Girl with the Golden Voice (37 page)

‘Don't worry, we're not planning a safari up into the Aberdares. We want you to meet someone.'

‘Mr Roy's brother, perhaps?'

‘Not a blood brother … you'll understand soon. We're nearly there.'

Moses Mwangi had a shamba a short distance off the road.

Moses and Rose had kept the girls home from school for the day for the meeting. The message that guests were coming had been passed on to Moses from the headmaster of the small village school who had received it from his good friend, Dominic, who'd heard it from Tony, a matatu driver who had met Daniel in Mama Ngina Street in Nairobi.

Moses was having trouble with some of his neighbours, had been since his own days in school. Mzungo had been his nickname back then and his ways still irritated the men of the district. Moses was never seen in any of the local bars. He spent a lot of time with his girls, helping them with their work, teaching them about the countryside. He was a conservationist and he watched over his little patch of woodland with tender care. He was an evangelist for good practice on the land and protecting water resources. Worst of all, he went on painting expeditions with a group of middle-aged white women.

Moses had been threatened and beaten up. Once the police had hauled him in on some flimsy excuse. They had locked him overnight in a windowless hut. Without telling him they had given him some company, the two day old corpse of a young man who had committed the ultimate sin of stealing his neighbour's cow and paid the ultimate price, a vigilante style garrotting by an angry mob.

All this Rebecca and Tom learned later on the way back to Naivasha.

The visitors were greeted with gentle graciousness. Two tables were set out in the shade of a tall pepper tree. A late morning feast lay waiting on the blue cloths.

Rebecca's bad memories of the school visit evaporated when she set eyes on this group of five standing in a semicircle and smiling their welcome. Moses and Rose were a slightly built couple, the girls much sturdier, but they all had a simple poise which suggested a strong family bond and an inner calm. After the introductions Tom was the first to speak.

‘Wonderful soil you have and this garden is gorgeous. I'm interested in flowers, but I recognise hardly any of these.'

‘Rose and the girls look after this area. You will have to ask them. I spend more time with the trees.'

Rebecca noticed that the tallest of the girls was looking uncomfortable, twisting the toe of her shoe into the earth and unwilling to look the visitors in the eye. ‘Esther, is there anything troubling you this morning? Sometimes my papa would see a glum face on me and tell me. “Rebecca, I think you better spit it out before you frighten your sisters”.'

Esther took the cue and a little speech came tumbling out. ‘We are so happy that you have come to see us. I want my father to tell you about our lovely colobus monkeys.'

Puzzled faces looked towards Moses who nodded thoughtfully, but Esther had not finished. ‘You are all famous people and you know how to do these things!' Her sisters whispered to Esther, each into one ear with their shared message. ‘Oh, yes, I am forgetting. Please, Miss Rebecca, will you let us sing one song with you?'

The next hour passed quickly and a lot of ground was covered. The song was sung, the refreshments were enjoyed and there was talk and plans about the girls and their education. The colobus were not forgotten. The little party trooped a half a mile uphill to a large stand of tall trees. And that was the problem. The trees were being systematically hacked down. Moses explained. ‘We are not rich people, but many are worse off. The trees are like money. You clear the trees and you can have more pasture and use the trunks and the branches to make charcoal or build. Look, there they are. We think there is a family of twelve. We call them mbega.' Half a dozen handsome creatures glided silkily across the tall tree-tops, flashes of black and white trailing bushy tails and having a lot of fun.

Before Daniel started his engine to drive them back to the main road, a plan had been made. Tom knew of suitable sites on or close to Londiani. Paul knew people in the Kenya Wildlife Service who could organise the tricky job of catching the colobus and transporting them the short distance to a new, safe home. In a month the operation would be finished. Rose's last words to them as the car pulled away were, ‘Our girls will sleep in their beds tonight without tears. We thank God for you!'

Paul's first words as they drove off were, ‘If this country had ten thousand families like that, we would begin to solve our problems.'

* * *

‘I feel unsettled.' Rebecca and Tom had been apart for most of the afternoon, he down at the fields and she with her mother up at the house. ‘Thomas, when we were rehearsing in the Flamingo, and Toni wanted us to try some new things, Mary liked to say, “Papa, you love getting us out of the comfort zone.” I wasn't really sure what she meant. Today I understand. And I am ashamed that I was blaming Paul and Daniel for the upsetting thoughts.'

‘Yeah, it's been a bit like that with me. I suppose what I was feeling was a kind of shame, too. Stupid though. Why should I feel ashamed for living in this lovely place? For going to Pembroke and then Oundle? But these new vibrations, they upset you and the changes that have come into our lives …'

‘Tom, think of our two families. Who is the one who is enjoying these changes most?'

‘Mmn, eleven of us altogether. And the winner is … my grandmother!'

‘You sound surprised, but I think you are right. What do you like to say? Spot on! She is the one. And do you know why? Your Grampa Don. My papa says that she has been tested by the fires of deep grief. She is a very strong lady.'

Rebecca was folding the last of the bedsheets. Late afternoon was her favourite time of the day. Families were coming together at the end of work time and in an hour darkness would fall. This day it was a little different. It was hard to believe that it was only ten hours before when she was singing quietly to herself as she strode down the path between the village and Big House. She looked across at Tom and smiled weakly. He moved to wrap her shoulders in his arm and spoke in a low voice.

‘So, it's the same with you! Like someone has knocked down the walls and we look out and see so many new things that were there all the time but they were hidden from us. Perhaps it was a kind of selfishness to hide from other people's pain. That way we didn't have to do anything to try to change what was going on.'

‘And no one can build those walls back up, can they? Paul is coming back up to Naivasha tomorrow but this time with his wife. He has to visit the hospital.

