‘It won’t.’
‘But what if it does? What if he doesn’t wake up?’
‘I don’t think we should worry about what could happen.’
‘How can I not worry? There are just the two of us. Nothing must happen to Pa.’
Roeloff wanted to still her fears, but he said nothing. He wasn’t sure what had happened to Wynand, and he didn’t want to say too much, in case he was wrong. He was also confused by other feelings. Feelings he’d thought belonged only to Zokho. He didn’t know how this could be. His feelings for Zokho were strong; for Neeltje it was a need to be part of her life and to protect her. He wanted to ease her fears. He knew that she was affected by him. How he knew, he didn’t know, but was careful in his dealings with her now, much more than in the past.
‘He has the sleeping sickness,’ Zokho said. ‘He will sleep for a few days.’
‘Do you know a cure?’
‘There’s a plant that we use, but I haven’t seen it here.’
‘Buchu?’ Neeltje described the plant and its medicinal properties.
‘I know that plant. It won’t help with this.’
They took turns sitting with Wynand, wiping his face with a cool cloth, trying to get him to wake up. In the evening his eyelashes flickered and it seemed he might come out of his sleep.
Zokho was with him when it happened. It was cold in the evenings and she had refused Neeltje’s clothes, finding them too uncomfortable in her condition, and greatly upsetting Roeloff in the process, because he didn’t like her walking around with her stomach and breasts exposed. That was partly why she did it, to anger him. It wasn’t anything he’d said or done, just a feeling she had that things had changed. She wanted the oubaas to recover. If he died, it would overwhelm Roeloff with pity for the girl. She went into the kitchen to tell Neeltje the news.
‘Your father’s stirring in his sleep.’
Neeltje was cooking food for the three of them and for Twa. She left what she was doing to go behind the partition. She saw her father lying in a slightly different position, and burst out crying.
‘Don’t do that, you’ll anger the gods,’ Zokho said. ‘And he’ll think he’s sick if he wakes up.’
Neeltje dabbed at her eyes with the hem of her dress.
‘Pa? Can you hear me?’
The eyelids opened, then closed again.
‘He heard me. He heard me, Zokho. Where’s Roff? We have to tell him.’
‘Here,’ Roeloff said coming in behind them. ‘It looks like the worst is over.’
‘Do you think so? There’s a doctor a day’s ride away in Jan Dissels Vlei. His name’s Otto Lieberband, he’s German. If my father doesn’t improve, we could get him to come and take a look. He’ll do that for Pa. Pa knew him when he was younger.’
‘Perhaps your father will be well enough in the morning to tell us himself what he wants.’
‘I hope so.’
‘I’ll stay with you, if you want,’ Zokho said. ‘I can sleep on the floor.’
‘You need your bed, Zokho. It’s any day now, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
When Neeltje got up the following morning, her father had his eyes open, and was looking around the room.
‘Pa? You’re awake.’ She sat on the side of the bed. ‘You fell off your horse yesterday. You’ve been asleep ever since. Can you talk?’
Wynand couldn’t. His limbs seemed crippled, his tongue stiff in his mouth.
‘Don’t worry, Pa, you’re getting better. Yesterday you were in a deep sleep, today you’re awake. I don’t want you to worry. Just rest. I’m going to ask Roeloff to get Oom Otto. He’ll tell us what to do.’
When Roeloff and Zokho came into the house, she told them that her father had woken up.
‘That’s good news, Neeltje,’ Roeloff said.
‘But he can’t talk, he can’t move his legs.’ She noticed Zokho standing with her hand on her belly. ‘Are you all right, Zokho?’
‘Yes. I ate too much last night, my stomach’s cramping.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.’
‘I think we should get Oom Otto, Roff. Pa can’t move his arms and legs. Do you think you could go?’
‘Where is he?’
‘Jan Dissels Vlei.’
Roeloff looked doubtful.
