Vol. 4 Streets Paved with Gold

Vol. 4

Streets Paved with Gold

by: Clive Cooke

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Published by Clive Cooke at Smashwords

Copyright 2018 Clive Cooke

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Cover Design by Joleene Naylor

Cover photo courtesy of CanStockPhoto

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This volume comprises a collection of short stories. I have used the British style of spelling throughout and have taken liberties with English grammar to represent local speech. I have also added a sprinkling of foreign words for local colour. The meanings are given at the beginning of each story.

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Contents

The Wisdom of Solomon

Relativity

The Eagle

Justice

Southern Cross

Protest

Marriage à la Mode 1

Marriage à la Mode 2

Hot Chocolate

The Bird That Made Milk

A Bargain

Fervour

Devil’s Peak

The Co-Operative

Malawi Gardener

Can You Smell the Rain?

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The Wisdom of Solomon

Every year, on the evening before the twins’ birthday, the family held a special ceremony. It was their mother, Vera’s, idea. Their father, Solomon, disapproved of it. For the first few years, it had served a useful purpose and he was happy to go along with his wife’s wishes, however, after fifteen years, it had lost its relevance. He felt it was more of a memorial service for the dead than a birthday celebration for the living. It was time to let go of the past and he told his wife so. Vera would not hear of it. She had made a promise to God and that was that.

The grandmother, who lived with them, supported her daughter. The two children, Sarah and her younger brother Clarence, were neutral. The ceremony had been going on for as long as they could remember and besides, they had never been consulted. Solomon’s friends who knew about it and knew the reasons for it regarded him with a mixture of pity and disbelief. They refrained from criticizing him, although, some of them dropped hints, hints which Solomon ignored. Vera’s friends were more outspoken. Some of them said the ceremony was unhealthy. What purpose did it serve to be in constant mourning? Remarks like these only made Vera angry. The ceremony was a private, family matter and no business of theirs. Vera’s mother agreed with her.

This year, Solomon was determined to put an end to the ceremony.

‘Vera, we can’t go on like this,’ he said.

His wife was making a traditional lamb stew with tomatoes and water-onion blossoms bought from a street vendor. She stuck out her chin obstinately.

‘We’ve discussed this before, Solly,’ she said, ‘and as far as I’m concerned, the subject is closed.’

‘Listen to me, Vera. Stop what you are doing and listen.’

‘Closed as in closed, Solomon. Mind out: you are standing in my way. What don’t you understand about closed?’

‘I know we’ve discussed it. The ceremony only keeps the wounds open.’

Vera took the stew out of the oven and tested it with a fork.

‘Fifteen more minutes,’ she said.

‘It’s affecting Sarah.’

‘It is not affecting Sarah. How can you say that? She is doing well at school. She is popular. She has lots of friends. You don’t understand, Solly. I made a promise to God.’

‘God wants you to move on.’

‘Now, you listen to me Solomon Williams. I think of her every day. I wonder what she is doing, whether she is happy. I wonder if she is pretty. I wonder if she looks like her twin sister. Is she clever? Is she artistic or sporting? I’d love to know what she is going to do for a career.’

Vera put the mutton stew back into the oven. Solomon walked around to the other side of the stove.

‘I think you are being unrealistic,’ he said.

‘And I don’t agree.’

‘The ceremony only serves to keep the hurt alive. I am totally against it. The wounds must be allowed to heal. It’s been fifteen years, now.’

‘Fifteen years to-morrow.’

It was early spring and still cold. The tops of the mountains were covered in snow. Solomon had made a roaring fire in the sitting room with pinecones he and his son had collected in the forest. In a few weeks’ time, when the weather became a little warmer, they would be picking wild mushrooms. Vera tested the lamb stew.

‘Nearly ready,’ she said. ‘Sarah, light the candles please.’

The family of five assembled in the sitting room: Sarah, her brother Clarence, their parents and their grandmother. It was Solomon’s task to lead the ceremony. There were six chairs around the dinner table. On the evening of the ceremony, Vera laid a place at the empty seat, another thing Solomon strongly disapproved of. Sarah lit two candles on either side of a gold-framed photograph on the mantelshelf. The family stood in a circle, holding hands while Solomon led them in prayer. He prayed that their missing daughter be safe and in good health. He prayed she might be happy and well looked-after. He asked for God’s mercy on the family. Vera’s eyes glistened with tears.

‘Amen!’

