Tandia (112 page)

Dee and Dum picked up their bundles and balanced them carefully, though with the wind they had to hold onto them with one hand. Now that Peekay had told them what he wanted they were not frightened. They turned to leave and Peekay walked over to them and kissed them both. The last time he had kissed them he was five years old. Dee and Dum's faces lit up into a brilliant smile, for that's what it seemed like, a single smile on two faces, as though the smile came out of both of them. 'You are our heart-blood, Peekay,' they said together.

Geldenhuis was surprised to see the two women coming across the open ground towards him. He was still searching for the path when they suddenly emerged over the top fifty yards from where he stood. They appeared not to see him and he shouted.
'Buya lapa, abaFazi!
Come here, women!'But his voice was torn from him by the howling wind, which was now buffeting the women's skirts as they used both hands to steady the bundles on their heads.

Geldenhuis ran towards them, covering the fifty yards fairly quickly, though it was difficult against the wind. He'd jumped from the helicopter six feet from the ground and Winter had put everything into the blades to get himself out. He stopped beside them now, panting. Both women looked amazed at seeing him, the whites of their eyes huge in their faces. They pulled back from him afraid.

'Do not be afraid of the gun, I am a policeman,' he shouted.

'We are afraid, Inkosi!' Dum shouted back.

'I won't harm you, I am in a hurry.' Geldenhuis was not conscious of the irony of this remark. 'Tell me, have you seen two people? One a white man? Maybe ahead of you?' He'd turned his back to the wind, standing parallel to the two women so that he could talk quite normally.

The two women turned to each other, talking rapidly in a language he couldn't understand.

'What is that you are saying, hey?' Geldenhuis said.

'We have seen him, 'Inkosi,' Dee said.

'He is with a woman, Inkosi,' Dum added.

'How long ago?'

The twins seemed to be thinking. 'I think not so long, Inkosi.'

'I think twenty minutes.' Each twin held up ten fingers. Geldenhuis grinned; then his expression changed and he looked at them strangely. 'Are you two twins?'

'Yes, Inkosi,' the twins said together.

It explained the hands going up together. He'd heard of that happening with twins. 'Which way is it to the Swaziland border?' Geldenhuis asked.

'We will show you, Inkosi,' Dee said.

'Did you hear any men coming behind you?'

'No, Inkosi, we did not hear,' they both said.

It was amazing, Geldenhuis thought, they seemed to have one mind. They turned back into the teeth of the wind and set out for the other side of the plateau. Geldenhuis was jubilant. Peekay and Tandia would be exhausted and he was fresh; they couldn't be more than a few hundred yards away and the trackers hadn't caught up. He had them to himself.

When they got to the edge of the plateau and dropped over the side the wind seemed to stop. Fifty feet further on the path divided and the two kaffir women stopped. One of the women pointed to the right-hand path. 'It is this one, Inkosi.'

'To Swaziland? This path goes to Swaziland?' Geldenhuis repeated.

'Ja, ja, it is this one, Inkosi,' the second woman said. They had nice manners, Geldenhuis thought, these bush kaffirs, not like the cheeky black bastards in the city. He was amazingly relaxed. He knew he'd come up to Peekay from behind.' If he'd seen the helicopter he'd know it couldn't land in the wind and would have seen it flyaway again. He set off down the path the two women had indicated. He wouldn't run, there was plenty of time.

Dee and Dum took the path to the left. Too afraid to stop and hug each other, they moved forward as quickly as their tired legs would take them, fearful that the policeman with the gun might return, fearful also of Peekay crossing in case the man came back. But they'd always done as Peekay asked and now they hurried to where they would anxiously wait for him.

Peekay and Tandia climbed to the edge of the plateau and watched as the twins reached the other side with Geldenhuis and disappeared. Peekay waited another minute before they set out. It took them nearly ten minutes to cross in the gale-force winds.

But by that time Dee was dead.

