Sunstroke

by Madge Swindells

  ‘Oh, God!’ I fumbled around the edge of the circular wall towards the door and finally found a switch.

  As light flooded the room, I saw the debris of a deserted bird’s nest scattered over the bed and floor: ancient matted feathers, old bones and droppings dark with age. An owl? I guessed it had been dislodged from the thatch by the gusting wind.

  ‘Nina! Are you all right? Nina! Answer me or I’m breaking the lock.’ Wolf’s voice.

  ‘Hang on. I’m coming.’ I grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around me, I opened the door and stared at him as he stood silhouetted against the night sky. His eyes reminded me of my dream. I frowned at him.

  ‘Good God! What happened to you? Looks like the tokoloshe got you.’

  ‘For a few moments I had that in mind.’

  He began to laugh as he plucked feathers out of my hair. ‘What a stench!’

  ‘Oh, Wolf! It was horrible.’ I meant the dream more than the nest. I made an effort to pull myself together. ‘Absurd, really. It’s nothing. But it was so dark. I couldn’t see a glimmer of anything. Not my hand in front of my face. I thought of huge hairy poisonous spiders, or worse.’ I drew him into the room. ‘Look at the bed. Covered in filthy old feathers and bird droppings.’

  ‘It’s nothing. Feathers can’t hurt you. I thought you were a bush girl.’

  ‘Don’t humour me. Well, I guess I’d better clean-up. Thanks for coming over.’

  Wolf was staring up at the well at the peak of the thatched roof. ‘The cleaners should have noticed it. Abandoned months ago, by the look of the debris.’

  I began to sneeze. ‘I’m allergic to feathers,’ I gasped.

  My nose and ears and every membrane in my head were blocking and itching madly. I couldn’t see, couldn’t even breathe properly. I felt myself being pushed towards the shower. I heard Wolf strike a match and light the geyser, and then the welcome warm water washed away the stench and the filthy feathers. My towel fell as I felt Wolf spread my hair under the water. I didn’t care that I was naked. I just wished I could stop itching. Wolf was wiping the debris out of my face and ears and eyes.

  ‘Imagination can be a dangerous thing, Nina.’

  I felt his body push close against mine and I realized that he was naked. His erection was prodding at my belly.

  ‘Sorry! Naked women turn me on,’ he muttered, close to my ear.

  I put my arms around his waist and held tight as the water cascaded over us.

  ‘Close your eyes, Nina. Hold this cloth over your face. Where’s the shampoo?’

  ‘On top of the wall.’

  Locked together under the warm water, we were almost one as our arms clasped each other. Wolf’s smooth, wet skin touched every part of mine. But it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. I gasped and hung on to his strong neck as his arms strengthened around me, crushing me against him. His lips were on mine and I felt myself melting into him.

  Chapter 13

  ‘Would you like coffee, Wolf?’

  It was almost dawn and we had decided to drive out into the bush when the camp gates opened and return to join the others in time for breakfast. Wolf was sitting on the balcony staring through my binoculars towards the river. He put them down and turned to me with such a sweet smile.

  ‘That was good sex, Nina. We go well together. I have the strangest feeling that I was the first man to excite you so much. But don’t say anything, that would break the spell. And yes, please, I’d love some coffee. Then I must shower. We should try to be waiting at the gates when they open. That’s when you see the most.’

  He turned back to study the river and I paused to gaze at the moonlight on his shoulders and his hair. You’re beautiful, Wolf. One doesn’t say that to men, so I won’t, but looking at you turns me on, particularly your lovely hands. How sensuous and knowledgeable those hands are when we make love. And then there’s your eyes, which seem to be lit by an inner glow. I’ve never seen eyes as brilliant as yours.

  *

  For a moment, I was lost in daydreaming. I had squandered my virginity the night before the start of my A level exams.

  It might have been fright that led me to bed the head boy of our neighbouring school under the hedge behind the games shed. This hit-and-miss amateurish coupling had been wholly unsatisfying but it had loosed the genie in the lamp, a genie who slept for months, but woke trembling and brimful of desire at the sight of true male beauty. How I hated myself for this weakness. It was a flaw that could destroy me, as destructive as the San Andreas fault.

