“Love to go, Mum, but I need to get my lecture timetable sorted out first. I’m taking two new subjects this year, and I haven’t even managed to get the books yet. Any chance you could wait a few weeks?”
Regretfully, Ivy gave him the same excuse she’d given Danny.
“Sorry – maybe you, Dad and I can go there together next year?
Joseph sighed and Ivy felt terrible.
“You know that I love you, son, don’t you?”
“Of course, Mum – and I love you too. Are you okay? You sound a bit on edge –”
“I’m fine,” Ivy assured him, realising that she needed to keep her insecurities to herself. But it was difficult to hide the terror she felt when she thought of how her secret could ruin the lives of those she loved most. Every day was now critical since there was someone out there who could destroy them all.
There were no more mysterious phone calls before she left, and Ivy felt relieved as she sat in the back of the taxi taking her to the airport. She’d turned down Danny’s offer of his company car and driver, reckoning that a taxi would be more anonymous. She’d also taken the precaution of wearing a short dark-haired wig, which Danny found highly amusing.
“Why on earth are you worried about anyone knowing where you’re going?” he asked her. “I mean, the press know you’ve a brother in South Africa – what could be more reasonable than going to visit him?”
Ivy sighed. She could hardly tell him she was dodging a mystery caller who was possibly a blackmailer – or even worse, a murderer – and that she’d also lied to her Bright Lights producer. “I just like my privacy,” she said firmly. “I’m in the public eye so much of the time, I just want to unwind without someone sticking a camera in my face.”
Before she left, Ivy had primed Danny to tell any reporters who phoned that she was relaxing at a health spa. That would hopefully divert them from her real destination. Even if the gossip columns mentioned that she was at a spa, she’d covered herself with Colin too, since he’d know she’d never tell the newspapers that she was seeing a medical specialist.
In the taxi, Ivy finally began to relax, and fortunately the taxi driver wasn’t particularly talkative. The taxi, too, had been ordered under a different name. Since taxi drivers and reporters were natural allies – taxi drivers often provided reporters with tip-offs about their celebrity passengers – she wasn’t going to take any risks.
In the departure lounge, Ivy began to feel excited at last. The wig made her head feel very hot, but there was no way she was taking it off. She didn’t bother using any of the executive lounges either – she’d always found them stuffy and overbearing. Instead, she was enjoying the rare anonymity of wandering around on her own, watching all the other travellers. No one was paying her the slightest attention.
At one of the shops in the departure lounge, she bought presents for Owen and his business partner Brian, whom she’d never met, but she assumed fudge and English cheeses would make an acceptable gift.
On the plane, Ivy settled herself in the comfortable business-class seat, and was relieved when no one took the seat beside her. She didn’t want to have to make small talk for the entire journey. She intended reading, having a glass or two of wine with her evening meal, then sleeping for most of the eleven-and-a-half hour flight to Cape Town. On arrival, she’d take the one-hour flight to Port Elizabeth, where Owen would meet her and whisk her away to the lush grasslands of the Eastern Cape. And for the immediate future, she was going to put this anonymous person out of her mind altogether. As the plane took off, Ivy felt safe and cocooned from the mysterious caller at last.
Chapter 20
“Ivy, can I carry those for you?”
Ivy was returning from the local garden centre, weighed down by two large bags of compost that her mother had sent her to buy for her roses.
“Oh, hello Danny. Okay, thanks.”
Handing the bags to Danny, who swung them over his shoulder effortlessly, Ivy fell into step beside him.
“How are you today?” Ivy asked.
“All the better for seeing you!” he said, laughing.
Suddenly, Ivy felt shy. When she’d been seeing Joe, she’d always regarded Danny as a pest. But now, she noted his muscular frame, and his golden hair just like Joe’s. And, as she thought of Joe again, she felt crushed by guilt and sadness.
Immediately, Danny detected her change of mood. “Are you alright? You look sad all of a sudden. Come on – let’s get a cup of coffee and you can tell me what’s bothering you.”
