Nature of the Lion

by T. M. Clark

  ‘I know,’ said a voice from behind them. ‘That’s why I followed you here and have been eavesdropping, just outside the stable, but I can’t do that anymore. I need to tell you, Chloe, I’m not planning on going anywhere. I couldn’t leave you.’

  Nick was already coming through the stable door and met her halfway as she jumped up, dislodging Sparta from her lap in her attempt to get to him.

  He hugged her tightly.

  ‘I love you,’ Chloe said.

  ‘I know. You’ve shown me that a million times with the way you are towards me, but I could never form the words for you, and I was a chickenshit and scared,’ Nick admitted.

  ‘That doesn’t matter, I can wait. What matters is that you’re not leaving,’ she said, hugging him again.

  ‘Right, I am out of here. You two have a lot to talk about,’ Enoch said as he walked away and closed the stable door behind him.

  They hugged for a time, with no words between them. Chloe reached up and touched Nick’s face.

  Nick smiled. ‘Come on, sit, there is much to say.’

  They sat close together in the straw, with their backs against the wall, holding hands. ‘You’re not the reason I was resisting staying,’ Nick admitted. ‘Mostly, it was the problem of the gold.’

  ‘You wanted to leave me because of the gold? That’s unfair, that’s not something I had control over.’

  He nodded. ‘I realised that just because I don’t believe that you should touch the gold—and because I made it my mission to turn my back on it and everything that it represented—you are entitled to just as much of an opinion as to what you do with it, given that it’s your mother’s and father’s blood on that gold.’

  Chloe frowned.

  ‘You are not your father, you were not the one who plotted and committed the offence of taking the gold. Now that I know and understand his love for your mother, and I know what the gold stood for, I’m beginning to look at it a little differently, too …’ he hesitated. ‘I thought that I needed time to process everything alone, away from us. I was wrong. I was the one who believed all these years that if I had taken up arms again that day and helped with the robbery, that the outcome might have been different. Being told the reasoning behind why Mike and Enoch were going after it, and that they never meant to keep it, but blackmail the mine into admitting their liability, changed things. They never told me that part years ago. It lifted some of the burden, but not all of it. I was still involved, even if not physically, in taking that gold. I always believed that I was as guilty as both of them because I was the plan B for you and Xo if things went south. Then to top it all, I fell in love with you. I had this stupid idea in my head that I had to go away from you to ensure that it was you I loved. Not the idea that at least I could help you, I could play a part in your life, not be simply a plan B that your father once intended for me. But when you were threatened by the Caçador Escuro, and it was life and death, I would have chosen death rather than live without you, and that scared me more than ever.’

  ‘Oh my God, and Enoch thinks I’m the stubborn one,’ Chloe said. She moved and sat on Nick’s outstretched legs, facing him and took both his hands in hers, holding them close to her chest.

  They sat eye to eye.

  Nick said, ‘I don’t know if I could’ve handled seeing you dig that gold up, even if you plan on using it to help others, because of what it represented before. Now, I’m not so sure what I feel, but I know that I don’t want this hanging between us, keeping us apart. And then there is another issue.’

  Chloe dropped her head. ‘What else?’

  ‘Your dad, he was heroic. Even in the end, he sacrificed himself for you, and I like to believe for us. I would like to believe that in those last moments when he did what he did, it was not only to save you, but to save the family that was there in the lounge together.

  ‘My dad was a class A shit. He beat my mum, he was a drunk and he beat me, too. When he left, it was the best thing that ever happened to my mum and me. You are young, you will want kids. What if I’m like that deep inside me? What if I am just as bad as he was, and it all comes out only after we are together, or worse, when there is a kid screaming in the night and I’m trying to sleep, and I hurt it, what then? What if, like Mike and Enoch, I don’t trust enough and I keep secrets that hurt the people I love, who I didn’t intend to hurt?’

  ‘Listen to me, you are not your father. You are not my father and you are not Enoch. You are your own person. Just because these things happened to you, doesn’t mean you will be like your father. Just because Mike and Enoch kept secrets from you and me, doesn’t mean we will be like them. We are our own people. We make our own decisions, and we learn from the consequences of those decisions. We’ll be fine, together, you and I. We will learn to talk to each other about things. We won’t have these mammoth secrets.’

  ‘I wish I was as sure as you, just make a decision and go with it,’ he admitted.

  ‘Not always. And as for the gold, if it staying buried means so much to you, then we leave it there. I don’t need to dig it up.’

  ‘That’s a lot of money to leave buried.’

  Chloe smiled. ‘You need to believe in me when I say that gold stash is not going to change me. I have our family bank accounts, and there is plenty in those for us to restore Delaware to its former glory.’

  ‘What are you saying?’ Nick asked.

  ‘I have enough money to pretty much do whatever I want to do, without digging up that gold. It can stay in the ground if that’s what will help your conscience.’

  ‘Are you serious? You are going to just leave it there because I ask you to? Because I’m not comfortable with it?’

