Vultures in the Wind
Page 55
Even the earl of Lothianmore and his countess were there. Perhaps more than any other of his visitors, Matt had wanted Charles to come. Matt had always prided himself on his ability to judge character, but he had to admit that he had failed badly in this respect with Charles Farquhar. Yet, in the end, it was surely Charles who had saved his life during his incarceration in Pretoria. Charles had shown drive and initiative that Matt had never dreamed dwelt in the man. Now Matt had the chance to put the record straight, as far as he was concerned, and he gave his cousin and his wife a right royal welcome, fully prepared to apologise for his misjudgement of the past.
Charles, however, would have none of it. He was no longer as eccentric as in the past, having settled down to as normal a married life as could be hoped for in the circumstances. Now that he was a genuine earl with a genuine castle, his unusual airs and graces had diminished rather than increased, and he was affable without causing ridicule or offence. He seemed so genuinely pleased to be back at the colony and so delighted to meet all his old acquaintances again that they gradually warmed to him and accepted him as if he were one of their own.
Lorna sidled up to Matt and put her hand on his shoulder. “Peace, my giant, peace,” she whispered, and she was not talking about their daughter now. “Are you happy?”
Briefly she regretted her question, as a shaft of pain flickered momentarily over Matt’s face, and she knew he was thinking of Luke. Then he looked down at her and smiled. “For now,” he responded. “For now.” And that was all he would permit himself. He had seen too much, suffered too much. He knew the avaricious nature of man too well to have faith in the future. Live for the present – that was all he could do. And this night he had all that he had valued most in the world.
Lorna smiled back and slipped away from him, away from the crowd for a moment. She still found it hard to believe that, despite the storm clouds that had enveloped the land, increasingly ominous as the years went by, they were able to live in peace now and even hope for the future, a future that perhaps would last to the end of their lives. Matt would never admit it, but even now he must be hoping the same.
Lorna looked up at the star-spangled heavens; the three layers of stars rising it seemed to eternity. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for the miracle – and our hope.” Hope. That was the key to their lives. Without hope, life was nothing.
A little gust of wind enveloped her for a moment. It was cold, a foretaste of the coming brief winter of the Wild Coast. Winter was coming – but, for South Africa, was there summer on the way?
She hugged herself tightly, and then gasped at the impertinence of her own thoughts. She had a sudden feeling that, after all those years, she was pregnant again. She was sure of it. Matt, in his sixties, would be a father once more! And this one, she felt, this one would be a daughter.
She would call her Hope, Peace and Hope. Matt, softly cynical when he was alone with her, might demur at first. But she would have her way with him, she was sure of that. “Thank you,” she whispered again. There was hope for the future, hope for their lives together and hope for South Africa. The vultures need not win.
Epilogue
* * *
Matthew Gray lived in his rondavel to the age of ninety-four, outliving Lorna by six weeks. After his death, the chest in which he had placed his writings was opened to find a two thousand page manuscript entitled:
The Tyranny of Democracy: the Decline and Fall of Western Civilisation
It was never published.
Dear Reader
* * *
Reviews are the most powerful tools in our kitty when it comes to getting attention for Peter’s books. This is where you can come in, as by providing an honest review you will help bring them to the attention of other readers.
If you enjoyed reading Vultures in the Wind, and have five minutes to spare, we would really appreciate a review (it can be as short as you like). Your help in spreading the word and keeping Peter’s work alive is gratefully received.
You can jump right to the page by clicking here.
Thank you so much.
Heather Stretch (Peter’s daughter)
PS. We look forward to you joining Peter’s growing band of avid readers.
