To Okaukuejo
and the Etosha Pan

KATE WOKE WITH HER ARM AROUND ANDRÉ’S NECK and her leg draped over his hip. She tucked herself closer into him and he wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tight.

“Good thing it’s still early, né?” he whispered in her ear. “Time for a quickie, if you’re in the mood.”

“I believe I’m in the mood,” Kate smiled, “but let’s not rush.”

Later André groaned. “I don’t want to leave but I must to get my shop open on time. But I’ll see you when you get to Windhoek.”

He looked at her, his hair sticking up in several directions. “You okay, bokkie?”

“Fantastic.”

They climbed out the tent and she waited for him at his car while he was in the washroom. She was filled with a sudden fear and she knelt down and was peering at the underbelly of the Porsche when she heard André laughing.

“Are you going to give her a quick service before I go?” he joked.

Kate got up and brushed the sand off her knees. “André,” she asked, “is there anyway you can check the brake line, stuff like that? You may think I’m paranoid but a lot of weird stuff’s gone on, and better safe than sorry.”

“But why would someone harm me?” He was puzzled.

“Who knows,” she said, “these people haven’t needed rational reasons to do anything, that’s for sure.”

André considered what she’d said. “From what we saw and heard last night, they would have had difficulty finding their own tents, never mind a piece of my car in the dark. But I hear what you’re saying and it makes me ask you this: please, come away with me now, just come. You’re right, there’s danger here.”

“I can’t, André, I must finish this. I know what you’re saying but I’ll be fine. Trust me, I’ll be careful. Please don’t worry and I’ll be in touch all the time.”

“You’d better,” he said and he kissed her. “Well, I must away. See you soon, sunshine, but not soon enough.” He smiled at her, and spun down the road in a cloud of dust.

Kate watched him leave and then she went back to pack up her tent and have a shower.

“Happy, are we?” Stepfan’s tone was bitter, as he stepped into her path near the breakfast table. “You think it’s so easy, find a good-looking man and get him in your grip. You women are all the same, faithless, fickle, no morals.”

“Whatever, Stepfan,” Kate said and she stepped around him and filled her bowl with cereal and milk.

“A good night was had?” Jono enquired, trying to be casual. Seeing Kate so happy with André had hurt him deeply. He felt betrayed. She had dumped her boyfriend back home without a second thought; of course she had, for a white rugby player in his fancy Porsche, whereas he, Jono, had nothing to offer. He thought that she’d lied to him, lied to herself and a part of him hoped that André would break her heart, just as she had broken Jono’s.

“Yes, very nice,” Kate replied, “did you stay and dance the Marula?” She was well aware of Jono’s thoughts and she felt bad for him but there was nothing she could say.

“I watched for a little bit,” he said, “but then I came to bed. We have another long drive today and I wanted to be fresh and alert.”

“Fresh and alart are very good characteristics, particularly in a driver,” Betty commented, “Are you trying to tell me there are times when you are not so fresh and alert? Franz, dear husband of mine, he has given me a bad scare more than once. He falls fast asleep behind the wheel and I have to hit him hard on the head and shout at him.”

“So we’re in safe hands, thanks to you,” Richard said, taking a plate of fried eggs and bacon from her.

“I am always fresh and alert,” protested Jono, “really, I am.”

“Which is more than I can say for myself,” Helen walked up and groaned. “Oh, my head. I never drink like that. That Mia. I hope she’s suffering as much as I am.”

“She is,” Richard assured her.

“I couldn’t even wake Sofie up,” Helen said, “I’m sure she’s in an alcoholic coma. I shouted at her and she moaned a bit so at least I know she’s not dead. I can’t eat a thing this morning. I’m just going to have some coffee with a lots of sugar. Kate, where’s your gorgeous man, you sly thing? So, it’s a quick sayonara to the boyfriend back home, I take it?”

Kate shrugged. “I’m going to hang out with André when we get to Windhoek,” she said, “and we’ll take it from there. Who knows.”

Sofie staggered up at that moment, groaning. “Please somebody, get me a chair.”

“Here,” Richard helped her sit.

She put her head in her hands and gave a heartfelt groan.

“You’re in your pajamas,” Helen pointed out to her.

“I don’t care,” Sofie said. “I might stay in them all day. Jono, if the road’s a bad one, I might cry all the way too. Is it very bumpy?”

“The usual,” Jono said.