Geldenhuis had followed the path at a steady trot, covering a couple of hundred yards along the rocky descent in as many minutes. His mind was concentrating hard, but there was something nagging at him. He knew from past practice to listen to it. This was an instinct that was never wrong. He scratched at his mind, even stopping once to try to think the concern to the surface of his consciousness. A little later he passed a patch of soft sand, smoothed by the previous night's rain; it would have been impossible to avoid it if one were walking along the path, yet there were no footprints. He came to another a little further along and it too was virginal. Then it happened! Shit! African twins are very rare. Twins are regarded as bad
muthi,
bad medicine, and, even today, the weaker of the two twin babies is left outside the village. It was not uncommon to find a small black infant on a rubbish dump in the townships, a twin left to die. Then it hit him like a thunderclap! The two black women were Peekay's twins. It was in his file. He'd grown up with black twins! Geldenhuis turned and retraced his steps down the path. Turning down the second pathway he ran steadily until he saw the twins. 'Stop!' he shouted. Dee and Dum saw him and panicked. They dropped their bundles and started to run. Geldenhuis ran after them, not even seeing the bundles which had rolled off the path. He lost sight of them and then saw them ahead of him again, still on the path. The stupid women hadn't run into the cover of the bush. He stopped, went down onto one knee and, taking quick aim, fired. The bullet tore into Dee's back, killing her instantly.

Dum stopped and turned, screaming. She flung herself onto Dee's lifeless body, then rose and ran into the dense bush on the side of the path. Geldenhuis fired off three more shots, missing her. He ran up to the black girl's body; he could hear the second kaffir girl crashing through the bush. He kicked at Dee's body, knowing instantly that she was dead.
'Jou moel!'
He looked into the bush where he could hear Dum. Jesus, it's just a kaffir girl! he said to himself. I must be going crazy, thinking about going after a kaffir girl. He'd worked out Peekay's ploy. As usual it was shit smart. The two women had been sent ahead as a decoy and to misdirect him. He'd fired the four shots while Peekay and Tandia were coming across the plateau and the howl of the wind had killed the sound. All he had to do was wait. It was just how he'd imagined it would be; even the dead kaffir woman. He brought his boot under the hem of Dee's dress, lifting it. He'd make Peekay die the way he'd always fantasized it.
The terrorist
could watch and then he'd kill her. Geldenhuis pulled Dee's body off the pathway, covering the blood on the path by kicking dust over it with his boot. There wasn't much time and he found an outcrop of rock just off the path and waited.

Peekay and Tandia came down the path glad to be away from the wind, Tandia walking slowly but a little easier. Geldenhuis saw them coming and steadied his rifle. Peekay was in front shielding Tandia. He aimed low at his hip just as Peekay saw one of the bundles lying at the side of the pathway. Peekay turned and dived at Tandia, knocking her over into the bush beside the path just as Geldenhuis squeezed the trigger. The bullet caught Peekay high in the shoulder, just below the collarbone.

Peekay felt no pain. He rolled off the path and leapt to his feet, grabbing Tandia's hand and pulling her. 'Up! Get up!' he screamed. Tandia somehow managed to get to her feet and they stumbled down the slope into the dense scrub, disturbing the boulders which clattered down the mountain slope in front of them.

Somehow Peekay managed to get Tandia a hundred yards or so down the densely wooded slope. Then he stopped. They'd come to an outcrop of rock in high grass which appeared to form a small hollow to one side. He pushed Tandia into it and crept in beside her. Tandia's breathing was coming in rasps and Peekay held her to him. Then he realized that blood was dripping onto her shoulder. He put his hand up, feeling the hole in his shoulder for the first time.

They could hear Geldenhuis crashing around some distance to their right. Peekay pushed Tandia from him. Seeing the blood, she brought her hand up over her mouth, stifling her scream. Geldenhuis was moving further away. He'd be quiet for a few moments, obviously listening for them, then they'd hear him moving again. It was impossible this high up on the slopes not to disturb loose shale and rocks as you walked.

Peekay knew Geldenhuis would go back to the path soon, not taking the chance of getting lost. Then he would see the blood and know he'd wounded Peekay and he'd come down more carefully, following the blood spoor. 'Listen, Tandia, we don't have much time. I know a place near here; maybe a mile and a bit where I can hide. I'm going to draw Geldenhuis away, make him follow me. Don't worry, I know the country, he doesn't, he won't get me, I promise.' Peekay tried to grin; his shoulder was starting to throb badly.

