Tandia

by Bryce Courtenay

  Dum stopped and turned, screaming. She flung herself onto Dee's lifeless body, then rose and ran into the dense bush on the side of the path. Geldenhuis fired off three more shots, missing her. He ran up to the black girl's body; he could hear the second kaffir girl crashing through the bush. He kicked at Dee's body, knowing instantly that she was dead. 'Jou moel!' He looked into the bush where he could hear Dum. Jesus, it's just a kaffir girl! he said to himself. I must be going crazy, thinking about going after a kaffir girl. He'd worked out Peekay's ploy. As usual it was shit smart. The two women had been sent ahead as a decoy and to misdirect him. He'd fired the four shots while Peekay and Tandia were coming across the plateau and the howl of the wind had killed the sound. All he had to do was wait. It was just how he'd imagined it would be; even the dead kaffir woman. He brought his boot under the hem of Dee's dress, lifting it. He'd make Peekay die the way he'd always fantasized it. The terrorist could watch and then he'd kill her. Geldenhuis pulled Dee's body off the pathway, covering the blood on the path by kicking dust over it with his boot. There wasn't much time and he found an outcrop of rock just off the path and waited.

  Peekay and Tandia came down the path glad to be away from the wind, Tandia walking slowly but a little easier. Geldenhuis saw them coming and steadied his rifle. Peekay was in front shielding Tandia. He aimed low at his hip just as Peekay saw one of the bundles lying at the side of the pathway. Peekay turned and dived at Tandia, knocking her over into the bush beside the path just as Geldenhuis squeezed the trigger. The bullet caught Peekay high in the shoulder, just below the collarbone.

  Peekay felt no pain. He rolled off the path and leapt to his feet, grabbing Tandia's hand and pulling her. 'Up! Get up!' he screamed. Tandia somehow managed to get to her feet and they stumbled down the slope into the dense scrub, disturbing the boulders which clattered down the mountain slope in front of them.

  Somehow Peekay managed to get Tandia a hundred yards or so down the densely wooded slope. Then he stopped. They'd come to an outcrop of rock in high grass which appeared to form a small hollow to one side. He pushed Tandia into it and crept in beside her. Tandia's breathing was coming in rasps and Peekay held her to him. Then he realized that blood was dripping onto her shoulder. He put his hand up, feeling the hole in his shoulder for the first time.

  They could hear Geldenhuis crashing around some distance to their right. Peekay pushed Tandia from him. Seeing the blood, she brought her hand up over her mouth, stifling her scream. Geldenhuis was moving further away. He'd be quiet for a few moments, obviously listening for them, then they'd hear him moving again. It was impossible this high up on the slopes not to disturb loose shale and rocks as you walked.

  Peekay knew Geldenhuis would go back to the path soon, not taking the chance of getting lost. Then he would see the blood and know he'd wounded Peekay and he'd come down more carefully, following the blood spoor. 'Listen, Tandia, we don't have much time. I know a place near here; maybe a mile and a bit where I can hide. I'm going to draw Geldenhuis away, make him follow me. Don't worry, I know the country, he doesn't, he won't get me, I promise.' Peekay tried to grin; his shoulder was starting to throb badly.

  Tandia flung herself at him. 'Peekay, you're going to die! If you're going to die I want to die too!' She sobbed against his chest.

  'Tandy! Listen, you can make it!' Peekay whispered urgently. 'When Geldenhuis comes after me wait five minutes, then go back to the path. You've got five miles to go, it's mostly downhill. In two hours you'll be in Swaziland. Ask the first person you see to take you to the village of Somojo, every Swazi knows where that is.' He reached into his shirt and removed the leather strap around his neck with the tiny leather bag attached to it. It was the gold coin of Lumukanda. 'Take this, Tandy."Peekay placed it over her head so that it sat with the gold chain on which hung Juicey Fruit Mambo's gold eye-teeth. 'When you get to the village give it to one of the young women who serve Somojo. It's important, do you understand?' Tandia nodded, her eyes tearful again. Peekay took his wallet from his top pocket. 'There's money in there. When you get to the village ask for Julius Dube, he's one of our people, also a captain in Umkonto. He'll take care of the rest!'