Sofie made a noise of pure agony.

“Everybody, are we ready to hit the road? Where’s Rydell?” Jono asked but no one had seen him.

Just then Rydell’s tent opened and one of the dancers from the night before clambered out, in none too graceful a fashion.

“Knock me down with a feather,” Kate said, the others equally open-mouthed and all eyes fixed on the tent.

Rydell emerged swathed in his usual copious layers of clothing. His bruises had deepened in colour and his entire face was a mottled patchwork of purple, red and blue.

“I thought I didn’t hear him snoring last night,” Stepfan said. “How nice. Everyone was making whoopee except for me. This certainly is not how I imagined my holiday would be.”

“A consequence of severe mismanagement by your own hand, I’m afraid,” Richard told him shortly. “I am going to see what my buttercup is doing. She went to the washroom a while back. I’m afraid she might have drowned in a toilet bowl.” He walked off and the rest of the group started packing up.

Half an hour later, they were back on board, ready to bump and jolt their way to the Etosha pan.

Sofie made a bed in the racks, double-mattressing. She curled up and quickly fell fast asleep, still in her pajamas and wrapped in her sleeping bag despite the heat.

“I gave her a couple of strong painkillers,” Jasmine said, “I thought she needed to sleep off her hangover. Hola! Kate! I like the look of your new man. You lucky girl, where did you find him?”

“In Swakopmund, in one of the stores,” Kate was evasive. She surreptitiously checked her phone and was delighted to find a message from André: hey sunshine, am back in Swkp, hope ur ok? Last nite was gr8t

Kate smiled. It was fantastic! I am fine! Don’t worry!

u be safe now. xoxo

I promise. Will be in touch.

In the front of the bus, Jono was still thinking about Kate and André and he was driving at breakneck speed.

Betty glanced over at him. “What are you thinking?” she asked. “Are you sad because André arrived to court your girl?”

“I am not sad,” Jono said through gritted teeth, “And she is not my girl. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Maybe the fact that you told Franz and me for hours when you came over after the big dinner? After many beers and a half a bottle of brandy you couldn’t stop talking. Don’t you remember?”

He did, once she reminded him. “Ah,” he grimaced. “Well, look at her, she likes a flashy no-good gun dealer, what chance do I have?”

“Oh, Jono,” Betty said softly, “I am so sorry your heart is sore.”

“My heart will be fine,” Jono growled. “Enough of that conversation, if she wants a no-good loser man, then to hell with her.”

At the back of the bus, Helen was deep in thought. She bit her lip and stared out the window, her face severe. She was furious with Mia for catching her off guard and getting her drunk like that. She had taken a couple of aspirins and was steadily drinking water to rehydrate her body.

She was thinking about Kate and André and how life was so unfair; she should have been the one to meet him in Swakopmund. She reasoned that Kate would go back to her life in Canada and pick up where she had left off — she was hardly likely to stay in Swakopmund and Helen could not see André living away from Africa. Which meant that once Kate left, there would be a nice juicy romance left for her, ripe for the picking. She decided she would ask Betty and Jono about André and gather as much information about him as she could, and then, once the trip was over, she would go back to Swakopmund and find a way to hook up with him.

She clenched her jaw tight, ignored her queasy stomach and throbbing head and pulled her hair into a tight ponytail. No way was she going back to her family; she would be happy to never see any of them again and all she had waiting for her in Canada were dismal gray days and an endless array of salt-covered winter boots. It was high time life served her up something good. Encouraged by the prospect of a romantic future with André, Helen fell asleep, with dreams of Porsches and flashing smiles playing in her mind while the hot African sun beat down on her head.

Rydell was thinking about his African dancer and he smiled his twisted smile, licked his bruised lips and cocked his head to one side. He massaged the bites he’d had the dancer inflict into the tender soft skin of his inner upper arm. He thought how stupid he had been about Treasure; sure, she was beautiful but last night’s woman was much more to his liking — she had done exactly what he had wanted. He rubbed the bite marks even harder and chortled, causing Kate, sitting across from him, to glower at him suspiciously.

She was badly in need of the washroom and the way Jono was flying along, like a bat out of hell, her discomfort was even more pronounced. As if reading her mind, Gisela got up. “I’m going to ask him to stop,” she said, as she stumbled toward the cab window. “Jono! We need to stop the bus for a toilet emergency.”

