The Colour of Gold (33 page)

"Good morning,
Misses." the guard said as Fatima approached him. "Is your husband
okay? As you can see I've got his suitcase of clothes. The men who
took you husband to the hospital brought it here early this
morning. They kept it last night because they thought that you
wouldn't be able to look after it and attend to your husband's
needs."

"Oh! I'm so
grateful!" Fatima exclaimed. "I thought that it had been lost. But,
who are those men who helped my husband? I must give them some
payment for all the trouble that they went to help my husband."

The guard shook
his head.

"They
specifically asked me not to identify them." he said. "They are
glad that they could help and they don't want any payment."

"They are such
good people." Fatima said wiping away the tears that welled up in
her eyes. "If you see them again please thank them once more for
me. I'll always be indebted to them for their kindness."

"What does
indebted mean?" Salona asked.

"It means that
I owe them something for what they did for me, even though they
don't want anything, my dearest." Fatima said.

"Why don't they
want anything?" Salona asked.

"Because
they're very kind people." Fatima replied.

Fatima realised
that the suitcase contained clothes that had already been mended or
altered and that it would be pointless to take it back to
Johannesburg. She needed to leave it here in Lenasia.

"Salona,
dearest." Fatima said. "We'll have to take daddy's suitcase back
home before we can go to the shop. All this walking is going to
make you very tired. Would you like to stay with Misses Jassat
today while I go to the shop?"

"Okay." Salona
said. "And I won't eat a lot of sweets, mommy. I promise. So, when
we gat back home tonight we'll be able to eat supper together."

"That's very
considerate of you, my dearest." Fatima said as she ruffled the
little girl's beautiful long black hair.

Fatima thanked
the guard once more, picked up the heavy suitcase and, taking
Salona's hand, trudged back towards Misses Jassat's house.

"Mommy, why's
daddy in hospital?" Salona asked as they walked along the dusty
road.

"Daddy got hurt
on the train, dearest." Fatima said. "I told you that this
morning."

"Yes, but how
did he get hurt? Did he fall?" the little girl asked.

"No. Another
bad man hurt him." Fatima said. "But don't worry. Daddy will soon
be better and back at home."

"Are there lots
of bad men on the train?" Salona asked.

"No. There are
a lot more good people than bad people on the train." Fatima
said.

"The bad people
should have their own train." Salona said. "Then they can hurt
themselves and not people like daddy."

"That's a good
idea." Fatima said.

While Fatima
was at Misses Jassat's house she 'phoned Misses Dadoo, the
manageress of the Oriental Plaza, and explained to her why the shop
was closed. She then lugged the suitcase of clothes to her house
and finally returned to the station where she boarded a train to
Johannesburg. By the time she reached the Oriental Plaza it was
midday.

***

"Anything to
report on the Umkhonto weSizwe cell in Soweto?" Brigadier van
Tonder asked as they sat in his office at John Vorster Square.

"Very little,
sir." Captain Tiaan Botha replied. "Vodnik met with Zuma at their
usual meeting place in Hillbrow. It's obvious that they know that
they're under constant surveillance by us. Zuma hasn't placed an
order with Vodnik for more bomb parts yet, even though, by my
calculations they used all the bombs that they could make with the
parts that he supplied them with. I've also got a suspicion that
Zuma is somehow involved in the supply of explosives to the enemy.
He works at the Deep Reef Gold Mine so he has access to explosives.
We just haven't bee able to see how he does it yet. I've obtained a
number of dud detonators from the armoury guys so when Vodnik does
get an order we can supply him with them. What's frustrating
though, is that, because he's aware of our surveillance of him,
Zuma is unlikely to lead us to his superiors. I've no doubt that
he's in contact with them but it's definitely not directly. They
must have some sort of message system. The man that we really need
to catch is the leader of the group that's planting the bombs and
attacking targets with rifle fire and grenades."

"What about
setting a trap for him?" the Brigadier asked.

