The Diamond King – Excerpt 6
The unidentified man, my benefactor, was either a prospector with a mine nearby or possibly a diamond smuggler who had had an unfortunate accident. Either way I had benefitted from it, instead of a penniless returning soldier, I was returning home with a small fortune in uncut diamonds.
Back at the township where I used to live, I had a woman waiting Hetty de Vrees, she was all I had thought of in the moments when I was not fighting. Now I could return, we could be married and live the kind of life we had only dreamed of, together. I was aware that her Father Pastor de Vrees had no fondness for me, but he would have a fondness for my diamonds. Like all priests he had a price.
I had no idea of the kind of reception I would receive. After all I had been away with the Commando, fighting for three long years. Would I be welcomed or shunned. She, said that she would wait for me, but would she even be there.
Having been absent for all that time, I had no idea as to what had been happening in and around the township, for better or for worse. I was in no great hurry. I decided to hunt for something to eat, I was tired of living on biltong. I had seen neither hide nor hair of anyone pursuing me, so I considered it safe to build a small cooking fire. but first I needed something to cook.
(C)Damian Grange 2019
