13
Dumghe, Holy Mountain of the Lemba. Zimbabwe, 10.42pm
Night fell fast in Africa, and the shadows had darkened to pitch before Natasha and Isac reached the meeting point. They drove through one of the main entrances of the Gonarezhou National Park, paying off the guards so they wouldn’t record their details.
Natasha breathed deeply. The scent of jacaranda hung on the air and the sounds of the night began to emerge, bullfrogs and cicadas, the bark of hyenas. Huge fruit bats flew overhead, their wings inky black against the sky. The park was named after the elephant’s tusk and, indeed, the giant mammals still roamed the area. Natasha felt strangely at peace, for death was so close here. She could just wander into the bush and it would come upon her, in the guise of the lion or snake, or
