Page 160 of The Sun Sister

‘It would be your bad luck if I didn’t,’ he said wryly. ‘Now, don’t worry, there’s an ejector seat in case something goes wrong.’

‘Are you serious?’ She twisted round in her seat to look at him and he gave her a smile.

‘Cecily, you’re perfectly safe. Just trust me and enjoy the views.’

With that, the plane’s engine roared into life, and the propeller started to whirr. Bill guided the plane down the runway and a minute later they were up in the air, Cecily’s stomach turning somersaults.

As they climbed higher and she became used to the sensation, Cecily stared down beneath her in fascination. She could make out the tops of the grey buildings and the streets of Nairobi, cars and people crawling along them like ants, but after a few minutes, all she could see was undulating countryside, gentle greens and flashes of orange earth and the occasional sparkle of a lazy river.

After a half-hour’s flight, Bill tapped her shoulder and pointed to a spot below them and Cecily gasped. There was Mundui House, like a perfect little doll’s house on the edge of the shimmering lake.

Then Bill swung the plane north, and Cecily recognised the train tracks that ran through Gilgil, and saw the dark expanse of the Aberdare Mountains to their right. A glimmer of pink and blue appeared in the distance and Cecily squinted through her goggles to try and see what it was.

‘Lake Nakuru,’ Bill shouted to her, barely audible over the noise of the engine.

Cecily gasped as he swooped the plane downwards and the pink cloud she had seen crystallised in front of her eyes: thousands upon thousands of densely packed flamingos stood peacefully together in the water. As the plane flew overhead, they began to open their wings in a ripple effect, their bright coats reflected in the blue water so they appeared like a single gigantic organism, moving as one.

When Bill finally headed south again, Cecily looked down at Kenya spread out below her, marvelling at the new perspective her husband had so thoughtfully given her. This was now her home, and right now, she could not imagine being anywhere more beautiful.

When they landed, Bill helped her out of the plane and Cecily felt her legs wobble beneath her. She stripped off her goggles, shook back her windswept hair and looked up at him, hardly knowing how to put into words the beauty of what she had seen.

‘Thank you,’ she managed. ‘I will never, ever forget this moment and what I just saw.’

‘Glad you enjoyed it. I’ll take you up again after the rains. Now,’ he said curtly, as he handed her into the pick-up, ‘I’m afraid it’s back to business.’

As they drove away from Nairobi, towards the Aberdare Mountains and their temporary marital home with Bobby and Katherine (Bill had point-blank refused to stay under Kiki’s roof until their own home was built), Cecily couldn’t help but cast a glance at him. Whatever their marriage was based on, he not only made her feel safe and protected, but his self-containment fascinated her. He – and the life she would now begin to live – may not have been what she would have naturally chosen, but as they entered Katherine and Bobby’s farmland and bumped through the surrounding red plains which would soon be filled with the cattle coming back down from the hills, she felt she wanted to do everything to embrace it. She’d do her best to be a good wife to the man who had not only saved her life, but also her reputation.

My husband is a special man, she thought as a little bubble of unexpected longing popped in her stomach.

‘Hello there!’ Katherine waved at them from the veranda as they made their way up the muddy drive to the small but newly renovated cottage. ‘How was the flight?’ she asked Cecily as she put her arm through hers, and led her towards it.

‘It was truly the most incredible experience of my life,’ Cecily smiled as Katherine ushered her into a chair on the veranda.

‘Oh, I’m so glad,’ Katherine smiled, sitting down next to her. ‘Bill asked me whether I thought you’d be up for it, and of course I said yes. It’s the only way to see just how magical Kenya is,’ she said as Bill brought Cecily’s suitcase from the pick-up. ‘He took me up once and decided to show off with his new tricks. I admit, I vomited all over the cockpit,’ she chuckled.

‘Shall I put this in the spare room, Katherine?’

‘Do, yes, Bill.’

‘Aleeki said he’d send Kiki’s chauffeur over with the rest of my things tomorrow,’ Cecily said as she watched Bill walk inside the cottage.

‘Well, it’s a shame that you don’t have your own home to go to, but we’ll do our best to make you comfortable here.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that; I’m just so grateful I don’t have to stay down at Mundui House any longer. The atmosphere is awful strange. And besides, this is quite lovely, Katherine.’ Cecily swept her hand around the veranda, on which stood a table that Bobby himself had made out of discarded timber and had polished to a high shine. Katherine had planted bushes of hibiscus along the borders, along with bright orange and blue Bird of Paradise flowers. The cottage was cosy and inviting, with pretty flowered curtains Katherine had sewn for the windows, and clean white shutters. ‘It feels very homely.’

‘Well, Inverness Cottage is certainly not grand, but it’s all ours and that’s what matters. Now,’ Katherine said as Bill came out of the front door, ‘can I get you both a drink of some sort?’

‘Not for me, Katherine. I’m afraid I must be off back to the farm.’

‘Yes, Bobby left this morning.’

‘Then I’m sure I’ll see him up there. Real life begins again and I need to get those cattle safely down onto the plains.’

Cecily did her best to hide her disappointment. ‘When will you be back?’

‘Not sure, to be honest. Sometime next week, I should think.’

‘Oh.’ Cecily swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘Well, I’ll be just fine here with Katherine.’