by Anne Hampson
‘I hope nothing goes wrong while Brand’s away,’ Jon’s quiet voice brought Teri back to her surroundings and her eyes settled on Wendy, who was stroking flower-heads. The child seemed to derive great pleasure from this; she never appeared to have any desire to pluck the flowers from their stalks.
‘What can go wrong?’ They were walking to the clearing again and Jon beckoned to his daughter.
Jon shrugged.
‘Well, nothing, I suppose. The animals are all in fine fettle and the mealies are looking extremely healthy.’ He turned on stepping through the trees and out into the open again. The African corn, now growing quite high, shimmered away into the distance like a wide expanse of smooth green sea, shadowed here and there as clouds obscured the sun. ‘Yes, we’re doing very well.’ Jon gazed with pride on his crop, and his eyes went beyond. ‘We’d never have cleared that bush with our three boys. Do you realize, Teri, that very soon we shall see our citrus fruits growing there? Can you picture them?’
She nodded. Having been on holiday in many parts of the Middle East she knew the delights of great expanses of orange trees and lemons. In Israel, they swept away for miles beyond the roads, and it was the same in many other countries in that region.
‘Can you imagine it at blossom time, Jon? Is there anything so heady as air saturated with the scent of orange blossom?’
‘Indeed, no. I’m looking forward to it, Teri. In five years’ time that land over there will be a flourishing citrus grove.’
In five years’ time. They would have forgotten their pain. Kemp’s face would no, longer rise up to torture her; Wendy would not know what her mother had looked like. How sad life was, and yet time was an infallible healer.
On reaching the homestead Jon complained of an ache in his stomach, and after having had his dinner he was violently sick.
‘Shall I get a doctor?’ Teri asked anxiously. Jon’s face was grey and drawn and although he shook his head and declared he would be as right as rain in the morning she could see that he suffered great pain. ‘I think I’d better go for the doctor,’ she said a short while later on taking him a drink he had asked for. He was lying down in bed, his eyes closed.
‘It’s only that I’ve eaten something which hasn’t agreed with me,’ he said, managing to sit up and take the glass from Teri’s hand. ‘It could have been that pork sandwich I had in town. I stopped for a snack yesterday when I was out.’
‘It must have been that,’ she agreed. ‘Wendy and I have had everything else that you’ve eaten.’
‘Leave me now, Teri, and don’t look so worried. I’m always able to sleep myself better, you know that.’ ‘Better from colds and headaches, yes, but tummy trouble’s not so easily cured.’
‘It’ll go.’ Jon slid down between the sheets and closed his eyes. Teri put out the light and left him, her thoughts flying to Brand. Strange it was that this should be so, and yet Brand was so reliable that it was always to him that their thoughts flew no matter what went wrong. Well, Brand was away, visiting friends in Pretoria, so they would have to manage without him. Not that he could do much about Jon’s illness - except perhaps to recommend a doctor.
The following morning Jon was no better, but neither was he any worse, and although Teri desired to bring in a doctor Jon would not hear of it.
‘Can you eat anything, Daddy?’ Wendy stood by his bed, her small hand feeling his head as if she would like to soothe him. ‘I had a poorly tummy once, do you remember? - and it all comes up in lumps—’
‘Darling,’ interrupted Teri as her brother’s face took on an even greyer tinge, ‘you don’t speak of such things.’ ‘Why?’
‘Because it isn’t nice.’
‘No, it isn’t nice. It makes your throat sore when you’ve finished—’
‘Teri, for heaven’s sake get that child out of here.’ Jon brushed his daughter’s hand away and turned over, towards the wall. ‘And close the curtains. I feel better in the dark.’
Teri moved to the window. Wendy said,
‘Have you got a headache, Daddy?’
‘Yes, Wendy, I have.’
‘It hurts awful, doesn’t it? Mummy used to say she could kiss mine better, but it still hurt. Do you want me to try and kiss yours better?’
‘No, darling, Daddy doesn’t want you to bother him just now. Come on, pet. We’ll come back later.’ ‘Will Daddy be better then?’ ‘Perhaps. Let’s hope so.’
‘Isn’t Daddy having any breakfast?’ ‘Not at present. He’s had a cup of tea and as I’ve said, we’ll go in to him later on.’
The storm had broken during the night and the garden was steaming as the sun, heating up, drew off the moisture. Weeds abounded and Teri later rode through the mealies, anxiously calculating how high the weeds would be in another couple of days, as she was sure Jon would be laid up for at least that length of time.
By the morning of Linda’s arrival Teri had decided to begin harrowing, but she said nothing of this to Jon, who had mentioned the weeds several times the previous day.
‘Perhaps you’d better ask Brand’s head boy to arrange for the weeding to be done,’ he suggested, much improved but still so weak that he had no desire to get up, much less was he able to work. ‘Brand did say that we could contact his boy if anything went wrong, so I’m sure he won’t mind.’
‘I’ll think about it - but you mustn’t worry, Jon, it’ll get done.’ To her relief Jon did not pursue the matter. She could manage very well herself, she decided, most reluctant to borrow Brand’s boys when he was away from home.