  ‘I expected you to come round last night, Wolf, so I brought you some supper. Chops and things. They’re in the wire safe behind the kettle. I have some biscuits, too.’

  ‘Smart girl! Why did you expect me to come?’

  ‘To apologize.’

  Wolf got up to fetch the chops and munched them happily. ‘Would you like one?’ he asked.

  ‘No, thanks. I’ll make do with coffee.’

  ‘I wanted to come. If I’d known you had food I’d have come sooner.’

  ‘That figures.’

  ‘David irritates the hell out of me. Full of bull! Half the things he says are made up on the spur of the moment.’

  ‘He seems very knowledgeable.’

  ‘He sounds it. D’you know anything about ancient tribal beliefs?’

  ‘Absolutely nothing.’

  ‘That’s how he gets away with it. I know a great deal about local flora and fauna. I’ve heard him talking utter rubbish as if he were a sage.’

  ‘So now he’s suspect, whatever he says.’

  ‘Exactly. And you agreed with him and that pissed me off.’

  He caught hold of me and hugged me close to him. Once again, the magic surged through me as I gasped and pressed against him. Touching his back was like touching iron.

  ‘How did you get like this? You don’t even look strong.’

  ‘At the gym.’

  That was a lie. Mind your own business, Nina.

  ‘Well, here we are, Nina, two independent adults, both hard-headed, single-minded achievers, both feeling at risk to this powerful sense of togetherness, but sensing it, nevertheless. I think you feel afraid. You equate caring with hurting.’

  ‘You’re fishing. It’s just that we’re still strangers. We don’t know each other.’

  ‘Is that your feeble attempt to keep me at bay? Do you really believe that talking and making love are the only ways to get to know each other? D’you believe that our sum total is what you can see and touch? What about intuition? What about thoughts and psyches merging? I don’t believe we’re strangers. I think you’re very perceptive, particularly about me. As for me, I seem to have known you all my life.’

  He was right, but I was glad not to talk about it. I decided to be honest. ‘I have no faith in lust. I couldn’t trust a friendship based on such an ephemeral thing. It’s not real.’

  ‘You amaze me, Nina. It’s the basis of love between every man and woman. It’s nature. It has created every great love story, it has made history. Don’t denigrate sexual lust. I love you for your wild tangle of deep red hair, the way your delicate nose tips ever so slightly at the end, your candid, warm green eyes. I may never love you quite so much for your ability to judge a good investment.’

  ‘How about goodness and morality?’

  ‘I have no desire to fuck a nun.’

  ‘You’re making fun of me.’

  ‘Sometimes I see you as a lost girl. When did you become lost, Nina?’

  I stirred uncomfortably. Perhaps when Otto died. Or was it earlier? ‘You’re talking nonsense, Wolf.’

  ‘I don’t think so. Perhaps I’ll rescue you and take you home. You’re a very sensuous woman, Nina.’

  ‘Don’t! I’m not here for long.’

  ‘Are you sure?

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘I’m going to shower.’

  I leaned back in the chair, in that curious half-waking, half-sleeping state, thinking about Wolf and the way it had been, wo
ndering how to prolong my stay here.

  *

  A bird bursts into song. Looking up, I see that the eastern sky has turned pale grey. Another bird wakesy then another, and hundreds more burst into a magnificent hallelujah. The sky turns pink and redy then crimson. An elephant trumpets and the camp comes to life. Morning has broken and I thrill to this scene of indescribable beauty.

  Chapter 14

  By Monday night,, we were back in Constantia, colonialism’s last outpost, which seemed to me like the world’s last dinosaur, splendidly archaic as it ambled its blinkered way through a fast-changing world. Back in business mode, I was ready to leave at eight a.m. for my hectic round of meetings.

  I returned at four to Joy, who was only too happy to have someone to entertain. We would ride, swim, play tennis, or send for the helicopter Bernie shared with Theo and tour the Cape peninsula. Each night saw a succession of rich expatriate Europeans gracing Joy’s table.

  On Wednesday morning, Bernie placed a large envelope on the breakfast table beside me.

