Our eternal curse II

by Simon Rumney

  Janco was strong and healthy, but he was Robard's father's age and Robard said he was too old to accept his challenge of a fistfight in the main street. Janco would become angry and shout. "Your father was a coward and now you are a coward too!"

  Then Janco would always shout something like, "You hide behind your kaffirs! You love your kaffirs, don't you boy?"

  Although he found it hard not to respond to accusations made about his father, Robard would simply sit quietly on the ox cart and stare ahead as citizens of Bloemfontein walked out onto the street to enjoy Janco's monthly verbal attacks. It really hurt to be known as “that coward who was too afraid to fight”, but Robard suspected Janco's true motivation was to somehow provoke a conflict that would lead to the death of his companions, so he simply would not fight. He simply would not betray Ahh, Beeya and Ceeya.

  One occasion Janco's wife even stepped out of the livery stable to add barbed taunts about Robard's mother, but Robard simply ignored it all until he stopped outside the general store and walked inside to purchase supplies.

  People who barely knew Robard would berate him for corrupting his farm kaffirs. They said he was setting a dangerous precedent that would lead to unrest among their own farm kaffirs. But, as Robard regularly pointed out to his dissenters, "Your farm kaffirs are never allowed to leave your farms, so how could they possibly know what I am doing in the outside world?"

  All of the Boers who heard this despised his logic. What he said made complete sense but did not fit with their reactionary viewpoint. They also despised the way Robard always argued with a smile and never lost his temper. The men he argued with were landowners, also proud descendants of Voortrekker stock, who were used to being revered by all and not being tied up in knots by this non-racist logic.

  Robard's consistently odd behavior led to him being shunned by all of the population of Bloemfontein, but he took no notice and, much to the annoyance of Boer mothers, Robard became the strangest combination of frustratingly-desirable yet untouchable contradictions.

  They could see how tall and strong and handsome and deeply intelligent he was. They knew he hunted and farmed more efficiently than any other young man in the Free State. They knew he would inherit one of the finest farms in the ZAR. They could see he was polite, amusing, forgiving and, even during his “odd” arguments, he was completely non-judgmental.

  By the time he reached eighteen, Robard had become the Bloemfontein mothers' constant conundrum and, however much they longed to do it, they knew they would be committing social suicide if they matched their daughters with his “radical and free-thinking oddness”.

  It was on one of his monthly trips that Robard did something even more odd than usual. As though offering proof of how odd he really was, Robard got himself involved in something every other white person in Bloemfontein would have totally ignored.

  On his way into town, he happened to pass the British military garrison. He could see the wooden fort had new bullet holes in its standing timbers. Robard also noticed scorch marks and signs of a skirmish in places.

  The Redcoats were staring at him from the top of the wooden walls as they usually did, but on this day they were not hurling their unimaginative ethnically-motivated abuse. Robard thought he sensed a little fear as they stared cautiously and silently from under their bright white pith helmets. As he passed, all of their rifles followed his wagon, and that was also unusual.

  Robard also noticed the British soldiers had closed the gates, locking themselves inside. This was strange behavior for the usually “cocky” Redcoats, but his reaction to the British behavior is not what proved Robard's oddness.

  While driving along the main street, Robard noticed the total lack of men out on the street. As he passed the livery stable, Robard braced himself for Janco van Deventer's verbal attack but it did not come. He looked all around but Janco was not there. He called politely to a small group of women and asked what was going on, but Janco’s wife was among them, so the women followed her lead and turned their back by way of deliberately ignoring Robard.

  This was rude behavior, but neither his reaction to this “one-way” exchange nor his reaction to Janco's absence is what proved his oddness.

  Inside the general store, the proprietor and his wife and their daughter ignored Robard and his three kaffirs, but this did not come as a surprise because they always ignored Robard. As usual, he simply handed over his list of required items and the proprietor's kaffirs brought out the things the proprietor pointed to. This was peculiar behavior, but Robard's reaction to it is not what proved Robard's oddness.