Steering her across the street to the local café, Danny deposited the bags of compost on the floor of one of the booths, and headed up to the counter. Looking back at Ivy, he called: “Black, no sugar, right?” and Ivy nodded. Danny really was attentive. He remembered even the tiniest detail about her, and right now, in her misery, any attention was balm to her soul.
As she sat in the booth, waiting for Danny’s return, Ivy felt she should at least enquire about Joe, but she doubted she could get the words out. Anyway, that would make her an even worse hypocrite.
Returning with two coffees, Danny placed them on the table and sat down.
“Okay, tell me what’s bothering you.”
“Nothing – honestly.”
“You missing Joe?”
Ivy’s cheeks turned scarlet. “No – I mean, yes, I do miss him, like everyone else does –”
“Yeah, me too,” said Danny. “In a way, I envy him. I’d give anything to get out of this village. When I finish school next year, I’m planning on going to London.”
Ivy was surprised. “What about Rosa?” she asked. “Is she going with you?”
Danny shook his head vehemently. “You know Rosa means nothing to me. I mean, she’s fun, but – you’re the one I really want to be with.”
“But –”
Danny looked at her earnestly. “Ivy, I love you – always have. We could leave town together when we’ve both finished school – I know you’re planning on going to RADA. Just let me be the man in your life – please.”
Ivy stumbled to her feet, almost overturning her untouched coffee. “Look, I like you a lot, but –”
Danny jumped to his feet too.
“Sorry – that was clumsy of me. I shouldn’t keep hassling you.”
Ivy bit her lip, sitting down again. “It’s okay, it’s just –”
“Maybe you think I’m too young, but I’m six months older than you – I’m seventeen now.”
“No, it’s not that –”
Ivy felt consumed by guilt. A few weeks earlier, she’d been running away with his older brother. Now the younger brother was offering her the same hope of escape.
Danny suddenly looked annoyed as he stared at her. “Maybe you’d rather wait for Joe? I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
“No, of course not! I never fancied your brother!” she lied, hating the fact that she’d just denied her feelings for Joe while inadvertently giving Danny hope that she might change her mind. Everything she said lately seemed to trap her in more and more lies. “Look, Danny – let me think about all this. It’s a lot to take in at once.”
“Of course,” said Danny, looking relieved since he hadn’t been dismissed out of hand. “And as a token of how I feel about you, Ivy, I’m going to finish with Rosa anyway.”
Ivy looked alarmed. “No, don’t do that – I don’t want to feel pressured into making some kind of decision. Besides, Rosa is mad about you – it’s not fair to mess with people’s feelings. Just leave things the way they are – please.”
Danny shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not doing it to pressure you, honestly! But even if we never get together, I don’t want to be with Rosa any more.”
“But Rosa’s much better suited to you than I am.”
Danny grinned. “Let me be the judge of that!” Then his expression saddened. “I know Rosa will be upset, but it’s not fair to keep on seeing her, since I could never love her the way I love you.”
“
Look, I –”
Her words tapered off, and Ivy felt embarrassed.
Danny looked disheartened. “Well, I’m not going to give up on you, and I think I can make you happy. Tell me what I can do to make you love me?”
Ivy felt terrible. Did she somehow owe Danny her love because she’d loved his brother, and hadn’t been able to save him?
At last she found her voice again. “Look, I’m just not ready to go out with anyone right now. I need to work hard for my exams. Maybe later on …”
Danny nodded. There was still hope that Ivy might change her mind.
“Well, can we still see each other from time to time, for a coffee, maybe?”
“Of course!” said Ivy warmly. “I’d really like that.”
Danny nodded. “Okay, I agree, but I’m not going to stop pursuing you.”
Ivy said nothing. She felt bad about rejecting him, knowing that she was hurting yet another member of the Heartley family. But she couldn’t manufacture feelings just to keep him happy. Anyway, if Danny did finish with Rosa, the poor girl would be feeling devastated, and it was insensitive of him to consider dating anyone else so soon.
