Someone Wishes to Speak to You

by Jeremy Mallinson

  ‘I’m sorry to hear that, Chief Chidzikwee. It’s a worrying situation.’

  ‘It is indeed . . . And because it’s getting worse, I think it’s important that we should keep in touch with each other through Edgar. Should ZANLA freedom fighters become active in the Vumba region, I will ask Edgar to keep a close eye on your safety at Castle Beacon.’ Chief Chidzikwee’s final gesture of farewell was to grasp Mathew’s hand in his vice-like grip and to say, ‘If there’s anything I can do to help you in the future, you have only to ask.’

  On leaving the village, Edgar’s face was a picture of happiness. ‘My father is very much impressed by meeting you. He thanked me for giving him the opportunity to meet you – a genuinely honest, courteous and nice Englishman.’

  ‘And I’d like to thank you,’ replied Mathew, ‘for the opportunity to meet your father. He’s a very important man, and I know very few visitors would get the chance to talk to him face to face. It’s a great honour.’

  ‘He said that now he has had the chance to talk to you in private, he is confident that your presence here is totally connected with your academic studies, for one of his informers had warned him that you could be here to carry out subversive activities on behalf of Rhodesia’s security forces. And . . .’ added Edgar rather sheepishly, ‘he’s made me promise that during these troublesome times, I must keep a watchful eye on the future safety and welfare of his new and first-ever European friend.’

  Just before leaving the TTL of Mutasa North, Edgar requested Mathew to stop at a small gathering of thatch-plumed dwellings in order to introduce him to a cousin of his, the village headman, Gabriel Nkulu. Gabriel welcomed them into his quite spacious, windowless rondavel, and almost immediately presented them with two steaming mugs of over-sweetened local black coffee and a bowl of home-made sadza, a mixture of mealie and pumpkin. Mathew found the rondavel similar to those of the Pygmy trackers that he had visited near to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. It was built from the mud of anthills, the floor made by mixing cowpats with water, which sets as smooth and as solid as concrete. In the centre of the floor was a round hearth with a charcoal fire, its smoke managing to gradually find its way through the dried-elephant grass thatched roof. Edgar acted as translator so that the others could converse, discussing Mathew’s studies and Gabriel’s duties as headman of the village.

  Later, as they drove away from Mutasa North, the shadows of the eucalyptus trees fell across the corrugated brown earthen roadway, which had started to turn crimson as the sun sank on the horizon. Just as they regained the tarmac road leading into Umtali, Mathew experienced his first road block, manned by a European BSAP Superintendent and two African police officers. Although the Superintendent was polite in asking Mathew for his identity papers, he noticed the brusque tone that one of the African officers used in dealing with Edgar. He was surprised by the extra interest the police showed when Mathew told the Superintendent that they had just been visiting Edgar’s father, Chief Chidzikwee, but before long they were permitted to continue on their way.

  During Mathew’s first eighteen months in the country, as he was almost totally absorbed in his observations of the Stairs’ and vervet monkey family groups, he had only visited Salisbury occasionally. His first return to the capital was to give his promised talk at the symposium called ‘Our Endangered Environment’, about his field studies of the eastern lowland gorillas.

  As the symposium had been organised by the Zoology Department of the University of Rhodesia, Mathew was concerned about the nature of some of the questions that he might receive after having presented his paper. Instead of being directed at some of the academic aspects of his behavioural studies, the majority related to what he considered the relationship was between the indigenous African populations and the European; in particular those who had lived in the Belgian Congo prior to its independence, and who had experienced some of the massacres that had taken place in the early 1960s in the Kivu province.

  However, Mathew found the majority of the three-day symposium to have been a great success, as some of the presentations provided him with a much better understanding of the pressures to which Rhodesia’s wildlife was currently being subjected. In particular, the slaughter of endangered species, like the black rhinoceros suffering from the increased presence of terrorist insurgents in the Zambezi Valley and within the protected areas of the country’s national parks. He had also been able to make a number of additional useful contacts as some of the meetings had not only had been attended by the Willocks (with whom he was staying), Michael Lamb, Addie, Simon and Anna Vaughan-Jones and some of Simon’s Victoria Museum staff, but also by a cross-section of university students, national park staff, conservationists, veterinarians, academics, politicians (Europeans), environ mentalists, and even by two of the Arcturus farmers, John and Juliet Stobart, whom he had previously met with the Kinlochs at the Leopard Rock Hotel.

  During the majority of Mathew’s subsequent visits to Salisbury he accepted the hospitality of the Vaughan-Jones, whose home was in the attractive upmarket estate in the Gunhill district of Salisbury. The three of them shared so many common interests in natural history, in particular their respective studies in primate social behaviour, that they became close friends. Anna was delighted to compare data between Mathew’s field observations on his habituated vervet family of approximately twenty-five individuals at Castle Beacon, with the smaller family group that she was studying in a semi-naturalistic environment within the grounds of the museum.

