Master of the Game

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.

Van der Merwe glanced around and lowered his voice. ‘Just today I got some information on a big new diamond strike north of Pniel. There are ten claims still available. We can divide them up between us. I’ll put up fifty thousand pounds for five claims, and you put up fifty thousand pounds for the other five. There are diamonds there by the bushel. We can make millions overnight. What do you think?’

Jamie knew exactly what he thought. Van der Merwe would keep the claims that were profitable and Jamie would end up with the others. In addition, Jamie would have been willing to bet his life that Van der Merwe was not putting up one shilling.

‘It sounds interesting,’ Jamie said. ‘How many prospectors are involved?’

‘Only two.’

‘Why does it take so much money?’ he asked innocently.

‘Ah, that’s an intelligent question.’ He leaned forwards in his chair. ‘You see, they know the value of their claim, but they don’t have the money to operate it. That’s where you and I come in. We give them one hundred thousand pounds and let them keep twenty percent of their fields.

He slipped the twenty percent in so smoothly that it almost went by unnoticed. Jamie was certain the prospectors would be cheated of their diamonds and their money. It would all flow to Van der Merwe.

‘We’ll have to move fast,’ Van der Merwe warned. ‘As soon as word of this leaks out –’

‘Let’s not lose it,’ Jamie urged.

Van der Merwe smiled. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll have the contracts drawn up right away.’

In Afrikaans, Jamie thought.

‘Now, there are a few other deals I find very interesting, Ian.’

Because it was important to keep his new partner happy, Van der Merwe no longer objected when Jamie asked that Margaret show him around the countryside. Margaret was more in love with Jamie every day. He was the last thing she thought of when she went to bed at night, and the first thing she thought of when she opened her eyes in the morning. Jamie had loosed a sensuality in her that she had not even known existed. It was as though she had suddenly discovered what her body was for, and all the things she had been taught to be ashamed of became glorious gifts to bring pleasure to Jamie. And to herself. Love was a wonderful new country to be explored. A sensual land of hidden valleys and exciting dales and glens and rivers of honey. She could not get enough of it.

In the vast sweep of the countryside, it was easy to find isolated places where they could make love, and each time for Margaret was as exciting as the first time.

The old guilt about her father haunted her. Salomon van der Merwe was an elder of the Dutch Reformed Church, and Margaret knew if he ever found out what she was doing, there would be no forgiveness. Even in the rough frontier community where they lived, where men took their pleasures where they found them, there would be no understanding. There were only two kinds of women in the world – nice girls and whores – and a nice girl did not let a man touch her unless she was married to him. So she would be labelled a whore. It’s so unfair, she thought. The giving and taking of love is too beautiful to be evil. But her growing concern finally made Margaret bring up the subject of marriage.

They were driving along the Vaal River when Margaret spoke. ‘Ian, you know how much I –’ She did not know how to go on. ‘That is, you and I –’ In desperation she blurted out, ‘How do you feel about marriage?’

Jamie laughed. ‘I’m all for it, Margaret. I’m all for it.’

She joined him in his laughter. It was the happiest moment of her life.

On Sunday morning, Salomon van der Merwe invited Jamie to accompany him and Margaret to church. The Nederduits Hervormde Kerk was a large, impressive building done in bastard Gothic, with the pulpit at one end and a huge organ at the other. When they walked in the door, Van der Merwe was greeted with great respect.

‘I helped build this church,’ he told Jamie proudly. ‘I’m a deacon here.’

The service was brimstone and hellfire, and Van der Merwe sat there, rapt, nodding eagerly, accepting the minister’s every word.

He’s God’s man on Sunday, Jamie thought, and the rest of the week he belongs to the devil.

Van der Merwe had placed himself between the two young people, but Margaret was conscious of Jamie’s nearness all through the service. It’s a good thing – she smiled nervously to herself – that the minister doesn’t know what I’m thinking about.

That evening, Jamie went to visit the Sundowner Saloon. Smit was behind the bar serving drinks. His face brightened when he saw Jamie.

‘Good evenin’, Mr Travis. What will you have, sir? The usual?’

‘Not tonight, Smit. I want to talk to you. In the back room.’

