Page 202 of The Sun Sister

Having cooked supper for the three of them who remained, Cecily excused herself soon after and left Bill and Jock to chat. In bed, she tried to concentrate on her book, but Diana’s comments about it being obvious that Bill was wild about her haunted her mind. Perhaps, she decided eventually, Diana was just being kind, because she was certain that Bill hardly registered her existence as a woman.

Jock and Bill left for Nairobi after lunch the following day. Even if Cecily found Jock rather boring and arrogant, there was a large portion of her that also felt sympathy for him.

‘When will you be back?’ she asked Bill as she handed him a pile of clean army uniform.

‘I’m not sure, I’m afraid, but I’ll let you know as soon as I can. And, my dear, really, it is time for you to get some domestic help.’ Bill indicated his laundry. ‘You’ve been slaving away all weekend.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ she agreed with a half-smile.

‘It’s not been so bad, having guests here, has it?’

‘Not at all.’

‘Well, take care, won’t you?’

‘And you,’ Cecily said as Bill kissed her politely on both cheeks. She followed the men to the veranda and noticed that Nygasi was already in his position at the rear of the pick-up. If he was going back with Bill, she presumed that Njala’s mother was still in the woods taking care of her.

Cecily waved them off rather wistfully, thinking that ithadbeen fun to play hostess for the weekend and to have people admire her house. The week in front of her stretched out like an empty void. Before she became maudlin, Cecily turned back inside and went to the kitchen to tackle the pile of pots and pans waiting to be washed up.

It took Cecily until Tuesday morning to pluck up the courage to visit Njala. She had no idea about Maasai birthing rituals – or whether Njala had even given birth yet – but a strange instinct had been telling her to stay away. Perhaps it was the fear of arriving to find that something had gone horribly wrong, like it had for her. Finally, curiosity and concern overcame her and she and Wolfie headed off towards the woods.

It was a beautiful sunny December day and after thundering rain last night, the air felt crisp and fresh. Cecily even found herself humming ‘Blue Orchids’ and thinking that Bill was right: she should get some domestic help, especially with Christmas on the near horizon. Her mother had telephoned to say that she had sent a Christmas box filled with lots of treats, but what with the war playing havoc with deliveries, Cecily wouldn’t be holding her breath for its arrival anytime soon. Still, she was looking forward to the festive season and even thought that she might join Bill for the races in Nairobi during Christmas week.

‘You really must be feeling better,’ she told herself as she entered the clearing and blinked, wondering if Wolfie had taken her the wrong way whilst she’d been dreaming about the races. The clearing was completely deserted. Cecily walked across to where the shelter used to stand and saw that the only traces left behind were a mound of clay and a few weeds scarred from the fire pit.

‘Holy moly!’ She looked around in disbelief. ‘They might have told us they were leaving, Wolfie. What a shame,’ she sighed, ‘I’d like to have seen the baby and said goodbye...Come on, let’s go home.’

But Wolfie wasn’t listening to his mistress; he’d headed out of the clearing in the opposite direction from home.

‘Wolfie! Come back here now!’

The dog continued to run through the trees until he was out of sight. Cecily turned in the direction of home, knowing he would eventually follow her, when she suddenly heard Wolfie bark from some distance away.

‘Darned dog!’ Cecily muttered as she followed the noise. ‘Wolfie! Come here!’

The barking continued and Cecily had no choice but to follow the sound deeper into the woods. It was thick and dark beyond the clearing, and Cecily found herself pushing through brambles that scratched her bare legs.

Eventually, she saw Wolfie’s backside – his nose was buried deep in a thicket – and went to see what it was that he was so interested in.

‘What is it you’ve found, boy? Some old bones, most likely. Come on, out of the way, let me take a look.’

Cecily pulled the dog away, then ploughed into the thicket herself, twigs grazing her arms and face. All she could see on the ground was a pile of dead leaves. Gingerly brushing a few of them aside to see what might be hidden beneath, her fingers touched something warm.

‘Agh!’ Cecily shrieked as she withdrew her hand abruptly and stepped back, a curl of her hair becoming tangled on a branch as she did so.

It was obviously some kind of animal, but the warmth she had felt told Cecily it was alive. After untangling her hair, she broke off one of the branches behind her, and with her heart beating hard, tentatively used it to clear more of the leaves away. A small patch of brown skin was revealed.

Then she heard the faintest mewling, like a newborn kitten. Clearing away further leaves, Cecily saw with a start a tiny foot poking up above the diminishing pile.

She swallowed hard, suddenly realising what the creature in the leafy grave was. And why Wolfie had barked.

‘Oh. My. Lord!’

Cecily fell to her knees and used her hands to scrape away the remaining leaves. And there it lay: a tiny but perfectly formed newborn baby girl. Her eyes were closed and the only visible sign of life was the rosebud lips that were formed into an ‘o’ as they sucked involuntarily.

Unable to process what might have happened, Cecily reached down and took the baby into her arms. The child was covered in dust and dirt, and the stump of her umbilical cord was seeping yellow pus. Cecily could see the pattern of tiny ribs through the skin; the stomach unnaturally distended, her tiny legs resembling a large frog.

‘But she’s alive,’ Cecily whispered. ‘Oh Wolfie.’ Her eyes blurred with tears. ‘I think you just saved a life. Come on, let’s get this little one back to the house as fast as we can.’