  ‘Theo asked me to give this to you on the off-chance that you’re interested in investing in his group. I told him you’d need facts and figures before you’d talk to him, so here they are.’

  And what a profitable picture they painted. But they didn’t seem quite believable to me, and I wondered how I could check the information.

  A few days later, I flew to Johannesburg for meetings and spent the first two days chasing up pre-takeover balance sheets of the group’s many companies. The result was astonishing: total debt had amounted to 200 million rands prior to the merger. How had they managed that?

  After some lavish lunches and dinners, and a costly visit to a British-owned, Johannesburg-based intelligence company, I had the story.

  A few years back, most American, British and European companies had been pulling out of South Africa because of sanctions. It was a buyers’ market and Bernie’s friends had climbed in, boots and all. Consequently, they all suffered at least one big loss.

  It was Joshua, the banker, who had had the bright idea of putting all the losers together under one umbrella, disguising the size of the debts with creative accounting and hanging in there until the country’s image improved. Then they planned to find a sucker from overseas to purchase the majority holding.

  But how could Bernie prejudice a long and profitable association with Eli by dumping the loss on Eli’s bank? Yet why not? He was one of the losers, after all, and his failing property company had been taken into the group.

  And I had been voted for the post of Fairy Godmother. I decided not to say a word until Bernie contacted me.

  *

  Back in Cape Town, Bernie cornered me before dinner. ‘Theo’s pressurizing me, Nina. Have you had a look at the figures? Did you mention our deal to Eli?’

  ‘I don’t put deals to Eli. I make up my own mind,’ I told him coolly.

  ‘Phew!’ He whistled. ‘You must think I’m some kind of an oaf, but I don’t often meet high-powered women like you.’

  Sarcastic bastard! ‘I’m not high-powered. Just an efficient analyst. It’s my job.’

  ‘So what do you think?’

  ‘About?’

  ‘Oh, come off it, Nina. About investing in Theo’s group.’

  ‘Why do you call it Theo’s group? He seems to have the least to lose. Joshua owns twelve per cent of the holding company, but he stands to lose the most, since his bank’s on the line. Why not call it Bernie’s group since you own eight per cent.’

  Bernie blanched. ‘Where did you get this information?’ I ignored his question. ‘You and your friends put your losses together under one umbrella and created a magnificent PR campaign boosting Theo as the whiz-kid. Why him, I wonder?’

  ‘Because he’s the captain.’

  His reply made no sense to me. ‘I get the picture, Bernie. Once you’ve succeeded in selling fifty-one per cent of the group, all of you plan to sell your shares surreptitiously and wash your hands of the mess. But, Bernie, no one could get these companies out of the red.’

  ‘Theo’s a marvellous administrator. He’ll pull the group right.’

  ‘I’ll be cheering on the sidelines.’

  Bernie went off in a huff. As I stood there pondering, a photograph hanging on the wall caught my eye. It showed a group of young men in sports gear, smiling self-consciously at the camera. Wasn’t that a youthful Bernie in the front row? And who was holding the rugby ball? Why, Theo, of course, the captain. And there was David at the back, and Joshua. The Western Province Rugby Team, I read, but the date was obscured.

  By the time, Bernie returned I was laughing. ‘I’d heard rugby was important to you guys, but blood brothers for life is stretching it a bit.’

  ‘What are you? Some sort of a witch?’ he snarled, caught off guard for once.

  ‘But how could you land Joshua in a mess like this? Sooner or later the debt will pull his bank under, with or without overseas finance. How could you pull down a friend, Bernie?’

  Bernie gave me a strange, inscrutable look from which I gathered there was a plan for Joshua’s rescue, too, but clearly he wasn’t prepared to reveal his strategy. I decided to probe further.

  ‘Eli would never consider a business liaison with someone who shopped their business colleagues.’

  I was hitting below the belt, I knew. Not very ethical, but neither was Bernie. I had plenty more where that came from, so it took me only half an hour to get the information out of Bernie.

  ‘Josh is covered by a secret Reserve Bank scheme to bail out major banks if they have a massive bad debt,’ he admitted, shamefaced. ‘The loss has to be big enough to get the pay-out. That’s the point.’