Jono grunted and pulled over abruptly. Lena, Gisela, Kate and Helen piled off and squatted in a line behind the bus.

“How far we’ve come in losing our manners,” Lena commented. “When we first started out, we would all disappear behind a bush, very self-conscious. Now we go right next to each other, in the middle of the road.”

The others laughed. “Yes, one does adjust,” Helen agreed. “When in Namibia…”

“Are we ready to go now?” Jono called out shortly.

“A bear with a sore head today, are we?” Helen asked, climbing back on the bus.

“I want to get us to Etosha, that’s all,” Jono said brusquely.

“To see giraffes.” Gisela shouted.

“Lion kill!” said Lena.

“Elephants for me,” Ellie cried out.

“Zebras,” Jasmine added.

“What is all this yelling and screaming?” Sofie demanded, sticking her head out, high above the seats.

“What animal do you want to see the most?” asked Jasmine.

“I just want the blood to stop pounding behind my eyeballs,” Sofie said, vanishing back inside her sleeping bag.

“Don’t drink if you can’t handle the day after,” Stepfan called out.

“That’s a bit sanctimonious old chap,” Richard said. “At the rate you knocked it back yourself.”

“Ah yes, but unlike others, I can handle my alcohol,” Stepfan was smug. “I’m always in full control of my physical, mental and emotional capacities.”

“What emotional capacities?” Lena enquired.

“It is due to my martial arts training,” Stepfan ignored Lena. “I’m a black belt in many kinds of martial arts, jiujutsu, wing chun, tai chi, karate, judo.”

“You can’t be a black belt in tai chi,” Jasmine laughed at him. “Because if there’s one thing I’m an expert in, apart from yoga, it’s tai chi.”

“I’m highly trained, that’s all I’m saying,” Stepfan continued, giving Jasmine a dismissive glance. “My body is a weapon, a finely-tuned machine. That is why I can handle my alcohol. I’m always in full control. Feel this arm,” he said to Ellie, offering her his flexed upper arm.

“No thanks,” she said.

“I’ll show you some moves,” Stepfan said. “A young girl like you needs to protect herself….”

“…From men like you,” Lena interjected.

“…in today’s world,” Stepfan continued.

“We should do a yoga class tonight,” Helen interrupted him, “It will be good for us, detox.”

“Yoga would be wonderful,” Jasmine agreed. “Stretch out our aching muscles.”

“Jasmine, you could do with some high intensity fat-burning training,” Stepfan started. “I could show you…”

“Stepfan, sit down and shut the fuck up,” Richard said. “You don’t want to get me started on you, so drop it. Sit down and look at the window. Lovely scenery, lots of rocks and sand, go on, admire it.”

Stepfan sat down, his face black with anger. “I was only…”

“I told you,” Richard said, evenly, “to shut it, and I mean it.”

“What’s going on down there?” Sofie stuck her head out. “I’m coming down, you are all making too much noise for me to sleep. Are we there yet? Where are we going and why is it taking so long? Oh, my head. Why didn’t anybody tell me I was in my pajamas. How embarrassing.”

“I wish I’d stayed in my pajamas,” Mia said. “My whole body hurts today.” She had been silent all morning and was pale with dark shadows under her eyes. Her face was healing slowly but she still looked a mess.

“We are stopping for lunch now,” Jono announced loudly and flatly through the cab window. “As you can see, we are at the gates of the Etosha National Park. Betty has gone to pay, then we will pull over and have lunch and go to our camp from there. Etosha is known as ‘the great white place of dry water,’ and it offers a large variety of wildlife. The waMbo name, eTosha, means ‘white place of mirages’.”

He leaned closer to the cab window. “We will be staying at Okaukuejo which means ‘place of the fertile women.’ Okaukuejo started as a veterinary post in 1897, then later a small fort was built here as the military stronghold. There is a very high limestone tower which gives you excellent views of the camp and there is also the floodlit watering hole that is very nice at night.”

He brought his emotionless recital to an end. “Ah, here is Betty, we are ready to go.”

They drove inside the park.

“I’m so excited.” Jasmine exclaimed as they got off the bus. “I’ve always wanted to come to Etosha. This is so cool.”

“Actually, it’s mind-blowing hot,” Richard admitted, red-faced from the heat. “I don’t want to be naff or anything, but I’ve got to dunk my head under a tap and sit down in the shade. I don’t even know if I can eat anything.”

