IMbejane! Take the saddle off that horse, I won't be using him Katrina

laughed. She ran to her wagon, skirts swirling around her legs, calling

to the dogs. She came back with her bonnet on and a basket in her hand.

The dogs crowded round them, jumping up and barking. Go on. . . seek

up then, Sean told them and they raced ahead, circling back barking,

chasing one another. Sean and Katrina walked holding hands. The brim

of Katrina's bonnet kept her face in shadow, but even then her eyes when

she looked at him were bright green. They picked the new mushrooms,

round and hard, brown and slightly sticky on top, fluted underneath

delicately as a lady's fan.

In an hour they had filled the basket and they stopped under a manda

tree. Sean lay on his back. Katrina broke off a blade of grass and

tickled his face with it until he caught her wrist and pulled her down

onto his chest. The dogs watched them, sitting around them in a circle,

their tongues hangin out pink and wet. There's a place in the Cape,

just outside Paarl. The mountains stand over it and there's a river . .

. the water's very clear, you can see the fish lying on the bottom, said

Katrina. Her ear was against his chest and she was listening to his

heart. Will you buy me a farm there one day?

Yes, said Sean. We'll build a house with a wide veranda and on Sundays

we'll drive to church with the girls and the little ones in the back and

the bigger boys riding next to the buggy. How many will there be? asked

Sean. He lifted the side of her bonnet and looked at her ear. It was a

very pretty ear, in the sunlight he could see the fine fur on the lobe.

Oh lots . . . boys mostly, but a few girls Ten? suggested Sean. More

than that. Fifteen? Yes, fifteen. They lay and thought about it. To

Sean it seemed a fairly well-rounded number. And I'll keep chickens, I

want lots of chickens Alright, said Sean. You don't mind? Should It?

Some people mind chickens, some people don't like them at all, said

Katrina. I'm glad you don't mind them.

I've always wanted them. Stealthily Sean advanced his mouth towards her

ear but she felt his move and sat up. What are you doing? This, I said

Sean and his arm shot out. No, Sean, they're watching us. She waved

her hand at the dogs. They'll understand, said Sean and then they were

both quiet for a long time.

The dogs burst out together in full hunting chorus.

Katrina sat up and Sean turned his head and saw the leopard. It stood

fifty yards away on the edge of the thick bush along the river bank

watching them, poised elegantly in tights of black and gold, long and

smallbellied. It moved then, bluffing with speed, touching the ground

as lightly as a swallow touches the water when it drinks in flight. The

dogs went after it in a pack, Thief leading them, his voice cracking

with excitement. Back, come back, shouted Sean. Leave it, damn you,

come back. Stop them, Sean, go after them. We'll lose them all. Wait

here, Sean told her.

He ran after the sound of the pack. Not shouting saving his wind. He

knew what would happen and he listened for it. He heard the tone of the

hunt change, sharper now. Sean stopped and stood panting, peering

ahead. The dogs were not moving. The sound of their barking was steady