Sunstroke

by Madge Swindells

  He studied my footprints, pausing where I had admired the palms. He’s part jungle, I thought, wary as a buck, stealthy as a cat. Moments later, he pushed aside the bushes and leaned over me.

  ‘Ah! So I’ve found you, Nina, luckily for you. Don’t you know you’re breaking the rules? You could have been killed and eaten by now.’

  I tried to hit back. ‘And you’re gatecrashing the party. Joy said you weren’t invited.’

  ‘So you asked her?’ He gave a strange smile, as if he were filing some vital piece of information. ‘I’m glad you thought to ask. I missed you, too. Luckily Bernie’s party didn’t book the entire camp, so, as you rudely remarked, I gatecrashed the party. I saw you sneak off, but when you didn’t return I started to worry. You’re safe, no harm done. May I examine your legs?’

  I couldn’t help laughing. ‘Give me one good reason why you should?’

  ‘Here’s two. Snake bite, ticks.’

  ‘I’d know if I’d been bitten by a snake, wouldn’t I?’

  ‘Strangely enough, people often don’t. There’s a tick on your ankle. One’s not bad considering you’re sitting in a nest of them.’ He was enjoying himself. ‘Take a look at the grass, Nina. You’re far from home and this is not a zoo.’

  ‘You’re joking!’ I looked around and saw that every stem had a small black knob at the end of it. Suddenly I was on my feet brushing my shorts vigorously.

  ‘Keep still. Ach! Wait a minute. There’s more on the back of your thighs. You would think you would feel the little beasts, but not so. You’ll have some nasty marks. If you start feeling nauseous in a week’s time, see the doctor. Tick-bite fever is not pleasant, particularly the first time.’

  ‘Have you had it?’

  ‘Can’t avoid it if you live in the bush. Some people say you can only catch it once, but I’ve had it several times. Come over here, Nina. You paused by this rock, yes? Did you know you were being scrutinized?’

  ‘By whom?’

  ‘Take a look through my glasses, under that tree.’ He pointed upriver.

  I focused and found myself gazing into the fierce tawny eyes of a male lion. Adrenaline surged through my veins. I wanted to run, but controlled myself. I counted four lionesses, but there were probably more. After a while, I handed back the glasses.

  ‘They’ve been watching me.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  ‘How do we get out of here? Will they attack?’

  ‘Probably not, since it’s noon. They aren’t hunting and they fear Homo stupido as much as Homo sapiens.’

  ‘Thanks for the compliment.’

  ‘Let’s go. Stay close.’

  ‘I’ll be your shadow. Is the gun loaded?’

  ‘Of course.’

  Wolf climbed ahead, pushing his way through the reeds and hauling me up behind him. When we reached half-way he squatted on the grass in the shade of some bushes.

  ‘We’re probably safe here. They avoid the camp in daylight – but don’t venture out alone again.’ He laughed. It was a pleasant laugh that began as a rumble in his belly and moved up to his throat. ‘You’re a country girl at heart, Nina, despite your business success, so learn about the bushveld. If you need a teacher I’m volunteering. The bush veld can be deceptive and dangerous.’

  ‘I was foolish.’ I gazed around wistfully. ‘Everyone’s gorging themselves, and then they’ll be sleeping. They go out at five. They said there’s nothing to see until then, but they’re wrong, there are the trees and the birds. I wouldn’t have missed this walk for anything.’

  ‘I’ll drive you around wherever you want to go. I hired a Jeep at the airport.’

  ‘I wish… but I’m Bernie’s guest.’

  ‘Too late for lunch, so why worry?’

  ‘Why are you trying so damn hard, Wolf?’

  He smiled. ‘Nina, my sweet, if you don’t know why, then I can’t tell you. If I tried, you would wonder what my angle was.’

  He was right. I was already wondering what he wanted to sell me.

  He smiled disarmingly, but I was not fooled. He was not as straightforward as he tried to pretend.

  ‘Nina, please be careful. I like you and I won’t say this twice, so listen to me. You’ve stepped into a jungle.’ He reached out and held my hand.

  ‘And you rescued me.’ I laughed shakily, for his touch had set my blood racing.

