Chapter 76Things are moving in the right direction. Leah packs the last of her tea sets in the kiln. Three teapots and eighteen mugs. The curator wants two for the exhibition in the next month. Mad hatters but not Alice in wonderland was the assignment under which the artists are instructed to work. Leah always makes more, you never know when something gets out of a kiln flawed. That is pottery for you.Before Sergio and she leaves for Inhambane, she’s got to create three more works with a kaleidoscope theme for another exhibition.Leah loves working for the galleries. Their assignments make her think. Let her creative juices flow. She also started a brand-new Facebook page. Leah’s mud creations and curios. There are no followers on there yet and she’s got only a few friends on her own Facebook profile. But it is okay. She considers it as a storage page, where she can keep track of what she is doing. Maybe also to refer potential clients to, if they want to see what she I
Chapter 75There are two of them. And it's been going on for months. Pale yellow, like the grass in which they hide, they watch the village in front of them with intent. By now, the lions know that the prey they are looking for lives in branch structures and plastered with mud. The roofs are made of a thin layer of mulch. The doors often consist of twigs and brances, flanged together with ropes in a frame.At dusk, the people begin to make fires. A deterrent to many of the large predators. Don’t go there.But here, no more. On the contrary. It's sign to get closer. If someone doesn't come out soon enough to throw more logs on the fire, the lions will start scratching at the doors. Or stand up against it. The doors usually break out of the frames and the big animals walk in and simply harvest a meal. Drag it out without hesitation and go feasting on it in the grass nearby.When the door is strong enough to remain standing, the lions step back and jump onto the roof of the rickety struc
Chapter 74Leah wakes up when Sergio kisses her on the cheek and then puts a mug of coffee on the table next to her. She fell asleep, with her head on her arms, where she was working on her mad hatters’ project.“Drink your coffee, and get in bed. You will fall from your chair, and I don’t want to discover you on the floor ever again.”She takes a sip from the mug and then smiles at him. “Oh gosh, yes. Last month this time. It worked Sergio. Thank you for insisting to take me to see Silvi and doc Klitz.”For a moment Sergio’s heart stops. “You mean… you mean it started…”“Yes, and guess what Serg? Almost no pain.”“Oh no…” he is so disappointed. Not about the no pain. No, there was just that one moment when he hoped that one of the little lives that was swimming in his lower body would join with that little egg in her body, creating a little him… or her.“Sorry Sergio?” She's clearly having trouble believing her ears.“Oh no Leah. That is not what I meant. I was hoping that after the
Chapter 73Sunday evening and Sergio is checking his cell phone, wall calendar and white board. His to do and to remember lists are on there. The date of Leah’s surgery is also written on there.That was three weeks ago. Her check up is in two weeks. But they are not going to drive the distance to Inhambane. No, he booked them a charter in Aleit’s small plane. They don’t really need a vehicle in Inhambane with family there.His dad’s beach buggy is always at his disposal. Or the Nissan pick-up. As long as you don’t touch the old man’s Prado.Now Sergio is counting back from the date he picked Leah up from the floor in her apartment. Twenty-five days. Which means her period has to start this week.He draws a red dot on Wednesday. Oh, may goodness that means she is in PMS at the moment. He’s got to be real careful what he says to her, and how he says it. He gives her a sideways glance and his eyes goes to Gato.It also means by the following weekend his cat will be pregnant for a month.
Chapter 72“Hey baby Angel!” How good to hear Sergio’s voice on Thursday. “Coming home tomorrow. I can’t wait to see you. How’s things going there on Hurter’s Retreat and in the Gonzales Camp.”“Hectic amazing Lionman! I don’t even know where to start telling you everything. Just get yourself here and see for yourself.”Yesterday Aleit landed on the landing strip in front of the hangers here on Hurter’s Retreat to drop Pierre and their stuff off. This morning, he left again to pick up four French tourists in the Congo. And he made a booking here at Hurter’s Retreat for tonight.And Maria is so happy to have Pierre here, to help her with a fancy dinner for tonight. To have Pierre and Aleit on board can only have a positive outcome for Leah’s future plans.After Aleit left, Leah and Pierre go through her grandmother’s stuff in the one store room. And Pierre assures her that there are more than enough utensils for him to use in the new kitchen as well. He does not need fancy stuff to mak
Chapter 71Monday at the hospital and sanctuary, Sergio’s got one thing in his head. Actually, that thing is a person and she’s got a name.Leah…He never thought that a women can be your best friend and the girlfriend of your dreams at the same time. Then he realises. This is how it feels to be madly in love with someone.Sergio walks over to the wall calendar to see what the rest of his week looks like. Tomorrow is the day when he and a few of the volunteers are going to some of the small towns to do clinics there. Sterilise some of the stray cats and dogs. Check for rabies and just attend to the farm animals. Make sure that all the animals are treated okay by their owners.For their field excursions they have a Tata bus, with a small examination table, operation theatre and a laboratory at their disposal. Basic. Primitive.But somehow it works for what they’ve got to do.Sergio will leave early today in order to go and pack. They will sleep three nights in tents in the veld. There