“Come on, you naff old geezer, you,” Mia pulled out a chair for him. “I’ll pour some water on you if you like. You poor sod.”

“Cheers, love,” he said as she emptied a bucket of tap water on him.

The others doused themselves with water and crawled to their camping chairs in similar fashion.

“Lunch is ready, everybody,” Betty said.

“Richard,” Mia said, “would you mind getting my burger for me? I feel a bit pale.”

“Of course, my love,” Richard stood up.

Lena went over to Mia while the others formed a line for their burgers. “Are you okay?” Lena asked, “you don’t seem well.”

“I lost the baby this morning,” Mia said in an undertone. “It probably didn’t like doing the Marula last night, poor bugger. Oh, well. It’s not like it was planned or anyfing, so it’s probably for the best. I do feel pooped though and I’ve got a headache the size of a brick shithouse but that could just be a hangover. This bleedin’ road doesn’t help much. Don’t worry, I’ll be right as rain soon, ta for asking though.”

Lena was about to say something but Richard returned and Mia shut her down with a look and Lena went to get her burger, piling it high with every relish and condiment on the table.

“And how do you plan to eat your leaning Tower of Burger?” Gisela asked her affectionately.

“With a lot of mess.” Lena laughed, balancing her plate carefully on her knees.

“After lunch,” Jono announced abruptly, apparently still in a bad mood, “we will go on a game drive, which will take us right to Okaukuejo where we will arrive this afternon. We might get a lot of rain tonight and if not tonight, then tomorrow night for sure.”

“Are our tents waterproof?” Kate looked up the sky which was amassing heavy dark purple clouds that made the colours of the day seem even more intense.

“For the most part, yes,” Jono frowned at the question.

“For the most part!” Ellie and Jasmine cried out. “That’s not very reassuring.”

“Come on girls, don’t be afraid of a little African rain.” Stepfan puffed out his chest, “we’re tough here.”

“I am reminded of short poem,” Jono said, leaning against the tree. “It is called The Big-Game Hunter and it goes like this:

A big-game hunter opens fire once more,

Raconteur, roué, sportsman, millionaire and bore—

But he only shoots his mouth off, knowing how

He’s safer on a sofa than on far safari now.

Everyone found this hilarious.

“What are you trying to say?” Stepfan demanded and he looked accusingly around.

“I’ve got no idea,” Lena was doubled over in laughter, “since you’re certainly no millionaire.”

Stepfan scowled and marched off to put his plate in the bucket.

“You are very poetic, Jono,” Helen said, “If you don’t mind my asking, how come?”

“Before I studied International Politics and Philosophy, I wanted to write poems that would change the world and free the black man from apartheid and slavery.” Jono said. “But my kind benefactor, a farmer in Zimbabwe, persuaded me to get a degree first. ‘Study first,’ he said, ‘you can write poems later,’ but then I got caught up fighting in the wars and poetry did not seem so important and my own poetic voice died. I still read a lot of poetry. But enough of that,” he said, washing his hands. “I’m sure you are eager to see the animals.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” they chorused, each shouting out the name of the animal they wished to see: “zebra, lion, kudu, giraffe, elephant, hyena, meerkat, baboon, oryx, springbok, warthog, wildebeest, rhino, hippo, cheetah, leopard!”

“They may be a little disappointed by the animals,” Jono said to Betty in the front cab.

“They always are.” Betty told him, “you know that. No matter what they see, they want more, or different. You can’t win here, Jono. Don’t even try. You’re not responsible for their expectations.”

“I always feel bad if they do not see some good things, even now when I am so cross with them.”

Kate got her camera ready for the game to come and she thought about Jono’s poetic leanings and felt guilty for having fallen for André instead.

But André was a doer, and independent by nature, and that attracted her. Jono, she felt, would wait for her to guide the relationship, hoping that her enthusiasm for life would enter his heart and soul by osmosis and that he would suddenly wake up a happier man. Jono was simply not for her. She tried not to think about it, craning her neck, and wanting to be the first to see wild game.

“Giraffe!” Gisela screamed at the top of her lungs. “Stop the bus! Jono, giraffe!”

Jono dragged the bus to a halt.

“Here we go,” he said to Betty, “they will be yelling at me to stop for every springbok, dassie and tortoise from now until Windhoek.”

They admired the giraffe for a while and then drove on, pulling up next to a watering hole.

