The Constant Gardener

"And Tessa was a close friend of yours? Like a sister, as I heard. But all the same she never even told you she had some other reason to come up here? Or that the gender workshop was a straight pretext, an excuse, same as Self-Sustainment is a pretext for you, I expect?"

"At the beginning of our friendship, Tessa told me things. Then she became worried for me. She thought she'd told me too much. It wasn't fair to burden me. I'm a temporary employee, locally employed. She knew I was thinking of applying for a permanent post. Sitting the exams again."

"You still thinking along those lines, dear?"

"Yes, I am. But that doesn't mean I can't be told the truth."

Sarah took a sip of her tea, tugged at the brim of her cap and sat herself comfortably in her chair. "You going to stay here three nights is my understanding."

"Yes. Back to Nairobi on Thursday."

"That's nice. That's very nice. And you will have a good conference. Judith is a gifted practical woman who takes no shit from anybody. A little sharp with the slower-witted ones, but never deliberately unkind. And tomorrow evening, I shall introduce you to my good friend Captain McKenzie. You never heard of him?"

"No."

"Tessa or Arnold never mentioned a Captain McKenzie in your hearing?"

"No."

"Well, the captain is a pilot here with us at Loki. He flew down to Nairobi today so I guess you and he crossed each other in the air. He had some supplies to pick up and a little business to attend to. You will like Captain McKenzie very much. He is a nice-mannered man with more heart to him than most people have body, and that's a fact. Very little takes place in these parts that escapes the notice of Captain McKenzie, and very little escapes his lips either. The captain has fought in many unpleasant wars but now he is a devoted man of peace, which is why he's here in Loki feeding my starving people."

"Did he know Tessa well?" Ghita asked fearfully.

"Captain McKenzie knew Tessa and he thought she was a fine lady, and that was that. Captain McKenzie would no more presume on a married lady than — well, than Arnold would. But Captain McKenzie knew Arnold better than he knew Tessa. And he thinks the police in Nairobi are all mad to be going after Arnold like that, and he's proposing to tell them so while he's there. I would say that is one of the pivotal reasons for his making the journey to Nairobi at this time. And they won't like what he is going to tell them because, believe me, Captain McKenzie speaks his mind without let or hindrance."

"Was Captain McKenzie here in Loki when Tessa and Arnold came up for the workshop?"

"Captain McKenzie was here. And he saw a lot more of Tessa than I did, dear, by a long chalk." She broke off for a while and sat smiling at the stars, and it seemed to Ghita that she was trying to reach a decision in her mind — such as whether to speak out or keep her secrets to herself, questions that Ghita had been asking herself these last three weeks.

"Now, dear," Sarah went on finally. "I've been listening to you. And I've been watching you and thinking about you and worrying about you. And I came to the conclusion that you're a girl with a brain in your head, and you're also a good, decent human being with a well-developed sense of responsibility, which I value. But if you're not that person and I have misread you, between us we could get Captain McKenzie into a whole heap of trouble. This is dangerous knowledge I'm about to acquaint you withand there's no way, once you have it, to get it back in the bottle. So I suggest you tell me now whether I am overjudging you or whether I have read you accurately. Because people who talk out of turn, they never reform. That's something else I've learned. They can swear on the Bible one day and the next day they're at it just like before, talking out of turn again. The Bible didn't make a whit of difference to them."

"I understand," said Ghita.

"Now are you going to advise me that I have misinterpreted what I have seen and heard and thought of you? Or shall I tell you what I have in my mind and you bear that heavy burden of responsibility for ever after?"

"I'd like you to trust me, please."