  ‘Yes, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Why would I access something that will cause you anguish? We have both had enough of that.’

  ‘What? How? What type of wealth do you have to be able to afford to do that?’ Nick spluttered.

  ‘It’s old family money. I wasn’t sure how to process all this info that I was given and I’m still working through a lot of it. I didn’t want to tell you because I still didn’t know if you loved me for who I am. But apparently, my great-great-grandfather was in shipping and loved Africa. I only learned about it all last week when I was with the lawyers for my father’s will.’

  ‘You’re a constant source of surprise; I’m so glad that I told you I loved you before you told me that.’

  ‘You can’t take it back, you said it,’ Chloe said.

  ‘I’m not taking anything back. I’m in love with you. Not your money.’ He put his palm under her chin, then cupped her cheek tenderly.

  Chloe reached out and touched Nick’s face. While it looked tired, now it was at ease, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and he was now free.

  ‘I love you. I always have. I don’t want to waste another day of our lives.’ Nick leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, softly at first, but then the burn of desire that had been simmering between them ignited, and she could feel the exact same response from Nick’s body as he increased the pressure and urgency of the kiss.

  She knew that while they were both really stubborn, they were in for an interesting life.

  Together.

  CHAPTER

  40

  Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

  Zimbabwe was a country of contradictions. While the not-so-new president tried to hoodwink the world that he wasn’t creating a one-party Marxist/Leninist-like state, and that his country wasn’t already starting its slide into an economic crisis caused by these socialistic reforms, the older colonial world still had influence on the surface to create a bubble of illusion, with its infrastructure of roads, railways, telephones and electricity already in place. An almost self-sufficient economy boosted by industries and mines, and international business investments. But Zimbabwe also had the ability to feed itself and export surpluses because of its mainly white commercial farmers. The country appeared to still be transitioning into its supposed multi-racial soci
ety that the same president was promoting, but at the same time, thunderclouds rumbled in the distance with their president’s anti-American sentiments becoming bolder and more frequent.

  Kupua watched a great example of this infrastructure now through her binoculars while she sat on the roof of Meikle’s store, right next door to which was the beautiful Bulawayo Police Station, with its stunning architecture of sizeable sandstone blocks and large windows. She looked down into the inner courtyard.

  Despite knowing that Douglas hadn’t spilled any information about the 6th in his interview at Beitbridge, everything he had done still didn’t make sense to her.

  The report from the police made no sense either. Looking at the layout of the building from the outside, anyone could see that they had lied and were covering something up.

  There was no way that Douglas had escaped them in Bulawayo Police Station, unless he had walked out the front door. He had to have got out of their custody between Beitbridge and Bulawayo to have got to the family in Mazunga, and the fact that he had a police van with him at the time of the attack proved that. Only there was nothing in their report about the stolen vehicle, that was information she had gained independently.

  There had been nothing in their reports about the two dead policemen either.

  Africa was proving to be a provocative continent, the people full of secrets and deceptions, lies and conspiracies committed by many, and ignored by others, as a thin veil of decency was hung over everything, making it all appear more civil than it actually was.

  * * *

  Bern, Switzerland

  Kupua stood in front of the chairperson. ‘I do not believe that there is any problem left in Africa.’

  ‘You certain?’ the chairperson said, looking up from the report on her desk.

  ‘There was nothing to clean up. He imploded.’

  ‘And the family that he attacked?’ the chairperson asked.

  ‘As far as they are concerned, he’s dead and gone, and they can continue their lives,’ Kupua said. ‘This family were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Hunter #4 lost control. It cost him his life and that of one of our members.’

  * * *

  The elders were seated on the velvet-cushioned chairs, and the meeting had been going on for a while. The purple-robed woman, Kupua, had seated everyone around the table, then ghosted out as always, her footsteps hardly audible on the plush carpet before the meeting started.

  The hunters all looked at the empty chair where #4 usually sat.

  ‘Lastly,’ the chairperson at the head of the table said, ‘we’ve had cause to believe that Hunter #4 at no time jeopardised our organisation. His client was killed in a terrorist attack, and later, Hunter #4 was killed in a different assault. Our rules are ancient, and they protect everyone within the society.’

  There was silence around the table.

  ‘We would like to introduce to you, our new Hunter #4 …’

  GLOSSARY

  ag shame:

  ag is a filler word like ‘um’; shame is to express pity or sympathy; general slang term in Southern Africa.

  baas:

  boss; Afrikaans, but used as a general term in Southern Africa.

  bakkie:

  truck/ute; Afrikaans, but used as a general term in Southern Africa.

  beheer:

  control; Afrikaans.

  bliksem:

  hit; Afrikaans.

  Boerestaat:

  a farmer’s state; Afrikaans.

  boet:

  brother; Afrikaans.

  Caçador Escuro:

  Dark Hunter; Portuguese.