  The proprietor's daughter stared at Robard, just as she always did, but not with hatred like her mother and father. She didn't like the fact he was a kaffir-lover, but he was so damn handsome and strong and tall and intelligent. It was always around about this moment the proprietor and his wife would send their doe-eyed daughter to the back room to clear her mind of what they called "Improper thoughts".

  Robard silently watched the daughter's suffering with his usual sympathetic smile, but that is not what proved his oddness.

  All of the women in the street stopped to watch Robard help Ahh, Beeya and Ceeya carry heavy supplies from the general store to the wagon. But even something as unforgivable as helping kaffirs load an ox cart was not the thing that offered proof of his oddness.

  The thing that offered proof of his radical oddness was the way he reacted to a commotion on the opposite side of the main street outside the smartest hotel in town.

  Although it did not in any way concern Robard, he decided to walk across the street to defend a completely unknown twenty-year-old kaffir woman. That simple act of kindness is what removed any doubt he was very odd indeed.

  As he approached, Robard realized the pretty young brown woman could not be local because she wore exquisitely-tailored riding clothes. They were of a quality rarely found in the ZAR, even on white women, and they must have cost far too much for any local kaffir to buy.

  Robard walked confidently to where she was standing on the duckboards. Seeing the tears streaming down her pretty cheeks, he offered her a smile and asked, "Can I be of any help?"

  He waited for a reply, but she found it hard to speak between her tears. After a few seconds of silence, Robard turned to the tall white man who had been shouting insults at her and asked politely, "Is there a problem, Wynand?"

  In the thickest Afrikaner accent, the tall white man spoke in a disrespectful sneer as he dramatically held up his hands. "No kaffir will ever sleep under the roof of the hotel I built with these two hands!"

  With his usual smile, Robard replied, "I saw the color of the hands that built your hotel, Wynand. As I remember, they were none of them white."

  Wynand was stuck speechless by these words. Even Robard knew this was an odd thing for a white man to say. He knew every Boer in the ZAR spoke of their accomplishments in the “first person”. They talked of “building” their farms, or “building” their homes, or “building” roads and railroads, but no one ever questioned who actually did the work for God's chosen people. The kaffir was put on earth merely to serve the white man, and only someone who was very “odd” would question God's plan.

  Giving up on receiving a reply from Wynand, Robard was about to explain the rules of “polite” Boer society to the pretty brown lady, when a powerful white man and an, eerily familiar, beautiful white woman arrived on the scene at a brisk pace. She was about the same age as the brown woman and he was at least twenty years older with a black patch covering his right eye.

  Robard could see a terrible scar on his face above and below the eye patch. He looked menacingly at Robard and deliberately opened his exquisitely-tailored white suit jacket to expose two six shot pistols, with wonderful pearl handles, hanging from leather shoulder holsters.

  Looking directly into Robard's eyes, he spoke English with a terrifying “southern state” American accent. Robard may have been unable to understand the man's words, but he got the message. I
n an attempt to calm the man with the eye patch, Robard smiled but it failed. The man with the eye patch raised his hands a little closer to the guns.

  Moving rapidly between Robard and the man with the eye patch, the pretty brown woman spoke in words Robard could not understand. The man with the eye patch immediately turned to face Wynand.

  The hotel proprietor did not understand what he was being told by the man with the eye patch, but he did understand the guns and took a cowardly step back.

  Seeing the lack of any comprehension in Robard or Wynand's eyes, the beautiful white girl tried to make herself understood by speaking at least three different languages, but Robard and the proprietor could not understand. Wynand just pointed angrily at the man's six guns and shouted back at her in Afrikaans.

  Robard smiled at the hotel proprietor and spoke in a disarming voice. "I think I know what the problem is; I have read about this. In some foreign countries, kaffirs are allowed to go wherever they want to."

