They are Coming

Chapter 9

37 Chapter 9 At sunrise the following morning, Thenjiwe had left for Wildberg Ranch. Sukolohle and Nomvelo had escorted her half the way, following a narrow track that ribboned through the countryside. It had been the onset of spring, and the countryside was luminous with the tender green of fresh leaves, and with them a hint of the first rains to follow. The two younger sisters took turns to help Thenjiwe carry the suitcase that held her few clothes. It was half a day’s journey by foot to the ranch, and two hours after they’d started, the three sisters stopped beside a clump of bushes; it was time for Sukoluhle and Nomvelo to turn back home. ‘I still feel you shouldn’t have agreed to work at the ranch, Thenjiwe,’ Sukoluhle said. ‘You’ll be caught right inside that horrible man’s trap.’ ‘We know he’s going on vacation for three months,’ Thenjiwe replied, ‘and so I have a grace period. When he returns, I’ll be careful, and if things are not good, I will come back home. Maybe father will have had second thoughts by then.’ ‘But are you sure he’s on vacation?’ Nomvelo asked. ‘We don’t trust him, and maybe he was lying, and he and father are conspiring against you.’ ‘I hadn’t thought of that, but let me get to the ranch first and see how things stand. I will take it from there. I have no other choice. If I were to run away from home, where would I go?’ ‘Mbambo is too old for you, Thenjiwe,’ Sukoluhle said fiercely, as she gave her sister a goodbye hug. ‘You need a handsome young man as a husband.’ ‘Find one for me, dear Sukoluhle, and I will be the happiest woman in the village.’ Hearing a slight rustle, Thenjiwe turned, then grabbed both 38 her sisters by the shoulders and pushed them to the ground. ‘Down!’ Instantly, they crouched behind a bush. Sukoluhle and Nomvelo were looking at Thenjiwe, their eyes wide with alarm. The older girl placed a finger across her lips, and pointed. A man appeared from the bushes on the other side of the track. He was dressed in a khaki combat jacket and cap, and carried a rifle. He crossed the track in one stride and was gone, heading north-west. ‘ZIPRA,’ Nomvelo whispered. The sisters straightened up, and then immediately crouched down again. Another man was crossing the track. He wore rice camouflage and a black beret with large sunglasses covering his eyes. He too was carrying a rifle, and a piece of black cloth was wound around his right wrist. After a short lull, a group of men appeared, walking in single file. Almost all of them were dressed in half-military, half-civilian clothes. They all carried guns, backpacks, and had bullet belts across their bodies. The girls waited silently, their hearts beating loudly. At last, Thenjiwe stood up, and her sisters followed suit. ‘You’d better hurry home as fast as you can.’ She put the suitcase on her head. ‘Be careful, won’t you?’ ‘We’ll write to you,’ her sisters promised. ‘And please come and visit us on your off-duty days,’ Nomvelo said. ‘If I hear of anybody coming your way, I will write too,’ Thenjiwe promised . ‘And, yes, I promise to visit when I get time.’ Thenjiwe set off. She let her mind float as her feet trod rhythmically along the path. After she had covered a good distance, the track widened, an indication that she was not far from the ranch. It was now midday. A short while later she came to a wooden stile over a barbed-wire fence and climbed over it. She was now within the ranch grounds, but the house wasn’t visible; she thought it was about half-an-hour’s walk away. Continuing, she noticed a patch of tall elephant grass to the side of the track, the kind that village women sometimes walked a long way to collect, because it made good thatching and could be used for weaving mats and baskets; although on the ranch they would have to ask for permission first, or risk arrest. She was startled from her reverie when the elephant grass suddenly swayed; but there was no wind – surely, she thought, not more guerrillas. She was preparing to duck when she heard a loud snort, and a buffalo shot out of the grass and...