Heart of the Hunter

?What do you think, Vincent?? asked Mentz softly.

?I think he began a new life.?

She watched the faces around the table. She wanted to test the support for Radebe. She saw none.

?Why not give himself up then, Vincent?? Rajkumar asked with a flamboyant gesture.

?I don'?t know,? said Radebe. ?I just don'?t know.?

Rajkumar leaned back as if he had won the argument.

?A leopard doesn'?t change its spots,? said Janina. ?He was out of the big game for ten years. But now he?s back. I think he is enjoying it.?

* * *

He awoke with a start, immediately aware that the El Camino was no longer moving and the engine was off. He heard voices.

?Koos Kok, get out.?

?Why??

?We want to see if you are smuggling a man with a motorbike.?

Under the tarpaulin, he was blind to the action.

?Ja, okay, you got me. Have mercy, it?s just a dwarf on a fifty cc.?

Roadblock. His heart thundered in his ears, his breathing sounded very loud, he wondered if he had made any noise waking up.

?You always were a smooth-mouthed bastard, Koos. All your life.?

?And you are a ghwar, Sarge, even for a Dutchman.?

?Ghwar?

What?s a ghwar??

?Just playing, Sarge, what?s with you today??

?How many sheep have you got in the back, Koos??

?I?m not in that business anymore, Sarge.?

?You lie, Koos Kok. You will be a sheep stealer till the day you die. Lift up that sail.?

How many men were there? Would he be able to ? ?

?Leave the man, Gerber, we?ve got more important things to do.?

?He?s a thief. I bet you there?s meat here.?

Thobela Mpayipheli heard the man?s voice right by him, heard the rustle of a hand over the canvas. Lord, he was helpless, weaponless, he was lying down without a chance.

?You can look, it?s just my furniture,? said Koos Kok.

?Where are you moving to??

?Bloemfontein. I?m looking for a proper job.?

?Ha! You lie like a dentist!?

?Let him go, Gerber, he?s blocking the road.?

?I tell you there are sheep here? .?

?Let him go.?

?Okay, Koos, get your skedonk out of the road.?

?But what about the dwarf with the motorbike? He can?t ride in the back there all the way.?

?Fuck off, Koos, before you get in trouble.?

?Okay, okay, Sarge. I?m going.? And the springs of the bakkie shifted as Koos Kok got in and then the engine fired and the big six-cylinder rumbled.

?Jissis, Koos, you must work on that exhaust.?

?Just as soon as I?ve dropped off the motorbike,? said Koos Kok, and he pulled away with spinning tires.

* * *

Quinn set the first issue of the Argus carefully before her.

fugitive BIKER WAS MK HERO

The fugitive motorcyclist now hunted nationally by intelligence agencies, the military and the South African Police Service was a top Umkhonto we Sizwe soldier who served the Struggle with great distinction, says a former SANDF colonel and comrade of Mr. Thobela Mpayipheli.

?Although I lost track of Thobela?s military career during the latter part of the struggle against apartheid, there is no doubt that he was an honorable soldier,? says Col. ?Lucky? Luke Mahlape, who retired as second in command at First Infantry Battalion in Bloemfontein last year.

Col. Mahlape, now living in Hout Bay, called the Argus to set the record straight after news of Mr. Mpayipheli?s high-speed cross-country dash on a big BMW motorcycle caught local headlines earlier today.