  Camino Doroda:

  the Golden Road to Johannesburg; Portuguese.

  capulana:

  a fabric ‘sarong’ used as clothing by both men and women in Mozambique; Portuguese.

  curandeiros:

  spirit healer in Mozambique using both mixture of rituals of sortilege and religion; Portuguese.

  deurlopers:

  illegal migrants who come through the bush into South Africa; Afrikaans.

  domkop:

  idiot; Afrikaans.

  donsa:

  draw/drag/pull/haul; Ndebele.

  doos:

  a really derogatory Afrikaans term for ‘idiot’; also used instead of the ‘c’ word for a female genital.

  eina:

  ouch; Afrikaans, but now generally accepted Southern African slang.

  eish (pronounced Eye-Sh or Eh-eesh):

  surprise/awe/shock/exasperation/excitement/resignation; generally accepted Southern African slang (derived from Xhosa originally).

  Ek is jammer:

  I am sorry; Afrikaans.

  flatdog:

  a crocodile; Southern African slang.

  gatvol

  full to the brim (literally gut full); Afrikaans,

  (pronounced gaaat-fall):

  but now generally accepted South African slang.

  guete morge:

  good morning; Swiss-German.

  gwaza:

  spear, stab; Ndebele.

  hamba kahle:

  go well/goodbye (said by the person staying behind); Ndebele.

  haw:

  an expression of disbelief; general South African slang.

  idlozi-ibhiza:

  spirit/soul horse (person who can communicate with a horse’s spirit); Ndebele.

  ifela:

  died a natural death; Ndebele.

  in the drink:

  in the water.

  inja:

  dog; Zulu, used generally in Southern Africa.

  inkukhu:

  chicken/poultry; Ndebele.

  Inthunzi Zingela:

  Shadow Hunter; Zulu/Ndebele.

  izzit:

  really, is that so; generally accepted South African slang.

  ja:

  yes; Afrikaans.

  jammer:

  sorry; Afrikaans.

  jislaaik:

  exclamation, usually for something unbelievable; Afrikaans, but generally accepted South African.

  jol: Jy krap met ń kort stokkie aan ń groot leeu se bal:

  party; generally accepted South African slang. you are scratching a big lion’s bollocks with a short stick; Afrikaans saying.

  kaal-necked chicken:

  A chicken with no feathers on its neck. Kaal—meaning bare, naked or nude in Afrikaans.

  kaffir:

  The term kaffir has now evolved into an offensive term for black people. But it was previously a neutral term for black people in Southern Africa. Also was used in the term of a nonbeliever—referring to the black people not being of Christian upbringing. In this instance when I use it in my book, it is offensive.

  kakulu:

  very much, a lot; Ndebele.

  knobkierie:

  an African club. These are typically made from wood with a large knob (wood knot) at one end and a long stick protruding from that. They can be used for fighting (smashing someone’s head) or throwing at animals during hunting. Ideal size to also be used as a walking stick; Afrikaans.

  kopje:

  a small hill rising up from the African veld; Afrikaans—accepted as general by all.

  kraal:

  an area where animals are kept, usually found inside an African village/settlement and usually circular with barricades and the stock inside. Can also refer to an African cluster of huts; Afrikaans, but generally accepted Southern African terminology.

  Kupua:

  a trickster in Hawaiian folk stories, often demigods who possess shape-shifting abilities.

  lekker:

  good, nice; Afrikaans—accepted as general by all.

  lindani:

  watch over/keep watch; Ndebele.

  linjani:

  how are you? Ndebele.

  lobola:

  an African tradition of an arranged payment between a groom and the bride’s family, in exchange for their daughter. Can be paid in cattle or cash, and the higher the lobola, the g
reater value the bride is held in the groom’s eyes. This payment is the groom’s way of thanking the parents for raising a good daughter. It is still applicable to many South African traditional weddings; Zulu.

  maak ’n plan:

  Whole saying is: ‘ ’N boer maak ’n plan’—which literally translated means ‘the farmer makes a plan’. Farmers are known to be resilient and just find another way to do things, no matter what. Adapted from Afrikaans saying.

  Maria (pronounced Mariah):

  a mythical wind from the musical Paint Your Wagon.

  Matopos Hills or Matobo hills:

  Bald Heads—granite hills in the area outside or Matobo hills: of Bulawayo; Ndebele.

  maywe:

  oh no/oh my goodness/oh dear; slang, accepted in general Southern African population.

  mbulala:

  killer; Ndebele.

  melktert:

  milk tart containing boiled milk, egg and flour, usually dusted with cinnamon; Afrikaans.

  nenga:

  offend/nauseate/disgust; Ndebele.

  ngiyabonga:

  I am thankful/thank you; Ndebele.

  nguni:

  cattle; Zulu/Ndebele.

  ngxama:

  be very angry; Ndebele.

  nkhunsi:

  African milky eagle-owl (scientific name: Bubo Lacteus); Zulu; viewed by the Shangaan as being a messenger of death, sent by an evil person. It is believed that the only way to stop/reverse the death spell is to catch the owl and cut off its head. This would then cause either the person who sent it, or their family member’s death instead; Shangaan folklore.