• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 3398 0

was in good condition now. With help from Nxumalo's people, all buildings were roofed; the Herefords were maturing; the wool clip was coming in at a satisfactory level; and the black farmworkers had gouged out two small lakes, or catchments, below the big lake, so that on sunny days the three bodies of water shone like a necklace of jewels. Detlev was especially pleased with them, for he saw that by this device the water that came down from the hills behind the farm was used three timesfour, really: 'It runs past the house as a stream, then builds our big lake, then goes on to make the two smaller ones for the cattle.'

It was to the north shores of these attractive lakes that Mr. Amberson brought the thousand saplings when they arrived at Durban from Australia. They were, as he predicted, mostly eucalypts, those shaggy-barked wonderful trees whose leaves when crushed had a minty odor. But he also delivered some two hundred wattles, the bushlike trees whose golden flowers would adorn the landscape.

'That many trees is a monstrous task,' he warned the men, and to help them with the planting he excused his entire school one Thursday and Friday, bringing all the boys out to work by the lakes. 'Practical learning' he termed it, and he worked hardest of all, dashing here and there to satisfy himself that the trees were in line. The only charge to the Van Doorns for this unusual service was a barbecue for the lads, and it was after the boys and their teacher had returned to Venloo that Detlev first voiced his suspicion. The two older men were sitting in the kitchen while Johanna cleaned up, and when she left the room, Detlev said quietly, 'I think Mr. Amberson is in love with Johanna.'

'What did you say?'

'He comes here to argue with you, General de Groot, but he really comes to be with Johanna.' He mimicked the way in which the Englishman pronounced her name, not Yo-hon-na, like a Boer, but Jo-hann-a, in the English manner.

This news was so frightening that General de Groot whispered 'Shhhhhh' lest Johanna hear that they were discussing her indiscretion, and when she returned to the kitchen six eyes studied her cautiously. When she left again, De Groot snorted: 'Unthinkable! A Boer girl in love with an English . . .'

'I didn't say that,' Detlev protested. 'I said he was in love with her.'

'A fine girl like Johanna,' the general said. 'She'd never do a thing like that.' He uttered the words with such contempt that he might have been speaking of prostitution.

'She is twenty-six,' Jakob said thoughtfully. 'She's a precious girl and ought to be finding herself a man.'

'You need her here,' De Groot said, meaning that he needed her.

'She mustn't wait much longer, though,' Jakob said. 'But I agree I don't want an Englishman in my family.'

Everything these three male spies saw in the next weeks confirmed their suspicion that Johanna van Doorn was falling in love with an Englishman, and one weekend when he appeared at the farm to inspect the young eucalypts, General de Groot bearded him: 'Young man, did you come here to see the trees, or did you come to see Johanna?'

Mr. Amberson blanched, then turned bright red. 'Well, I . . .'

'It would be better if you didn't come here any more.' When the young man started to defend himself, Jakob entered the discussion: 'Yes, it would be better if you stayed away.'

'But . . .'

'Starting now,' the general said firmly, and the two men remained at Amberson's side, edging him toward his horse. The general said, 'We don't want an Englishman making up to one of our girls. Now get!' And he slapped the horse, sending the long-legged teacher back toward Venloo.

At lunch, when it appeared that Mr. Amberson would not be joining the family, Johanna asked why, and the general said bluntly, 'We don't want him fooling around with a decent Boer girl.'

Johanna blushed, but did not retreat. 'Did you send him away?'

'We did,' the general snapped.

'Who are you to send people away, General de Groot? You're a guest here.'

'I am the protector of this house,' he said firmly.

'I don't want your protection.'