Storms Over Africa

by Beverley Harper

  Penny seemed unable to stop crying. While Richard held her and shushed her and ached for her, Greg sent Philamon off in the truck to collect David and Samson. Then he went looking for Steve.

  Steve had decided to put aside her doubts about Richard. After all, she reasoned, she only had another few days before she had to tell him about David. If there was a way to be found around the David problem, then she could tackle the poaching one, if not, it hardly mattered anyway.

  She was making her way back to camp, suddenly aware of how far she had strayed, when she saw, on the river flat below, two fully grown hippopotamus males. Uttering low grunts and snorts they appeared to be squaring up to each other for a fight. The animals were a good two metres below her, with a steep sandy cliff between them, and so, feeling safe from harm, she squatted down and got her camera ready.

  Up close, the hippopotamuses were huge. They stood facing each other, unaware of her presence. Their shining bodies, which displayed terrible scars from previous fights and should have warned her of their irascible nature, dripped with water. She watched and waited. Nothing happened. They just stood there, grunting and glaring. Then one of them turned and made for the river. Not wanting to miss the chance, Steve clicked off a shot. The reaction was instantaneous. Both bulls spun around with incredible speed and charged at the two metre bank. Steve took two more shots before she realised that the animals were actually making progress up the steep sides, their little piggy eyes boring into her with malevolent intent, their huge and terrible teeth displayed in open-mouthed anger. With a cry of horror she reared back. Then fear put wings into her feet and she scrambled up, leaving her camera on the ground. Not looking back, she ran to a large tree and climbed it rapidly, not stopping until she was five metres into its comforting bulky upper branches and badly startling a monkey who was perched there watching the fun. ‘Shove up,’ she panted. The monkey fled with alarmed shrieks.

  Looking back towards the river she saw one of the hippopotamuses was running back into the water while the other was trotting along the bank, looking for a way up. Safe from harm herself, she fretted about her camera. The animal found a place where the bank had caved in and thundered up it, charging back in her direction. It ran right underneath where she sat and kept going. Her camera lay, deserted and endangered, on the river bank but the hippopotamus was looking for a human and did not see it. It charged nearly 100 metres beyond her tree before veering off suddenly and running down a well-used trail to the river and was soon immersed back in the water.

  Shakily, she climbed down the tree and retrieved her camera. Then, keeping more of a wary eye than before, and telling herself to listen more carefully to Richard’s advice in future, she walked quickly back towards camp. She met up with Greg when she was a few hundred metres from it and was about to tell him of her encounter when she saw the look on his face. ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘Trouble I’m afraid,’ he said. He quickly told her what happened.

  ‘That’s terrible. The bastard! He seemed so nice.’

  ‘Do you think you can help? My guess is Penny needs a woman’s touch.’

  ‘I can try,’ she said doubtfully. ‘I haven’t had much to do with Penny, she might resent me interfering.’

  ‘Give it a go, Richard can’t handle it.’ Greg wanted Richard away from family problems and functioning like he used to during the war. There was no-one he would rather have covering his back. He felt sorry for him but Greg needed Richard’s full attention.

  They hurried back to the camp. Richard and Penny had not moved. As they approached, Richard threw Steve a despairing look. Penny was sobbing uncontrollably, deep gulps of air which racked her entire body. Praying she was right, Steve decided on a brisk approach. ‘Come with me, Penny.’ She placed her hand on the girl’s arm. To her surprise, Penny stirred and got shakily to her feet. She slipped her arm around the girl and helped her towards her tent.

  ‘Lie down,’ she said, more sure of herself. Penny was obeying her. She realised that, in her deep shock, Penny was substituting Steve as a kind of mother figure. Still shaken by the hippopotamus attack, she spoke sharply. ‘You’re a damned fool. How far gone are you?’

  ‘I’m five weeks overdue,’ Penny stammered between sobs.

  ‘It’s not too late to do something about it then.’

  ‘Oh, God, no’ Penny moaned. ‘He wanted the baby so badly. I wanted the baby too. It’s a baby, it’s done nothing wrong.’ Then her tone changed, hardened, and chilled Steve with the depth of hatred. ‘It’s his baby, his bastard. I don’t want it. I hate it. How could I have believed him? I don’t want this child.’