  ‘There are far more dangerous jungles than out there, Nina. And you are the quarry. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

  His choice of words intrigued me. For a moment, I had the oddest idea that he meant himself. Then I remembered how I had felt as I stood in the doorway of the lodge. Clearly he was talking about Bernie’s friends.

  ‘Come on, Nina. Move it. I’ll drive you wherever you want to go.’

  As I scrambled up the steep slope behind him, I felt strangely drawn to him. I knew I had found a friend in this hostile territory.

  Chapter 11

  By mid-afternoon, the heat had intensified, scorching the veld. The land was crying out for water, but the purple rainclouds hung far back on the horizon.

  Wolf was the perfect guide. He knew the names of the trees and shrubs, the birds and their calls and habits, and he had a talent for spotting the unusual: nail-sized tree frogs emerging from their cocoon of spittle and scurrying to a nearby waterhole, a nest of vultures, white and fluffy, in the bowl of a half-decayed tree, an iguana in a shallow stream.

  ‘I wish it would rain. It makes me sad to see the parched grazing. The buck are so thin.’

  ‘For me, Nina, the cruelty of creation is an enigma. This Christian God of love whom I worship also created a world of incredible harshness. The strong eat the weak, that’s the philosophy of the gutter but it’s nature’s way too, and when we impose a system of kindness and security, we become lazy and degenerate. Sometimes I think winning is the only virtue worth having.’ He wiped his forehead with an oily engine cloth. ‘God, it’s hot.’

  ‘I learned early that it’s wise to win. I used to long to be strong and invincible, like the golden eagles in the mountains around our lochs.’

  ‘And now that you’re older?’

  ‘I still have to win. I work in a tough environment, but I love it. I like to pit my wits against the competition.’

  ‘And what about the rest of you?’

  I frowned. What was he talking about? ‘There is no “rest of me”.’

  ‘Womanliness, femininity, confidence in your sexuality. All those qualities seem to be in hibernation.’

  ‘I can do without such disadvantages.’ I laughed harshly. I could almost hear my father’s voice, saying, ‘You’re female so you’ll soon forget.’ The memory still hurt, but I wasn’t going to tell Wolf.

  ‘Don’t laugh like that. You sounded like Sophia. Imagine a world peopled with Bernie’s friends and their hard-arsed wives.’

  ‘They’re not so bad when you’re past their defences.’ His probing was beginning to irritate me. I said, ‘It’s too hot to think, let alone talk. I can’t believe this heat. It even hurts to breathe. My lungs are seared.’

  After this, I refused to be drawn into revealing more of myself, so Wolf spent the afternoon telling me about his home in East Germany, the estate where he had been brought up, and his idyllic childhood. He had adored his mother and he had been spoiled, he told me. I fell asleep in the middle of his monologue.

  *

  In the late afternoon, Wolf tensed and caught hold of my arm.

  ‘Hey! Wake up! Look over there, Nina.’ I could sense his excitement as I searched the bush, seeing nothing unusual. His arm encircled my shoulders and drew me towards him.

  ‘There! Under that tree.’

  At close quarters, I could smell his musky sweat. There was an awesome ache in my groin and my lips had to be forcibly restrained from touching his neck, his shoulder and the beautiful line of his jaw.

  I turned my attention to the tree. ‘Wow!’ I yelled. She was tall and stately and her flecked, haughty eyes
locked with mine. Moments later, she turned abruptly and took to the tarmac in front of us, as four more lionesses emerged from the bushes.

  ‘They know exactly where they’re going,’ Wolf whispered. ‘They’re after something. We might be lucky.’

  He drove slowly, keeping well behind the pride, but half a kilometre further on, the leader veered off the road and disappeared back into the undergrowth, her pride hard behind.

  ‘Shit!’ Wolf braked. ‘We’ll wait here. They might come back.’

  He put his arm around me and drew me close to him. After a while, he bent forward and gently kissed my throat. When I gasped, he pushed his hands behind my neck and kissed me on the lips. Time stood still as my ego became my mouth and melted into his.

  After a while he sat up. ‘Let’s go find them,’ he said, with a grin. He winked at me and turned to the map. ‘There’s a water-hole two kilometres away in the direction they took.’

