Man of Many Talents

  Chapter 3

  On New Year's Eve Lana parked her chair and table next to the sliding door. She was still careful after sunset, because her house was close to the Kruger Park. On that side of the fence nature had taken its course for many years, and would continue to do so, as she had come to realize over the last five days. Lions roared. A hyena scratched in her garbage can. A leopard came strolling down the road this very morning, paying no attention to the city slicker running for the safety of the double cab! In addition, just before sunset she watched a herd of elephant bathing and playing in the Crocodile River right in front of her house.

  At nine o'clock she poured herself a glass of wine and decided to turn in as soon as it was finished. After the first sip she could hear a vehicle first turning into Crocodile road and shortly after that into her driveway.

  A small, silver BMW stopped in front of her porch.

  Henk Maritz was the last person she expected to see now. He approached with a bottle of sparkling wine in his hand and smile on his face, as if they had made this appointment a month ago already.

  "There I was, sitting with my family," he started gesticulating from afar. "Children running around, loud music, everybody talking together while eating and drinking, and suddenly I thought of a pretty lady enjoying the silence of this night on her own. I so much envied you that I decided to join you, but only for a short while. I cannot leave my family for too long."

  "No, you cannot. You are going to church. Please don't feel obliged to entertain me. I can hear enough game park sounds to compile an orchestra."

  "H'm …" He walked past her to bring out the other folding chair, and then he walked back to the kitchen to return with two champagne glasses. The cork shot out with a bang and two startled zebras barked strangely while running away. "Yes, and a very happy New Year to you, too," he called after them.

  "Now, Lana Steenekamp." He lifted his glass. "May the new year bring you happiness and joy. May your dreams come true, and may you become the most successful owner –builder south of the Kruger!"

  "Thank you," she answered his toast. "And may you become filthy rich in the process!"

  "What?" He looked surprised. "How would I become filthy rich in the process?"

  "I am going to buy all the materials at the local hardware store. Your shop!"

  "Lana." He sighed heavily. "It is not my hardware store. It belongs to Sarel. The man is on holiday in Mozambique as well, with André and Chris. I just had to do one or two things in the shop."

  "Oh, so you are the local handyman who has to organize things because you have bananas for fingers and you cannot, or will not do it yourself?"

  "Something to that effect, yes," he shook his head after thinking about it for a while.

  "I am not going to stay awake until twelve o'clock." Lana looked at her watch when the conversation started dwindling. She was concerned about Henk's guests who were probably watching the road to see when the silver BMW would return.

  "Are you tired?" He looked at his watch. "What time would you like to go to sleep?"

  "Ten thirty."

  He got up reluctantly. That would be half past ten …

  "What are you doing tomorrow? My family will be preparing a brunch and there is usually way too much to eat."

  "I am meeting one of the editors I work for at a lodge near the Crocodile Bridge gate. They are there for the weekend and we have to discuss the New Year’s schedule before she returns to Johannesburg."

  "It is New Year’s Day!" he protested. "What kind of a boss do you have?"

  "More than one, actually." She smiled at the shocked expression on his face. "And every one of them is convinced that I am working for him or her alone."

  "You cannot tell me anything about that."

 

  On New Year's Day Lana returned later than she had planned. She approached the park from Komatipoort's side and decided to turn off earlier, to reach her house by a different route. She had heard the lions roaring in the early morning hours, and one of the inhabitants claimed to have seen them entering the park underneath a broken fence.

  Lana was driving slowly and kept shining a light into the bushes, using a strong flashlight she had received as a gift from her two sons.

  When she reached a corner she noticed that the name board was missing, but she decided to drive in the general direction of her house. There was no sign of the lions. She reached a T-junction and that name board was missing as well. By this time, she was convinced that she was lost. She tried to open the Marloth Park map in the bakkie, but it was too small. After shining the flashlight into the dark to make sure there were no predators around, she climbed out and opened the map on the bonnet, securing it with a couple of tins.

  Lana could hear the sound of an approaching vehicle and decided to ask for directions if she could not navigate using the map, but the next moment a bright light was shining into her face.

  "Did your vehicle break down?" someone asked.

  "No, I am lost." Totally blinded by the hash light, she held her hands in front of her face.

  "Are you aware of the fact that you are encroaching on the Park's rules?" the voice enquired sternly.

  "Yes I am, but what was I supposed to do? I could not look at the map inside the bakkie, and I don't know where I am."

  "Wait Sergeant Modise, this is Mrs. Steenekamp. She is new around here. Perhaps she is not aware of the regulations." Henk Maritz came forward, taking the flashlight out of the other man's hands. Lana could see that they were both dressed in the blue uniforms of the local police.