‘Certainly, sir.’ Smit scented money to be made. He turned to his assistant. ‘Mind the bar.’

The back room of the Sundowner was no more than a closet, but it afforded privacy. It contained a round table with four chairs, and in the centre of the table was a lantern. Smit lit it.

‘Sit down,’ Jamie said.

Smit took a chair. ‘Yes, sir. How can I help you?’

‘It’s you I’ve come to help, Smit.’

Smit beamed. ‘Really, sir?’

‘Yes.’ Jamie took out a long, thin cigar and lighted it. ‘I’ve decided to let you live.’

An uncertain look flickered over Smit’s face. ‘I – I don’t understand, Mr Travis.’

‘Not Travis. The name is McGregor. Jamie McGregor. Remember? A year ago you set me up to be killed. At the barn. For Van der Merwe.’

Smit was frowning now, suddenly wary. ‘I don’t know what –’

‘Shut up and listen to me.’ Jamie’s voice was like whiplash.

Jamie could see the wheels turning in Smit’s mind. He was trying to reconcile the face of the white-haired man in front of him with the eager youth of a year before.

‘I’m still alive, and I’m rich – rich enough to hire men to burn this place down and you with it. Are you with me so far, Smit?’

Smit started to protest his ignorance, but he looked into Jamie McGregor’s eyes and saw the danger there. Smit said cautiously. ‘Yes, sir …’

‘Van der Merwe pays you to send prospectors to him so he can cheat them out of what they find. That’s an interesting little partnership. How much does he pay you?’

There was a silence. Smit was caught between two powerful forces. He did not know which way to jump.

‘How much?’

‘Two percent,’ he said reluctantly.

‘I’ll give you five. From now on when a likely prospect comes in, you’ll send him to me. I’ll finance him. The difference is that he’ll get his fair share and you’ll get yours. Did you really think Van der Merwe was paying you two percent of what he made? You’re a fool.’

Smit nodded. ‘Right, Mr Trav – Mr McGregor. I understand.’

Jamie rose to his feet. ‘Not completely.’ He leaned over the table. ‘You’re thinking of going to Van der Merwe and telling him about our little conversation. That way, you can collect from both of us. There’s only one problem with that, Smit.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘If you do, you’re a dead man.’

Chapter Seven

Jamie was getting dressed when he heard a tentative knock at the door. He listened, and it was repeated. He walked over to the door and opened it. Margaret stood there.

‘Come in, Maggie,’ Jamie said. ‘Is something wrong?’ It was the first time she had come to his hotel room. She stepped inside, but now that she was face to face with him, she found it difficult to speak. She had lain awake all night, wondering how to tell him the news. She was afraid he might never want to see her again.

She looked into his eyes. ‘Ian, I’m going to have your baby.’

His face was so still that Margaret was terrified that she had lost him. And suddenly his expression changed to such joy that all her doubts were instantly wiped out. He grabbed her arms and said, ‘That’s wonderful, Maggie! Wonderful! Have you told your father?’

Margaret pulled back in alarm. ‘Oh, no! He –’ She walked over to the Victoria green-plush sofa and sat down. ‘You don’t know Father. He – he would never understand.’

Jamie was hurriedly putting on his shirt. ‘Come on, we’re going to tell him together.’

‘Are you sure everything will be all right, Ian?’

‘I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.’

Salomon van der Merwe was measuring out strips of biltong for a prospector when Jamie and Margaret strode into the shop. ‘Ah, Ian! I’ll be with you in a moment.’ He hurriedly finished with the customer and walked over to Jamie. ‘And how is everything this fine day?’ Van der Merwe asked.

‘It couldn’t be better,’ Jamie said happily. ‘Your Maggie’s going to have a baby.’

There was a sudden stillness in the air. ‘I – I don’t understand,’ Van der Merwe stuttered.

‘It’s very simple. I’ve gotten her pregnant.’

The colour drained from Van der Merwe’s face. He turned wildly from one to the other. ‘This – this isn’t true?’ A maelstrom of conflicting emotions whirled through Salomon van der Merwe’s head. The terrible shock of his precious daughter losing her virginity … getting pregnant … He would be the laughing stock of the town. But Ian Travis was a very wealthy man. And if they got married quickly …

Van der Merwe turned to Jamie. ‘You’ll get married immediately, of course.’

