The Perils of Skinny-Dipping (28 page)

On the morning of the wedding, Darren left the bungalow early to change at the Hotel. Abbey sat on her bed looking at the dress, hanging up by the window. Mary and Abbey had flown to Johannesburg to buy the dress at Mary’s insistence, who was determined that Abbey would not walk down the aisle in her cargo pants and Levi top.

The dress was a soft turquoise colour. Abbey had chosen it for its simple but classic style, trying to bring together the Abbey from England and the Abbey of Botswana, a combination that now resulted in a much wiser and contented woman.

A soft tapping on the bedroom door broke into her thoughts. She opened the door and found herself standing face to face with her father. Words escaped her momentarily and she clasped her hand over her mouth. Her father smiled and held out his hand. She suddenly regained control and hugged him warmly.

‘
You have chosen a very persistent man for your husband, Abbey,’ he said, holding her close for the first time that she could ever remember.

Darren, not content with Abbey’s disappointment at her father’s initial refusal to come to the wedding, had telephoned him several times and eventually persuaded him to change his mind.

‘
I’ll organise everything,’ he had tried to reassure him. ‘All you need to do is turn up at the airport and someone will assist you every step of the way.’ Her father had flown in to Kasane on the first flight, and Abbey suddenly realised why Darren had left so early that morning.

At midday, Abbey walked down the aisle on the arm of the man she had secretly admired all her life. Apart from her mother’s absence, the day was as perfect as she felt it could be. Phil, knowing full well that Abbey’s father would be present at the wedding, had quickly changed his role to that of usher.

The whole town turned out to wish them well, joining in with the singing and dancing to the traditional wedding songs. The day seemed to fly by and, at times, Abbey felt as though she was a spectator in a dream. When Darren slipped the ring on her finger for a second time, she could hardly contain her excitement, waiting for the moment she could finally wrap her arms around him. Her newly acquired nephews, armed with cameras, captured the day’s events, and Abbey made sure there were plenty of photographs to send home with her father. She hoped he would put one of them on the wall in the lounge, to show three generations of the Harris’ family weddings.

That night, when all the celebrations had finished and the town had gone to sleep, Abbey woke her husband.

‘
What is it? Are you alright?’ he asked, turning on the light.

‘
Come with me,’ she said, pulling him out of bed.

‘
Where? Come with you where?’ asked Darren, as he pulled on his jeans and shoes and followed Abbey out of the bungalow and down the drive. She led him by the hand into the President’s Lodge and across to the pool.

She stripped in front of him.

‘
Going to join me or just going to watch?’

He took her into his arms. ‘I’ve waited a long time for this particular dream to come true,’ he said, before kicking off his shoes.

Epilogue

Darren and Abbey continued to live Kasane for the next five years and had three children. Abbey gave up her position with AVP after the birth of her second child and, despite her fears, she adapted into the role of being a mother quite easily, and consciously worked on building a good relationship with all her children.

When their eldest child turned four years old, they both decided that it was time to move on and introduce their children into a different culture. They sold their seventy per cent share of the safari business to Mr Kobe. It had been a resounding success, expanding across the country and into Namibia, making a substantial profit for the three partners.

Abbey’s father visited Abbey on two more occasions after the wedding. She had watched him as he held his first grandchild with a look of complete adoration on his face. She had been right about one thing. It really is never too late! He died exactly three years to the day after her mother and, although Abbey didn’t see him as often as she would have liked, they spoke regularly on the phone on a much deeper emotional level.

The death of her father left Abbey with an inheritance of half a million pounds. Financially secure from her inheritance and the sale of the business, Abbey and Darren Scott left Botswana and settled in Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, living in the same district as Darren’s brother and his family.

Phil decided to stay in Kasane and carried on working for AVP. He married Boitachello and, although they didn’t have any children of their own, they adopted two local orphans. Phil became the football team coach and was known as an honorary Motswana in the town. As his daughter Lucy grew older, they communicated regularly by letter and email and, by the time she was eight years old, she had started to call him Dad.

Mary Jenkins also stayed on in Kasane and married Mr Kobe. She had five blissful years with him before she was admitted to hospital with malaria and never recovered. She left seventy-five thousand pounds in her will to be used to build a new wing onto the hospital to accommodate patients with malaria and Aids. The ward was named after her. As per her wishes, she was buried in Kasane.

Mr Kobe sold the safari business to an American travel company one year after Abbey and Darren had left Kasane. He stayed on as manager of the Savuti Lodge Hotel until he retired on his fortieth birthday, when he realised a lifelong dream and went on a world tour. This was the first time he had ever travelled outside of Botswana.

Prisca died peacefully in her sleep, one month after her daughter’s marriage. Abbey paid for the funeral and a small headstone in the town’s graveyard.

Alfred left AVP and became the head gardener at the Savuti Lodge Hotel.

Isaac stayed at the Crossroads Café until he retired. By then, his application for citizenship had been approved, and he could end his days in the country he now felt very much a part of. He moved into a small house in Kasane where he spent his final years.

Mr Permelo was sentenced to ten years in prison for a number of offences. He opted to do his sentence in his native South Africa and was deported immediately.

Richard was never seen or heard of again.

Other titles by Julie Sandilands include:

Finn’s Tale

A Gypsy’s Tale

Please visit: www.juliesandilands.com for further information.