Chapter 30

N’debi was with three other men all of a similar stature to himself, dressed in kilts of either leopard or cheetah tails. Each carried an oval shield made of cattle skin with a short broad bladed spear and a club. They stood alongside Ali’s cart as Susan, David and Martin rode down the alleyway from the hotel’s stable. The four men set off in a loping run with the three riders behind and Ali bringing up the rear. The pace set by N’debi ate up the miles so by noon they had passed the last signs of roadway and now followed a faint track. Now the vista of the veld, as the countryside is called, opened up before them, mile after mile of rolling savannah with occasional trees or bushes to break the monotony. The far distance was shrouded in a heat haze.

David called a halt by a group of trees that offered some shade for both them and the horses. Ali started a fire and soon had coffee ready for them. David watched as N’debi and his three companions took a ladle of water swished it around in his mouth and then spat it out. Susan noticed it too, “They have to be super fit. We must have covered nearly twelve miles and their pace has hardly altered.”

When they resumed their journey Susan sat beside Ali in the cart, her horse tied to the back. They began to see more game now, as herds of antelope would stop grazing and lift their heads to look at them as they passed. Susan clapped her hands in delight at the sight of a family of giraffe eating the leaves off a tree.

N’debi had trotted on ahead of the group. They caught up with him as the sun started to set. “We camp here Bwana,” he murmured in his deep voice.

David nodded dismounting, N’debi came over to him, “There are antelope near here Bwana; come I will show you.” David followed him for about a quarter of a mile, until he dropped suddenly onto his hands and knees, David followed suit, then crawled up alongside of him. A small herd of antelope were drinking from a water hole. N’debi pointed to a young buck about two hundred yards away. David brought up the Winchester, adjusted the sight, then sighted and fired. The buck dropped as if pole-axed. The herd scattered and N’debi leapt to his feet to run towards the downed animal. In mere minutes he had skinned and butchered it, placing all the edible portions into the skin, which he tied up, slinging it over his shoulders. “The Bwana shoots straight,” he said as they made their way back to the camp.

When they got there David was surprised to find the camp encircled with a wall of thorn bushes. Once inside the gap into the camp one of N’debi men’s pulled a bush closing off the gap. David looked closely at the thorn bush; the thorns were over an inch and a half long. Ali already had a fire going and N’debi laid the skin bundle at his feet. The tents were already erected, and Susan was sitting outside one drinking coffee while Martin watered and fed the animals.

She chuckled as David looked around the campsite, “They obviously have done this many times,” she said. “Ali said they call those bushes ‘Wait a Minute’ thorn bushes. It was amazing the speed they worked at.” David saw the men making their own fire well away from theirs.

“I found out quite a bit about them from Ali,” Susan murmured. “They are all Matabele. N’debi is a sort of chief, but there’s only about twenty left in his tribe. There was a war with the Afrikaners hundreds of miles away, and they lost everything. Their wealth was gauged by how many cattle they owned, and between the Afrikaners and disease they lost even them. N’debi is trying to start a new life for them here, so they hire out as guides until they can find a home for themselves ... it’s sad really.”

“You can tell they’re proud people in the way they act. I like them,” David murmured.

The antelope steaks were delicious, as were the corncobs smeared with butter. David and Martin sat with a glass of scotch listening to the sound of hyenas laughing in the distance. “They’ve found the carcase of the antelope,” David observed.

Martin smiled, “It’s on nights like this, that you’re glad to be alive,” he said whimsically.

It took another day before the hills started to rise up before them and a further day before N’debi found the stream. David reckoned they had climbed almost a thousand feet before finding it. They followed it until they reached the wall of rock exactly as Guy had described it. They followed the wall until they reached the gap, then gasped once through it. It was everything Guy had said and more. They moved up the slope of the crater up to the top setting up camp by the small lake. Once camp was set up Martin started taking soil samples. David had his arm around Susan’s waist, “Do you think you could be happy living here darling?” he asked.

She looked up to him, “With you and this land who wouldn’t be?”

He went out with N’debi and shot a buck for dinner. As N’debi skinned it he turned to David “Does the Bwana think of buying this land?” he asked.

“I think so N’debi. I would raise cattle and horses on it if I did.”

“This is good land. Cattle would grow fat on it Bwana.”

“If I did, I would need help. Men who knew how to look after cattle and be able to build homes here for their families, such men could have cattle of their own and land to plant crops on. Do you know of such men, N’debi?”

He stared at David for a few seconds, “I know of men who would defend your land with their lives, Bwana.”

“Then I would have such men come and live here with me,” he said, shaking N’debi’s hand, knowing a pact had been made between them.

When they got back Martin had his soil test results, “It’s fantastic! This soil is even better than back home, it’s perfect for horses and cattle, David. The outer edges of the crater could benefit from irrigation canals to improve the water supply for the grass, but that’s a minor job.”

David chuckled at his enthusiasm “So Martin, if I buy it will you and Jill come out and take charge of rearing both the horses and cattle?”

“Like a shot David. It’s what we’ve always wanted to do.”

Later that night around the campfire they made plans. David and Susan along with N’debi would return to Nairobi and buy the land. He would organise for builders to come out and build homes for him and Martin and get the materials that Martin would need for paddocks. N’debi would bring his people out to the crater and settle in.

He and Susan would return to India and resign and then return. Once back, Martin would return to England and buy the cattle needed to start the herd and return with Jill. The last thing was to ask Ali if he would work for him as cook, which he accepted with obvious delight. They set off back the next morning. Without the cart they made it back to Nairobi in less than two and a half days. David opened an account with the local bank with £100,000 and then went to the land office of the East African Company. The man in charge was surprised when David pointed to a spot on the map.

“There’s no agriculture land out there just raw veldt and hills.”

“So how much is it?” David asked.

The man looked astonished at David, “You could have it for £1 a square mile,” he said.

“Fine I’ll have a hundred and fifty square miles then,” indicating the hills.

The man drew an oblong block that took in the hills and an area before them. David paid him the hundred and fifty pounds and had the deed notified legally. Outside he told a delighted Susan, “We now own a hundred and fifty square miles of Africa.”

Their next stop was an architect office where they picked out a design for their home. The young architect agreed to personally undertake the supervising the building of it and any subsequent buildings that were needed, especially when he found out that another home would be required.

He told N’debi he had bought the land and he would need to guide the builders to the crater, bringing out a large smile on N’debi’s face. They left Mombasa the following week crossing the Arabian Sea to Karachi and on to Kanda.

Peshawar showed him into the Prince’s presence. “Welcome home my Son, how was the honeymoon?” the Prince asked. David replied it had been fine and the order for the new mortars and shells had gone off without a hitch. The Prince looked keenly at David, “Something is troubling you, what is it?”

David started by thanking him for his generosity on behalf of Susan and himself. But explained that his work with the Rifles was complete, “You have a force that can guard the Pass now without my help anymore. The officers under your command are more than adequate for the task, but Susan and I need to build a home for ourselves away from a military life. I have bought land in East Africa and intend to raise horses and cattle on it. But should you ever have need of me, I shall return immediately.”

The Prince had a sad smile on his face when David had finished. “I have expected this when you got married, and I’m delighted that you have finally found something to live for. You are not resigning your commission, merely retiring. As such you still shall still receive a pension. Now you shall need good breeding stock for your horses, Ashar Khan will select them for you. David, I regard you has my son since the service you have given me, and my kingdom, goes far beyond normal duty. You will always find a home here in Kanda.”