Grandmother began to sing a hymn about those in peril on the sea. Her voice was thin and tremulous. The others joined in. When it was over, they went into the dining room and the three women brought the food through from the kitchen. Vera served the steaming hot lamb stew, rice and sweet pumpkin. She was smiling again. First she helped the head of the household, then the grandmother, then her son Clarence, then Sarah and lastly herself.

‘What do you think?’ she asked.

‘Delicious.’

‘It’s Granny’s recipe. I put cinnamon and ginger in it.’

‘Delicious.’

‘Not too spicy?’

‘Perfect.’

Solomon asked about Sarah’s birthday party scheduled for the following Saturday. She had reached the stage where she was more interested in parties and fashion than in going to see a film or visiting the adventure park. Her father was wary about dancing and boyfriends. He would have preferred a barbecue, but it was too cold outside at this time of the year. He asked his friends what they did for their teenage daughters’ birthdays and was to be disappointed. Boyfriends were one of the hazards of life. The boys were full of smiles and politeness to his face, but behind his back, he was sure they got up to all sorts of mischief. Solomon Williams did not trust boys with his precious daughter.

‘There is to be no drinking at your birthday party,’ he said. ‘Not in my house.’

Sarah frowned, but did not argue. She knew very well that the boys would drink before they came to the party. Some might bring hip flasks. At her friend Hettie’s party a few months ago, there had been a fight, clearly alcohol related. It was mostly show and bravado, but it could end with someone getting hurt.

‘There will be no knives either,’ said Solomon. ‘Those boys are still children, but they carry weapons. Fanie de Beer warned me. I will search everyone.’

‘No, father,’ said Sarah. ‘You can’t do that.’

‘Yes, I can.’

Sarah’s father would ruin her birthday party and ruin her reputation amongst her friends at school. Granny changed to a less sensitive topic.

‘What do you want for your birthday, dear?’ she asked.

Williams wanted to buy his daughter something sensible. Sarah preferred money.

‘I want the latest disk by Darkness at Dawn and a video of this year’s Karoo Rock Festival.’

‘Darkness at Dawn? Who are they?’ asked Solomon.

‘Awesome,’ said Sarah.

Clarence wanted a guitar for his next birthday present. The musicians from Darkness were his heroes. He copied their clothes and their hair styles.

‘Never heard of them,’ said Mr Williams. ‘And you Vera?’

‘I’ve heard the name,’ said his wife. ‘I don’t know their music.’

‘It’s elemental, Dad.’

‘You mean it’s loud. In my day, popular music had to have a tune.’

‘And I need clothes,’ said Sarah. ‘All my stuff is out of date.’

Williams shook his finger at his daughter.

‘You must take your mother with you when you go shopping. Do you hear? And Clarence, sit properly. Take your elbows off the table.’

The Williams family was not rich. As a manager in the local council, Solomon was moderately well-off. He worked in the department responsible for supplying water to the town. His only qualification was a trade certificate, having worked his way up from the bottom. They lived in an old Edwardian house off the main street in the rural town of Paarl about fifty kilometres from Cape Town.

After dinner, Sarah went through to the sitting room. She wet her fingers and squeezed the wicks of the two candles on the mantelshelf. Then, she picked up the framed photograph between the candles. It was starting to fade. Her mother ought to put it into an album before it deteriorated further. The photograph was fifteen years old, a picture of her mother in a hospital bed cradling two babies, twins. Her grandmother said she was the baby in her mother’s left arm. Her mother said she was in the other arm and that she ought to know. Both new-born babies had full crops of dark hair. Sarah’s twin sister’s name was Susan. Within a few hours after the photograph had been taken, Susan had been stolen. A woman dressed as a nurse had said she wanted to bathe one of the babies and never returned with the child. Mrs Williams had drifted off to sleep. When she awoke, she realised that the baby was missing. The alarm was raised and the police called, but Vera could not identify any of the nurses as the one who had taken her baby. The hospital denied it was one of theirs. Other mothers in the ward confirmed Vera’s story. One woman awoke to find a stranger holding her baby. When she asked her what she was doing, the woman said that the baby had been crying. She had only picked up the child to comfort her.

The family went into shock. Vera cried for days on end. She wouldn’t eat, she wouldn’t talk to anyone and she stayed in her bedroom with the curtains drawn. Solomon tried to comfort her. He criticized the hospital management for the lack of security in the wards. They made reassuring noises, but did nothing. He spoke to the police every day. Progress with the investigation was slow. It seemed that they regarded the case as low priority. As time went on, the Williams family became more and more disillusioned. Clearly, the trail had gone cold, so Solomon decided to do an investigation on his own. When the investigating officer heard what he was doing, he called him in to the police station and gave him an official warning not to interfere in a police matter.

