The Blue Mountains of Kabuta by Hilary Wilde Page B

won’t be long. Come.’ He caught hold of her hand and pulled her to her feet, still holding her hand tightly as he led the way to the parked cars. She went with him, for everyone would have seen had she struggled to free herself. But she felt worried, for what could he have to say to her that was so private?
    He drove back to the main road and then fast along the empty roads, finally making his way through an avenue of trees that looked so beautiful, the sun shimmering through the green leaves and throwing shadows on the red earth road.
    Alex stopped by the side of a narrow stream that was tumbling down over some rocks.
    â€˜This is the Hluti river. I’m lucky, because it runs through my land,’ he said as he opened the car door for Jon.
    They sat on the rocks, a little above the river. He took an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her.
    â€˜Your uncle gave me this some months before his illness got so much worse. He made me promise to give it to you
alone
.’ He paused, looking at her gravely. ‘On no account, he said, must your mother see it.’
    Jon looked worried. ‘But that isn’t very nice.’
    â€˜She wasn’t very nice to him.’
    Staring at the man by her side, Jon was furious. How dared he speak like that about her mother? And yet he was right. That was the worst part of it.
    â€˜Open it.’
    Her hands were shaking as she obeyed. Then, before she took out the letter, she stood up and moved away.
    Alex laughed, ‘I wasn’t going to look over your shoulder.’
    â€˜Uncle Ned wanted this to be a secret.’
    Shaking his head, Alex smiled. ‘You’re wrong, as usual, little Jon. He said nothing about me. Only that your mother must not see it.’
    â€˜All the same . . .’ she said, hating him, for it was true. As usual he was right.
    â€˜All right.’ He laughed and swung round so that his back was turned to her.
    She opened the letter and read it slowly. Then she read it again. And again.
    â€˜My dear little Jon, I hope you will be as happy at Jabula as I have been. I know that your dream was to have mountains and water near you. This is the perfect life. Alex will help you run the farm if you find it too difficult at first. He is a good man, little Jon, and my best friend. You can trust him. Only one thing, please. Alex wants to buy the farm, but don’t ever
sell
it to him.’
    The word
sell
was heavily underlined. What did he mean? That she could sell the farm to anyone but Alex? It didn’t make sense, for Uncle Ned also said Alex was to be trusted.
    She tore the letter up into tiny pieces and threw them in the water, watching them float away. And why mustn’t her mother see the letter?
    â€˜Well?’ said Alex, sounding amused as he saw the paper drifting away. ‘Was it so important?’
    Jon looked at him thoughtfully. There must be a reason, though she could not see it. ‘Yes,’ she said quietly. ‘Very important indeed.’

CHAPTER FOUR
    As the days passed, Jon realized one thing— one simple but disagreeable fact that had to be accepted: that she could not manage the farm alone!
    What upset her most was the thought that she was letting down her Uncle Ned. He had given her the farm, trusting her, believing in her, and although she was doing her best, she knew she could not cope alone. She was forever asking questions of the farmers she knew, borrowing books from Alex, disciplining herself to ignore his amused looks, so she had tried very hard, she tried to comfort herself one beautiful early morning as she took her daily walk with the dogs, amused by their excited leaps and explorations of the rows and rows of pineapple plants.
    It was very hot even at this early hour and as she walked along the red earth, deeply indented by the wheel marks of the heavy tractors, she wished there had been trees planted occasionally to give some shade, but even so, she was so lost in