  As a result of their friendship, Simon and Anna visited his Castle Beacon site on several occasions and were enthralled by the way Stairs’ and vervet monkeys interacted with each other while foraging in the same trees. They were fascinated to observe the way the vervets managed to extract the gum of acacia trees by tearing at the bark with their canines, and how they appeared to be rather inept at catching and handling insects. As Anna had been working on the way her captive vervet monkey colony communicated with each other, she had been particularly interested to see the way the troops of vervets in their wild state always appeared to have ‘lookouts’ stationed around them, in order to warn the rest of troop should any danger present itself.

  During one of Simon and Anna’s initial visits to the Vumba, the benefits of such a precautionary regime had been perfectly demonstrated. When one of the vervet sentinels saw a python slithering through the long grass of a clearing where they had been foraging, it had immediately stood up on its hind feet and screeched an alarm call before quickly following the rest of the troop to the safety of the nearby trees. On another occasion, when the monkeys were feeding on berries in the forest canopy, they saw a tawny eagle swoop down in an attempt to pluck a juvenile vervet from the end of a branch. One of the sentinels immediately used a different alarm call to the one that had been used for the python; as soon as the group heard this, they withdrew to the thicker foliage of the canopy, into which the tawny eagle would find it more difficult to swoop. If it had tried, it would have risked damaging its wings. Anna was particularly thrilled to witness both of these as she had been able to record both of the alarm calls.

  During Mathew’s second stay with the Vaughan-Jones, they organised a braai (barbecue) in the grounds of the museum. ‘Mathew, you must meet Jan,’ said Anna, enjoying her role as the attentive hostess, introducing her guests. ‘She lives near us on the Gunhill estate and she’s one of my closest friends.’

  Mathew was immediately struck by the loveliness of the woman that Anna was steering him towards. She was tall and willowy, with long, slender legs and the elegant frame of an athlete. As Jan turned towards Mathew, he saw the beauty of her fine cheekbones, framed by a soft curtain of blonde hair. ‘Jan, this is Mathew,’ smiled Anna. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you,’ said Mathew rather formally, reaching out to shake her hand. He felt suddenly gauche, his usual self-confidence abandoning him momentarily as he was quite literally left speechless by the beauty of the woman standing in front of him. Anna had to rush off almo
st immediately to attend to some other guests, leaving Jan and Mathew to talk. Although the exchange was rather stilted to begin with, the ice soon broke and they were deep in conversation.

  During the course of the evening, Mathew spent as much time in Jan’s company as possible. He had plenty of time to observe her gentle eyes and beautiful soft hair, which blended so aptly with her rather shy disposition. Mathew recognised in her the kind of delectable innocence that he first saw in Antonia. The more he talked to Jan and studied her different expressions, the more he considered what a perfect model she would be to any artist who wished to portray such a classic example of femininity.

  While they talked, Mathew was reminded of Victor Hugo’s advocacy that ‘When a woman is speaking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes’. Combining this advice with the findings of the communicative facial images of his primate studies, he paid particular attention to her eyes as she spoke. It was clear to Mathew from the close attention she gave to everything he said that a considerable degree of empathy had developed between them. He was very aware that Jan would be able to see the effect her female magnetism was having on him.

  ‘So what about you?’ asked Mathew, after having given Jan what he hoped was a fascinating account of his research studies. ‘Have you always lived in Rhodesia?’

  ‘No, I was born in South Africa. My parents came here in the mid-sixties from Potgietersrus, a farming community in the northern Transvaal. Rhodesia is a beautiful place to live, but I haven’t had the opportunity to travel abroad and there’s so much I would like to see.’

  ‘So you’ve never been to Europe?’

  ‘No – it’s top of my list, but I’ve never been there or to the USA. I’ve only ever read about them. Perhaps if . . . if we could meet up again, you could tell me more about what life is like there?’

  ‘That would be a pleasure.’

  As Mathew was beginning to feel quite close to Jan during the time they spent talking in the smoky shadows at the braai, and as he had consumed more cold Castle lager than he had recently been accustomed to, he willingly accepted the invitation to have tea with her at her home on the following afternoon.

  However, on the way back to the Vaughan-Jones’, Anna dropped a bombshell. ‘You seemed to get on very well with Jan tonight,’ she remarked.

  ‘Absolutely, I found her quite delightful – in fact, extremely delightful.’

  ‘Did she mention that she’s married to Major Paddy Bushney, second in command of the Selous Scouts?’ The Selous Scouts were the crack counter-insurgency specialist arm of the Rhodesian security forces. From the silence in the car that followed, it was obvious to both Simon and Anna that this was news to Mathew. ‘Major Bushney is substantially older than her. He’s away at the moment on counter-terrorist operations in the Tete Province . . .’ It took well over a minute before Mathew was able to tell them he had already arranged to see her again.

  ‘I had no idea she was married. I said I would go to her house tomorrow as she said she would like to hear more about the USA and England . . . Oh God, what should I do now?’

  The following morning, just after the first light of dawn had crept through the thin curtains of Mathew’s room, he could not help feeling a degree of foolishness in having been so beguiled by Jan’s femininity. Now that he knew she was married, how could he possibly go round to her house in the absence of her husband? After recalling that during the course of the night he had dreamt about her, he knew that it was important for him to see her at least once again in order to bid her a friendly farewell. He had already deduced that the sudden infatuation he was feeling for Jan was no doubt the result of living such a solitary and celibate existence since leaving Atlanta. It would be foolishly counter-productive for him to become involved with a married woman, no matter how attractive or appealing she was. Although on reflection, he could not help believing that the feelings were reciprocated.

