the birds and reptiles that had made their homes in the thatch.
The mosquito gauze, that was intended to keep the wide verandas
insect-free, was rusted through and breaking away in tatters.
The vegetable gardens were overgrown, the fences about them falling to
pieces. The grounds of the home stead itself were thick with rank weed,
and not only the Land-Rover had died. No single piece of machinery on
the estate, water pump, toilet cistern, electricity generator, motor
vehicle, was in working order.
It's a mess, a frightful mess, David told Debra as they sat on the front
step and drank mugs of sweet tea. Fortunately David had thought to
bring emergency supplies with them.
, oh, Davey. I am so sorry, because I like it here. It's peaceful, so
quiet. I can just feel my nerves untying themselves. Don't be sorry.
I'm not. These old huts were built by Gramps back in the twenties, and
they weren't very well built even then. David's voice was full of a new
purpose, a determination that she had not heard for so long. It's a
fine excuse to tear the whole lot down, and build again. A place of our
own? she asked.
Yes, said David delightedly. That's it. That's just it! They flew
into Nelspruit, the nearest large town, the following day. In the week
of bustle and planning that followed they forgot their greater problems.
With an architect they planned the new homestead with care, taking into
consideration all their special requirements , a large airy study for
Debra, workshop and office for David, a kitchen laid out to make it safe
and easy for a blind cook, rooms without dangerous split levels and with
regular easily learned shapes, and finally a nursery section. When
David described this addition Debra asked cautiously, You making some
plans that I should know about?
You'll know about it, all right, he assured her.
The guest house was to be separate and self-contained and well away from
the main homestead, and the small hutment for the servants was a quarter
of a mile beyond that, screened by trees and the shoulder of the rocky
kopje that rose behind the homestead.
David bribed a building contractor from Nelspruit to postpone all his
other work, load his workmen on four heavy trucks and bring them out to
Jabulani.
They began on the main house, and while they worked, David was busy
resurfacing the airstrip, repairing the water pumps and such other
machinery as still had life left in it. However, the Land-Rover and the
electricity generator had to be replaced.
Within two months the new homestead was habitable, and they could move.
Debra set up her tape recorders beneath tbt: )ig windows overlooking the
shaded front garden, where the afternoon breeze could cool the room and
waft in the perfume of the frangipani and poinsettia blooms.
While David was completely absorbed in making Jabulani into a
comfortable home, Debra made her own arrangements.
Swiftly she explored and mapped in her mind all her immediate
surroundings. Within weeks she could move about the new house with all
the confidence of a person with normal sight and she had trained the
servants to replace each item of furniture in its exact position.