Linda arrived in time for lunch and Teri watched her expression with interest as she explained that Jon was unwell. Linda’s slowly-receding colour confirmed Teri’s suspicions and she frowned inwardly. What was to be the outcome of Linda’s growing affection for Jon?
‘Can I go in to him?’ Linda asked anxiously, and Teri nodded.
‘Yes, he’s awake. I’ll go and see if he’s ready to receive a visitor.’ A moment later she returned from her brother’s room, saying that Linda could go in.
‘I’ll come as well, Auntie Linda.’ Wendy shot ahead, holding the door open for Linda to pass through. The door closed and Teri stood a long while in thought. That Linda would make a good wife for Jon she did not for one moment doubt... but was Jon still in love with Rosalind?
‘I wonder if you’d have Wendy this afternoon,’ Teri was asking Linda as they sat down to lunch. ‘I want to start harrowing the mealies.’
Linda looked up quickly.
‘You? It’s not your sort of work. I’ll tell Johnson to get some of Brand’s boys on it.’
‘I’d rather do it myself. I can drive a tractor,’ she added. ‘I’ve tried once or twice and it isn’t any trouble really.’
Linda shook her head.
‘In this heat it will be.’
‘I want to do it myself.’ Was it mere obstinacy? Teri asked herself. Or was she motivated by the determination to let Brand see that she was not so helpless as he obviously assumed her to be? It would be gratifying to prove her mettle, to witness his discomfiture when he was forced to acknowledge his mistake.
‘I’ll have Wendy with pleasure,’ Linda was saying across the table. ‘But I still think you’d be better letting Brand’s boys get to work on the weeds.’
Teri let that pass, and as Linda realized how determined she was the conversation switched to Jon on whom Linda’s thoughts had been focused all the time. He ought to have a doctor, she said, naming one in Oaksville.
‘He won’t have one. In any case he’s improving now and I’m sure he’ll be up in a couple of days.’
‘How stubborn men are,’ declared Linda almost angrily. ‘He looks a dreadful colour, Teri.’
‘I know. Nevertheless, he is much better, as I’ve said. If he hadn’t have been I’d have brought ,the doctor in whether Jon had liked it or not.’
Linda cleared the table and was making herself useful at the sink when Teri went off to fetch the tractor. Harrowing the tender
plants was a task requiring skill, but Teri had watched her brother and after one or two minor mistakes she managed very well. Two boys followed the harrow while another tackled the growth of weeds on the outside edge of the field. When a couple of hours had passed Teri was pleased with her progress, although the heat seared into her arms and her face felt as if a hot-air fan were trained upon it; her shirt and jeans were sticking to her body. But she carried on with stalwart resolution, visualizing Brand’s face when he saw how well the work had been carried out. He would be forced to take back those words about women not making farmers - good or bad. He was a pompous man and no mistake - so full of his own superiority, so maddeningly self-confident. Yet he was attractive, she also owned, and she compared him with Kemp. Taller, much taller, and excelling in bodily strength. Kemp was handsome, but in a softer way; he had not the lean, outdoor toughness of Brand, nor had he the confidence. He was gentler - yes, that was it. Kemp was mild and gentle while Brand was forceful and often roughly masculine.
Perspiration began to drip from Teri’s face and her wide-brimmed hat seemed to be cemented to her head. She felt a sudden surge of pain in her shoulders and back and began to wonder if she had done too much. Even Jon took a rest when the sun was at its hottest.
At last she reached the limit of her endurance and, stopping the tractor, she slid down on to the ground. It was cool under the shade of the trees growing along by the river and she leant back against one of the lichen- covered trunks. Her eyes felt strange and a wash of pink seemed to cover the whole area around her. She blinked, but the landscape did not resume its natural tawny colour.
‘I’ve done too much,’ she said out loud. ‘Still, I’ve covered some ground and if I can get at the rest in the morning it’ll have been well worth the effort.’
The sun was dropping behind the distant hills and Teri gave a deep sigh of relief. The blessed cool of the evening would soon cover the farmlands and the stoep would be bathed in welcome shade. For the present, however, she was still hot and the dampness lay heavily on her whole body. Oh, for a bath and the feel of a cool soft bed against her back!
The sound of hooves arrested her attention and she turned her head. Brand .... He seemed to be in a hurry as he spurred his horse along the river bank, making for the place where she was sitting. He had obviously decided to return sooner than he had originally planned - but why should he have come here?
‘Jon?’ she faltered as he dismounted, but saw at once that there was no hint of anxiety on his face. On the contrary, it was dark with fury.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ he thundered, glowering at her. ‘Linda tells me you’ve been on that damned machine for the whole of the afternoon! Are you quite mad?’
She stood up, supporting herself on legs that felt like melting wax.
‘There was work to be done, so I did it.’ She frowned darkly at him. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you.’