Jamie looked at him in surprise. ‘Married? You’d allow Maggie to marry a stupid bairn who let you cheat him out of what belonged to him?’

Van der Merwe’s head was spinning. ‘What are you talking about, Ian? I never –’

‘My name’s not Ian,’ Jamie said harshly. ‘I’m Jamie McGregor. Dinna you recognize me?’ He saw the bewildered expression on Van der Merwe’s face. ‘Nae, a course you don’t. That boy is dead. You killed him. But I’m not a man to hold a grudge, Van der Merwe. So I’m giving you a gift. My seed in your daughter’s belly.’

And Jamie turned and walked out, leaving the two of them staring after him, stunned.

Margaret had listened in shocked disbelief. He could not mean what he had just said. He loved her! He –

Salomon van der Merwe turned on his daughter, in the throes of a terrible rage. ‘You whore!’ he screamed. ‘Whore! Get out! Get out of here!’

Margaret stood stock-still, unable to grasp the meaning of the awful thing that was happening. Ian blamed her for something her father had done. Ian thought she was part of something bad. Who was Jamie McGregor? Who –?

‘Go!’ Van der Merwe hit her hard across the face. ‘I never want to see you again as long as I live.’

Margaret stood there, rooted, her heart pounding, gasping for breath. Her father’s face was that of a madman. She turned and fled from the store, not looking back.

Salomon van der Merwe stood there watching her go, gripped by despair. He had seen what happened to other men’s daughters who had disgraced themselves. They had been forced to stand up in church and be publicly pilloried and then exiled from the community. It was proper and fitting punishment, exactly what they deserved. But his Margaret had been given a decent, God-fearing upbringing. How could she have betrayed him like this? Van der Merwe visualized his daughter’s naked body, coupling with that man, writhing in heat like animals, and he began to have an erection.

He put a Closed sign on the front door of the store and lay on his bed without the strength or the will to move. When word got around town, he would become an object of derision. He would be either pitied or blamed for his daughter’s depravity. Either way, it would be unbearable. He had to make certain no one learned about it. He would send the whore out of his sight forever. He knelt and prayed: O, God! How could you do this to me, your loyal servant? Why have you forsaken me? Let her die, O Lord. Let them both die …

The Sundowners Saloon was crowded with noon trade when Jamie entered. He walked over to the bar and turned to face the room. ‘Your attention, please!’ The conversation tapered off into silence. ‘Drinks on the house for everybody.’

‘What is it?’ Smit asked. ‘A new strike?’

Jamie laughed. ‘In a way, my friend. Salomon van der Merwe’s unmarried daughter is pregnant. Mr van der Merwe wants everybody to help him celebrate.’

Smit whispered, ‘Oh, Jesus!’

‘Jesus had nothing to do with it. Just Jamie McGregor.’

Within an hour, everyone in Klipdrift had heard the news. How Ian Travis was really Jamie McGregor, and how he had gotten Van der Merwe’s daughter pregnant. Margaret van der Merwe had fooled the whole town.

‘She doesn’t look like the kind, does she?’

‘Still waters run deep, they say.’

‘I wonder how many other men in this town have dipped their wick in that well?’

‘She’s a shapely girl. I could use a piece of that myself.’

‘Why don’t you ask her? She’s givin’ it away.’

And the men laughed.

When Salomon van der Merwe left his store that afternoon, he had come to terms with the dreadful catastrophe that had befallen him. He would send Margaret to Cape Town on the next coach. She could have her bastard there, and there was no need for anyone in Klipdrift to know his shame. Van der Merwe stepped out into the street, hugging his secret, a smile pasted on his lips.

‘Afternoon, Mr van der Merwe. I hear you might be stockin’ some extra baby clothes.’

‘Good day, Salomon. Hear you’re gonna get a little helper for your store soon.’

‘Hello there, Salomon. I hear a bird watcher just spotted a new species out near the Vaal River. Yes, sir, a stork!’

Salomon van der Merwe turned and blindly stumbled back into his shop, bolting the door behind him.