Tandia flung herself at him. 'Peekay, you're going to die! If you're going to die I want to die too!' She sobbed against his chest.

'Tandy! Listen, you can make it!' Peekay whispered urgently. 'When Geldenhuis comes after me wait five minutes, then go back to the path. You've got five miles to go, it's mostly downhill. In two hours you'll be in Swaziland. Ask the first person you see to take you to the village of Somojo, every Swazi knows where that is.' He reached into his shirt and removed the leather strap around his neck with the tiny leather bag attached to it. It was the gold coin of Lumukanda. 'Take this, Tandy."Peekay placed it over her head so that it sat with the gold chain on which hung Juicey Fruit Mambo's gold eye-teeth. 'When you get to the village give it to one of the young women who serve Somojo. It's important, do you understand?' Tandia nodded, her eyes tearful again. Peekay took his wallet from his top pocket. 'There's money in there. When you get to the village ask for Julius Dube, he's one of our people, also a captain in
Umkonto.
He'll take care of the rest!'

'I don't want to go,' Tandia pleaded.

Peekay was suddenly angry. 'Go! You must go! Otherwise they win! You understand? Otherwise Geldenhuis and all he stands for wins!'

Tandia nodded, sniffing, and Peekay rose. 'It will be all right, darling. Move out with me, go to the right for fifty yards, then wait quietly. He'll come after the blood, after me. When you see him pass this spot wait five minutes then move back to the path.' He kissed Tandia, holding her with his good arm. 'I love you, Tandia. You are my whole life!'

Tandia started to weep. 'Peekay, I love you! Please, don't leave me.'

'Tandia, you must make it! You must hang on. Whatever happens, you must get through.' Peekay smiled, 'Tandia, about last night. If you're pregnant, you know, just if? If it's a boy, will you call him just one name? Just Lumukanda.' Peekay repeated the name, 'Lumukanda, child of the morning star!' He kissed her deeply. 'Goodbye, beloved Tandia,' he said softly. Moments later they set off together. Peekay squeezed her hand and released it, Tandia moved to the right and he, making a fearful racket to hide her movement, moved downwards and to the left, away from the rock outcrop where they'd been hiding.

Geldenhuis had done just as Peekay had thought he might. He retraced his steps to the pathway and soon he discovered the blood trail; then he heard the two of them crashing to his left in the dense bush directly below him. He followed the sound for nearly ten minutes, soon finding more blood. Whichever of the two of them he'd hit wasn't going to get too far. He knew Tandia was exhausted but that Peekay wouldn't leave her. The madness in him made him feel totally confident, a lion stalking his prey. It was better this way, he had to work for his kill. He would enjoy it the more for the effort it had taken.

Peekay was no more than a mile and a half away from the crystal cave of Africa. As he walked he cut a length of rope from where it sat on the top of his rucksack and made a quick sling for his arm, cushioning the rope with a handful of tough mountain grass. He dabbed at the blood on his shoulder, laying the spoor for Geldenhuis until he judged he was sufficiently far from Tandia for her to get away. The men following her wouldn't reach Saddleback before nightfall, that was, if they'd been foolish enough to continue beyond the gorge. Trapped in the high mountains for the night they'd freeze to death even in midsummer.

After an hour it was time to lose Geldenhuis. Peekay had moved around in a large circle, climbing gradually higher. Geldenhuis would never find the path again. It was half past four, he had an hour and a half before sunset. The deep kloof of rainforest he was going to was hidden in a crease of a mountain abutting Saddleback and he worked his way towards it. Geldenhuis was managing to keep on his track and he could hear him coming up behind him.

The shrub was becoming more sparse as they climbed higher. Twice Geldenhuis caught sight of Peekay and took a shot at him. But it was almost impossible to fire up the mountain slope; his optical perspectives were out and he missed by a large margin. By now Geldenhuis realised that Peekay was on his own. But it didn't matter, it was Peekay he wanted. He laughed to himself. When the chips were down Peekay had deserted the kaffir girl, the white man in him asserting itself. Peekay's blood spoor had stopped but he could hear him and occasionally see him. His quarry was in country where it wasn't too hard to track him.