  Steve steered her off. ‘What about the drugs? Can you kick them?’

  She was in such a state she was easily diverted. ‘I honestly don’t know,’ she whispered.

  ‘You’re going to have to try,’ Steve said firmly. ‘Where are they kept?’

  Penny had an arm over her eyes. ‘He kept it in his shaving kit over there.’

  Steve located a shaving kit. There was no sign of cocaine, although she was not terribly sure what cocaine looked like. She had an idea it was white powdery stuff and she imagined it would be in a plastic bag of some kind. ‘There’s nothing here.’

  ‘What!’ Penny came off the bed like a mad thing. ‘It must be there.’ She grabbed the shaving kit from Steve and shook the contents onto the other camp bed. An envelope fell out. It had Penny’s name printed on it. She picked it up and opened it feverishly, extracting a single sheet of flimsy notepaper. She read it quickly, moaned despairingly, and sat heavily on her camp bed, putting her face in her hands.

  Steve picked up the note: Did you think I’d leave it for you, my dear? I took the precaution of removing it before your father and I had our little chat. You thought you had me around your little finger didn’t you, my dear? How typically arrogant and stupid of you! I hope you enjoy the next few days, you should have some interesting moments without your little present to prop you up. When you get back to Harare try heroin. It’ll make you feel more intelligent than cocaine—and you need all the help you can get. By the way, when that little bastard in your belly is old enough to understand, you can tell him from me he was no pleasure to create and I want nothing to do with him. Enjoy the rest of your life, won’t you.

  There was a postscript.

  If the next few days get too tough, my little lush, you can always go back to the bottle.

  There was no signature.

  ‘What a terrible man,’ Steve was horrified.

  Penny was crying again. ‘I didn’t know,’ she said. ‘I thought he loved me. I loved him so much.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Steve asked. ‘Are you sure it wasn’t the shock value you loved?’

  Penny shook her head, her face still in her hands. ‘I’m not sure of anything any more. I can’t believe this is happening to me. Oh, Steve, what am I going to do?’

  Steve sat next to her. ‘First, we’ll deal with the baby. Then we’ll deal with the drugs. It might be a good idea if you left Zimbabwe for a while. Let’s take it a step at a time.’ Then she squeezed Penny’s shoulders and said kindly, ‘This is the worst it gets, Penny. From here, it can only get better, believe me.’

  They heard the truck return and David’s hurried steps. He burst through the flap in the tent. ‘Philamon said there’d been a fight. He said Dad punched Joe and Joe has left and you’re upset. What’s going on? I can’t find Dad anywhere.’

  ‘Your sister has had a bad shock,’ Steve told him. ‘It might be best if you leave her alone for a while.’

  ‘You stay out of it,’ he said spitefully. ‘You’ve caused enough trouble as it is.’

  ‘David, Penny doesn’t need—’

  ‘—doesn’t need what?’ David interrupted. ‘Doesn’t need to know that you slept with me as well as Dad, is that what she doesn’t need?’ He disappeared out through the flap, but not before Steve caught sight of Richard’s white face as he stood just behind his son. He had heard
every word.

  She went quickly to the tent flap and stepped outside. Richard was staring at her as though she were a stranger. ‘Richard . . .’

  ‘I don’t want to hear,’ he said curtly, turning and walking away.

  She ran after him, ‘Richard, please listen to me.’

  He stopped. ‘What can you possibly have to say that I would want to hear?’ he asked quietly.

  ‘I was going to tell you after the hunt. I know you’re hurt. I had no idea who David was until he returned from school. It was one of those things that happen. I met him the night before I met you. I’d give anything for it not to have happened.’

  He turned and looked at her, his face closed. ‘But it did happen, Steve, and there’s just no way around it. There’s nothing more to say. You can go back to Pentland with the others. Just make sure you’re not there when I get back.’

  ‘Richard, please,’ she begged.

  ‘There’s nothing more to say,’ he repeated stonily. ‘You’ve hurt my son and deceived me. I want you out of my life.’ He walked rapidly away from her, leaving her staring after him.

  ‘How do you like it?’ she heard.