‘Paul, I've seen it loads of times. There is such a lot of work going on down in the fields today. We have to load up two big trucks ready for a night flight …'

‘But, Tom, we have never been inside. There are so many stories, but we must see for ourselves. Paul, Miriam, we want to come with you.'

* * *

The nurse in charge walked them ‘round. They came first to the maternity wards.

‘Two hundred babies a fortnight. And not all the women in the town come here to have their delivery. The ones who do have to bring their own soap, gauze gloves, little things. We do our best.'

By chance the matron from Pembroke House was doing part of her compulsory training in that maternity unit. If Patti Forrest, a well-qualified Australian nurse, wanted to work in her profession in Kenya, she had to build up six months practical experience in different places. The stated reason was that these foreigners trained in big city hospitals in Europe or America had to show that they were up to Kenya standards. In fact, it was a way of getting six months free labour from top class people.

Patti Forrest was coming to the end of her stint in Naivasha. She was a frustrated and angry lady.

‘Okay, there is very little money, so there are few proper medicines, no new, clean facilities. We lose a lot of babies here. So many young mothers, mostly the victims of the randy men in this town. Lots of them come in very excited, looking forward to having their very own toto. I hate to say it, but there is not an ounce of compassion in this unit. We treat our cows much better in Oz! You wouldn't believe … “Your baby is dead. We need the bed … Where do you live? The matatus stop outside the gate … Come on, come on! Half an hour”.'

Half an hour later in the luxury of La Belle Inn the four of them chatted over coffee. It was a more solemn Paul than Tom had seen before.

‘Miriam and I have had our chances to leave. My brother has a practice in Boston. It would be so easy — big house, smart car, trips to the theatre, Florida for the winter break.'

‘But Paul would shrivel up over there. Oh, yes, the weather can get very cold, but it's the shrivelling of the soul I'm talking about.'

‘Miriam's right. My mind would be back here. And if it wasn't, that would be even worse. I would have turned my back on our people. There's no choice for us. Serena. Today it's just a name but tomorrow …'

‘If I'm not careful, I'll be into my Martin Luther King impersonation, but our mountain is harder in some ways. There's a dream, but it's covered over by a lot of wrong stuff.'

‘And Kenya's a poor country.'

‘But, Rebecca, we don't have to be.' There was a pause while the waiter served the drinks. Paul did not finish what he was about to say. Tom took over.

‘We don't think we have a choice either. We'll try.'

Paul came ‘round to Tom. Tom stood up and the two men hugged. One of a small party of Americans at the next table leaned across. ‘You folks look so happy you make us believe that you must have just found the Lord Jesus.' His tone was sarcastic and mocking.

Rebecca answered for them all. She leaned towards him and whispered. ‘Sir, you must be blessed with the gift of discernment. Why, we've known the Lord all our lives. We believe He is here with us right now. And you?'

The portly evangelist gave Rebecca a puzzled stare and turned back to his companions.

Rebecca's companions were startled, too, surprised by the sharpness of her tone. Now that it was too late to draw back the words she felt ashamed by what she saw was a failure of charity and restraint. She was up in a second and ‘round to the table of the pastor. She touched him lightly on the shoulder and, as he turned, offered her hand.

‘I'm sorry. There was no need …'

‘I'm sorry, too. I was foolish, even envious. I've been working for the Lord for thirty-five years. My name is Peter and I, well, I betray him too often. I quote the Bible to and sometimes at, people and forget to apply the wisdom to myself!'

After a few seconds silence, Rebecca returned to her seat and the pastor sat down. Paul's response to watching this scene was the single word, ‘Wow!'

Tom was smiling broadly. ‘I told you who should really be standing for Nakuru South.'

There was restrained laughter all round, except from Rebecca who was gathering herself to make an announcement.

‘Thomas, I'm going to America, soon. Please, let me explain. Serena needs money. I know that is correct, Paul. Toni told me. He wants to make a record and give the money from it to Serena. Toni and Mary told me — and I feel embarrassed to say this — that there would be more money if I sang with them. Thomas, I knew you would say yes to Paul. If it had been no, this trip would not happen. It will not happen if you say no. I have worried a lot about this.'

Tom replied with a stunned ‘wow' of his own before moving his chair close enough to Rebecca to allow him to put his arms around her. ”Becca, you must go.' He broke into a smile. ‘I knew there would be sacrifices, but being without you, even for a few days, now that is a real sacrifice!'

Two days later their ways parted. Tom resolved to spend his days without Rebecca, working. There were long hours down the fields. He discovered what the boundaries were for the constituency and travelled to its every village and township, usually accompanied by Eddie or Rollo or both of them. They were excited by the prospect of an election and having a tiny part in it. Rollo wanted something more than just being the brother of a candidate.

‘I could be your agent or something. Save money that way.'

Eddie, not to be outdone, had his own job lined up. ‘You know those little vans with loudspeakers, with someone inside calling out, “Vote McCall, the candidate who cares!” or some such. I'm your man. Our drama teacher says I've got a mellifluous voice.'

They were parked on a rise above the A104 with a view across to Lake Elementaita and Lord Delamere's Nose. They had just been looking at Kikopei village, learning that the cluster of shambas housed only a fraction of the population. There were shambas right up the hill, past the hot springs and the railway line.

‘Brothers of mine, you realise that all those folk up there are voters. To them I'm a mzungo. If three of us whiteys waltz into this place and ask them to put a cross down for Serena, they'll think the colonial days are back and chuck us out. Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I see that Paul must be a bit bonkers to choose me. Without Rebecca I can't see anyone voting for me. Perhaps by the time they announce the election he'll have come to his senses.'

ebecca had Mary for company on the journey to New York. Their base in the city was the Flamingo and after recording in the day there would be evening concerts. Rebecca was pleased about this. It helped to stop her thinking about home, worrying about Tom.