  'I don't want to go,' Tandia pleaded.

  Peekay was suddenly angry. 'Go! You must go! Otherwise they win! You understand? Otherwise Geldenhuis and all he stands for wins!'

  Tandia nodded, sniffing, and Peekay rose. 'It will be all right, darling. Move out with me, go to the right for fifty yards, then wait quietly. He'll come after the blood, after me. When you see him pass this spot wait five minutes then move back to the path.' He kissed Tandia, holding her with his good arm. 'I love you, Tandia. You are my whole life!'

  Tandia started to weep. 'Peekay, I love you! Please, don't leave me.'

  'Tandia, you must make it! You must hang on. Whatever happens, you must get through.' Peekay smiled, 'Tandia, about last night. If you're pregnant, you know, just if? If it's a boy, will you call him just one name? Just Lumukanda.' Peekay repeated the name, 'Lumukanda, child of the morning star!' He kissed her deeply. 'Goodbye, beloved Tandia,' he said softly. Moments later they set off together. Peekay squeezed her hand and released it, Tandia moved to the right and he, making a fearful racket to hide her movement, moved downwards and to the left, away from the rock outcrop where they'd been hiding.

  Geldenhuis had done just as Peekay had thought he might. He retraced his steps to the pathway and soon he discovered the blood trail; then he heard the two of them crashing to his left in the dense bush directly below him. He followed the sound for nearly ten minutes, soon finding more blood. Whichever of the two of them he'd hit wasn't going to get too far. He knew Tandia was exhausted but that Peekay wouldn't leave her. The madness in him made him feel totally confident, a lion stalking his prey. It was better this way, he had to work for his kill. He would enjoy it the more for the effort it had taken.

  Peekay was no more than a mile and a half away from the crystal cave of Africa. As he walked he cut a length of rope from where it sat on the top of his rucksack and made a quick sling for his arm, cushioning the rope with a handful of tough mountain grass. He dabbed at the blood on his shoulder, laying the spoor for Geldenhuis until he judged he was sufficiently far from Tandia for her to get away. The men following her wouldn't reach Saddleback before nightfall, that was, if they'd been foolish enough to continue beyond the gorge. Trapped in the high mountains for the night they'd freeze to death even in midsummer.

  After an hour it was time to lose Geldenhuis. Peekay had moved around in a large circle, climbing gradually higher. Geldenhuis would never find the path again. It was half past four, he had an hour and a half before sunset. The deep kloof of rainforest he was going to was hidden in a crease of a mountain abutting Saddleback and he worked his way towards it. Geldenhuis was managing to keep on his track and he could hear him coming up behind him.

  The shrub was becoming more sparse as they climbed higher. Twice Geldenhuis caught sight of Peekay and took a shot at him. But it was almost impossible to fire up the mountain slope; his optical perspectives were out and he missed by a large margin. By now Geldenhuis realised that Peekay was on his own. But it didn't matter, it was Peekay he wanted. He laughed to himself. When the chips were down Peekay had deserted the kaffir girl, the white man in him asserting itself. Peekay's blood spoor had stopped but he could hear him and occasionally see him. His quarry was in country where it wasn't too hard to track him.

  Peekay was beginning to feel slightly nauseous from loss of blood; he was growing weaker but enough strength remained. The wound was clean; under the collarbone and out the other side, smashing a hole through the shoulder blade. His arm was getting very stiff and painful but he'd tom his sleeve, plugging the bleeding, though he could feel his back was wet, sticky with blood. Peekay came at last to the narrow gap between the two high cliffs. It was here that he hoped finally to lose Geldenhuis. It was well concealed and in the shadow of the
towering rock, a place you could pass fifty times and not see. He slipped into the darkness of the narrow opening, moving quietly. Soon he was on the other side looking down into the rainforest below. On the side opposite to him was the cliff face that contained the crystal cave. To the right of the concealed entrance to the cave the bridal veil fell, the fine white spray of water turning pink in the late afternoon sun. Below him the huge old yellowwood tree stood high above the canopy of trees, the way it had stood sentinel for six hundred years, maybe more.