  I smoothed my hair, wishing I had held back. We raced along a bad by-road that meandered through scrub and over small koppies. I was breathless and choked with dust by the time we found the water-hole, lying concealed under a cliff ledge. Wolf parked the truck nearby to give us a grandstand view.

  ‘Now we wait. Look over there, Nina.’

  A shadow under a grove of trees seemed to move and flow as a black shape emerged from the safety of the bushes. I peered through the shimmering vista at a lone black buffalo, old and scraggy, propelled by thirst to venture forward in a curious stumbling gait, head lowered, fierce, bloodshot eyes scanning its surroundings.

  ‘It’s come a long way by the look of it,’ Wolf said. ‘I’ve heard half the water-holes have dried.’

  The buffalo drank for a long time and stayed in the shallow water as if unable to move away.

  Wolf leaned back and flattened his palms against the roof of the cabin.

  ‘It might be a long wait. Mind if I sleep? Lean against me if it’s not too hot.’ He pulled me into the crook of his arm.

  I couldn’t get his proximity out of my mind, but the heat intensified and after a while I closed my eyes and fell into a trance-like sleep.

  We woke to an anguished bellow and saw the old buffalo fighting off an attack by two lionesses. Tiredness fled as fear surged. I leaned out of the window, trying to will my strength towards the exhausted beast.

  Time and again, the lionesses lunged in, and the heroic buffalo fought them off with its horns and hoofs. At last, it tired and swayed as it wheeled about, head down, bellowing with rage.

  A young lioness, reckless with hunger, leaped forward for the kill, but missed her timing and the buffalo ripped her pelt with its horn. She limped back, as the larger cat sprang at the beast’s throat. She hung on from underneath its torso. Strong forelegs wound around its neck and her fangs sank into its jugular vein. For a moment, there was only blood, dust and pounding feet. The water turned crimson as the tired old beast staggered to deeper water, hoping to drown its burden. Moments later, it sank to its knees with a despairing moan. The lionesses hurled themselves on to it, hauled it to the bank, already ripping at the soft underbelly.

  The buffalo gave one last despairing bellow and succumbed.

  I was shuddering violently. A deep shame welled through me at my weakness, but I could not stop. ‘It fought so bravely. Oh, my God. That was so awful.’

  ‘And now it’s wonderful. Look over there.’ Two more lionesses were hurrying towards the kill, four cubs loping behind them.

  As we sat, watching the life-giving feast unfold, I felt strangely bereft. It was as if my former values had perished with the buffalo. I had been confronted with more compelling needs than the weighing up of assets and liabilities. I felt bruised by the day. Somewhere, I thought, I’ve got everything wrong.

  By the time we left, the jackals were gathering and the western sky was crimson. The sun sank and, within minutes, day had turned to night.

  Chapter 12

  A gathering of people around an African camp-fire brings about a metamorphosis. Acquaintances become friends and friends are drawn into a mystical oneness – perhaps it was the firelight, or our closeness on the rough wooden benches, or just the cries of predators around us. A wild boar sizzled over the embers, while chops and boerewors slowly browned on the grid. Joy, a romantic at heart, had not needed much urging to rearrange the seating, shifting Theo to the left, so that Wolf sat on my right, with David opposite. Bernie’s eyes smouldered with disapproval, but he couldn’t do much about it.

  David’s voice boomed out, ‘A new sky, hey, Nina? Have you seen the Southern Cross before?’

  ‘No. I don’t even know where it is.’

  Wolf pulled me close against him to look along his pointing arm. ‘Got it?’ he asked.

  ‘No, well, maybe, yes,’ I admitted, happy to search the heavens for half the night.

  ‘The Africans have a story about the Southern Cross,’ David went on. ‘To them it is the holiest of all the constellations. Some tribes think that it’s the tree of life, placed there to guide wanderers in the night.’

  David’s lecture came to an abrupt halt as a gunshot rang out nearby.

  ‘He’s got it,’ he exclaimed. ‘Good! Now we can get back to normal.’

  Shortly afterwards, Johan came in carrying his rifle and the carcass of a baboon, which he handed to Theo.

  ‘Bury it fast and deep,’ he growled.

  ‘What happened?’ I asked David.

  ‘A deformed baboon has been raiding the camp. The workers think it’s a tokoloshe. They’ve taken off. That’s why we’re eating here tonight. There’s hardly any staff left.’