  Turning, she saw David standing nearby. ‘Not very much,’ she said with unwavering Australian honesty. ‘It hurts like hell if you must know. I guess you’ve had your revenge, David. I’m sorry you needed to, it’s my fault, all of it.’

  David was startled by the pain in her voice and the shattered look on her face. He had wanted to strike back at her, hurt her as she had hurt him. He had not thought beyond that. He was suddenly struck by the full consequences of his actions and he felt instantly ashamed. ‘I didn’t think—’ he stammered.

  ‘Forget it, David.’ She shook her head. ‘The situation was impossible. I should have told him immediately. It’s not your fault.’

  ‘Steve!’ he walked quickly over to her, his resentment melting.

  ‘Forget it,’ she repeated. She turned and went back to Penny’s tent.

  Penny stared at her. ‘I heard what he said,’ she said, referring to David’s outburst. ‘Is it true?’

  ‘Unfortunately, yes.’ Steve saw the look of disgust on Penny’s face and added, ‘It was just one of those things that happen. I had no idea David was Richard’s son.’ She saw Penny didn’t believe her. Suddenly, the events of the last half an hour caught up with her. The hippopotamus scare, the deceit of Joseph, Penny’s problems, and now Richard’s contempt. It was too much. ‘Oh for Christ’s sake, forget it,’ she snapped, suddenly angry. ‘I’m sorry it happened but I can’t take it back. I’ll be out of your hair, out of all your hair, as soon as we get back to Pentland.’

  ‘No!’ Penny burst out, surprising her. ‘Dad loves you. Can’t you work something out?’

  ‘A man like your father? I doubt it. He’s very proud.’

  ‘Please try,’ Penny begged. Then added, ‘I need you too, I need your help.’

  ‘I’ll do what I can,’ Steve promised. ‘I’ll help for a while. But I can’t be at Pentland when your father returns.’

  ‘Stay with me in Harare.’

  ‘We’ll see.’ She knew she would not stay. She had to get away, away from the Dunn family, away from Africa. She just did not fit in.

  The tent flap was pulled back and Greg came inside. He looked sympathetically at the girls. ‘Richard has ordered the camp be struck,’ he said. ‘He and I are going after Tshuma. We’re taking Samson with us.’ He saw the questioning in Penny’s eyes and sat on the camp bed, taking one of her hands in his. ‘Penny,’ he said gently, ‘it’s no accident I came with you on this trip. We’ve been watching Tshuma for months. He’s a dangerous man and he could be instrumental in turning this country into a war zone again. We’re guessing he’ll run to the hideout of his leaders, about seventy kilometres from here. He’s one of their key people. We’ve known they have a base in the Matopos but we’ve never been able to find them. This is our chance.’

  Penny asked no questions. During the war she had often heard low voices behind closed doors when her father was home. She knew if she asked questions she would not necessarily be told the truth. If her father and Greg believed Joseph to be dangerous, then the man she had loved and trusted must be dangerous and that was all she needed to know.

  ‘Can you give us the names of any of his close friends?’ he asked.

  She nodded and gave him the names of a dozen people she had met through Joseph. ‘Does that help?’

  Greg shook his head. ‘Not really, we know about all of them. They’re all straight. He must have kept his political contacts away from you.’

  ‘Is this what it was like during the war?’ Steve asked suddenly.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Greg heard her anger.

  ‘All this cloak-and-dagger stuff. It’s bloody pathetic. Why can’t you all learn to live with each other?’

  Greg looked up at her, understanding her confusion. ‘Steve, you’re an Australian. I wonder if you really know how lucky that makes you. You might have racial resentment in some areas, land rights issues, different cultures causing difficulties, but you have never been in danger of a full-scale war in your country. There has never been so much hatred that people want to kill each other. Australia is stable. I hope to God it remains that way. It’d be nice to know at least one country in this world is capable of maintaining the status quo.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Steve agreed, her voice catching as her misery rose over Richard. ‘And I guess that’s where I belong.’

  He stood up and put his arm around her shoulders. ‘Don’t be in too much of a hurry to leave. Give him time. You are very right for each other.’

  ‘You know what happened?’

  ‘Bit hard not to know. Voices carry.’

  ‘Oh, Greg, what am I going to do?’ She sat down and put her face in her hands.