“Over there,” Jono shouted, pointing, “elephants, zebra, giraffe, springbok, warthog and wildebeest. That should keep them happy for a while,” he said aside to Betty.

“Where are the lions?” Lena asked.

“Hey, I have found a new function on my camera,” Sofie marvelled.

“Can’t we get any closer?” Jasmine asked.

“None of this is what I expected,” Ellie commented, “I thought it would be much more jungle-like.”

“Oh, cute,” Mia sprawled back in her seat and flicked something off her thigh.

“The elephants don’t seem all that big,” Richard craned to get a better look.

“No rhino, no leopard?” Rydell asked nasally. “I’m disappointed.”

“Disappointed?” Kate said, “I’m in heaven! Never mind the animals, they’re fantastic, but the whole scene: the colouring’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Black and white with shades of tan, gray and caramel. It’s spectacular and so different to what we’ve seen so far. Even the sky seems a deeper blue and those purple clouds are incredibly majestic.”

“It’s very beautiful,” Gisela agreed, “you’re right.”

They stayed at the water hole for half an hour and then the group began to get restless. Jono moved forward slowly, hoping to find a fresh lion kill in the middle of the road but nature did not oblige. He turned into Okaukuejo Etosha National Park and waved at familiar faces at the gate.

Jono swung the bus into the camp site, climbed down and stretched his back. He felt as if he was covered in a dozen layers of sweat and caked in dust. All he wanted was a cool shower and a nice cold beer under the shade of a tree.

The group fell into their usual routine of setting up for the night and Kate asked Jono to help her with her tent. “I’m getting better at this,” she said, “but it definitely takes two to put up these tents.”

Jono nodded. He paused, then helped Kate with her tent in silence. He felt guilty about his earlier hateful thoughts but did not know how to make amends. “I better go now and help Mr. Tough Guy over there,” he said instead, gesturing at Stepfan who was standing waiting, not making any effort on his own.

Kate thanked him and looked around; it was as if they were camping in the middle of an open sandy road. The bush was off in the distance, not like the Fish River Canyon where they had been in the thick of it. It also seemed liked they were the only people there and it seemed eerie, she thought, how deserted it all was.

She turned around and noticed that her tent was lifting off the ground in the gusty wind and she ran to the bus to get her big water bottle to weigh it down. Strong surface winds whipped back and forth, and the dust swirled wildly, blowing the contents of the overturned trash cans across the ground. Kate darted to pick up the debris, her hair catching in her eyes and mouth and she felt stung by the sun, wind and heat.

She decided to head toward the tourist shop and bumped into Sofie and the girls near the swimming pool.

“We’re going to check out the top of the tower,” Helen said, “and we’re thinking of doing yoga up there at sunset, it’s too hot now. Do you want to join our reconnaissance?”

“Love to, thanks,” Kate said.

They walked slowly in the thick afternoon heat to the tower. The stairs were narrow inside the dark passage and Kate went first, climbing quickly.

“Wow,” she called out, “the view’s incredible.” Tiny insect-sized giraffes grazed at trees while the various colours of the desert earth and the tight acacia trees formed a patchwork blanket that spread out for miles.

“You can see our camp,” Sofie leaned over. “There is our bus! It’s a tiny, dinky thing, and there’s the swimming pool, it looks really small too; this tower is very high.”

“What a perfect place to do yoga,” Jasmine said. “We’ll fit fine.”

“There might be some overlapping,” Helen said, and she frowned. “How many of us will there be?”

Jasmine did a count. “Six, without Mia or Kate. Kate, are you sure you don’t want to do it?”

“Absolutely sure,” Kate said vigorously. “We’ve been eating up the miles like nothing else, and I’d love to do a bit of nothing.”

She did not want to admit that she had never done yoga. She realized then that her entire life had been about pleasing Cam, keeping her dead-end job, making her parents happy, and phoning Rachel. Without knowing what her future held, she knew for one thing for certain: that meagre existence was over.

She waved goodbye to the yoga girls and headed back to the camp which was still eerily quiet. She could see Betty’s form moving in the kitchen area, a shadow behind the fly screens.

Kate did some laundry, and lay down for a nap. It was stiflingly hot, and the scorching dry wind was still gusting hard. Jackals lurked everywhere and Kate could hear them nosing through the garbage cans. She found it hard to believe that she had initially thought they were cute; they were like horrible big rodent scavengers, dog-sized rats.

