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She was right, there was no doubt about that. The meat was permeated all the way into the muscles with little red globules. You had all the pigs caught and one by one you had the bit put into their mouths and you pulled out the tongues yourself with pliers to have a look. They were all infested.

Then you just couldn’t any more. Then you made her the messenger.

It was she who had to tell the workers that there wouldn’t be any pork this month, she who had to lock the smoking-cabin again where the fire had already been lit to smoke the bacon and had to send them all home empty-handed.

And then it was she again who had to go to the labourers’ houses with the medicine and the acid drops in her apron pocket and had to doctor the whole lot against worms as you had instructed her.

When she stayed away for too long, you went to have a look, but you walked around the back so that nobody should see you. You didn’t want to interfere. But you felt all of a sudden that it wasn’t right that Agaat should be there all on her own.

There she was commandeering the mothers of the children left and right to catch them and bring them nearer because when they saw the medicine bottle they took flight into the wattle-wilderness. Agaat was pushing and pulling them to stand in line, the big ones full of scratches from the branches and snivelling tearfully, the littl’uns bawling in the dust.

You heard her scolding before you even saw her. You peered round the corner. You saw how she grabbed the children by the hair and pulled their heads back and clamped their noses until they opened their mouths. With every spoonful she scolded.

This is what you get for shitting in the bushes like wild things! Open your porridge-hole! This is what you get for wiping your arses with your hands!

Swallow! swallow! If you spit it out you’ll get a swipe through your mug!

And then you guzzle vetkoek again with the same hands, what kind of black muck-mongering is this?

Swallow! swallow! dammit, swallow! and don’t leak snot all over my clothes!

You’re worse than pigs! They can’t help it that they didn’t get any brains. They eat your runny shit that lies around here stinking in the sun. That’s why they’re full of measles. If I come again, then I’ll dip the whole lot of you wholesale with a forked stick behind the neck in the sheep-dip, the Lord knows what kind of pestilences are hatching here!

Just look at that child’s scabies! When last did she smell a piece of soap? Godalmighty!

Just think what your guts look like! Pauperworms, they crawl up into your heads and gnaw out your brains till you’re dancing around with the horrors. And what about those mangy curs? On this farm we shoot everything that has worms quick-quick right between the eyes.

Will you pee on my shoes, you little hotnot! Stand that way, shut your trap and swallow or I’ll wind up your little prick for you like fly-paper. Where’re your pants?

Agaat made her way through her line and stood back, wiped her hands on her apron. With the spoon in the air she stood and explained.

Now you listen well to me on this day today, you take a spade, you throw all your shit on one pile every day and you make a fire on top, lot of clump-arses that you are. And then you throw soil on top. Even a cat knows to cover up. If I catch one of you dropping your pants in the veld then I’ll string barbed wire through his arse!

You stood back against the dirty wall. Your heart was beating fast. You had never seen Agaat like this, had never heard her talk like this. You saw the adults standing laughing at the performance, but not full-out, little half-mast laughs and looking covertly at one another. Then one of the striplings grabbed the bag of acid drops from her apron pocket and the children descended upon it like ravens.

Rubbish! she screeched and she up and kicked, one, two kicks into the bundle with her black school shoes so that they dispersed chow-chow.

You stood back and pretended to be coming round the corner of the house at speed.

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