* * *
Principal Characters
* * *
Aldo Calucci — An Italian; hunter and safari operator
Anita Hylan — Swedish anti-apartheid activist
Antonio Van Perreira Dos Santos Cassero — Cuban air force pilot and revolutionary, of mixed parentage
Archie Fletcher-Wood — Fast-living friend of Matt’s
Ben Munroe — An American; reporter for Newsweek
Bernard Strover — Art fancier, employed by Security Life
Charles Farquhar 12th Earl of Lothianmore — Distant cousin of Matt’s on his mother’s side
Chelsea de La Cruz — A beauty of mixed ancestry who becomes Luke Mbeki’s wife
David Todd — Head and founder of Security Life Insurance Company
Desmond Donelly — Former pop star who joins the anti-apartheid cause
Duncan Grenville Fox — Art Dealer
Frikkie Swart — South African civil servant who rises through the ranks
Gilly Bowles — Journalist and girlfriend of Hector Fortescue-Smythe
Hector Fortescue-Smyth — Descendant of a rich English inventor and manufacturer, and an active communist
Helena Kloss— Promiscuous daughter of a South African government minister
Isalin Gray — Matt’s mother; an artist
Isidore Socrates Salvadori (Jack Kemp) — Art Dealer
Jonathan Holland — Son of the founder of Threadneedle Insurance Company in England
Lorna Gray — Matt’s wife, of Jewish parentage
Lucky Kuchinski — A Pole; another of Matt’s fast-living friends
Luke Mbeki — Matt’s ‘twin’, born on the same day at Port St Johns, Transkei
Martin; Melissa; Barbara (Baba); Carel van Tonder; Sophia van Hoek — Member of the artists’ colony at Port St Johns
Mashinga — Aldo Calucci’s assistant
Matthew Gray — The central character; South African-born businessman
Oliver Gore — An inveterate snob, and workmate of Matt’s in London
Peace Gray — Matt’s daughter
Poppy (Sunny) Tupper — From the East End of London; Matt’s secretary
Raleen Urbach — Widow of a farmer murdered in the Rhodesian war
Reverend Andrew Porterstone — An atheistic church minister who is an active communist supporter
Robert Gray — Matt’s father and former forester
Sandy De Freitas — Matt’s first girlfriend
Sipho Mbeki and John De La Cruz — Sons of Luke Mbeki
Teddie Botha — Grandson of David Todd and his successor in Security Holdings
The Minstrel Boy (Wilhelm Marais) — Member of the artists’ colony at Port St Johns
Tilda Blaze — Johannesburg socialite who becomes Teddie Botha’s wife
Glossary
* * *
Baas — Boss
Bakkie — Small to medium size truck
Bittereinder — Afrikaans term referred to the Boers of South Africa who fought in the Boer War
Boma — A safe enclosure (livestock enclosure, stockade or kind of fort)
Braai — Barbeque
Chopper — Helicopter
Dagga — Cannabis
Dassies — Rock hyrax (rock rabbit)
Featherman — A hawker or tradesman dealing in plumes or feathers
Frelimo — Mozambique Liberation Front
Gook — Terrorist
Goy — A non-Jewish person
Impi — Zulu word for any armed body of men
Inkatha — Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) political party – Inkatha meaning "crown" in Zulu
Jawling — Having a party / free time
Kaffir — An insulting and contemptuous term for a black African
Kopje — Small hill
Makori — African Canoe
Mealie meal — Ground maize
Muti — Medicine
Nats — People who supported the National Party (Afrikaans)
Oupa — Afrikaans word for Grandfather
Panga — Machete
Pap — Traditional porridge / polenta made from mealie-meal (ground maize)
Pot — Cannabis
Rand — South African currency
Renamo — The Mozambican National Resistance
Rondavel — Hut / House
Shabeens — African drinking house (pub)
Simbi — A gong
Stoep — Veranda
Veldskoens — Bush shoes
Very light — White or coloured balls of fire projected from a special pistol
Volk — Afrikaans word for people
Acronyms
* * *
AAM — Anti-Apartheid Movement
ANC — African National Congress
BCom — Bachelor of Commerce Degree offered in the Commonwealth nations
D&C — Dilatation And Curettage - gynaecological procedure
PAC — Pan Africanist Congress
SACP — South African Communist Party
SWAPO — South West Africa People's Organisation
TUC — Trades Union Congress
UNITA — National Union for the Total Independence of Angola
WASP — White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, a sometimes derogatory term used to describe American and English people of Protestant descent who control unequal social and financial power
ZANLA — Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army
ZAPU — Zimbabwe African People's Union
ZIPRA — Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army
About Peter Rimmer
* * *
Peter Rimmer was born in London, England, and grew up in the south of the city where he went to school. After the Second World War, and aged eighteen, he joined the Royal Air Force, reaching the rank of Pilot Officer before he was nineteen. At the end of his National Service, he sailed for Africa to grow tobacco in what was then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
The years went by and Peter found himself in Johannesburg where he established an insurance brokering company. Over 2% of the companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange were clients of Rimmer Associates. He opened branches in the United States of America, Australia and Hong Kong and travelled extensively between them.
Having lived a reclusive life on his beloved smallholding in Knysna, South Africa, for over 25 years, Peter passed away in July 2018. He has left an enormous legacy of unpublished work for his family to release over the coming years, and not only them but also his readers from around the world will sorely miss him. Peter Rimmer was 81 years old.
Also by Peter Rimmer
* * *
Cry of the Fish Eagle
Vultures in the Wind
Bend with the Wind
Just the Memory of Love
Second Beach (Novella)
The African Trilogy Box Set (3 Standalones - Cry of the Fish Eagle, Vultures in the Wind, Just the Memory of Love)
* * *
THE BRIGANDSHAW CHRONICLES
(The Rise and Fall of the Anglo Saxon Empire)
Echoes from the Past (Book 1)
Elephant Walk (Book 2)
Mad Dogs and Englishmen (Book 3)
To the Manor Born (Book 4)
On the Brink of Tears (Book 5)
Treason If You Lose (Book 6)
Horns of Dilemma (Book 7)
The Brigandshaw Chronicles Box Set (Books 1-3)
The Brigandshaw Chronicles Box Set (Books 4-6)
VULTURES IN THE WIND
Copyright © Peter Rimmer 1996
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters, long-standing establishments, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by
KAMBA PUBLISHING, United Kingdom
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Kamba Publishing at books@peterrimmer.com.