Kate thought that her attempt at a nap might be futile when the next thing she knew it was 6:00 p.m and her alarm was beeping. She got up, groggy and disorientated and stepped outside. The sky was crayon slashes of orange and red, vivid, nearly violent. The hot wind continued to blow forcefully and the jackals were still searching through the garbage cans.

Betty came out of the kitchen. “Dinner will be ready in two hours, everybody,” she called.

“We’ll be here,” the yoga girls yelled back. They were on their way to the tower and Kate noticed an ignored Stepfan tagging along behing them.

Kate walked down to the waterhole and was dismayed to find hordes of chattering tourists.

“This camp is such a dive,” one woman proclaimed loudly. “I’m very happy we are not staying here overnight.”

Kate felt suddenly restless and she decided to phone André. She dialled his number, her heart fluttering in her throat.

“Sunshine,” he said, picking up on the first ring, “are you in one unbruised piece? How goes life on the bus of travelling horrors?”

Kate laughed. “It’s all very zen as we speak,” she said, describing the yoga girls’ plan. “But why do people come to water holes and talk at the tops of their voices?” she asked, straining to hear him and André chuckled.

“That’s because you are with the flotsam and jetsam of the game-viewing world. Now, if you were with me, I’d have you at an exclusive lodge, with only you and me in a lookout with a nice cold gin and tonic keeping us company. We’d watch the wonders of nature far from the madding crowd.”

“What do you know about the madding crowd?” Kate was surprised.

André gave a theatrical sigh. “Ah. She thinks I’m all brawn, no brain. I can think every now and then and you know, I can even read. Yes, not only can I, but I love to. Some days I lie on the couch and do nothing but read.”

They continued to chat, and Kate was soon laughing and making as much noise as the others around her.

Up in the tower, the girls had spread out their mats and had started with warm up stretches.

“Let’s each do our own routine for a bit,” Helen suggested, “and after that, we’ll each take turns to lead. Even if we end up doing a position twice or more, that’s okay. Let’s take this slowly. We’ve been sitting for days, our muscles are tight and sore.”

The others followed her advice; bending and stretching slowly, absorbed in the quiet, high above the camp. The wild crimson and orange sky turned gold and purple and diamond rays of white light fanned out from behind the thick, dark clouds. Deep in concentration, none of them took notice when Stepfan started vying for attention.

He started to make small noises: grunts and moans. Then he lay down on Ellie’s mat.

“Stepfan,” she asked, “what are you doing? Get your own mat. Get off mine.”

“With the mats all together, there’s room,” Stepfan protested. “I hardly take up any space.”

Ellie was not happy but she moved over.

Lena threw a glance in Stepfan’s direction but he ignored her.

Some minutes later, he broke the peaceful silence. “Try this,” he said to Sofie. He was on his side, doing a pushup on one arm.

“No thanks,” Sofie replied, refusing to even look at him.

“You’re angling your body wrongly,” he told Gisela.

“She knows much more about this than you do!” Lena spoke up, despite her best intentions to not be baited by him. “Why do you always have to ruin everything? You’re such a know-it-all. And to think that for years, I really thought you did know it all. I listened to you, I believed you, I trusted you, your lies, your promises, your empty charm. Why are you here now, ruining our lovely time? You’re not welcome here! Why don’t you leave?”

“This is my holiday too,” Stepfan retorted. “I’ll do as I please. Where I please and with whom I please.”

“You already proved that.” Lena got up and went to him, her hand on her hip, one leg jutting forward. “How dare you behave like you did with Charisse? Who do you think you are to do that to me? How dare you?”

Jasmine got up and joined Lena. The light was liquid gold in the sky, the clouds burst of violet, but no one noticed the beauty.

“And,” Jasmine said quietly, “what gives you the right to judge me? You hateful, arrogant man, how dare you? You’ve judged me for my weight this entire trip, and you’ve said the most disgustingly, unforgivable things that no one in their right mind would think, never mind say.” She glared at him.

“I have something to say too,” Ellie unfolded her bony limbs. “How dare you try to take me to that gross hotel to have sex when I was drunk? What kind of disgusting man are you? You sat at dinner across from your wife and hit on me.” Ellie, in a yellow tank top and purple shorts, looked like a tall, thin angry bumblebee.

“You were asking for it,” Stepfan retorted. “If it wasn’t me you were going to have sex with that night, it would have been somebody else. You seem to have forgotten that you hit on Jono first, but he ran off like you had burnt him with a hot poker, and next thing you were on my lap. I just thought you would be more comfortable lying down on a nice hotel bed.”