  Peekay moved slowly down the slope, his bad shoulder making it difficult and painful to do so. He was sweating, the sweat cold, coming from the pain. Twice he stopped to hear if he was being followed but he heard nothing. It took him fifteen minutes to get to the floor of the forest below and he stopped briefly at the stream to drink. He was growing weak but he knew he must somehow get to the ledge beside the cave, get into the crystal cave to Doc. Peekay knew that he was losing too much blood, that by morning he'd be unconscious and too weak to climb out of the kloof. He had somehow to find the strength to climb up to the cave, to lie beside Doc. He moved through the dark cover of the trees reaching the base of the cliff. 'Please, Doc, give me the strength,' he cried softly, looking up at the rock face towering above him. 'Just one more time, give me the strength I need.'

  Peekay took off his rucksack, gingerly pulling its bloodsoaked strap off his left shoulder. His movements were slow, conserving his strength. He didn't panic; panic races the blood. He took half-a-dozen climbing spikes and the tiny hammer and fitted them into his belt. He also took the torch and attached it as well. He started up the rock face moving slowly, judging every move. His shoulder had started to bleed profusely as he demanded work from the arm; his teeth cut through his lower lip from the pain. Sometimes he was so dizzy he was forced to stand with his back to the cliff to prevent himself falling.

  Geldenhuis lost Peekay. He'd caught sight of him for a moment as they worked across a ridge but then they approached a huge towering bluff and Peekay had vanished. He knew he must be in the vicinity; beyond the huge bluff the mountain fell sheer for a thousand feet. Peekay had disappeared into the rock. It was getting late, in less than an hour it would be sunset. Night comes quickly in the mountains. He wasn't even sure if he knew his way back. But he was past caring. Nothing else mattered to him now but the kill. He was so close, he could smell the death he was going to bring about. For forty minutes he searched, passing the entrance a dozen times before seeing the blood spot and looking into the dark, narrow fissure in the cliff face. He had to slide in sideways. At first the entrance didn't appear to lead anywhere, just a huge fissure in the towering cliff and then, as his eyes grew accustomed to the softer light, he saw another drop of blood. He moved on, squeezing through the narrowest bit which wasn't much wider than his body turned sideways. Suddenly he was looking down into a kloof of rainforest. In the centre a huge tree rose above all the others; at the far end, a cliff with a waterfall to its right held the kloof in its lap. He saw where Peekay had made his descent and then more blood.

  Geldenhuis was able to follow the blood spoor down to the floor of the rainforest below. Once he reached the rainforest floor he lost it, but he kept going; moving along the stream he found another spot of blood on a rock. It was dark and still under the canopy of trees but he forced his way up the stream towards the waterfall. When he reached it he moved along the cliff face to his right, choosing it instinctively. He'd lost the blood trail but then he saw Peekay's rucksack and, looking up, he saw the blood on the cliff face above him; it was smeared over parts of the rock face where Peekay's shoulder had wiped against the rock. Geldenhuis could see clearly how to make the climb, but he would have to do so without his rifle. He placed it on the rock" and felt to make sure the knife was on his belt. He began to climb, moving as quietly as possible up the bloodstained rock.

  Peekay had finally reached the ledge. He was totally exhausted. The wound had tom further and he was bleeding profusely. He was too weak to do anything about it. He could feel the setting sun on his face as he lay there, trying to gather sufficient strength to venture onto the six-inch ledge which led to the cave entrance. He would have to wait a while and gather his strength, harvesting every little bit until he had sufficient for the last short journey, the precarious ledge, the crawl down the narrow tunnel into the bat cave and then into the crystal cave of Africa itself, where Doc lay waiting for him, his long body turning slowly into crystal, into Africa itself, the blood and the muscle and the spirit of him entering into the mystic land. He would lie with Doc, they'd be together again. If only he could find the strength. The ledge was warm and it seemed a nice place to be. He could see the dark smudge of mountains in the distance silhouetted against the red sky of a setting sun. Those mountains were in Swaziland, Tandia would be there by now. Tandia had made it.

