There was an urgent summons from Acheson waiting for Sean.
He caught the northbound express twenty minutes after arriving in
Charlestown, hating Saul for the hot bath in which he left him, and for
the uniform which Mbejane had persuaded a plump Zulu maid to wash and
iron, hating him still more venomously for the invitation to be guest
of honor at the officers' mess that night, and knowing that Saul would
drink deep on Veuve Clicquot and Courvoisier which had once belonged to
Sean.
When Sean arrived in Johannesburg the following morning, with soot from
the locomotive adding a subtle touch to the fragrance he had gathered
from two unwashed weeks in the veld, there was an orderly to meet him
and conduct him to Acheson's suite in the Grand National Hotel Major
Peterson was patently taken aback by Sean's turnout, he eyed the stains
and tears and dried mud with genteel horror at the contrast they
afforded to the breakfast table's crisp white linen and splendid
silver. The ripeness of Sean's odour impaired Peterson's appetite and
he dabbed at his nose with a silk handkerchief. But Acheson seemed not
to notice, he was in festive mood.
'Damned fine show, Courtney. Oh, damned fine. Proved your point
entirely. We'll not have much trouble from Leroux for some time, I
warrant you. Have another egg? Peterson, pass him the bacon.
Sean finished eating and filled his coffee cup before he made his
request. 'I want to be relieved of this command, I made a bloody mess
of it.'
Both Acheson and Peterson stared in horror. 'Good God, Courtney.
You've achieved a notable success, the most spectacular in months.
'Luck,' brusquely Sean interrupted. 'Another two hours and we would
have been wiped out. ' 'Lucky officers are more valuable to me than
clever ones.
Your request is refused, Colonel Courtney.' So it's Colonel now, a
bribe to get me into the dentist's chair. Sean was mildly amused.
A knock at the door prevented Sean continuing his protestation, and an
orderly came into the room and handed Acheson a message.
'Urgent dispatch from Charlestown,' he whispered.
Acheson took the paper from him and used it like a conductor's baton as
he went on talking.
'I have got three junior officers for you, men to replace your losses.
You catch them for us and hold them for my cavalry That's all I want
from you. While you're doing your bit the columns are going to start a
series of new drives. This time we are going to sweep every inch of
the ground between the blockhouse lines. We are going to destroy the
crops and the livestock; burn the farms; take every woman, man and
child off the land and put them in detainment camps. By the time we're
finished there will be nothing but bare veld out there. We will force
them to operate in a vacuum, while we wear them down with a relentless
series of drives and raids. ' Acheson slapped the table so that the
crockery jingled. 'Attrition, Courtney. From now on it's a war of
attrition ' 216 Those words had an uncomfortable familiarity for Sean.
And suddenly a picture of desolation formed in his mind. He saw the
land, his land, blackened with fire, and the roofless homesteads