Captain Botha
nodded.

"I've been
working on that." he said. "What I'd like to do is publish an
announcement in the newspapers saying that a group of important
military personnel will be meeting at a certain venue at a certain
time. If the enemy sees this announcement they will probably make
an attempt to attack that particular site, not necessarily to kill
or injure anyone but to use the incident to create publicity for
themselves. If we monitor the area around the site we should be
able to catch our illusive enemy red-handed and force him to betray
his superiors."

"That would
mean putting some important people in the firing line." Van Tonder
said.

"Not
necessarily, sir." Tiaan said. "I'm sure that I can find volunteers
to impersonate the important people. We've done it before and it's
always worked. But I don't think that the enemy will try to harm
anyone. Their policy is quite clearly to create incidents that have
publicity value outside the country and, at the same time, show
that they're freedom fighters and not terrorists. They'll probably
plant a bomb in the area set to explode just before the occasion
and cause it to be cancelled. What we have to do is catch them
planting the bomb."

The Brigadier
nodded.

"That might
work." he said. "Work out the details and recruit the volunteers.
Then let me know what you need to put the rest of the plan into
action."

"I'll get onto
it right away, sir." Tiaan said. "This enemy cell had been a thorn
in our sides for too long. It needs to be eliminated."

***

"Isn't it
dangerous for us to meet at the same place as we did last time?"
Bogdan asked Isaiah as they reached the pavement coffee shop in
Hillbrow and sat down at one of the tables. He looked around
suspiciously, expecting to see men wearing dark glasses watching
them surreptitiously.

"I don't think
so." Isaiah replied. "We know that we're under surveillance and
that the Security Police want us to lead them to our superiors so
our meeting here is quite in order. They aren't likely to arrest us
yet. But I'm also sure that they know that we are unlikely to
communicate directly with our superiors and that we probably don't
even know who our superiors are. Capturing us now won't help them.
We can't supply them with information that we don't have."

Bogdan nodded,
satisfied with Isaiah's explanation.

"Have you
spoken to your superiors about me jouncing your organisation?" he
asked.

"Well, I sent
them a coded message and they replied that they are interested."
Isaiah said. "But they are concerned about your loyalties as a
foreigner and what you can offer us apart from your ability to
acquire illegal items for us."

"Well, as I
told you, I don't have any military training but when I was in
Yugoslavia I underwent a very advanced driving course that is
considered to be the finest in the whole world and is used by the
top law enforcement agencies in a great many countries. Perhaps I
can be useful as a driver?"

"Yes, that's a
possibility." Isaiah said. "There's a dire shortage of competent
drivers in our organisation. I'm sure that my superiors would
accept you with a qualification like that. If they do, then it will
no longer be necessary for us to meet in person. The less we know
about other MK members the less likely we are to betray each other.
You will be introduced to the message system that we have devised
and perfected. It's impossible for our enemies to break the
system."

"How soon will
you know?" Bogdan asked.

"Within a day
or two." Isaiah said. "I assume that the Security Police still
believe that you're working for them?"

"Yes." Bogdan
said. "I'll only break away from them once I know whether or not
your organisation will accept me. If they don't I'll have to try to
skip the country illegally."

"That won't be
necessary." Isaiah said. "We got you into your predicament and
we'll see that you get out of South Africa safely. We are
constantly getting people who are wanted by the authorities out of
South Africa. Journalists, lawyers, newspaper editors and people
wanting us to train them so that they can join our struggle"

***

Bala Desai
walked slowly and gingerly out of the Baragwanath Hospital with
Fatima holding his arm firmly to steady him. They had decided to
give Bala's mattress, sheets and blanket to one of the other
patients who had been lying a flattened cardboard box on the floor
of the ward with only and old ragged coat to cover him.

"How have you
been managing at the shop, dearest?" Bala asked as they walked
slowly towards the waiting taxi. "Have we lost any customers
because we couldn't do their mending or alterations?"