  The proprietor snapped back at Robard. "Of course you would know about that. That is exactly the kind of problem your kaffir-loving behavior causes. You make kaffirs believe they are equal to us whites."

  Robard had a hard time containing his laughter. He wondered if Wynand really believed treating his three friends as men not beasts had influenced the behavior of other nations.

  Apologizing to Wynand for the rudeness of his amused reaction, Robard turned to the white man and spoke in Afrikaans. "In Bloemfontein we don't let kaffirs stay in white hotels, you see?"

  The white man with the six guns and the young white woman and pretty kaffir stared blankly back at Robard. They were clearly struggling to understand his words and his smile. His demeanor did not fit the seriousness of the situation. He seemed so out of place. Then Wynand saw it dawn on them one by one. All three of them believed Robard must be wrong in the head.

  Wynand laughed an evil gloating laugh as the young white woman spoke in a slow voice to Robard. It was as though she were talking to a child or a simpleton.

  The hotel proprietor looked from the pretty white woman to the Boer women who were gathering on the street to watch the situation unfold. In an overly dramatic attempt to look less like a coward and a fool, Wynand spoke to Robard in a derisive laugh. "Even your kaffir-loving friends think you're a simpleton!"

  When Robard laughed along with him and the Boer women, Wynand lost his temper. Grabbing Robard by the arm, he spoke in an angry shriek. "Get your kaffir-loving friends away from my hotel. They are bad for my business!"

  Without saying another word, the hotel proprietor glanced at the gawking public, opened the ornate front door of his hotel, and walked inside.

  The white man and the white woman both used their “simpleton speak” to thank Robard for his help and turned to leave. As they walked away, they heard their young brown companion say in English while touching her chest, "I am Julii."

  The white man and white woman stopped walking and turned to see why their companion was introducing herself to someone who was apparently too slow to understand a word any of them said.

  The brown woman looked at her companion, then moved her eyes down to Robard's exposed wrist. The cotton shirtsleeve that covered Robard's arm had been pushed up by the hotel proprietor’s grasping hand.

  All three froze as they watched Robard self-consciously slide his sleeve back down over his birthmark.

  Pointing to the white woman, the brown woman said, "And this is Helen." Pointing to the white man with the eye patch, she added, "And that is her father Robert."

  Connecting through words

  Convincing Julii, Helen and Robert to leave Bloemfontein and camp overnight with him had been surprisingly easy. Robard simply shouted across the street to Ahh, who happened to be standing on the ox cart, and asked him to lift up their furled tent.

  Once the three newcomers understood what Ahh was showing them, Robard pointed out of town, and then used two hands placed together at the side of his head to make the sign of sleep.

  The man called Robert nodded his head 'yes'. He spoke to his two female companions. When they also agreed with the plan, he set off along the duckboards towards Janco's livery stable.

  Robard escorted the women across the street while they tried to explain something. The only thing Robard understood was the word "Americans".

  Robard had read about America and he wanted to know more about it, but had no intelligible way to conduct a conversation. All he could do was smile and nod.

  Once across the street, he returned to his wagon to help Ahh, Beeya and Ceeya load the last of the provisions. Helen and Julii stood on the duckboards trying not to stare at Robard's athletic body as he lifted heavy sacks of mealie flour easily up onto the ox cart. Ahh, Beeya and Ceeya noticed their poorly-disguised curiosity and made fun of their white friend in their own Bantu language.

  The reactions of the Boer mothers and daughters who happened to be passing along the duckboards was hostile. Janco's wife was one of those women, and she was encouraging her gaggle to give Robard looks and barbed comments of disapproval for being overly familiar with kaffirs.

  Julii and Helen tried to hide their interest, but that just made the three brown men laugh even harder. This made Robard go even redder and the women even more hostile, so they chose to walk away in an attempt to give poor Robard a break.

