Garry returned after some twenty minutes.
“Fennel agrees it looks suspicious. Themba has been left guarding the equipment. Fennel is coming here on his own, leaving Ken to keep watch. If Kahlenberg starts trouble, at least Ken can do something to help us. When we get the ring, we’ll signal Ken and we’ll all meet at the airfield and take off. We’ll pick up Themba and get back to Mainville.”
“Do you think Kahlenberg will start trouble?”
“I’ll tell you when I’ve met him,” Garry returned. “How about another drink?”
At exactly 21.00 hrs., a Zulu servant came to take them to the main terrace.
Seated in his chair, Kahlenberg was waiting for them. He greeted them pleasantly and waved them to chairs near him.
“Tak tells me you are from Animal World, Miss Desmond.” he said, after Gaye had thanked him for receiving them. “Have you been with them long?”
“Not very… six months.”
“It is a magazine I take regularly. I am interested in animals. Why don’t they give you a credit line, Miss Desmond?”
Watching, Garry was relieved to see Gaye was cool and seemed quite at ease. She laughed a little ruefully.
“I am one of the small fry, Mr. Kahlenberg. I do the routine work. I was hoping you would allow me to photograph this lovely house. I would get a credit for that.”
He studied her.
“I am afraid then you will have to wait a little longer for your
credit. Photography is forbidden here.”
She met his blue-grey eyes, smiling.
“Even to me? I promise I will be most discreet and photograph only the house and the garden.”
“I am sorry.” He changed the subject by asking if she found his museum interesting.
“It is magnificent. I congratulate you.”
Three Zulus came silently on to the terrace and stood waiting before a beautifully laid table. At the same time, Hindenburg who had just finished his dinner, came slowly across the terrace to Kahlenberg.
“What a beauty!” Gaye exclaimed. “May I stroke him?”
“It would be unwise,” Kahlenberg said, rubbing the cheetah’s ear. “My pet is a little uncertain with strangers… even beautiful strangers, Miss Desmond.” He set his chair in motion and drove up to the table. “Let us have dinner.”
When they were seated, Kahlenberg turned to Garry.
“And you, Mr. Edwards, have you been a professional pilot for long?”
Garry shook his head.
“Just started,” he said easily. “Miss Desmond is my first client. Of course I’ve done a lot of chopper flying in the States, but I like a change, so I’ve set up business in Durban.”
“I see.”
Iced melons were served.
“You are after big game, Miss Desmond?”
“Yes. We were on our way to Wannock Game Reserve when saw this wonderful house and I felt I had to see more of it. I do hope you don’t think I was presumptuous.”
“Not at all. If I didn’t wish you to be here, Tak would have sent you away. No, it is a pleasure to have such unexpected guests.”
“You are certainly out in the wilds… don’t you find it lonely?” she asked.
“When one is as busy as I am, one hasn’t time to feel lonely. It surprises me that you are a photographer.” Kahlenberg looked directly at her. “I should have thought by the way you walk and by your appearance that you would have been a model.”
“I have done modelling, but I find photography more interesting.”
“I too am interested in photography in an amateurish sort of way. I suppose you work entirely in colour?”
Gaye who had only the haziest knowledge of photography, realized they were getting on to dangerous ground.
“Yes, I work in colour.”
“Tell me, Miss Desmond…” Kahlenberg began when the second course of blue trout was served.
Gaye immediately began to enthuse about the fish, hoping to change the subject.
“It’s my favourite fish,” she told him.
“How fortunate, but I was…”
Garry too had seen the red light and he tried to steer the conversation into another channel.
“Mr. Kahlenberg, I took a walk in your wonderful garden and came across a Zulu in full war dress… at least, I think it is war dress from what I’ve seen on the movies… a magnificent specimen.”
“Yes, I have over a hundred of these men,” Kahlenberg said. “I like them to dress in their traditional costume. They are great hunters of beasts… and of men. They are the guardians of my estate. No one approaches here without being seen and turned back. They patrol the surrounding jungle day and night in shifts.”
“Not the garden?” Garry asked casually as he could as he removed the back bone of the fish.
There was such a long pause that he glanced up to find Kahlenberg’s eyes on him. The amused contempt in those eyes made Garry look quickly down at his fish.
“No, Mr. Edwards, they don’t patrol the garden at night, but I have a few of them in the garden during the day when there are strangers here.”
“Well, they are certainly impressive,” Garry said, laying down his knife and fork. “That was excellent.”
“Yes,” Kahlenberg absently reached out his hand and began to stroke Hindenberg’s rough fur. The cheetah began to purr.
“What a marvellous sound,” Gaye exclaimed. “Have you had him long?”
“A little over three years. We are inseparable.” Kahlenberg looked over at Garry. “He is a magnificent watch-dog or I suppose I should say watch-cat. I had good proof of this a few months ago. One of my servants went mad and tried to attack me. He came into my office with a knife, but before he could even reach me, Hindenberg had literally torn him to pieces. The cheetah is the fastest moving animal on earth. Did you know that, Mr. Edwards?”
Garry eyed the cheetah and shook his head.
“He looks as if he could give a good account of himself.”
“He can.”
One of the waiters presented the main course which was a chicken browned in a casserole, the rib cage removed and the bird stuffed with diced lobster in a cream sauce, coloured by the coral of the lobster.
“Ah! This is something out of the ordinary,” Kahlenberg said. “I got the recipe from one of the great Paris chefs. I think you will find it excellent.”
While the waiter was carving the chicken, Kahlenberg chatted agreeably, but both Gaye and Garry could see his mind was only half with them. He was obviously occupied with some business problem and wasn’t giving them his entire attention.
The chicken was excellent as Kahlenberg had said it would be, and both of them expressed their appreciation.
Although the food was delicious, Gaye was relieved when the meal was over. She found she had to work hard to hold Kahlenberg’s interest. She was used to mixing with difficult people, but she mentally decided Kahlenberg was the stickiest host she bad ever met. He was polite, but distant and she knew she had only half his attention. But she kept the conversation going, avoiding dangerous topics, asked questions about himself, discussed New York, Paris and London with him while Garry kept more or less silent, admiring her persistance.
As they were drinking coffee, Tak come out on to the terrace. He went up to Kahlenberg.
“Excuse me, sir, Mr. Vorster is on the telephone.”
Kahlenberg frowned.
“Oh, yes, I had forgotten. Tell him I will call back in five minutes.”
Tak bowed and went away.
“I must apologize, Miss Desmond, but I regret I will now have to leave you to your own devices. I have work to do. I doubt if we will meet again before you leave. I am sorry about the photographs. I hope you enjoyed your dinner.”
They got to their feet and both thanked him for his hospitality.
He looked at them with an odd expression in his eyes, nodded, then set his chair in motion and drove off the terrace, followed by Hindenburg.