After three months, the police investigation petered out. Williams went to see the local station commander. At first, the captain was sympathetic, but when Solomon started cross-questioning him, he became rude and obstructionist. Williams lost his temper, accusing the police of incompetence. If he had been rich, the police would have caught the criminals by now. What would the police captain have done if his own daughter had been abducted? The station commander responded by man-handling him out of his office. Williams had to restrain himself. He would have liked to have punched the man.

The Williams family was left with a gaping hole in their lives, a hole which they were expected to fill on their own. There was no help from the social services. Sympathy from relatives and friends was short-lived and conventional. Vera and Solomon felt they could do without it. Vera listened to the condolences and made non-committal replies. How could other people possibly know the pain the family was going through? She never fully recovered from the loss. On the surface, she appeared to have accepted the situation and then suddenly she would have bouts of depression and crying. Solomon carried on with his investigation, mainly to satisfy his wife. He contacted the local newspaper. A reporter was sent to interview him. Hopefully, the publicity from the article would arouse someone’s suspicions. The abductors would have difficulty in explaining the sudden arrival of a baby in their family. However, the article had unforeseen consequences. A spate of child abductions broke out in the area. The police blamed Williams’ interview for encouraging copy-cat crimes. Williams felt he was being made the scapegoat. He replied with another newspaper interview in which he did not spare his criticism of the police.

One of the copy-cat crimes occurred in the local supermarket, less than a hundred yards from the Williams’ home. The police warned people to be on the lookout. There were notices pasted up everywhere and the supermarkets had hired additional security staff. One woman had her two year old child stolen out of the shopping trolley while she was busy paying for her purchases. Another lost her child on the playground. She was sitting on the bench with four other mothers chatting away happily when she realized her child was no longer there. She had heard nothing and seen nothing. It was as if the child had vanished into thin air. A third mother was approached by a woman who said she would look after her child while she went into the butcher’s shop to buy meat for supper. When she returned, the woman and the child were gone.

However, the police were not as incompetent as Williams believed. The person who had abducted the baby from the supermarket was caught on closed-circuit camera and identified. The man was arrested and questioned. It was thought that perhaps he might be responsible for all the abductions, but this proved not to be so. There was nothing linking him to the Williams’ case, or any of the other crimes. Vera and Solomon’s emotions went from one extreme to the other. Then, one of the abducted babies was found abandoned on the steps of the town hall. The Williams thought it might be Susan, but it wasn’t. Vera fell into a deep depression.

Williams carried on with his investigation. He did the rounds of doctors and clinics armed with the photograph of the twins nestling in Vera’s arms. Within six months, however, Susan would have changed substantially and the photograph would have been of little use. He put notices up in shop windows. He visited private nurseries. There were dozens in Paarl and the surrounding towns. He visited the local mortuary. Fortunately, this avenue of investigation proved to be fruitless and he never told Vera what he had done. After a year, he came to the conclusion that the abductors and the child had left the area. Susan could be anywhere, even in a neighbouring country. Interest in the abduction by members of the public gradually died down. Occasionally, people stopped him in the streets to talk about the case. Williams hated this. Inquisitiveness was not the same as sympathy. Someone told him that there was a thriving trade in stolen babies. Abductions were believed to be done by criminal syndicates on behalf of people who were unable to have children of their own. Prices for stolen babies were supposed to be high. How did these people know? It was all rumour and gossip. How was this information supposed to help his family’s suffering? These conversations only made Williams angry and sometimes he was rude.

With time, Solomon reconciled himself to his loss, but Vera did not. She and her mother held a vigil on the first anniversary of the twins’ birth. It seemed to help. Solomon supported the ceremony, but later he came to see it as an obstacle to the healing process. Sarah, his pride and joy, was growing fast and was developing a personality. He reasoned that a second child would take the place of the missing Susan. Two years later a son was born whom they named Clarence. The boy was adorable, but the child did not mend the hole in their lives as Solomon had hoped.

It was the day before Sarah’s fifteenth birthday party. Vera and her mother were busy preparing food. There were to be snacks early in the evening and hot dogs at about eleven. Sarah was in charge of the music. She had invited most of her classmates from school. Mrs Williams had invited several of the parents to share a meal with them. Sarah did not want the parents to be there, but Vera promised her daughter that the grown-ups would stay out of sight. Dancing was to be in the garage which Sarah and several of her friends decorated with a tropical island theme.

‘Where’s Annemarie?’ asked Mrs Williams.