  By the time they had idly studied the very boring window displays of the general store, an insurance office, a diamond assay office, and a baker, the white man with the eye patch called Robert returned in the driver's seat of a large, covered, horse-drawn wagon.

  Helen and Julii looked very relieved as they unhitched two fine horses from the rear of the wagon and expertly mounted. Just moments later the loading was complete, so Robard jumped into the driver's seat and stirred the oxen into action.

  The little convoy left Bloemfontein under the watchful eye of every female Afrikaner in town. Many of the frustrated mothers and daughters could not help but look at Robard as they would a loved-one being sent away to a mental asylum. All of them thinking 'If only Robard, perfect in every other way, was not so goddamned odd.'

  Many of them secretly envied Robard's independence, but showing their true feelings would make them also seem odd. No woman of the veldt could afford to look odd and weak in the eyes of their Boer contemporaries.

  Camp

  Once outside Bloemfontein, Helen and Julii rode their horses expertly out into the open veldt. Always staying within sight of the wagons, they rode to an elevation in the land to get a better view of Africa.

  Much to the amusement of Ahh, Beeya and Ceeya, Robard followed them with his eyes at all times. Even in the distance, they could tell the young women were speaking about Robard. The rhythm of their conversation and their constant glances at him made it completely obvious.

  When the peculiar little group reached the flat land in a place where Bloemfontein could no longer be seen, Robard pulled his ox cart to a halt and waved the women back. Standing on the cart, he watched them come galloping back.

  Jumping down from the cart, Robard walked to Robert in the covered wagon and pointed to the ground. "This is where we make camp."

  Robard knew the white man would not understand his words, but saying them loudly and pointing seemed to be a good way to get his message across.

  The young woman called Helen rode up from the rear of the wagon. The extraordinary acoustic qualities of the veldt and the volume of Robard's words allowed her to repeat them perfectly. "This is where we make camp."

  Dropping from the horse, Helen touched the ground under her feet. "Camp?"

  Then she walked to the ox cart and touched the canvas tent saying, "Camp. Tent?"

  Robard smiled as he nodded his head 'yes'.

  Helen pointed to the ox cart and looked at Robard with a quizzical expression.

  Robard touched the cart and said, "Cart".

  He then pointed to the ox and said, "Ox. Ox cart."

  Helen repeated all three
words then pointed to her horse with the same expression. She expected Robard to tell her the name of the animal, but he surprised her by pointing to his chest and saying "English".

  The young woman called Julii came forward and said, "I think he wants you to teach him English."

  Robard nodded his head 'yes' and pointed to his chest as he repeated, "Teach English".

  Julii started by pointing to herself, Helen and Robert and saying, "We are Americans from America."

  Robard repeated, "Americans from America."

  Then Julii pointed at Robard and Ahh, Beeya and Ceeya. "You are Africans from Africa."

  Robard repeated "Africans from Africa."

  Helen then spoke in her perfect English. "We have sailed here all the way from Italy."

  Robard said, "America, sailed, Italy?"

  Helen used words and hand gestures to explain the difference between coming from a place and living in a place. Robard grasped her meaning straight away, and from that moment on, Robard and Helen were like language machines. They seemed to be joined at the brain. The speed with which Robard learned English and Helen learned Afrikaans was incredible. All night they sat under the bright carpet of stars exchanging words, then sentences, then ideas.

  Ahh, Beeya and Ceeya only understood the Afrikaans half of what was being said, so they went to sleep in the open quite early.

  Julii desperately wanted to play a big part in Robard's learning process, but she was too tired and could not stay awake, so she slept on a rug next to them.

  The man called Robert sat by the fire and watched his daughter with pride and fascination. Occasionally he interrupted the quick-fire conversation by saying things like, "You know, this reminds me of your mother", or "She could understand new languages faster than anyone", or "She was the most beautiful, wonderful, kind human being."

  Then, later in the night, in a voice filled with sad emotion, he lamented. "And I let her down."