  Peekay must have passed out, or perhaps he was dreaming, because he wakened to see a face standing above him.

  It looked like Jannie Geldenhuis. Only it wasn't. It was a Jannie Geldenhuis who had gone mad. The face above him was going to kill him. He followed the face's hand and saw the knife Gert had made for him, the death's head knife.

  He'd given it to Gideon, but now it was on the belt of the mad face of Geldenhuis. The blade drew out, sharp and beautiful, as keen to strike as death itself, the blade made into a miracle from a Dodge truck spring, deadly and cunning in Gert's brilliant hands. A spring under a Dodge truck that had gone mad and turned into a killer blade. That was funny. The knife came up and Peekay began to laugh.

  The knife Gert made to protect him from hate; he'd given it to Gideon because the hatred against him was bigger, he needed Gert's blade more to equal the odds against him.

  But he should have known, hate cannot live in a good man's hands for long, hate has to find the fingers it knows. The knife had found the hate it needed in the grip of the white policeman's madness. Now Gert's knife was going to kill Peekay. In the end hate was going to win. You had to laugh.

  He'd been wrong after all. In the end, blind ignorant hate with a knife in its hand had triumphed over love and compassion which always came open-handed. The blade came up into a high arc, beautiful against a blood-red sky.

  A shadow passed slowly over Peekay as Dum moved up the ledge behind Geldenhuis. She snarled like an animal, lifting him off his feet, her white teeth flashing as they sunk into his throat, hurling herself off the ledge with Geldenhuis pulled tightly against her body. Peekay heard him scream and then the crash of their bodies, the black and the white, as they smashed onto the rocks a hundred and fifty feet below where their blood mixed and flowed together at the base of the great altar of rock. Together since the world began, the madman and the lover.

  Peekay lay still for a long time. The moon came up, full and glorious, a bright florin of light in the African night. He'd always liked the full moon. He was back in the night country. He stood on the rock above the top waterfull ready to jump. 'You must jump now, little warrior of the king,' he heard Inkosi-Inkosikazi say.

  Peekay launched himself into the silver air. This time he seemed to float and the old witchdoctor's voice came to him again, but from a distance. 'You are wearing the skirt of the lion tail as you face into the setting sun. Now the sun has passed beyond Zululand, even past the land of the Swazi and now it leaves the Shangaan and the royal kraal of Mojaji, the rain queen, to be cooled in the great dark water beyond.

  'You can see the moon rising over Africa and you are at peace, unafraid of the great demon Skokiaan who comes to feed on the night, tearing its black flesh until at last it is finished and there is light again and the people sing softly in the morning.'

  Peekay saw the journey, the bittersweet journey from the beginning, from the soft warm black breasts that suckled him, the warm taste of milk, more than you could drink if you tried your hardest. He heard the click of the train wheels carrying him to the east, a small child frightened as a butterfly. S
mall can beat big, you must remember only one thing, little boetie, first with the head and then with the heart. It was Hoppie's voice coming to him as he flew higher and higher…Grandpa Chook, Geel Piet, Dance, klein baas, that way they think you not hurt. Captain Smit, E. W., Hymie, who would love him now? Beautiful Hymie…

  Such a fortunate life…Peekay rose higher and higher, floating on the silver night above Africa. He passed over a village, a high mountain village where the yellow moon clung to the peaks and the bluffs. Below him in a tiny mound of scarlet cashmere Somojo sat, his grizzled head clear in the firelight. He was in a trance. 'A woman has come into the village, Somojo, a woman of no tribe,' one of the princesses said quietly. 'She gave me this and told me she must bring it to you.' Somojo's tiny hand, bony as an ancient monkey's claw, rose from the scarlet blanket and she placed the leather pouch within it. 'You are wrong, my child,' the old, old man moaned softly. The mother of the morning star belongs to every tribe. Lumukanda is back with us.'