Annemarie had been Sarah’s best friend for years and her mother had noticed that she was not helping to decorate the garage.

‘I didn’t invite her.’

‘Why not?’

‘We had a fight. We are not friends anymore.’

Mrs Williams heaved a sigh. No doubt the girls would be reconciled in due course. Fortunately, she had not invited Annemarie’s parents to dinner on Saturday.

‘Who is your best friend now?’

‘You will meet her. Her name’s Avril. Her family only moved to Paarl this year. She is in our class.’

‘What does her father do?’

‘I don’t know.’

On Saturday morning, Sarah had an appointment with the hairdresser. Her grandmother had offered to do her hair for her, but Sarah declined. Everything had to be perfect. After a light lunch, the family rested. Sarah could not sleep. After ten minutes on her bed, she went to the garage to see that everything was in order. There were still a few things to do, but there was plenty of time. Her mother could not sleep either. Later, mother and daughter prepared the snacks and then Sarah dressed. She paraded in front of her grandmother.

‘What do you think?’

‘Turn around…. lovely…. lovely. Your hair…. let me tie it back, out of your eyes.’

‘No, don’t touch.’

The first guests arrived as Mr Williams was installing heaters in the garage. It had rained during the afternoon and there was a cold breeze from the mountains. Sarah was still in her bedroom. She had changed her mind and tied her hair back after all. Then she changed her mind again and let it hang loose. The neighbours had been warned about the loud music. Williams promised to turn the volume down at ten o’clock. Vera and Granny brought trays of snacks into the garage.

‘Where’s the birthday girl?’ The speaker was one Sarah’s school friends. ‘I am Avril September. We are in the same class.’

‘Hello Avril.’

Granny whispered something to Vera. She looked at Avril closer.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Vera.

Vera’s heart started racing. Guests were arriving, carrying presents. Everyone wanted to wish Sarah happy birthday. Mrs Williams stared ahead in a daze. Guests greeted her, but she did not react.

‘Vera,’ said the grandmother ‘Vera, what’s the matter? Give me that tray. You are going to drop it.’

Vera stammered a reply.

‘Mom…. Mom….’

‘I must be mistaken,’ said Granny. ‘I only said I thought this Avril girl reminded me of Sarah. I might be wrong.’

‘It just hit me,’ said Vera. ‘She is so like her. She really is. I nearly called her Sarah. Where is Solly? I must sit down. I can’t breathe.’

There was a hurried conference in the kitchen; Solomon, Vera and Granny. The grandmother warned that they should not jump to conclusions. Solomon said he wanted to see the girl for himself. The resemblance might only be superficial and anyway this was not the right time to bring up the subject of his missing daughter again. It would ruin Sarah’s birthday party.

‘I know it’s my Susan.’ said Vera. ‘I know. I know. It’s a woman’s instinct.’

‘Her name is Avril September,’ said the grandmother. ‘We can easily find her again. She’s at the same school as Sarah, same class.’

‘Point her out to me,’ said Solomon.

‘It’s easy,’ said the grandmother. ‘They are wearing the same dress, the same colour, the same hairstyle. Look at her: the shape of the face, the same chin, the same nose…. everything.’

‘I am going to die!’ exclaimed Vera.

Vera went to her room to lie down. She could not face her guests or the girl they suspected of being her missing child. An hour later, she appeared saying that she had not been feeling well. However, one look at Avril and her heart palpitations started again. She returned to her bedroom. Solomon and the grandmother took over her duties of entertaining the parents, providing the snacks and the hot-dogs at eleven. At ten, Mr Williams turned down the volume of the music. He had forgotten about doing body searches for alcohol. All he could think of was his missing daughter.

Williams watched the dancing. He had promised his daughter he would not show himself, but he had to make certain. The party seemed to be a success. Sarah put on her new Darkness at Dawn disks. A boy was dancing with Avril, tall for his age, his hair greased and carefully curled…. no…. he was dancing with Sarah…. no…. it was Avril.

‘My God, this can’t be, in my own home.’

The two girls were wearing the same dresses and the same hairstyles. Williams went into his bedroom to see if his wife was feeling better.

‘You are right, Vera. It is her. I spoke to her,’ he said. ‘When you see them together, you would think they are sisters. On Monday I am going to the police.’

‘God has answered my prayers, Solly.’

The following day, the family rose late. There was a large amount of cleaning up to do. Sarah caught snatches of her parents’ conversation.

‘Who are you talking about?’ she asked.

‘That friend of yours, Avril.’

‘She’s my best friend.’

‘Tell us about her.’

