There was no mention of Ethiopia or Taita's game during breakfast, and
Royan ate her omelette and listened respectfully to a passionate
dissertation on how to catch sail fish on a fly rod from Sapper, while
Nicholas heckled him mercilessly, calling into question almost every
statement he made. Very obviously they had a good relationship, and she
supposed she would become accustomed to all the angling jargon.
As soon as breakfast was over, Nicholas stood up with the coffee pot in
one hand. 'Bring your mugs, and follow me., He led Royan to the front
sitting room. 'I have a surprise for you. My people up at the museum
worked round the clock to get it ready for you.'
He threw open the door of the sitting room, with an imitation of a
trumpet flourish, 'Tarantara!'
On the centre table stood a fully mounted model of the striped dik-dik,
crowned with the pricked horns and clad in the skin that Nicholas had
smuggled back from Africa. It was so realistic that for a moment she
expected it to leap off the table and dash away as she walked towards
it.
'Oh, Nicky. It's beautifully done!' She circled it appraisingly. 'The
artist has captured it exactly.'
The model brought back to her vividly the heat and smell of the bush in
the gorge, and she felt a twinge of nostalgia and sadness for the
delicate, beautiful creature.
Its glass eyes were deceptively lifelike and bright, and the end of its
proboscis looked wet and gleaming as though it was about to wiggle it
and sniff the air.
'I think it's splendid. Glad you agree with me.' He stroked the soft,
smooth hide. She felt this was not the moment to spoil his boyish
pleasure. 'As soon as we have Ir sorted out Taita's puzzle, I intend
writing a paper on it for the Natural History Museum, the same lads that
called Great-grandpapa a liar. Restore the family honour.' He laughed
and spread a dust-sheet over the model. Carefully he lifted it down from
the table and placed it safely in a corner of the room where it was out
of harm's way.
'That was the first surprise I had saved up for you. But now for the big
one.' He pointed to a sofa against one wall.
'Take a seat. I don't want you to be bowled over by this.' She smiled at
his nonsense, but went obediently to the furthest end of the sofa afid
curled her legs under her as she settled there. Sapper Webb came to sit
awkwardly at the other end, obviously uncomfortable at being so close to
her.
'Let's talk about how we are going to get into the chasm on the Dandera
river,' Nicholas suggested. 'Sapper and I have talked about nothing else
the whole time that you have been away.'
'That and catching fish, I'll warrant.' She grinned at him, and he
looked guilty.
'Well, both subjects involve water. That is my justification.' His
expression became serious. 'You recall that we discussed the idea of
exploring the depths of Taita's pool with scuba gear, and I explained
the difficulties.'
