Master of the Game

The room was crowded, and Van der Merwe grumbled, ‘I don’t see how these people can afford to eat here.’

Jamie picked up a menu and glanced at it. A steak cost one pound four shillings, a potato was four shillings and a piece of apple pie ten shillings.

‘They’re robbers!’ Van der Merwe complained. ‘A few meals here and a man could eat himself into the poorhouse.’

Jamie wondered what it would take to put Salomon van der Merwe in the poorhouse. He intended to find out. They ordered, and Jamie noticed that Van der Merwe ordered the most expensive items on the menu. Margaret ordered a clear soup. She was too excited to eat. She looked at her hands, remembered what they had done the night before and felt guilty.

‘I can afford dinner,’ Jamie teased her. ‘Order anything you like.’

She blushed. ‘Thank you, but I’m – I’m not really very hungry.’

Van der Merwe noticed the blush and looked sharply from Margaret to Jamie. ‘My daughter is a rare girl, a rare girl, Mr Travis.’

Jamie nodded. ‘I couldn’t agree with you more, Mr van der Merwe.’

His words made Margaret so happy that when their dinner was served, she could not even eat the soup. The affect Ian Travis had on her was incredible. She read hidden meanings into his every word and gesture. If he smiled at her, it meant he liked her a lot; if he frowned, it meant he hated her. Margaret’s feelings were an emotional thermometer that kept going up and down.

‘Did you see anything of interest today?’ Van der Merwe asked Jamie.

‘No, nothing special,’ Jamie said casually.

Van der Merwe leaned forwards. ‘Mark my words, sir, this is going to be the fastest-growing area in the world. A man would be smart to invest here now. The new railway’s going to turn this place into a second Cape Town.’

‘I don’t know,’ Jamie said dubiously. ‘I’ve heard of too many boomtowns like this going bust. I’m not interested in putting my money into a ghost town.

‘Not Klipdrift,’ Van der Merwe assured him. ‘They’re finding more diamonds all the time. And gold.’

Jamie shrugged. ‘How long will that last?’

‘Well, nobody can be sure of that, of course, but –’

‘Exactly.’

‘Don’t make any hasty decisions,’ Van der Merwe urged. ‘I wouldn’t like to see you lose out on a great opportunity.’

Jamie thought that over, ‘Perhaps I am being hasty. Margaret, could you show me around again tomorrow?’

Van der Merwe opened his mouth to object, then closed it. He remembered the words of Mr Thorenson, the banker: He walked in here and deposited a hundred thousand pounds, cool as you please, Salomon, and he said there’d be a lot more comin’.

Greed got the better of Van der Merwe. ‘Of course she could.’

The following morning, Margaret put on her Sunday dress, ready to meet Jamie. When her father walked in and saw her, his face turned red. ‘Do you want the man to think you’re some kind of fallen woman – dressin’ up to attract him? This is business, girl. Take that off and put on your workin’ clothes.’

‘But, Papa –’

‘Do as I say!’

She did not argue with him. ‘Yes, Papa.’

Van der Merwe watched Margaret and Jamie drive away twenty minutes later. He wondered if he could be making a mistake.

This time Jamie headed the carriage in the opposite direction. There were exciting signs of new developments and building everywhere. If the mineral discoveries keep up, Jamie thought – and there was every reason to believe they would – there is more money to be made here in real estate than in diamonds or gold. Klipdrift will need more banks, hotels, saloons, shops, brothels … The list was endless. So were the opportunities.

Jamie was conscious of Margaret staring at him. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked.

‘Oh, no,’ she said, and quickly looked away.

Jamie studied her now, and noticed the radiance about her. Margaret was aware of his closeness, his maleness. He sensed her feelings. She was a woman without a man.

At noon Jamie drove off the main road down to a wooded area near a stream and stopped under a large baobab tree. He had had the hotel pack a picnic lunch. Margaret put down a tablecloth, unpacked the basket and spread out the food. There was cold roast lamb, fried chicken, yellow saffron rice, quince jam and tangerines and peaches and soetekoekjes, almond-topped spice cookies.

‘This is a banquet!’ Margaret exclaimed. ‘I’m afraid I don’t deserve all this, Mr Travis.’

‘You deserve much more,’ Jamie assured her.

Margaret turned away, busying herself with the food.

Jamie took her face between his hands. ‘Margaret … look at me.’

‘Oh! Please. I –’ She was trembling.

‘Look at me.’

Slowly she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. He pulled her into his arms, and his lips found hers and he held her close, pressing his body against hers.

After a few moments she struggled free, shook her head and said, ‘Oh, my God. We mustn’t. Oh, we mustn’t. We’ll go to hell.’

‘Heaven.’

‘I’m afraid.’

‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. Do you see my eyes? They can look right inside you. And you know what I see, don’t you? You want me to make love to you. And I’m going to. And there’s nothing to fear, because you belong to me. You know that, don’t you? You belong to me, Margaret. You say it. I belong to Ian. Go on. I – belong – to – Ian.’

‘I belong – to Ian.’

His lips were on hers again, and he began to undo the hooks on the back of her bodice. In a moment she stood naked in the soft breeze, and he lowered her gently down to the ground. And the tremulous passage from girlhood to womanhood became an exciting, soaring experience that made Margaret feel more alive than she had ever felt in her life. I’ll remember this moment forever, she thought. The bed of leaves and the warm caressing breeze on her naked skin, the shadow of the baobab tree that dappled their bodies. They made love again, and it was even more wonderful. She thought, No woman could ever love anyone as much as I love this man.

When they were spent, Jamie held her in his strong arms, and she wished she could be there forever. She looked up at him and whispered, ‘What are you thinking?’

He grinned and whispered back, ‘That I’m bloody starving.’

She laughed, and they rose and had their lunch under the shelter of the trees. Afterwards they swam and lay down to let the hot sun dry them. Jamie took Margaret again, and she thought, I want this day to go on forever.

That evening, Jamie and Van der Merwe were seated at a corner table at the Sundowner. ‘You were right,’ Jamie announced. ‘The possibilities here may be greater than I thought.’

Van der Merwe beamed. ‘I knew you were too clever a man not to see that, Mr Travis.’

‘What exactly would you advise me to do?’ Jamie asked.