Ivy bit her lip. On the other hand, she and Joe hadn’t considered Danny’s feelings – or her own parents’ or the Heartleys’ – when they’d planned their departure from Willow Haven, had they?
As they finished their coffees, Danny picked up the bags of compost and hoisted them over his shoulder again. Leaving the café, they walked in silence though the streets until they reached Ivy’s door.
“Thanks,” she said as she opened the front door, took the compost bags from him, and closed the door behind her.
“Who was that?” asked her mother suspiciously.
“Danny Heartley. He carried the compost home for me.”
Her mother smiled. “That Danny Heartley is a nice boy,” she said approvingly. “You could do a lot worse, you know.”
Chapter 21
On arrival in Port Elizabeth airport, Ivy quickly headed for the toilets, relieved to be able to take off her wig at last. Her own hair was damp underneath, and she was longing for a shower. But she didn’t dare risk washing it in the airport – anyway Owen would probably be waiting, and she didn’t intend telling him why she’d felt the need to wear a wig.
She’d toyed with removing it in Cape Town airport while she queued in the heat to go through Passport Control, then waited for her flight to PE, but she’d still been fearful that someone on the same flight might notice the change in her. She knew she was being silly, but the mystery caller genuinely scared her.
As she exited the toilets, she saw her brother in the distance.
“Well, hello, kiddo!” said Owen, rushing towards her and sweeping her into a bear hug. “Why all the luggage? You’ll need nothing but shorts and T-shirts while you’re here!”
Ivy grinned. She’d been unsure of what to bring, so she’d brought the lot.
Looking at her brother, she could see that life here suited him well. His skin was deeply tanned, and he wore a khaki short-sleeved shirt, bearing the logo of the nature reserve, and shorts that showed off his equally tanned legs.
Ivy held a pale arm against his dark one. “Bit of a difference, eh?” she said, smiling.
“Don’t worry – we’ll soon get you nice and brown,” he said, grinning as he carried her luggage out to his jeep.
“I’m not allowed to get tanned,” said Ivy, laughing ruefully. “It would upset the storyline. I can’t suddenly turn up with a tan when my character’s been in hospital!”
Owen raised an eyebrow. “Can they really tell you what to do?”
Ivy laughed. “Yes, they can – I suppose that’s why they pay me so much money!”
As Owen drove out of the small airport, Ivy sat back in her seat and enjoyed the sensation of the wind blowing through her hair. The weather was glorious, and she was determined to make the most of her time in South Africa. She knew that the country had once been cruelly divided by apartheid. Now that there was majority rule, she hoped things were improving for the previously impoverished population.
As she voiced her concerns, Owen gestured to one side of the road. At first Ivy thought she was looking at a rubbish dump, until she realised there were people living beneath the pieces of corrugated iron, wood and clothing that dotted the horizon for miles.
“That’s a township,” Owen explained. “Life hasn’t improved for the majority of South Africans – millions of black and coloured folk still live like this, while the whites still control most of the wealth.”
“Owen, surely the word ‘coloured’ is offensive?”
“Not here, it isn’t,” her brother explained, shaking his head sadly. “Everything in this country is still based on the colour of a person’s skin.” He laughed bitterly. “It’s not called the Rainbow Nation for nothing!”
“But I thought that with self-government, things were getting better –”
Owen gave her a sarcastic look. “A new black political elite has developed, and many of them have got rich on the backs of their fellow countrymen and women. They’ve learnt well from their previous masters!”
Ivy was appalled at the conditions under which these people were living, yet she’d seen magnificent houses not half a mile away.
Seeing Ivy’s worried expression, Owen smiled warmly at her. “Don’t worry, sis – we’ll visit some of the townships, so you can see everything for yourself – and the shebeens, too.”
“Shebeens? Isn’t that an Irish word?” Ivy asked, astonished.