"I don't think
so." Fatima replied. "They've all been very understanding. They
realise that accidents such as yours happen and there's nothing
that can be done about it. But we've got a huge backlog of clothes
to be mended or altered. I did my best but I just never seemed to
be able to reduce the mound of clothes waiting to be fixed."

"You've been
wonderful, my dearest." Bala said. "What, with also having to look
after dear Salona, clean the house, do the washing and the cooking,
you're amazing! What would I have done without you?"

Bala climbed
carefully into the back of the taxi, the other passengers giving
him plenty of room to get comfortable. Fatima fussed around him,
making sure that he was comfortable before the trip began. He sank
back into his seat with a sigh.

"Does it still
hurt?" she asked.

"A little."
Bala said. "The doctor says that I must stay in bed for at least
another week but I wonder if I can. There's so much work to be
done!"

"Bala, don't be
silly." Fatima admonished him. "Resting for a week and getting
better properly is very important. What will be the use of getting
up to early and ending back in hospital for even longer? You must
be patient and get well properly. I won't let you make things worse
by being impatient."

Bala looked at
his wife, his eyebrows raised in surprise at her fortitude. He had
always known that she could be very strong-willed and he smiled at
her lovingly, proud of what she'd achieved while he'd been in the
hospital.

"You're quite
right, my dearest." he said. "I will curb my impatience. And what
about my dearest Salona? How has she been coping?"

"She's missed
you terribly and she's so excited that you're finally coming home."
Fatima said. "She so wanted to come with me to fetch you but, even
at her young age, she realised that it wouldn't be practical. I'll
bet that she spends all morning looking out of the front window of
Misses Jassat's house waiting for me to take her back home."

Bala smiled to
himself as the vision of his dear little girl flashed into his
mind. He shook his head slowly in wonderment at how fortunate he
was to have such a loving family.

The taxi
stopped outside their little house and Fatima helped Bala to alight
and walk cautiously to the front door. She unlocked it and with a
sense of relief Bala entered. Fatima led him to his bedroom and
helped him change into his pyjamas. Carefully he climbed into their
bed and sank back against the pillow wearily. Fatima hurried to the
kitchen and returned with a glass of water. She placed it on the
bedside table with Bala's medication.

"Will you be
okay while I go and fetch Salona?" she asked. "I won't be
long."

Bala
nodded.

"Don't be
surprised to find me fast asleep when you get back." he said. "The
ward was so noisy that I've hardly slept at all during the last
five days."

Fatima
smiled.

"Sleep for as
long as you want to, dearest." she said. "You're safely home now
and Salona and I will make sure that you get better properly."

***

"I would never
have recognised you if I'd passed you in the street." Shadow said
as Isaiah entered the safe house in Soweto and removed his afro wig
and dark glasses. "I've been watching you as you walked here and
I'm certain that nobody has been following you. Where did you get
that disguise?"

"It took me
some time," Isaiah said, "because I had to be sure that nobody saw
them. Fortunately, my friends who work in the abandoned gold mine
that I supply with explosives were very happy to help me and they
bought everything for me. I'm keeping the stuff in one of the
tunnels in the old mine because it's quite easy to give the police
spies the slip in the buffer zone and get to the mine entrance
undetected. I'm going to try and get together a number of disguises
so that we can all use them if necessary."

"Well done!"
Shadow said. "Now, firstly, your friend Bogdan has been accepted
into Umkhonto weSizwe so he'll have to disappear soon. I've
arranged a safe house for him to stay in but before he goes
underground you must get him to get us enough bomb parts for
another four bombs. After we've used them we'll change our tactics.
The enemy is getting wise to our ways and we need to change our
methods of attracting attention to our struggle. Also get him to
collect the dud detonators from the police. That way they won't
realise that he's betrayed them until he's safely underground. Can
you get us enough explosives for four more bombs?"

"Yes." Isaiah
replied. "I've already got enough stashed in my hiding place."