Page 168 of The Sun Sister

‘Oh, I’m fine, thank you,’ Cecily said, although in truth, in the past few days, she’d been suffering from a series of headaches and her ankles looked more like an elephant’s than a human being’s. ‘Can I get you dessert?’

August in Kenya brought with it a dry, stifling heat that had Cecily begging for the rains to arrive. She was also becoming less mobile, which meant she was stuck in the house by herself much of the time.

Bill arrived back one afternoon unexpectedly to find his wife lying in bed fast asleep with the shutters closed to keep out the bright sunshine.

‘There you are. I tried telephoning, but you can’t have heard the ringing. I’ve brought guests,’ he said unceremoniously and walked out of the bedroom to leave her to struggle to wakefulness.

When she emerged into the drawing room, she was startled by what she saw there. Three impossibly tall and regal Maasai men were perched on the edge of the couch.

‘Ah, Cecily! Meet Leshan,’ Bill gestured to one of the men bedecked in silver and beaded jewellery, his earlobes stretched and adorned with what looked like a large fang. ‘He is the chief of the Ilmolean clan and a dear friend of mine,’ Bill continued. ‘And these are his trustedmorans,’ Bill said, gesturing to the two other men sitting on the couch, their spears leaning against the wall beside them. ‘The most famed warriors in Kenya. Any chance of something to eat? I’ll make a round of gin for everyone.’

‘Of course.’ Cecily left the room and Bill followed her into the kitchen where she rounded on him. ‘Bill, I do wish you’d warned me we were having guests.’

‘I did try to telephone, as I said, but you were sleeping. Don’t worry, Leshan and his men aren’t expecting much. It is an absolute honour that they wanted to visit our new home.’

‘Of course,’ she sighed, and set to making sandwiches for their strange guests, while Bill went back into the drawing room with a bottle of gin and their finest crystal glasses.

Holding the tray of sandwiches, Cecily went to join them, feeling a headache beginning to form just behind her eyes.

Five days later, Katherine arrived at the front door of Paradise Farm but received no reply to her knock.

‘Cecily?’ she called as she opened the front door and went into the hall.

‘Yes, in here...’ came a weak reply from Cecily’s bedroom.

Katherine walked along the corridor, gave a peremptory knock on the door then opened it. The room was in complete darkness, the shutters closing off the brightness of the day. She moved to open one.

‘Please don’t! I have the most dreadful headache right now.’

‘You poor darling. Did it start today?’

‘I’ve had it on and off for the past week or so, and it’s just gotten worse and worse...Oh, Katherine, I feel so ill.’

‘Where’s Bill?’

‘I don’t know, he went out yesterday, or was it this morning...? I just wish my head would stop pounding so.’

‘Right, I’ll go and telephone Dr Boyle immediately. Get him to come over and take a look at you.’

‘Please don’t make a fuss – I’ve taken more aspirin, and I’m sure it’ll start to work soon...’

Katherine ignored her and went into the hall to dial Dr Boyle’s number. His wife Ethnie answered after a couple of rings. Katherine explained the situation, and heard a long sigh at the other end of the line.

‘Do you think it’s something serious?’ Katherine asked.

‘Severe headaches can be a sign of high blood pressure, which is very worrying in a woman only a few weeks from giving birth. Has she had any swelling around her ankles, do you know?’ Ethnie said.

‘Yes, she has. She had them in a bowl of cool water only last time I was here.’

‘I can certainly ask William to come out to see her, but in truth, Katherine, it would be far better if you could bring her to Nairobi. She may well need urgent hospital treatment.’

‘I’m not sure how we’d get her there.’ Katherine bit her lip. ‘I rode over here, you see, and Bill’s got the pick-up.’

‘Well, see if there’s anyone else around who would lend you their vehicle, and let me know. I’ll speak to William and have him on standby to meet you at the hospital.’

‘Thank you, Ethnie.’

Katherine immediately picked up the receiver again to dial Alice’s number; she’d recently returned home from a safari in the Congo.