  "Ignorance is not an excuse. Mrs. Steenekamp, I am stating to you: You are not allowed to get out of your vehicle after dark. You are not allowed to shine your flashlight in a manner that could be disturbing to animals or humans. Two people phoned to complain." The other man took a pad out and started writing.

  "What is he doing?" Lana asked Henk.

  "He is the enforcer of the law. I suppose he is busy issuing you with a ticket."

  "Get back into your vehicle and pay this fine at the municipal offices in Crocodile Street," the sergeant said formally. Lana read it in the light of her bakkie.

  "Driving on a no entry road. Trespassing. Use of alcohol on public road while driving? This is not a public road," Lana protested. "You just stated that it is a no entry road."

  "That is correct. It is a private road, it leads to private homes."

  "I think you should scrap that one, sergeant," Henk suggested. "I think the sign boards at the end of the road are missing."

  "They are definitely missing. I got lost because of all the boards that were missing. What gives you the idea that I was using alcohol while I was driving? I would never do that.

  "This." The man pointed at the two tins of Castle Light she used to secure the map.

  "The tins are still sealed. I used them for paperweights to prevent the map from blowing away." She felt so frustrated; if she were a man she would have used her fists.

  "Oh!" Sergeant Modise took the ticket and cancelled it before handing it back to her again.

  "What am I supposed to pay now? I cannot make out head or tails on this ticket."

  "Nothing, I cancelled it. Extenuating circumstances," he answered and cancelled the one on his pad as well.

  "Thank you very much. What am I supposed to do with the ticket? Can I throw it away and forget about it?"

  "Yes, you can … or use it to wipe the smile from my reservist's face." The sergeant shrugged.

  "Is he laughing?" Lana turned to Henk. And sure enough, he was laughing as if he was part of a campfire concert again. "Why are you dressed in a blue suit, as if you belong to the Gestapo?"

  "Schedule D police reservist, Captain Maritz at your service!" He kicked his heels together and saluted, looking so sexy that she had to look away, before her look turned into a stare. "Sergeant Modise is in the force permanently. I report to him. Sergeant, shall we go? We still have a lot to do and time is running out."


  A captain who was reporting to a sergeant? It did not make sense, according to her knowledge about the way police ranks work, but then it dawned on her that few things around here worked in the way she would expect them to.

  "Wait, you cannot leave me here alone!" Lana cried out as they turned around to get into the police vehicle. "Please help me. I am lost. I cannot find my house."

  "I suppose we will have to show her the way to her house," the sergeant declared and climbed in behind the steering wheel. "Can we spare the time, Colleague?"

  "We are in the service of the community, we just have to spare the time," Henk answered.

  When they reached Lana's home, they waited for her to park her vehicle. She walked to the police vehicle.

  "Would you like to come in for a beer?"

  "Certainly not! Can you not see that we are on duty?" they both exclaimed in a shocked tone of voice.

  "But we wouldn't say no to coffee," the sergeant added.

 

  Slowly but surely everything was starting to return to normal. The festive season was over, and Lana decided to start another improvement project to her house before the magazines started putting pressure on her for her articles.

  During the first week in January she arranged for the carport frame to be welded.

  On Saturday morning Lana went to buy the poles to enclose the carport with, as well as a pair of pliers and a roll of wire. After doing that she did her grocery shopping at the other side of the centre.

  While carrying her parcels to the bakkie, she noticed a packed game drive vehicle approaching with 'Crocodile Safaris' sign written on the side, and Henk Maritz behind the wheel.

  "He waved at her excitedly and jumped out of the vehicle. Sitting next to him was Chris from the geyser.

  "Am I glad to see you. We are on our way to Kruger Park. Please join us." Henk placed two bills in a child's hands. "Buy ice cream for all the money. Lana, park your bakkie behind the building. It will be safe there."

  "No thank you, perhaps another time. I have to work on a new article on holiday accommodation around here, and it is going to keep me busy all day, but I would like to go with you another time, thanks." She laughed at the two children coming out of the shop, quarreling about the big bag full of ice creams, already starting to melt in the heat.

  "Oh goodness, how much did you spend on the ice creams?"

  "All the money, Granddad, as you told us to."

  "Okay. Have an ice cream, Lana," Henk offered.

  "Thank you." She chose one.

  "Please have another one."

  "No thank you. One will be enough."

  "After every one has had, I will return the rest of them. See you later." He started walking away, but stopped in his tracks. "Oh yes, Chris and I are coming to you at about eight o'clock tonight, to replace the geyser's element."

  "At eight o'clock on a Saturday evening?"

  "Yes, they are going home tomorrow. Tonight is their last night here."

  "Shall I keep some beers on ice? What do I owe you for the labor and the element? I want to draw money while I am at the centre."

  "Beer is a good method of payment. Make it a dozen," Chris responded, walking out of the bottle store, carrying a case of beer.