replied, and went to the gas refrigerator.
It foamed to the rim of the glass as he poured the wine, and before it
subsided and he had carried the glass to her, he had made his decision.
Let's take his advice seriously, and think about you going to Hollywood,
he said, and put the glass in her hand.
What's to think about? she asked. This is where we belong. 'No, let's
wait a while before replying What do you mean? She lowered the glass
without tasting the wine.
We will wait until, let's say, until after we have seen the Brig in Cape
Town. Why? She looked puzzled. Why should it be different then?
No reason. It's just that it is an important decision the choice of
time is arbitrary, however. Beseder! she agreed readily, and raised
the glass to toast him. I love you. I love you, he said, and as he
drank he was glad that she had so many roads to choose from.
The Brig's arrangements allowed them three more weeks before the
rendezvous in Cape Town, and David drew upon each hour to the full,
anticipating his chances of expulsion from their private Eden.
They were happy days and it seemed that nature had conspired to give
them of her best. The goodrains fell steadily, always beginning in the
afternoon after a incoming of tall clouds and heavy air filled with
static and the feel of thunder. In the sunset the lightning played and
flickered across the gilt cloud banks, turned by the angry sun to the
colour of burnished bronze and virgins blushes. Then in the darkness as
they lay entwined, the thunder struck like a hammer blow and the
lightning etched the window beyond the bed to a square of blinding white
light, and the rain came teeming down with the sound of wild fire and
running hooves. With David beside her, Debra was unafraid.
In the morning it was bright and cool, the trees washed sparkling clean
so that the leaves glinted in the early sun and the earth was dark with
water and spangled with standing pools.
The rains brought life and excitement to the wild things, and each day
held its small discoveries -unexpected visitations, and strange
occurrences.
The fish eagles moved their two chicks from the great shaggy nest in the
mhobahoba at the head of the pools and taught them to perch out on the
bare limb that supported it. They sat there day after day, seeming to
gather their courage. The parent birds were frenetic in their
ministrations, grooming their offspring for the great moment of flight.
Then one morning, as he and Debra ate breakfast on the stoop, David
heard the swollen chorus of their chanting cries, harsh with triumph,
and he took Debra's hand and they went down the steps into the open.
David looked up and saw the four dark shapes spread on wide wings
against the clear blue of the sky, and his spirit soared with them in
their moment of achievement.
They flew upwards in great sweeping circles, until they dwindled to
specks and vanished, gone to their autumn grounds upon the Zambezi
River, two thousand miles to the north.
There was, however, one incident during those last days that saddened
and subdued them both. One morning, they walked four miles northwards
beyond the line of hills to a narrow wedge-shaped plain on which stood a