  ‘Go back to Pentland. Pack your things. Find somewhere to live in Harare. Give him time.’

  She looked up at him and smiled weakly. ‘You’re a good man, Greg,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

  He left the tent but Steve stayed with Penny. The two girls spoke sporadically, trying to help each other, attempting to pull their lives back together sufficiently to gather the strength to pack up and make the long trip back to Pentland Park. Finally, Steve said, ‘There’s no point in our leaving here today. Let’s get an early night and go first thing in the morning.’

  Penny agreed. ‘Stay here tonight.’ She pointed to the bunk bed which had been occupied by Joseph.

  Steve said she would.

  They heard Richard shouting for Samson to hurry. Five minutes later the truck roared into life and left the camp.

  Penny and Steve went outside. It had grown dark but Philamon had lit the fire and the tilly lamps and had supper underway. Richard’s tent was gone and the supplies tent had been emptied of most of its food. The camp had a deserted air. Gone was the warm camaraderie of the previous evening. David sat staring morosely at the fire. ‘What a bloody mess,’ he said to no-one in particular.

  ‘You got that right, little brother,’ Penny’s voice was suddenly brittle. She was caught in a burst of hyperactivity, peculiar to people whose system was used to a sustained period of time on a stimulant. ‘A knocked-up drug addict for a sister, a prospective stepmother you’ve slept with, an almost brother-in-law who’s a terr. What more could we ask for?’

  ‘Shut up, you bloody fool.’

  Penny reached for a bottle of scotch on the table. ‘Anyone care for a drink?’ she asked wildly, unscrewing the top and taking three large swigs.

  ‘I don’t think you should drink that stuff,’ Steve said crossly. ‘With all the other things in your system I’m sure booze is a bad idea.’

  But Penny was on some kind of a suicide mission of her own. ‘Don’t be so boring. Anyway, it’s my system not yours.’ She gulped down some more of the scotch.

  Steve reached over and snatched the bottle. ‘I’ve heard about this happening when someone has been on cocaine. Getting d
runk may make you feel better for a time but believe me, it’s not the answer to your problems.’

  The alcohol had gone straight to Penny’s head. ‘Give that back!’ She reached over to grab the bottle but lost her balance and fell across the table.

  ‘Give her the bloody bottle, for Christ’s sake.’ David rose. ‘If she wants to kill herself with that muck let her get on with it.’

  Penny was crying again, unable or unwilling to rise from where she was stretched across the table. ‘I don’t want to be pregnant,’ she sobbed. ‘I hate him. I just want to die.’ Suddenly she stood up, turned and ran into the trees surrounding the camp. ‘Come and take me,’ she screamed. ‘You want something to eat, here I am.’ She was completely hysterical.

  David sighed. ‘I’ll get her,’ he said to Steve, ‘before a bloody lion takes her up on it.’

  ‘Go easy on her, David. She’s been through a lot.’

  ‘Yeah, and it’s all of her own making,’ David retorted, striding away to where Penny had fallen to her knees and was sobbing into her hands.

  Philamon came over to the table where Steve stood, still holding the bottle of scotch. ‘Madam, here is a stew,’ he said uneasily, placing a stewpot on the table. ‘I will say good night. I will pack up in the morning.’ He bowed and moved stiffly away, his disapproval of the sudden turn of events evident by the tightness of his mouth. Philamon had always been in awe of, and confused by, the white man but he had never witnessed such a display of emotional bad manners as he had seen in camp this evening. It was obvious to him that they all disliked each other. Clearly the madam Penny was distressed and just as clearly the master David was angry. It all seemed to have something to do with the Australian woman who, while he liked her, was not family and therefore he tended to blame her for the collapse of what had promised to be a fine hunt.

  Steve watched David help Penny to her tent. He emerged five minutes later and went past her to his own, saying, ‘I’m not hungry.’ She found she was not hungry either but the bottle of scotch, which was half-full, continued to tempt her way into the night until it was empty. Then, staggering a little, she took herself off to sleep in the camp bed next to Penny. She knew she would have a hangover in the morning and would suffer all the way back to Pentland but she thought, ‘What the hell! I couldn’t feel any worse than I do now anyway.’