  ‘What’s a tokoloshe, for heaven’s sake?’

  ‘Superstitious nonsense,’ Wolf told me. ‘There’s no such thing.’

  ‘A dug-up corpse,’ Joy called.

  ‘An evil spirit,’ someone insisted.

  ‘A curse.’

  ‘A ghost.’

  ‘A zombie.’

  No one seemed to know for sure.

  ‘No, no, listen to me,’ David said. ‘A tokoloshe is neither mystical nor supernatural. It’s an evil creature, sometimes human but occasionally a baboon, created by deprivation and cruelty during its formative years. The Africans are wise people. They know that a child surrounded with evil in its formative years becomes Satan’s slave.’

  ‘I can believe that, David.’

  I was unprepared for Wolf’s annoyance. ‘Stop talking bullshit, Nina.’ He scowled at me.

  ‘No, you’re wrong, Wolf,’ Joy cut in on him. ‘Even in modern society, cruelty and pain invariably breed monsters.’

  ‘You must see that it’s not an African phenomenon, Wolf. Back home the prisons are full of kids from bad homes.’ I glanced up, half smiling, expecting to get through to him, but he shot me a look of fury.

  ‘If David says so, then naturally it must be so. You people amaze me. Your minds are clouded with mumbo-jumbo, perhaps because you were reared by black nannies. I can’t sit and listen to this crap. Goodnight, everyone.’

  I couldn’t believe Wolf could be so rude. As I watched him stalk out, I was so sure he would turn, laugh and apologize, but he didn’t.

  ‘What’s got into him?’ Joy asked me.

  I shrugged and tried to hide my hurt.

  ‘The point is,’ David went on, as if nothing had happened, ‘while Westerners believe in a force of goodness all about us, and the eventual triumph of good over evil, the locals see an amoral force, ultra powerful and impersonal, which can be used for either good or evil. That’s why evil frightens them so. This poor, maimed baboon was mistaken for a tokoloshe, so the workers fled. That’s why we had to kill it.’

  David couldn’t get off the subject, but I wasn’t really listening. I felt sure Wolf would return soon. I kept looking for him while we ate supper. Theo moved next to me to fill the gap, but he waited until after dessert before mentioning business.

  ‘Come and see me when we get back to the Cape, Nina,’ he said. ‘I’ve a f
ew investments that might interest you.’

  At his words, a hush fell around the table.

  ‘I’ll do that. Look forward to it,’ I muttered.

  ‘Could we forget business for once?’ Sophia said sharply. It wasn’t a request and Theo bowed towards her and touched his forehead in a mock salute.

  After that, dinner became more of a party and our laughter rang out into the night. David and Theo were quick and clever, and Bernie could match their wit. Even Joy came out of her shell and enjoyed herself. I had a great time and stayed late, hoping that Wolf would return, but he did not. Finally, I put some chops and sausages on a paper plate, and wrapped it in a napkin.

  ‘My, you have a gargantuan appetite,’ Joy called. She got up and gave me a swift hug. ‘Take care, Nina,’ she whispered, as she let go.

  *

  It was hard to get to sleep that night. A family of meerkats raided the dustbin, bushpigs came running by, snorting and squealing, the hyenas’ weird calls seemed to echo inside my head and it was so hot. I lay and thought about Wolf, and the way I felt about him. I worried about the difference between love and lust. Did I believe in love? I wasn’t sure. Was Wolf right when he said I had erected intimidating barriers to keep emotions at a safe distance? Did I take refuge in logic to avoid emotions? Eventually, I fell asleep and dreamed.

  I was wandering in the veld but it became dark and I found myself lost in the near- dry riverbed. I sensed that lions were stalking me through the long grass and, panic- stricken, I began to run. They were gaining on me. I could smell their hot, fetid breath. Then I heard Wolf s voice nearby. The reeds parted, but my cry of welcome froze on my lips. It was the deformed baboon, but its eyes were Wolf’s.

  Such are the dreams of the African night.

  *

  Later, the wind rose and whined through the roof and I woke again to hear scuffling in the thatch. Moments later, something unbelievably foul fell on me. I was covered with putrid hair and the stench was terrible. I screamed and tore at the stinking thing, trying to get it off my face and my hair.