  Now it all made perfect sense. Oh, Eli, I said to myself. That accounts for fifteen of the forty thieves. And you did warn me.

  *

  The Christmas season was a whirl of parties, culminating in a ball at Bernie and Joy’s house on New Year’s Eve. I felt sure I would meet Wolf, but no one knew where he was. I told myself that it didn’t matter anyway and threw myself into my work, pulling off several good investment deals for Eli over the following days.

  When Wolf’s call finally came, the sound of his voice propelled me back to the game park.

  ‘Nina? Are you well? Enjoying yourself?’

  ‘I’m having a wonderful time. And you? I expect you spent Christmas with the family?’

  That had been beneath me, I decided, but it was too late now.

  There was a quiet chuckle. ‘I was in Europe. Nina, I need your help.’

  His voice was so impersonal it hurt.

  ‘I’m trying to find backing to develop a small but potentially valuable claim I. own in Namaqualand. I’d like to show it to you. You might have some ideas on how I can find investors.’

  It was a business call. Oh, hell!

  ‘How about lunch, Nina?’

  ‘Why not?’ I replied woodenly.

  ‘Or, better still, if you have five days to spare, I could take you there. It’s interesting terrain. We could fly up and spend a couple of days in Namibia. That’s a fascinating country and there’s plenty of investment potential if you need an excuse to come.’

  ‘I don’t need excuses.’

  ‘Fine. I must warn you that it’s very hot at this time of the year. We’d sleep out and rough it. Does this appeal to you?’

  It doesn’t, but you do. ‘Sounds fascinating,’ I lied.

  ‘How about leaving early on Sunday morning?’

  ‘Sunday it is.’

  I replaced the receiver and stood staring out of the window. Why had Wolf invited me to Namaqualand? Because he needed the cash to develop his mine? There was no question about my motives in agreeing to go: I wanted his beautiful, lithe, sexy body, and I longed to feel his sensuous lips touching mine.

  I brought myself smartly under control and went to bed. From now on I would stick to business, I promised myself.

  So why was my heart singing and my mind obses
sed with a countdown to Sunday morning?

  It was a silent, balmy night and the full moon, the temptress, flaunted her exotic beauty as she followed her destiny. I gazed in sullen envy, examining my obsession from all angles, wondering how I had managed to fall this far so fast. I tried to analyse my emotions and take control of them, but I found myself whispering, ‘Wolf, Wolf.’

  Chapter 15

  It was Sunday morning. In the hazy dawn light, I watched Wolf gazing with pride at his South African-built Bosbok, which still bore its war camouflage and a few bullet holes. I tried to share his enthusiasm, but the word metal-fatigue slipped unbidden into my mind, chilling me.

  ‘I picked it up for a song,’ he purred, running his hands lovingly over the wing. ‘They said it was obsolete.’ He shot me a rueful glance that was part amusement, but part apology for his illusions. Wolf was a dreamer, intent on extracting the most adventure from every situation. His blue eyes sparkled with laughter and his teeth glistened as he gave me a silly, lopsided grin. ‘It’s good for another thousand miles at least.’

  As if I hadn’t guessed. ‘Christ!’ I exploded. ‘And you expect me…?’ I realized belatedly that I was chewing my thumbnail so I pushed the offending hand into my pocket.

  ‘Relax. Honestly, I stripped it down, replaced the worn parts. Don’t be nervous, Nina.’ His expression dared me to be cowardly, so I climbed in and buckled up. We took off, almost scraping the trees at the end of the airfield. Then we were up and away, my stomach lurching and falling as the Bosbok rose over thermals and fell into troughs.

  ‘It’s the cool sea breeze causing the bumps,’ Wolf shouted in my ear. He banked towards the sea. Soon the mountains were left behind and all I could see were flat farmlands, a hazy sky with no hint of a cloud, and a grey sea. I blinked in the glare as the crimson sun rose stealthily over the horizon.

  We skirted the shoreline, moving north at 260 k.p.h. over desolate, sunbaked beaches, peppered with offshore islands of rocks, black with seals or white with guano. Inland, gravel plains and low barren hills stretched for miles with an occasional huddle of stone cottages.