Clij\1B Every Mountain
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CLIJ\1B EVERY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER I "Why did you do it Ma'am?' If he said that one more time I thought I would scream. The Warrant Officer had been at me for hours. The death had occurred just after midnight and it was now 4.00 a.m. and he had asked the same question about a hundred times. I was already in shock after the traumatic events of the previous evening and now had to defend myself against a murder charge. A murder I never committed. Earlier that evening, after seeing friends off, Jurie and I came back into the flat and I went straight to the bathroom to brush my teeth. He came into the bathroom and said quite casually "look what I have done". He ripped up his T shirt and as the fibres came out of the wound the blood gushed out like water out of a hosepipe. I then realized he had stabbed himself in the chest with a fish gutting knife. It was horrible. He turned around and collapsed in the passage between the bathroom, bedroom and entrance hall. The anxiety I felt was all embracing, why was life so complicated? I had not killed anyone. Why would this irritating man not believe me? What path had my life taken to bring me to this situation? Life had never been easy for me, except maybe, right at the beginning. I CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER 2 My father was a keen gardener and a fantastic story teller. When I was old enough to understand, he told me he found me on a flower, playing with the butterflies, and that I used to hop from his one finger to the next, until I grew too big. He called me Helen Happy Heart Honey Pot. I was his chubby, cheerful baby, born after he returned from war service in North Africa. I had an older sister, Penny, who was born just before Dad went to war. She was only 10 days old when he left. He knew her from the daily snapshots taken by Mom, with a Brownie Box camera. But I was his little bundle of joy, all his, to love and to hold and to enjoy from day one. Somehow Dad never changed over the years. He was mature looking when we were young, always looking a lot older than Mom, (which he was by eight years) but he still looked exactly the same when he was in his seventies. He had thinning brown hair and blue eyes, and was not very tall, but well built. He had a "pigeon chest" from being crushed between trucks in a terrible rail accident that took place near Figtree in Southern Rhodesia before he married Mom. He was a quiet, scholarly man, who loved reading and playing Chess. Mom was a complex character, utterly charming and vivacious when sober, and really venomous when inebriated. Unfortunately she really enjoyed her tipple and had a few friends who joined her in this unhealthy pastime. We used to be scared to bring friends home because we never knew what state she would be in. Sober, she was a real lady and 2 CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN actually lots of fun. She had a mischievious spirit. She once told us that when she and her 3 siblings were all young and single, they belonged to the Mischief Club. This was in the thirties and there were very few cars on the road. They lived in Warmbaths and they would move a vehicle from where it was parked in front of a house to around the comer, causing the owner much consternation when he discovered his car "missing". They would have pancake tossing evenings and musical soirees. Mom played the piano by ear. She was a very beautiful woman, with auburn hair and blue eyes and a lovely figure. She had style and was always well dressed. They got married in Mafeking where Dad was stationed. Dad courted Mom for seven years. Their families were farming neighbours just outside of Warmbaths. Dad and his brother used to ride out to visit Mom's family on horseback. After Dad joined the Railways he used to come back for holidays and weekends. Dad used to court Mom while his brothe Jack visited Auntie Lily. After school, Mom went to stay with her Grandmother in Johannesburg, where she did a Secretarial Course and then worked for the Chamber of Commerce. During the seven year courtship their engagement was an on off affair as Mom worked with a colleague who was also madly in love with her. Every time Dad came to visit this man would act so lovelorn in the office that he shed tears all over his blotting paper. Mom's boss would then beg her to cheer him up, so that some work could take place. Dad played the role of old faithful and had a lot of patience, but eventually he took action. He invited Mom to join him for the weekend at Mafeking. He met her on the station with a friend in tow, marched her into the registry office and with the friend as witness, they were married. Soon after that, Dad was transferred to Nelspruit. That was quite a change for Mom. She was twenty four years old and had spent a carefree childhood in a big happy family, then in her late teenage, early twenty years in her Grandmother's house she lived with three young aunts. They had a large circle of friends and an active social life. Her first home from home in Nelspruit was in a Boarding House. With Dad away at work, it must have been for her, a lonely existence. When she frrst came to Nelspruit from Johannesburg Mom wore a hat and gloves to town and people would stop her and ask who was getting married. CHAPTER 3 When I was born Mom went to the same nursing home where my sister Penny was born. When they brought me to her and told her I was a girl, she exclaimed in a horrified voice "Oh no, not another girl!" The midwife was rather shocked and asked her why she thought having two daughters was so bad. "It's not me, it's my father" she explained. "This is the 16th granddaughter born into the family, not a grandson in sight." When I heard this story, I wondered if that had affected Mom's relationship with me. Because Mom had had Penny all to herself for the four years that Dad was up North, Penny was her Miss Prim, while I was Dad's tomboy. Dad possibly gave me a bit more attention than he did to them. Mom came from a large, gregarious family. She had five sisters and four brothers but Dad was a loner, who preferred his own company, a good book and the chess board. Opposites attract, but I think it was hard on Mom to be married to such a stoic man who worked many long hours and rather spent time with his daughters than socializing. Dad was a great reader and introduced us to the library at the earliest age possible. Every Christmas there was a book present from "Father Christmas" in our pile of presents under the tree. Dad made a point of reading these to us, explaining words and concepts of the storief.He took us for walks through the veld, down to the river, and put paper and a pencil in our hands with the instruction to write down everything we saw, with say, an A for Penny and a B for me, while he would cover the rest of the alphabet. Of course he saw a thousand times more than we did, and he would painstakingly point out, explain, spell and generally educate us on every item. He was a born educator. Later when those walks became impractical we would sit on his bed armed with the inevitable pad and pencil and play games like General Knowledge, Hangman, Battleships etc. After dinner, we would have a cup of tea or coffee and the quiz would begin. From an early age we knew all about the longest river, the highest mountain, who built the Suez Canal and such trivia. We were introduced to swimming at an early age and I excelled at it. Inthe summer, months we spent every afternoon from 2.30 to 6.00 p.m. at the local pool. We were suntanned and healthy. The Crocodile lliver just outside of Nelspruit had a beautiful waterfall that tumbled into a whirlpool just below. In the early days the town's electricity was generated from that spot. When I was about twelve years old Dad dared me to swim across the Crocodile lliver. I don't think he thought I would ever do it, but I did. My heart was in my throat, but I was determined not to let him down. He only told me afterwards that there were no crocodiles in that part of the river, despite the name. My heart swells with pride and love for my Dad, as these memories come pouring back. Penny was bright academically and I excelled in sport, particularly swimming and diving, and Dad was always there for us, cheering and encouraging all our endeavours. Uncle Gabe and Dad went to the same school in Pretoria and their friendship lasted their entire lifetime. They worked on the Railways together. When Uncle Gabe, who was a widower, retired as a Driver at the age of fifty five he came to lodge with our family.