Roeloff got up.
‘I’ll go out and take a look at the kraal. That was good bread, Sanna.’
He fetched Twa from his hut and went to inspect the kraal for evidence to show how long ago the sheep had been there, and how many there had been. They found the kraal derelict, the stones missing in several spots, the gateposts gone.
‘What do you think, Twa? How long ago were they here?’
Twa was happy to be back. Many of the old Koi-na were still on the farm, their differences a thing of the past. He’d been away with the kleinbaas. Sonqua or not, he was privileged. But, however much he smoked and told stories, he never told them about Zokho. Zokho was Kudu’s business. They would not hear from his lips that Harman was mixed. He kneeled down on his good leg and examined the dried-out clumps of manure. There was still a bit of a commotion going on in his head from the previous night’s drinking with the Koi-na, but he felt better just being back.
‘A long time. Look at this,’ he picked up a piece of manure, rubbing the grains between his fingers. ‘Dust.’
‘How many?’
Twa laughed, and immediately held his head.
‘You’re asking hard questions, Kudu. I’m Twa, not a sorcerer.’ He studied the indentations, limping from one end to the other, bending down, shaking his head.
‘It’s hard to tell,’ he finally said. ‘But six moons ago, at least five hundred.’
Roeloff laughed. When he had first met Twa, the hunter had had a strange method of counting, starting from one to ten, then going back to one, and doubling the result. He’d since taught Twa the right way, but occasionally he slipped back into his old method and his calculation was hopelessly out. Five hundred could easily be as low as fifty or a hundred.
‘Five hundred! When we left here, there were four. He couldn’t have increased it by a hundred.’
Twa shook his head at his stupidity.
‘That’s why I said five hundred. The tracks are right up against the fence. They stood crowded.’ He paused for the effect of his next pronouncement. ‘Hennerik said he also bought about fifty of that thick-woolled sheep.’
‘Merino? How did he get them up here? They’re hard to come by, those sheep.’
He returned to the house and found Joubert in the yard saying goodbye to Diena and Lourens who were returning home with Bessie. He looked at the child. He’d not had a good look at her before. She was almost three years old, a quiet little girl with blue eyes big as saucers, and long hair washed in gold.
‘Hello, Bessie. You’re going home today?’ He was struck by her eyes, by their intensity.
She looked at him curiously, but didn’t say anything.
‘She’s not one for talking much, Roff,’ Diena said. ‘She’ll have to get used to you.’
Roeloff reached up and touched her hair. It was soft and silken. He felt a cold wind blow through his heart. Had he come back to Kloot’s Nek for a reckoning of his sins? Was this what Sanna was trying to tell him?
‘See you soon, Diena. Maybe this afternoon. You, too, Lourens.’
The wagon rolled off and he turned to Joubert.
‘I was hoping to catch you out here by yourself. I believe you have our sheep at your farm.’
‘Your father couldn’t manage. It was easier looking after them there.’
‘I’m grateful. I want to ride out this morning with Hennerik and Twa to fetch them back. And the horses. They’re there too, I believe.’
‘It looks like you’ve decided to stay.’
‘Yes. And I’m anxious to get started on the work that needs doing. I understand we also had merino. In all, we should have about five hundred sheep.’
Joubert laughed.
‘Whoever told you that had too much to drink. There are far less. Jackals and disease took most of them. But, seeing as we’re on the subject of what belongs where, perhaps we should talk about Drieka. I have her interests to think of. I’m also her executor. If you hadn’t come back … well, you know what I’m leading up to; Kloot’s Nek would be hers.’
Roeloff smiled. They were finally at the place where there was no pretence.
‘Pa had a regard for you, and you helped him, Oom Jan. I’m grateful, not indebted. You’re your sister’s executor, not his. Tante Drieka will have her share. Tante Drieka and Vinkie and no other.’
Jan Joubert kept his composure.
‘And what would that be?’
‘A place here as long as she wants. If she wants to remarry, well, that be something else. Kloot’s Nek will not change hands.’
Jan Joubert put his hands in his jacket pockets, rocking slightly on his heels.
‘You’ve got a lot of wind for one just returned. A man needs his friends in the Karoo.’
‘I agree—if he has any.’
Roeloff arrived at Joubert’s farm ahead of him that afternoon.
Diena greeted him and invited him into the house. ‘Do you want to see Soela while you wait for Pa?’
‘Yes,’ he said, a little unsure of himself. He was anxious to see her, but also a little apprehensive.