‘I’ve only known her for about five months,’ said Sarah. ‘The family comes from Beaufort West. We clicked straight away. Like, we have known each other all our lives. We have so many similar interests. We like the same music. We have the same taste in clothes. We’ve got the same sign of the zodiac.’

‘When is her birthday?’

‘Why do you ask?’

‘Just because.’

Sarah’s grandmother was more direct. The matter of the missing twin had cast a shadow over the family for fifteen years. It was time to exorcise the ghost.

‘She looks like you,’ said the grandmother.

‘Everyone says so’ said Sarah.

‘You could be sisters.’

Sarah hesitated before answering. There was something in her grandmother’s voice that suggested a hidden meaning.

‘Granny, what do you mean?’

The grandmother stopped washing the dishes and turned to face her granddaughter. She wiped her hands on a towel.

‘My child, we have to face up to the facts.’

‘What facts?’

‘She could be your missing sister.’

‘Oh…. I don’t know…. she comes from Beaufort West.’

Sarah’s father intervened.

‘Sarah, your mother and I have decided to pursue the matter further. There is a good chance this Avril is actually Susan. There’s a strong likeness between the two of you. Don’t worry. Everything will be done discretely. We will go through the correct legal channels. At this stage, this is only a preliminary enquiry. There is no case against the September family. We are not accusing anybody. Do you understand?’ Sarah’s face betrayed puzzlement. ‘As I said, Sarah: we are not accusing anybody.’

‘Sweetie,’ said Vera ‘you must understand. We have to do this.’

‘But, Mama….’

‘Sarah, the decision has been taken…. Solly?’

‘Let me explain,’ said Mr Williams. ‘A crime has been committed. The law must take its course. There have been several other abductions. Ours is not the only one. These criminals must be tracked down and put out of business.’

‘Sarah,’ said Vera ‘this is strictly confidential. You must not mention this to anyone, especially to your friend, this Avril girl. And you too, Clarence. Do you hear me?’

‘Yes, Mom.’

‘Right.’

The following day, Solomon Williams made an appointment to see the detective at the Paarl Police Station. The original investigating officer had retired and the station commander from fifteen years ago had been promoted and transferred to another area. Williams had to start from the beginning again. Fortunately, the file on his missing daughter was still in their possession. The detective’s name was Warrant Officer Breedt. Williams related the events to him starting with the abduction at the hospital, the subsequent investigation and ending up with the birthday party the previous weekend. Warrant Officer Breedt was a man in his mid-fifties with a lined face and friendly eyes. Williams was pleased with the interview. The policeman actually listened to his story. Williams explained that it was not about revenge. It was about closure. It was about the law.

Events moved slowly. Warrant Officer Breedt told Solomon there was to be no publicity and no interviews with the press. Procedures would be followed to the letter. The police had to obtain a court order to have Avril and Sarah’s DNA tested. Williams contacted the investigating officer regularly to be up-dated on progress. Sarah told Avril what was happening. The two girls joked about it and started calling each other sister. Then, Avril disappeared. The teachers assumed she was ill, but Avril’s mother had not contacted them. Sarah’s class teacher telephoned the Septembers. There was no reply. After two weeks, she went to visit the Septembers. The house was locked. No-one answered the doorbell, the post box was overflowing and the curtains were drawn. She called hello out loudly several times and went to the back of the house to look over the wall. She spoke to the neighbours who told her that the family had left. No-one knew where they had gone. The headmistress contacted the police.

Warrant Officer Breedt relayed the information about Avril September’s disappearance to Solomon. The news was greeted with dismay in the Williams home. The opportunity to resolve the matter had slipped away.

‘This proves, they are guilty,’ said the grandmother.

Williams said this was not necessarily so. Privately, he wondered whether someone had warned the September family. It might have been the police.

‘Sarah, do you know anything about this?’ asked her father.

‘No father.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘I thought she was off sick.’

‘And you, Clarence?’

‘No father.’

‘Sarah, did Avril say anything to you about leaving Paarl?’

‘No father.’

‘Did you tell her about the investigation?’

‘Oh…. maybe…. we might have talked about it. Yes, I think we did.’

‘Sarah, we told you this was strictly confidential. You were not supposed to say a word.’

‘Sorry…. I forgot.’

The following day, Williams went to the Department of Home Affairs to ask for a copy of Avril September’s birth certificate. The clerk refused to give it to him as this was illegal in terms of the Act. If the girl was a minor, the clerk could give the certificate to close family members in possession of the right identification. People often lost their certificates and required new ones. Non-family members would have