“You see!” Lena cried out, “even now you lie. Even now, the thoughts you have are beyond me. What kind of man even thinks the things you do?”

“A sick, arrogant, deluded man,” Gisela came up closer, her eyes wide with anger and her nostrils flaring. “A man who needs to be taught a lesson.”

“Here comes your butch lover to rescue you, Lena,” Stepfan sneered. “Poor little Lena, always needing to be rescued by a man of some kind. You’re welcome to her,” he said to Gisela. “She’s an old burden to me, of no use any more. Besides she has no respect.”

“What did you say?” Helen joined the circle around Stepfan. He did not seem to realize he was alone, surrounded by a band of hostile and angry women.

Stepfan turned his back to them and placed his hands on the top of the tower ledge. “While all of you whine and complain,” he said, “I’m going to prove my prowess to you. Not that it needs proving. And I invite you to join me, if any of you have the courage.” He hoisted himself up onto the top of the tower’s ledge and straightened up slowly, a tightrope walker finding his balance.

“Don’t be stupid,” Lena said. “Get down, now. Only an idiot would do that. But do you think I care what you do? I don’t.”

“Come down, Stepfan,” Sofie was insistent. “It is much too dangerous up there. And the rest of you,” she turned to the women, shaking her head in disapproval, “leave him alone. Yes, he says unspeakable tings, yes, and he treats vomen very badly, there is no doubt about dat, but this is crazy. Come on,” she pleaded, “get down, Stepfan. It is beginning to get dark, this is madness, please.”

Stepfan ignored her and worked on steadying himself.

Lena stared up at him. “As far as I’m concerned, do whatever you like, we’re going back to doing our yoga,” she said.

The women returned to their mats and sat down, watching Stepfan wordlessly.

“I have had enough of this,” Sofie said, and she gathered her mat. “You are all playing with fire. I am leaving.” And with that, she scurried away, her head down, the thumping of her mat sounding upwards as it bounced on each step on the way down.

Stepfan stretched out his arms and began to walk along the top of the turret. The evening light deepened to darkness, the kodachrome sunset gone, replaced by a bruised sky that would soon turn to black.

“Look at him,” Lena said quietly. “He always does what he wants to, regardless of what I say, or what anyone else says.”

Stepfan walked across three blocks with his arms stretched out wide and his concentration fierce. “You see,” he called out, “once again I can do whatever I say. I am at one with my body, I am the master. Watch and learn.”

“You are nothing,” Lena called out and she stood up. “You are nothing!” Then shouting, she added. “Do you think I don’t know about all your affairs? I do. Every last one of them.” She had her hands on her hips, her face red with fury.

“You have no idea,” Stepfan retorted. “You think you know, but you don’t.”

“What? What now? Tell me, since we are finally having a real conversation.”

But Stepfan did not reply, focusing instead on crossing another three blocks. He frowned, his jaw set, his arms outstretched, the muscles in his body tensed and his abs showing clearly through his black mesh T-shirt. He crossed another two blocks.

“Tell me,” Lena screamed. “Tell me what it is you think I don’t know.”

She advanced on Stepfan who was studying his next step. He sensed her approach and he looked up, startled. He seemed surprised at how dark it had become and he glanced to the west in alarm.

“What are you doing?” he shouted, “I’m trying to concentrate here. You stupid bitch…”

“Tell me!”

“Your sister,” he yelled back. “Yes, even your sister! You didn’t know that, did you? Did you?”

Lena gave a savage growl and she lunged at him in fury. Instinctively, he backed away from her but he had nowhere to go. He windmilled his arms desperately, but his body weight was leaning out too far and he fell backward from the tower ledge, screaming wildly.

Lena gave a high-pitched cry and grabbed the edge of the tower wall, as if hoping she could pull him back up.

The women turned to look at one another in horror. Lena let go of the wall and sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Gisela rushed over to her, her face white with shock.

“Do you think he’s dead?” Jasmine asked. “Did he die?” She peered over the wall ledge. “I can’t see anything,” she said, and turned back to the others, pressing her hand against her mouth, her strange green eyes enormous and threatening tears. She started running towards the stairs, with Ellie close behind her when Helen blocked the doorway to the stairwell.

