her bump and rolled her eyes expressively.
‘Yes, I know.’ Cecily then touched her brow and swept her hand across it to indicate fatigue.
Heading to the side of the clearing and indicating Cecily should follow, Njala led her into the protection of a dense copse of trees. Then she turned and grabbed both Cecily’s hands in her own. Her eyes were suddenly filled with fear.
‘You,’ she said, ‘help.’ Removing her hands from Cecily’s, she indicated her belly then made a cradling motion with her arms.
‘Help? You mean help with the birth?’ Cecily then mimed the cradling action too.
‘Yes. Help. Please.’
‘Njala, your mother is coming to help,’ she enunciated slowly.
‘No! Help baby! Please, Cecily!’
Like a shadow, Nygasi appeared behind Njala. He spoke to her in Maa, indicating she should return to the clearing.
‘You go home now,’ Nygasi told Cecily firmly.
Njala turned towards her, her eyes full of everything she could not say.
‘Please, help baby,’ she mouthed as Nygasi led her away.
Cecily was still thinking about Njala and trying to interpret what she had meant when Bill arrived home later that afternoon.
‘The house looks wonderful, my dear, and so do you.’ He smiled at her as she emerged from the bedroom in her green dress, ready to make the final preparations for supper. ‘I like your hair longer.’ He picked up a ringlet that fell to just below her shoulders and twirled it round a finger.
‘It’s only long because there’s no one around here I trust to cut it.’
‘Well, I like it, and you should wear it down more often. Now, I’m off to have a rare soak in the tub. They’re rationing water at Muthaiga Club these days, as we’re stuffed to the gills in there – it’s two men per room just now, and you remember how small those rooms are,’ he added as he turned to walk off in the direction of the bathroom.
‘Oh, and Bill?’
‘Yes?’
‘I saw Njala today, and she seemed upset . . . almost frightened. I think she said that she wanted me to help with the birth. I explained that her mother is coming to help her, but I’m not sure she understood. Her time must be real close. You will ask Nygasi to make sure her mother comes soon, won’t you? I couldn’t bear it if anything . . .’ – Cecily gulped – ‘happened to her.’
‘Of course I will. Njala knows her mother will arrive when it’s time. You probably misunderstood her.’
‘Probably.’
But as Bill closed the door and she heard the sound of the water running, Cecily knew for certain she hadn’t mistaken the fear in Njala’s eyes.
Cecily and Bill’s guests arrived an hour later than expected. Joss Erroll – even though he looked exhausted – was as handsome as ever, and Jock, aka Sir Henry John Delves Broughton, turned out to be a tall elderly Englishman who sported a large paunch and a head of thinning grey hair.
‘Please, m’dear, call me Jock. This is m’wife, Diana. Nice for you to have someone of your own age to play with, eh, old girl? Diana’s surrounded by octogenarians in Nairobi,’ Jock chuckled.
‘I’m sure that Cecily will agree there aren’t many of us under thirty here, are there?’ replied his wife.
‘Er, no, there sure aren’t,’ she smiled, unable to stop staring at the striking blonde woman standing in front of her. Diana Delves Broughton was definitely what some would call a ‘looker’, and for the life of her, Cecily couldn’t understand what such a woman was doing with a man old enough to be her father – or even grandfather.
‘This is utterly charming,’ Diana said as Cecily led the party into the sitting room, where Katherine was already cracking open the champagne. ‘We’re camping out at Muthaiga Club at the moment.’
‘Now, m’dear, you know it’s only temporary – we’ll be moving into the villa in Karen in a few days,’ Jock reminded her.
‘A ghastly dark one in the suburbs of Nairobi,’ Diana muttered under her breath.
‘Diana, this is Katherine Sinclair, my great friend and neighbour,’ Cecily said quickly.
‘Golly! This is obviously where all the bright young things live.’ Diana turned to her husband. ‘Can we build a house near here instead, darling? Then I shall have plenty of jolly company.’
‘Fizz, everyone?’ Katherine asked as she poured the champagne into six glasses.
‘Rather,’ said Jock, smiling at the assembled group. ‘This feels more like the Kenya I used to know. Cheers!’
‘Cheers!’ everyone chorused.
‘And welcome to Happy Valley, Diana,’ Joss added, his eyes lingering on the new blonde recruit.
‘Thank