when we get back to Durban? Any plans, Karen?” Amie asked.
Karen speared a lump of meat and chewed it slowly before answering. “We need to contact London, that’s the priority. Agreed, Simon?”
Simon only grunted.
“So, what’s biting, you then?”
Simon shrugged. “Nothing,” he lied.
In the dark, Amie couldn’t make out Karen’s expression, but watched keenly as the girl jumped up and went over to the truck. “Wonder if we’ve got anything nice for desert? Orders anyone?”
“Don’t tempt me. If I had a choice it would be chocolate mousse with ice cream and a flake, just what I fancy.” Amie’s mouth watered at the thought.
“Shame, you’re out of luck, have a dry biscuit.” Karen offered her the packet. “And ‘Eau Naturel’ to wash it all down. That’s one of the first things I’m going to do when we get back. Have a long, hot shower, then go out and order a huge steak with all the trimmings. The bush is all very well, but I sure miss the finer things in life.” Karen chattered on oblivious to her unresponsive companions.
Amie stood up. “Nature calls,” she said looking round. On the far side of the road a clump of bushes looked likely, and taking a torch from the glove compartment, she trotted off to find a suitable spot.
At night, the wild looked more menacing than in the daylight, but apart from snakes and insects, Amie felt perfectly safe this close to the border with the road and the disturbance that always went with it. Animals avoided such areas, so she wasn’t really concentrating when she wandered a little way in between the bushes. She was busy trying to sort out her feelings, still figuring out who she could trust and what to do.
Then, she caught sight of a pair of eyes glinting in the half moonlight. She froze, vulnerable, half naked and unable to run with her pants around her ankles. Slowly, she picked up the torch she’d placed on the ground and aimed it at the creature. Her hand was shaking as she flicked on the switch, only to see a domestic cat sitting under a nearby bush.
Heaving a huge sigh of relief, she chuckled as she switched off the torch and rearranged her clothes. How silly to be afraid of a domestic cat which probably belonged to someone at the border post. “Sorry kitty cat,” she whispered. “Did I disturb your hunting? I’ll be off and leave you in peace. Good hunting out here on your own and be careful something doesn’t have you for dinner.”
It was then Amie realised what had been bothering her. Something said that didn’t make sense. Someone had lied and no one had challenged it. Wild thoughts whirled round her head as Amie made her way back to the Nissan to put the torch back in the glove compartment. All she wanted to do now was curl up on the back seat and sleep the night away. No one was going to answer her questions this late, she’d have to choose her moment to confront them. As long as they locked the car doors tonight, there really wasn’t any need to keep watch, was there? But then, the danger might come from within.
23 RESCUE AND DEATH
When Amie opened the passenger door of the Nissan and leaned in to feel for the catch on the glove compartment, she dropped the torch. It rolled out of sight under the seat. She swore. She’d better find it in case she needed it again in the night. Crouching down she felt around for it. She touched it briefly but before she could get a grip, it rolled further away. She leaned in, her shoulder scraping on the floor and stretched her arm under the seat. She grabbed the torch and as she dragged it back out, it caught on something. She tugged hard and much to her surprise, she pulled out a hand gun. What was that doing under the seat?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a strange gurgling sound which seemed to be coming from the far side of the Isuzu.
Clutching the torch and the gun, and keeping low, she moved towards the noise. At first, in the dim light, she couldn’t make out what was going on. As she got closer, she could see Simon still in the chair with Karen bending over him. For a second, she thought she’d disturbed an embarrassing private moment and was about to tiptoe away, but then she saw the glint of a wicked-looking knife in Karen’s hand. She was attempting to thrust it into Simon who was pinned in the low camping chair and fighting to get up.
“What the hell?” shouted Amie, shining the torch on them both. She could see blood running down the side of Simon’s neck.
“Karen, what the hell are you doing?” Amie yelled. She was rooted to the spot. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Karen was trying to kill Simon! “Stop! Stop Karen! Leave him alone.”
Karen kept her arm across Simon’s throat, but squinted into the torch light. “You want this traitor to live, do you?”
“If Simon’s a traitor, then we take him back and hand him over to the authorities. You don’t have the right …”
“Bollocks. Shut up, Felicity, you know nothing and you can do nothing.”
“Oh, yes, I can.” Amie pointed the gun straight at Karen. “I’ve … I’ve got a gun and if you don’t get off him right now, I’m going to use it.”
“Yeah, right.” Amie’s threats didn’t intimidate Karen who lunged again at Simon’s chest. He twisted round at the last second and the knife sliced his left arm from his shoulder to his elbow. He howled. The blade cut through to the bone and Karen pressed down again hard on his throat cutting off his air supply, while she held him in the chair with her knee on his chest.
Amie took the safety catch off and aimed the gun at Karen’s head. “Stop! I mean it, Karen. Stop now!” she yelled.
“I know you, Felicity. You had a hard time firing at paper targets, you don’t have the balls to shoot a real person in the flesh. Put the gun down now before you hurt yourself.”
Amie’s face was red with fury as fire surged into her veins. She wasn’t sure she trusted Simon, but she sure as hell didn’t trust Karen now, and she wasn’t going to stand there and watch him be sliced to ribbons. “I’ll tell you one last time, Karen. Put that knife down and step away.”
Something in Amie’s voice made Karen hesitate. She dropped the knife and took one step away from Simon, who was still gasping for air and trying to stem the steady flow of blood spurting from his arm.
In one smooth motion Karen produced a gun from her pocket and aimed it at Amie. But Amie was already aiming at her, and before Karen could fire, Amie squeezed the trigger and shot her at point blank range in the stomach.
The noise ricocheted through the still night air as Karen wailed and bent double, staggering towards the road.
From the direction of the border post they could hear voices and the sound of running feet coming to investigate.
> “Oh shit,” Amie said. “What have I done?”
“Quick,” Simon lurched out of the chair and shuffled forward, “Give me the gun, and get me a bandage before I bleed to bloody death. Move!”
Amie let him prise her fingers off the handle; she was frozen to the spot. She’d just shot someone; fired a bullet which had wounded another human being. It all looked so easy in the movies, but in real life it was so very, very different.
“Move!” Simon yelled again and she raced to the Isuzu to get the first aid kit. She grabbed two bandages, antiseptic and tape.
“Sit, Simon, let me get this tourniquet on your arm!” Thank God for her first aid training at the Residence. She tied the bandage firmly around his arm and fashioned a sling with the second one to keep it in place. “That’ll have to do until we get more help for you.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks Felicity, thanks. Oh … what’s this coming?”
The dark night was lit by the headlights from a large truck speeding towards them. Under normal circumstances the road was clear this far away from the border post, but tonight it was full of people running towards the two SUVs to see what all the commotion was about. The driver stared in horror at the people in his path and jammed his brakes on. The truck slewed sideways across the road and grated along the edge where the tar had crumbled away. When he turned the wheel sharply in the opposite direction the truck jack-knifed and tipped over on its side landing with an almighty crash amid screeches from the cattle in the trailer that were flung into the road. Most were injured, but a few escaped and limped bellowing into the bush.
It was chaos. Some men rushed to help the lorry driver, while others just stood around shouting at each other arguing about what to do. They milled around getting in each other’s way until finally they managed to drag the driver from the cab. He was in a bad way and someone pulled out a cell phone.
A few of the men had disappeared round the back of the trailer and used their pangas (large knives) to dispose of a couple of the injured cattle and butcher them before making off with the free meat.
Amie in Africa Box Set 1 Page 93