Owen grinned. “Some Irishman must have set up the first illegal drinking house here a long time ago – it’s what the pubs in townships are called. But I guarantee you’ll have just as much fun there as in any Irish pub – and the prices are a lot cheaper!”
“But if we went to visit those poverty-stricken people, wouldn’t it seem a bit like, well – like we were looking down on them?”
Owen smiled. “Not at all – people in the townships love to have visitors. Few white South Africans ever go there – they’ve convinced they’ll be mugged or murdered if they do.” Owen’s face darkened and his hands gripped the steering wheel. “If I’d lived here during apartheid, I’d happily have bumped off many of the whites myself. But the people in the townships are unbelievably forgiving – I don’t know how they can show such generosity of spirit to people who still treat them like shit.”
“But there’s equality now – isn’t there?”
Owen shook his head vehemently. “Not while the whites and foreign investors still control most of the country’s assets. You know, the die-hard whites still maintain that all non-whites are evil – I suppose they need to believe that, in order to justify what they did under apartheid.”
Ivy shuddered. “It’s such a soul-destroying viewpoint, isn’t it?”
As they passed a beautiful church, Ivy turned her head to look at it.
Owen smiled. “That’s a church for the whites – believe it or not, most of them are devout Christians.”
Ivy looked astonished. “I didn’t think Jesus was a supporter of apartheid!”
Owen chuckled. “Sometimes you have to see the funny side of it all, or you’d go mental. There are even racist dogs here – their white owners train them to bark only at blacks!”
By now, the city had given way to the countryside, and Ivy gazed in awe at the vast expanses of land on either side. The views were breathtaking and, despite her tiredness, she found herself savouring every moment of the journey.
Glancing at her, Owen asked if she was tired. Ivy nodded. She was longing to shower and change.
“We’ll be at Siyak’atala in about an hour.”
“Siyak – what does that name mean?”
“It means ‘we do care’ in the Xhosa language,” Owen told her. “It seemed the perfect name to Brian and me, since we genuinely care about the people and animals here.”
“Who are the Xhosa?”
“They’re one of th
e many tribes that make up South Africa. The Xhosa people mainly inhabit the Eastern Cape, and their language is the one with all the clicks in it – I’m sure you’ve heard the famous click song, sung by the late Miriam Makeba?”
Ivy’s eyes lit up. “Of course! Wow, I’m really looking forward to hearing the language in action.”
Owen nodded. “There are eleven different official languages spoken here, but almost everyone speaks English as well.”
They travelled the rest of the journey in silence, broken only by her brother pointing out the occasional giraffe, springbok or impala. Several times on the journey, kind-hearted Owen stopped the jeep and moved wandering tortoises from the centre of the road to safety.
At last the jeep turned off the main road, and Owen drove up a dirt road until they came to a clearing where the name ‘Siyak’atala’ was written above a large entrance gate. Just inside the gate were several buildings with an assortment of jeeps outside, and Owen explained that this was the starting point for their safari tours.
A little further on, they arrived at their destination – a magnificent sprawling African-style thatched-roof building.
“Let’s get the hot water operating,” Owen said, grinning. “I told Pumila, our housekeeper, you’d be ready for a soak as soon as you arrived!”
It suddenly dawned on Ivy that life so far from civilisation wouldn’t have all modern conveniences on tap.
“How on earth do you provide power so far out in the wilderness?” she asked.
“Photovoltaic cells – we use the sun for all our energy.”
“Well, you’ve certainly got plenty of that,” said Ivy, smiling.
As she stepped down from the jeep, she felt a wonderful sense of liberation. Her old life was so far away and, although she was exhausted, she was filled with a sudden longing to dance, and absorb the rhythms of Africa.
At the entrance to the house, a smiling black man greeted her warmly, and Owen introduced him as Andile, the estate manager. Then Owen took her up the amazing expanse of wooden staircase, and showed her into her quarters.
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