At the Sundowner Saloon, Jamie was having a whiskey, listening to the flood of gossip around him. It was the biggest scandal Klipdrift had ever had, and the pleasure of the townspeople took in it was intense. I wish, Jamie thought, that Banda were here with me to enjoy this. This was payment for what Salomon van der Merwe had done to Banda’s sister, what he had done to Jamie and to – how many others? But this was only part payment for all the things Salomon van der Merwe had done, just the beginning. Jamie’s vengeance would not be complete until Van der Merwe had been totally destroyed. As for Margaret, he had no sympathy for her. She was in on it. What had she said the first day they met? My father might be the one to help you. He knows everything. She was a Van der Merwe too, and Jamie would destroy both of them.

Smit walked over to where Jamie was sitting. ‘Kin I talk to you a minute, Mr McGregor?’

‘What is it?’

Smit cleared his throat self-consciously. ‘I know a couple of prospectors who have ten claims up near Pniel. They’re producin’ diamonds, but these fellas don’t have the money to get the proper equipment to work their claim. They’re looking’ for a partner. I thought you might be interested.’

Jamie studied him. ‘These are the men you talked to Van der Merwe about, right?’

Smit nodded, surprised. ‘Yes, sir. But I been thinkin’ over your proposition. I’d rather do business with you.’

Jamie pulled out a long, thin cigar, and Smit hastened to light it. ‘Keep talking.’

Smit did.

In the beginning, prostitution in Klipdrift was on a haphazard basis. The prostitutes were mostly black women, working in sleazy, back-street brothels. The first white prostitutes to arrive in town were part-time barmaids. But as diamond strikes increased and the town prospered, more white prostitutes appeared.

There were now half a dozen sporting houses on the outskirts of Klipdrift, wooden railway huts with tin roofs. The one exception was Madam Agnes’s, a respectable-looking two-storey frame structure on Bree Street, off Loop Street, the main thoroughfare, where the wives of the townspeople would not be offended by having to pass in front of it. It was patronized by the husbands of those wives, and by any strangers in town who could afford it. It was expensive, but the women were young and uninhibited, and gave good value for the money. Drinks were served in a reasonably well-decorated drawing room, and it was a rule of Madam Agnes’s that no customer was ever rushed or short-changed. Madam Agnes herself was a cheerful, robust redhead in her mid-thirties. She had worked at a brothel in London and been attracted to South Africa by the tales of easy money to be picked up in a mining town like Klipdrift. She had saved enough to open her own establishment, and business had flourished from the beginning.

Madam Agnes prided herself on her understanding of men, but Jamie McGregor was a puzzle to her. He visited often, spent money freely and was always pleasant to the women, but he seemed withdrawn, remote and untouchable. His eyes were what fascinated Agnes. They were pale, bottomless pools, cold. Unlike the other patrons of her house, he never spoke about himself or his past. Madam Agnes had heard hours earlier that Jamie McGregor had deliberately gotten Salomon van der Merwe’s daughter pregnant and then refused to marry her. The bastard! Madam Agnes thought. But she had to admit that he was an attractive bastard. She watched Jamie now as he walked down the red-carpeted stairs, politely said good night and left.

When Jamie arrived back at his hotel, Margaret was in his room, staring out of the window. She turned as Jamie walked in.

‘Hello, Jamie.’ Her voice was atremble.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘I had to talk to you.’

‘We have nothing to talk about.’

‘I know why you’re doing this. You hate my father.’ Margaret moved closer to him. ‘But you have to know that whatever it was he did to you, I knew nothing about. Please – I beg of you – believe that. Don’t hate me. I love you too much.’

Jamie looked at her coldly. ‘That’s your problem, isn’t it?’

‘Please don’t look at me like that. You love me, too …’

He was not listening. He was again taking the terrible journey to Paardspan where he had almost died … and moving the boulders on the riverbanks until he was ready to drop … and finally, miraculously, finding the diamonds … Handing them to Van der Merwe and hearing Van der Merwe’s voice saying, You misunderstood me, boy. I don’t need any partners. You’re working for me.… I’m giving you twenty-four hours to get out of town. And then the savage beating … He was smelling the vultures again, feeling their sharp beaks tear into his flesh …