‘Septimus,’ I barked.
He looked at me with an expression of pure fear.
‘Put the gun down. Now.’
‘OK.’
He bent slowly and put the rifle down on the slab of cement in front of his door with great respect.
‘Lie down,’ I ordered Septimus.
‘Where?’
‘Anywhere you want, you idiot. Just away from the rifle.’
He lay down on his stomach.
I stood up and moved closer to Jacobus.
‘Cobie, put the gun down.’
He was reluctant to do so, even though the MAC was empty. I didn’t know whether he had another magazine in his pocket.
‘Get up,’ I said.
He stood up. I kneed him as hard as I could just above his navel. He fell forward, mouth agape, winded.
I jerked the MAC from his hand and flung it far out into the veld. ‘That’s because you wanted to kill me, Cobus. And to calm you down. Fuck knows, you’re mad as a rabid dog.’
Cobie curled up like a foetus, desperately gagging for air.
I touched my head with my left hand where it hurt. I felt the wound, a long deep groove starting just under my ear. It was bleeding. One centimetre closer, one fraction of a second, and I would have been dead. I felt like kicking him again. I suppressed the impulse, went over to Squint Seppie, pushed the Glock into my belt and picked up the rifle. I took out the magazine, worked the bolt to pump out the round in the barrel and threw it and the magazine into the night. Septimus watched me anxiously with one eye. I dropped the rifle down beside him and took out the Glock again. I went over to Cobie, put my knee in his back and pressed the pistol against the back of his head.
‘Septimus, look at me.’
He raised his head and looked.
‘I want you to go into your house and bring me some electric cord. The longest piece you have, OK?’
‘Yes.’ He was unsure.
‘I’m going to wait here with Cobie and if you come out of that door with anything except the cord, I will shoot him.’
‘OK.’
‘Off you go, Seppie. Be quick.’
He hesitated for only an instant, then scurried into the cottage. Under my knee Cobie de Villiers would not lie still.
‘Jacobus, I don’t want any trouble from you. I swear to God I’ll shoot you if you don’t cooperate. The police will give me a medal.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Still that manic tone.
‘I’m going to tie you up, Jacobus, because you have more tricks than a monkey. And then we’re going to talk. That’s all. If our discussion goes well, I’ll let you go and I’ll leave and I won’t breathe a word about you to anyone. But if you don’t cooperate, I’m taking you to the police. It’s your choice.’
He didn’t reply. He just lay there gasping.
Septimus came out very warily. He had a length of electric cord which he carried in front of him with outstretched arms like a peace offering.
‘Bring it to me, Septimus, and go and lie down on your stomach again with your arms behind your back.’
He did as I commanded with great obedience and concentration. I waited until he was lying down, picked up the cord with my left hand and pushed the Glock into my belt.
That was what Cobie was waiting for. He moved suddenly, trying to roll away and hit at me in one movement. I was expecting it. My patience with him had run out. I grabbed his hand, twisted it behind his back and pushed his wrist up towards his neck, expecting to hear the pop of his shoulder dislocating. He was tough, but not tough enough to ignore the awful pain. He went limp.
‘Mad and stupid is a bad combination, Jacobus,’ I said as I thumped both my knees into his back with my full weight behind them. I heard the wind explode out of him again, grabbed one hand, forced it against the other, reached for the cord and began tying up his wrists. I got off him only when I was dead sure that his hands wouldn’t come loose.
‘Seppie, I need more cord.’
‘I haven’t got any more,’ he said in a small voice.
‘What have you got?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Go and look in Cobie’s house.’
‘OK.’
‘And hurry up, Septimus, or I will shoot Cobie. First in the left leg, and then in the right.’
‘OK.’ He sprang up and ran to the cottage with the yellow curtains, jerked open the door and switched on the light. He came back with an electric cord still attached to a bedside lamp.
‘Break the lamp off, Seppie.’
He did that.
‘Now, lie down.’
He knew the position well enough. I took my knees off Cobie, took the new cord, sat on Septimus and began to tie his wrists.
Cobie de Villiers jumped up.
‘Jacobus!’ I shouted to no avail. He ran away down the hill with his arms behind his back.
‘I’ll shoot your friend, Cobie.’ It didn’t seem to be much of a friendship, because Cobie disappeared into the dark.
‘Fuck,’ I screamed in frustration. What now? First, I had to immobilise Septimus. I worked quickly, winding the cord around Squinty Sep’s ankles and making a hasty knot. ‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ I told him. Then I kicked him lightly in the ribs, pulled the Glock from my belt and set off after Cobie.
What was driving the man?
39
The dark gave him the advantage. He knew the terrain, too. Luckily a man with his hands bound doesn’t have good balance.
I couldn’t see him, but I heard him fall somewhere to the right, a hundred metres or more away. Branches cracked, I heard a dull thud and I ran in the direction of the noise.
If he lay still, he had a chance, but Cobie was bent on getting away. When he staggered upright, I heard his footsteps and saw him as a dark shape against the grey of the long grass, crouched over and stumbling. I set after him and caught up. With every breath he made a noise of desperation. I tackled him from behind and he crashed down. With no hands to break the fall his face ploughed into the grass.
I jumped on him and sat on his back, stuck the Glock in his neck and hissed breathlessly,
‘Shoot me.’ The hoarse whisper was almost inaudible, while he tried to jerk his body in a senseless attempt to get free.
‘What?’ I willed air back into my lungs.
‘Shoot me.’
‘You’re crazy.’
‘No.’
‘You are, Jacobus.’
‘Shoot me. Please.’