‘Wrong—!’ He gritted his teeth; never had she seen a man so furiously angry as this giant who stood so menacingly over her. ‘You knew you could send over to my place for help. I told Jon that - and he told you.’ He stopped and looked her over, noting the damp clothes, the hat pushed back from a clammy forehead, the wet tendrils of hair and the stickiness of her face and neck. ‘You’d rather be independent, eh? And how do you feel after having spent all those hours doing a man’s work?’ Wrathful sarcasm bit deeply into his voice; his eyes continued to rake her, smouldering embers in their depths. What right had he to evince such anger? And in any case, it was altogether out of proportion. An admonishment she had half expected on seeing him riding towards her, simply because he could not help having something biting to say to her, but anger of this strength baffled her completely. Nevertheless, she was in no mood to argue with him; in fact she was so weary, with every bone in her body aching, that she could have burst into tears.
‘I do feel a little tired,’ she admitted, but just had to add, ‘I’ve managed very well, though.’
Brand drew an exasperated breath.
‘And if you weren’t tired I’d lay into you right now!’ he snapped, his mouth merely tightening as the colour flooded her face.
‘I don’t know what this is all about,’ she returned quiveringly, ‘but you’re acting in the most ridiculous manner. Do you mind taking your horse away? I want to drive the tractor along there—’ She stopped as, before his intention became in any way clear, he had swung her up and he himself was in the saddle behind her. ‘What—? Let me down!’ she flared, but his arms were round her and he never spoke a word in answer to her protests as he took her towards the Karunda homestead.
Back in the yard she glared up at him.
‘What’s the idea? How dare you treat me in that high-handed manner? I’ve a good mind to go back and pick up that tractor!’ This was sheer defiance - childish defiance - because she could no more go back than fly, not the way she felt at present.
Without a word Brand picked her up and she was dumped, none too gently, on the stoep.
‘Inside,’ he ordered curtly, ‘and into the bathroom!’
Astounded, she could only stare for one baleful moment.
‘I demand an explanation,’ she blazed, glancing round, wondering why Linda and Wendy weren’t anywhere about.
‘Do you go into that bath or do I put you there myself?’ he said, ignoring her words.
‘You must be mad! How dare you take it upon yourself to tell me what I must do! I please myself, and don’t you ever forget it.’ To her dismay tears started to her eyes. She was too fatigued to be taking part in a quarrel like this. It would not be so bad, she thought, if she knew what it was all about. Brand must have gone completely mad.
He took a step which brought him close and he stood over her, tall and lean and formidable.
‘Are you going to do as you’re told?’ he inquired softly. ‘I mean what I say, Teri. I’ll dump you in that bath, clothes and all, unless you obey me—’
‘Obey? Oh, I’m speechless!’
Brand laughed suddenly, and made a move to carry out his threat.
‘I’ll go,’ she quivered, but added, her blue eyes flashing, ‘It’s only because I want to. I’d every intention of taking a bath the moment I came in.’
‘I should hope you had.’ His eyes flicked her smudged face and grubby hands and arms. ‘You certainly need one.’
Teri seethed, but swung on her heel and stalked into the house. Ten minutes later, lying in the bath, she was still seething. What had come over that hateful man? Domineering and imperious how she detested him! - and she would certainly let him see it from now on. She had been civil for Jon’s sake, but not any longer. Not even for her brother would she allow herself to be treated like this.
After a while she relaxed. The water and salts were already in the bath when she entered the bathroom, so it was clear that Brand had ordered Jaru to do this while Brand himself went to fetch her back to the house. Jaru had been generous with the salts and as she lay there they began to take effect, and although when she came out she still felt as if she carried a heavy load on her back she was in some measure refreshed.
‘I make you cool drink, missy,’ grinned Jaru. ‘Baas Royce says also to make you some sandwiches.’
Teri drew a deep breath, controlling her tongue with the greatest effort; she had no wish that Jaru should have something to gossip about among his friends. ‘Where is Miss Linda and Wendy?’
‘They go to Candida Lodge for tea - because Baas Jon is sleeping all the time.’
‘I see. Have you the drink ready?’ ‘In only one minute. I have to bring the tray into the lounge. Baas—’
‘Yes, I know. Mr. Royce says so.’ ‘That’s right, missy. In one minute.’ Teri peeped into her brother’s room on her way to the lounge. He was fast asleep.
‘Sit down and eat,’ ordered Brand when Jaru had been in with the tray. Teri gritted her teeth, but sat down and picked up the glass of orange juice. It was good, and she had drunk half the
contents when at last she put it down.
Brand was standing by the window, dressed in linen slacks and an olive-green shirt. His hands were thrust into his pockets and he teetered back on his heels as he regarded her across the distance separating them.
‘You’re about the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met,’ he told her shortly. ‘Why did you have to be so independent? Did it really give you any satisfaction?’
She had meant it to afford her extreme satisfaction, Teri recalled ... but something had gone very wrong.
‘The work had to be done—’
‘Don’t let me have any more of your evasions, Teri, or I’m quite likely to lose my patience.’
She glared at him.
‘Would you mind telling me what this is all about?’ she asked furiously. ‘I’ve just told you that I please myself what I do.’
Brand’s eyes narrowed.
‘What you want,’ he commented softly, ‘is a strong hand about your hide.’
