was all too complicated.
‘I would hate for you to leave,’ said André, ‘but if you and Themba don’t get along … Perhaps it would be something worth considering.’
‘That would be like copping out. I don’t want to do that.’ I looked at André, frowning.‘You remember that poster on my wall. The one with Amir Khan?’
‘Yes?’
‘You once asked me why I had it up.’
‘And you said it was because you like boxing.’
I nodded. ‘I’ve thought about it since. I think I look up to him because he is such an incredible fighter. He’s got extraordinary vision and he doesn’t let anything stand in the way of it. I want to be like him. I don’t want to be a loser.’
Simoshile smiled quietly. She reached out her hand to me. I took it and it felt warm and comforting.
‘Oh, please!’ cried André, rolling his eyes. ‘Are we looking for love here? Or are we looking for a dog?’
The moment was gone. We were back to the present. André was right; we had tofind Umfana. It was already late morning and we hadn’t made any progress.
Plodding along, our calls rang out without any success.
A terrible scream from Simoshile made my blood turn cold.
Umfana! I thought. She found him!
No. I followed her frightened eyes. ‘Ibululu!’ she said.
There was a snake right in front of my feet. Brown speckled. Short and stocky. Watching me.
‘Puff adder, be careful,’ whispered André. ‘They’re very dangerous!’
I didn’t move, just kept my gaze fixed on the black eyes, the forked tongue darting in and out of its mouth. The seconds ticked by. It felt like hours. Then the puff adder lost interest and lazily slithered off.
‘That was close,’ sighed André. ‘I hate them. They cause most of the snake bites in South Africa. And if they bite you, your body swells up to more than double its size.’
‘You look like you’ve been dumped in boiling water, that’s what my dad says,’ added Simoshile. ‘And the place where it bit you bursts open. Scary! Really scary!’
I shivered. ‘And can you die?’
‘Hell, yeah!’ cried André.
‘It could also have been something else,’ said Simoshile softly.
‘It was a puff adder,’ said André irritated. ‘It’s not the first time I’ve seen one, Simoshile. And you said it yourself.’
‘No, that’s not what I mean.’ We frowned, gazing at her. ‘In the Zulu culture we believe that our ancestors sometimes appear to us in the form of snakes.’
‘Ancestors?’ I asked.
‘Their spirits, really. Ancestors play a huge role in our culture. If they appear to you as a dangerous snake they’ll behave peacefully. Sometimes you can recognise them by the marks carried on the snake’s body.’
‘Okay, now you really are scaring me,’ I said. ‘What would they want from us?’
‘Not from us, Buyi – from you. The puff adder had its eyes fixed on you.’
A shiver ran down my spine. ‘What would they possibly want from me?’ I stammered.
Simoshile was now deadly serious. ‘Buyi, the ancestors may have come to warn you of danger lying ahead.’
CHAPTER 22
I stared at Simoshile. Danger? Should we get out of the camp? But what about Umfana? We had to find him. Pangs of guilt still haunted me for not taking better care of him.
‘I could be wrong,’ she added. ‘But … what if I’m not?’
‘I don’t believe in any of that nonsense,’ said André. ‘It was just a snake that stared at Buyi’s ugly mug for a while and then slithered off. Nothing more. Let’s get a move on and find Umfana. I think we must try the erosion area. There’s lots of hiding places for a dog there.’
We changed direction and made our way through a rough piece of land. Simoshile’s words still played on my mind. I felt unsettled and tried to pass the incident off as unimportant. Since when did I start to believe in ghosts, or ancestors or whatever?
Around us the sun glistened on the leaves. The treebark was dotted with grey-green lichen. We shouted
‘I would hate for you to leave,’ said André, ‘but if you and Themba don’t get along … Perhaps it would be something worth considering.’
‘That would be like copping out. I don’t want to do that.’ I looked at André, frowning.‘You remember that poster on my wall. The one with Amir Khan?’
‘Yes?’
‘You once asked me why I had it up.’
‘And you said it was because you like boxing.’
I nodded. ‘I’ve thought about it since. I think I look up to him because he is such an incredible fighter. He’s got extraordinary vision and he doesn’t let anything stand in the way of it. I want to be like him. I don’t want to be a loser.’
Simoshile smiled quietly. She reached out her hand to me. I took it and it felt warm and comforting.
‘Oh, please!’ cried André, rolling his eyes. ‘Are we looking for love here? Or are we looking for a dog?’
The moment was gone. We were back to the present. André was right; we had tofind Umfana. It was already late morning and we hadn’t made any progress.
Plodding along, our calls rang out without any success.
A terrible scream from Simoshile made my blood turn cold.
Umfana! I thought. She found him!
No. I followed her frightened eyes. ‘Ibululu!’ she said.
There was a snake right in front of my feet. Brown speckled. Short and stocky. Watching me.
‘Puff adder, be careful,’ whispered André. ‘They’re very dangerous!’
I didn’t move, just kept my gaze fixed on the black eyes, the forked tongue darting in and out of its mouth. The seconds ticked by. It felt like hours. Then the puff adder lost interest and lazily slithered off.
‘That was close,’ sighed André. ‘I hate them. They cause most of the snake bites in South Africa. And if they bite you, your body swells up to more than double its size.’
‘You look like you’ve been dumped in boiling water, that’s what my dad says,’ added Simoshile. ‘And the place where it bit you bursts open. Scary! Really scary!’
I shivered. ‘And can you die?’
‘Hell, yeah!’ cried André.
‘It could also have been something else,’ said Simoshile softly.
‘It was a puff adder,’ said André irritated. ‘It’s not the first time I’ve seen one, Simoshile. And you said it yourself.’
‘No, that’s not what I mean.’ We frowned, gazing at her. ‘In the Zulu culture we believe that our ancestors sometimes appear to us in the form of snakes.’
‘Ancestors?’ I asked.
‘Their spirits, really. Ancestors play a huge role in our culture. If they appear to you as a dangerous snake they’ll behave peacefully. Sometimes you can recognise them by the marks carried on the snake’s body.’
‘Okay, now you really are scaring me,’ I said. ‘What would they want from us?’
‘Not from us, Buyi – from you. The puff adder had its eyes fixed on you.’
A shiver ran down my spine. ‘What would they possibly want from me?’ I stammered.
Simoshile was now deadly serious. ‘Buyi, the ancestors may have come to warn you of danger lying ahead.’
CHAPTER 22
I stared at Simoshile. Danger? Should we get out of the camp? But what about Umfana? We had to find him. Pangs of guilt still haunted me for not taking better care of him.
‘I could be wrong,’ she added. ‘But … what if I’m not?’
‘I don’t believe in any of that nonsense,’ said André. ‘It was just a snake that stared at Buyi’s ugly mug for a while and then slithered off. Nothing more. Let’s get a move on and find Umfana. I think we must try the erosion area. There’s lots of hiding places for a dog there.’
We changed direction and made our way through a rough piece of land. Simoshile’s words still played on my mind. I felt unsettled and tried to pass the incident off as unimportant. Since when did I start to believe in ghosts, or ancestors or whatever?
Around us the sun glistened on the leaves. The treebark was dotted with grey-green lichen. We shouted
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