“We need to think for a moment,” Helen said. “Maybe he just broke a few bones, but what if he is dead?”

“It wasn’t Lena’s fault,” Gisela said, her voice shaking. She knelt down next to Lena and put her arms around her. “You all heard her. She told him not to go up there.”

Lena looked up, obviously terrified and shaking uncontrollably.

“Listen to me, all of you,” Helen said brusquely, “listen to me carefully.” And such was the force of her tone that they all turned to her, numb and silent.

“He went up there all by himself,” Helen said. “Lena told him not to and we all heard her. Nod if you are keeping up with me,” she barked at them and the women nodded.

“And then she got up to try to talk him down but he lost his balance and fell. It wasn’t anybody’s fault, least of all Lena’s. Are we all together on this?”

Gisela had her arm around Lena who stood up unsteadily. Gisela nodded. “Of course we’re together,” she said.

“Who else?” Helen glared around the group.

“Don’t worry about us,” Jasmine reassured her, “Ellie and I are together with you.”

Helen looked at Ellie. “Are you?” she asked. “Can you be relied on?”

Ellie nodded. “I don’t really care,” she said, “whatever.”

Helen slapped her face, hard. “You have to care. That’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you. You need to care because if we don’t care, if we don’t pay attention, then Lena will end up in big trouble and she doesn’t deserve that. He went up there alone while she told him not to. Ellie, you start caring now, do you hear me?”

Ellie nodded, rubbing her cheek that had turned a bright red. “You didn’t have to hit me,” she complained.

“Wrong,” Helen said, “I did. Time to go downstairs.” Her voice softened. “You all good, ladies?” she asked.

“All good,” they chorused quietly.

Jasmine swallowed hard. “I admit it. I’m afraid of what we’ll see. Don’t worry, Lena, you really didn’t do anything wrong.”

They all nodded in agreement and then, as one, they turned and filed down the stairs in silence.

By the time they reached the bottom of the tower, the women were sobbing and the security guards from the gate had gathered around Stepfan’s body.

“Haw! But are you ladies okay?” a shocked security guard asked them. “We watched this crazy man, what was he thinking, eish? Stupid tourists, they come here and think they are Bushmen or Rambo and they do such stupid things.”

“We told him not to do it,” Helen cried, “but he wouldn’t listen.”

“He would not be stopped,” Gisela said, gulping. “We tried.”

“Come now ladies, let us take you away from this terrible thing. Who is travelling with this man? Any of you? All of you?”

“We are all traveling together,” Jasmine said.

“I am his wife,” Lena managed to say, and Gisela held her tight.

“Come this way,” one of the guards said. “Let us go into the main lodge while the other guards will take care of the body. Who is your tour guide?”

“Jono Odili,” Helen said, wiping tears from her face.

“Not that it matters,” Jasmine’s voice shook, “but our mats are up there. We were doing yoga in the sunset and our mats are there and it’s dark now.”

“I will send somebody up to get them and I will get them delivered to your campsite,” the guard said, leading them through the lodge lounge and into a conference room of some kind. He closed the blinds. “I will have the cook make you some tea, you need a hot drink with sugar, wait here. I will go and find Jono.”

He disappeared. Helen shot the others a warning look, no talking. The tea arrived but the women ignored it. After what seemed like an eternity, the guard returned with Jono.

“I hear we have had an accident,” Jono said, dryly. “So let us hear how this one happened. Who wants to tell me?”

“I will,” Helen said firmly, “It was Stepfan’s idea, to walk on the top of the wall, you know what he is like, he wouldn’t listen to us…”

Jono nodded. He poured himself a cup of tea, added three sugars and stirred, listening to Helen without saying a word.

The security guards had radioed the police and they had logged in the incident. The security guards who had witnessed Stepfan walking around the top of the tower confirmed that he lost his balance and fell; there was no suspicion of foul play.

The security guards had taken Jono to Stepfan’s body and Jono stood looking down at the broken wreck of the man before covering him with a sheet.

“He will have to wait here until the hearse arrives,” the security guard had said to Jono. “Don’t worry, we have already phoned for the undertaker to come, and he will drive him to Windhoek.”

Jono nodded and then he went to meet the women in the lodge and he wondered how much of what Helen was saying was true. He felt numb with exhaustion, thinking that he was beyond caring about any of them, except for Kate and Betty.

“It must have been very upsetting for you,” he said wearily, when Helen finally finished her tale.