“They were herders mostly, I think,” Luke replied, getting up from the kitchen table and clearing away his breakfast things.
I followed him, helping to wash the dishes while fishing for more information. “What did they herd?”
“Cattle and some goats.” He grinned at me as he handed me the bowls to dry. “Haven’t you learnt about this stuff at school?”
“Yeah of course I have,” I replied, grinning back at him before turning to gaze out of the window again. “It’s just very different being able to see where they lived rather than reading about it.”
He nodded. “I guess it would be. The paintings are pretty cool.”
“Can we go and see them?” I asked excitedly.
He switched from happy to sulky in an instant. “They’re a little far out of the ‘adventure zone’,” he muttered as he began putting the dishes away in the cupboards.
My curiosity faded a little as the possibility of adventure died beneath our parents’ suffocating rules.
We continued to move around the kitchen in silence for a while as I tried to find a way to rekindle the spark of comradeship we’d shared.
“How does the local tribe fit into the story our parents were talking about last night?” I asked.
Luke shrugged, hanging up the dish towel as he did so. “Josh knows more about it,” he replied sullenly. “He’s coming over in an hour or so to go fishing, you can ask him then.”
“We’re going fishing?”
“Yup, if you’re up for it?”
I nodded smiling shyly, pleased that he seemed to be relaxing a bit around me.
Fishing wasn’t exactly my ideal pastime, but I’d happily go along if it meant a semblance of the old friendship we’d had could be rekindled and, more importantly, if I could find out more about the mystery I felt sure was lurking in the folds of the mighty Injisuthi mountains.
Chapter 2
History
Two old willow trees wept silently into the still, clear water, their shade providing a haven in which thick lush grass grew in great mushroom mounds.
Luke, Josh and I’d cycled down to fish at the dam that served as drinking water for the livestock. It was on the very edge of the “adventure zone” bordering the lush green plain that swept sharply upwards into Injisuthi’s peaks and ridges.
“Right, you’re on worm patrol,” announced Luke before showing me how to sift the mud at the edge of the pool through my fingers looking for insect larvae.
While I shuffled awkwardly through the shallows looking for larvae, mud squelching through my toes and knees cramping, I couldn’t help but feel that the boys were taking advantage of my enthusiasm as they stretched out in the springy grass under the trees, chatting about sport.
I should have minded, but the cool water underfoot and hot sun beating on my back was sheer bliss. Bright yellow weaver birds warbled cheerfully as they wove ball-shaped nests from willow leaves, their fussy partners chirping bossily. Glittering dragonflies flirted with the water as the crickets and other critters all sang their joy at surviving another day in Africa.
Eventually, a handful of worms later, and after I’d squeamishly threaded a wriggling one onto my hook and been shown how to throw the line into the water, I settled beside the boys, watching the gossamer-thin lines bobbing gently on the glassy surface.
I stole a glance at Josh before broaching the subject that had been nagging incessantly for an explanation.
“So, um, Luke and I heard our parents speaking about a camping trip they went on, looking for the jade pools, and Luke said you might know more about it, and what the local tribe has to do with it?” I blurted out in a rush.
His eyebrows shot up as he turned to Luke, accusation burning in his eyes.
Luke shrugged, looking a little guilty. “I know we’re not supposed to talk about it, Josh, but, well… I’ve been wondering about it too. And I thought…” He trailed off, looking sheepish at Josh’s furious expression.
“Why aren’t you allowed to talk about it?” I asked.
Josh shook his head, his mouth tightening into a flat angry line.
“Aw come on, Josh,” Luke complained “you can trust her. They’re just stories anyway.”
“Stories?!” Josh snorted an angry laugh. “The problem is that those stories have caused a lot of trouble for my people, Luke!”
“She ran away, Josh,” Luke interrupted him, rolling his eyes.
“Wait… who ran away?” I interrupted them.
“Talita.”
I stared at Luke in confusion.
“Your Dad’s long ago girlfriend.”
“Oh, why?”
Luke turned to Josh and waited.
He sighed, an unfamiliar frown creasing his forehead. “You have to promise me that you will keep everything I’m telling you a secret.”
“Why?” I asked, bewildered.
“Because the explanation that the town has accepted for Talita’s disappearance has resulted in my grandfather and most of the tribe being ostracised and I don’t want to be the one to start up vicious rumours again,” he replied angrily.
“OK, Josh, I won’t mention it to anyone else, but why has the town turned on your tribe?”
Josh took a deep breath, staring at his fishing line as he spoke. “At the time your parents went on their fated camping trip, our people lived on a very valuable piece of land. Some people from outside had identified a possible gold vein that ran beneath it. The government had granted them mining rights but under the condition that the land was uninhabited. We’d been there for generations and, despite the threats and then the promises of the people who wanted us to leave the land, we refused to go.” He shook his head angrily.
“And then Talita –” he spat her name out “– disappeared, and our tribe was blamed. They said –” he used his fingers to make quotation marks “– the ‘mootie man’ of our tribe had murdered her and used her for his witchdoctor medicine.” He let out a short disbelieving bark of cynical laughter.
“But didn’t our parents tell them what really happened?” I asked.
Josh shook his head. “They tried, but they were just kids and their story was so far-fetched…” Josh trailed off.
I glanced at Luke, who was staring at his fishing line too, his mouth turned down at the corners and a frown entrenched on his forehead.
“So what happened?”
“Our tribe was removed by force and relocated to the barren wasteland on the other side of the river where they live now,” Josh replied quietly.
“But didn’t they fight it?” I asked incredulous, and horrified at how his people had been treated. “Didn’t the other townspeople fight it?”
Josh shook his head. “It was the middle of Apartheid, Alex, you know how violent the secret police were. The few that knew about it and did speak up either shut up when the police went to visit them, or disappeared.”
“It’s horrible, Josh,” I told him quietly, putting my hand on his arm, “but why are you afraid of the real story now? I mean, it happened years ago and things have changed…”
“For us maybe,” he agreed, smiling at me sadly and covering my hand briefly with his. “For the older