  Fortunately, when Mathew went down to have breakfast with Simon and Anna, there was some welcome news.

  ‘I’ve just telephoned Jan and given her a little talking-to. You see, I am ten years older than her and I have to keep her in line, you know. I told her I don’t think it’s at all sensible for her to have you round while the Major’s away.’ Mathew looked rather despondent, although he knew Anna was right. ‘But I have invited her round for a sundowner this evening, if it makes you feel any better.’

  ‘Anna, you are an angel! I had no idea what to do for the best.’

  ‘Well, Major Bushney has recently been away from his home for long spells on military operations and I’ve almost adopted Jan as a younger sister. She gets very lonely, so she often asks my advice on things. As we’re close, or so I like to think, I jokingly pointed out to her just how awkward it would be if her husband’s RAR batman started to spread rumours about the Major’s young wife entertaining a handsome young Englishman at his house, on her own, whilst he was away on military duties. Of course she laughed, but admitted she hadn’t thought about the ramifications of her invitation. Anyway, the arrangements are made and Jan says she’s really looking forward it.’

  After Mathew returned from lunch with one of the museum’s council members at the Salisbury Club, Anna decided it would be prudent to put him in the picture with regards to Simon and her relationship with the Bushneys. Over several cups of tea, she told Mathew that Jan had come from a comparatively poor family of Afrikaner farm managers, the Labuschagnes. ‘It’s such a shame,’ Anna explained, ‘she’s really very intelligent but she just didn’t have the financial backing to go to university. After leaving school she took a secretarial course and managed to get a job as a secretary with Rhodesia’s Tourism Board, after which she went to work for the director of a safari company, which gave her a chance to travel around to some of the popular tourist destinations. While she was spending a weekend on Spurwing Island on Lake Kariba, she met Major Bushney – “Paddy” to his friends.’

  ‘Is he very much older than her?’

  ‘Yes, indeed – twenty-two years in fact. His wife had died two years previously from cancer. When he met Jan, she was just the type of attractive young woman that he immediately set his sights on to be his new bride. Jan, on her part, had just been in the process of getting over the traumas of a failed romantic attachment to an old-Etonian “remittance-man” who suddenly returned to England without any explanation. So it was all rather on the rebound; she was flattered by the attention given to her by this well-respected and ruggedly handsome military officer, many years her senior. It was certainly to the delight of her parents that she accepted Major Paddy Bushney’s hand in marriage.’

  ‘I suppose I can see their point of view on some levels . . .’

  ‘Financially at least, they thought Jan would be well cared for and have a secure future. Anyway, the Major and Jan were married at a small service held in the chapel at King George VI Barracks in the spring of 1974, followed by a reception in the RLI’s Officers Mess and a short honeymoon at the Victoria Falls Hotel. But since then, with all these terrorist attacks on white farmers and their staff, the Major’s responsibilities have grown and he’s constantly away from home on counter-insurgency operations. Usually he can’t even tell Jan his whereabouts, or when he’ll be home. This is strictly between us, Mathew, but neither Simon nor I are particularly close or friendly with Major Bushney. Of course, we respect him for his military acumen, but he’s terribly arrogant and inconsiderate in his dealings with civilians. Worst of all, he can be inexcusably rude to Jan in front of other people.’

  ‘No wonder she didn’t mention her marriage last night,’ said Mathew, growing more despondent on Jan’s behalf. ‘It sounds like a rather complex situation. You would think as a much older man, he would count himself rather lucky to have such a young, beautiful and intelligent wife.’

  ‘That’s not all of it. As the Major’s away so much of the time, Jan has started to feel extremely lonely and often relies on me for support and advice. She’s become increasin
gly unhappy, so much so that the doctor’s put her on anti-depressants. Once, when she was particularly low, she confided in me that she regrets agreeing to marry him and blamed the constant pressure from her parents for such a rash decision.’

  ‘I find it hard to reconcile that this is the same woman I was talking to yesterday evening, She seemed happy.’

  ‘Well, Major Bushney wasn’t there last night which is bound to have made a huge difference – and she obviously enjoyed talking to you,’ said Anna, arching her eyebrows at Mathew. ‘Although he’s well respected by the majority of his peers because of his various military accomplishments, Major Bushney is very much an alpha-male with a short fuse. He has the reputation of being quite ruthless with people he has taken a dislike to. He is certainly not a person to trifle with. Now, changing the subject, how about you come with me to visit the vervet monkeys in the museum grounds? We could collect Simon from his office at the same time.’

  ‘I would love to, Anna, that sounds like an excellent plan,’ replied Mathew, feeling he would very much like to clear his head after all that he had heard.

  As they walked, Anna came straight to the point. ‘Mathew, I hope I’m not jumping the gun but would you mind if I give you some advice about any future relationship that you may be wishing to have with Jan?’