Zambia World Wide

As we reached the stoep I saw that the double doors were open and lying face downwards over the step, with his feet lying on the step itself was my husband. I thought he was dead and I broke away and ran towards him and lent over him. He was groaning and a man was tying his hands behind his back, and my husband was having difficulty breathing. I said to this man “oh please don’t hurt him, he hasn’t any hips and he is ill”. I was pulled to my feet and I then saw Allan and Marianne sitting against the bookcase. Allan had Marianne on his lap with her face against his chest and he had his arms wrapped tight around her. She kept saying over and over “Please don’t hurt my Daddy, oh please don’t hurt him” Allan didn’t say anything just looked at me. Lyndy was standing in the middle of the lounge with the big man standing next to her, holding the sten gun, and Mrs. Engelbrecht by then was sitting in the chair next to where my husband was lying. She appeared to be in a daze as she took no notice of anyone, just stared straight ahead of her at the paneled walled opposite. My daughter Lynda ran towards me and I put my arms around her and brushed her hair out of her eyes, and told her I was alright as the blood from the cut over my eye was still running down the front of my dress. The big man then forced the two of us along the passage towards my bedroom and again demanded money. I said “All I have got is in my handbag on the dressing table” and he picked up the bag and emptied the contents onto my bed. The few notes I had left over from my housekeeping money and the loose coins in my purse fell out, but my gold watch was jammed under the zip and he didn’t notice it in the purse which he tossed on the floor. My husband’s watch was on the shelf under the bedside table, and this too was overlooked. The transistor radio was also on the dressing table and this he picked up, and then he ordered us back along the passage into the dining room.

Again he demanded “Big money”, and once again I told him that was all we had. I don’t know what Lynda said to him, but at the time she was in front of me, all I know was that he suddenly picked up the hunting lantern on the tea trolley and tried to hit her with it, but only grazed her mouth. I pushed her behind me, and he then pretended to shadow box with me, grinning all the time. I kept trying to guard my face each time he lunged at me, but he pretended to hit me with his left hand and as I protected this side of my face, he brought his right hand up and with his clenched fist hit me on my lower lip and the side of my jaw. I felt my lip balloon out, but it wasn’t bleeding then. I fell back against the wall, and I stood up again and said to him “you seem to like hitting defenseless women, why don’t you hit me again?” He then drew his right arm back as far as it would go and again hit me with his fist and this time my lip burst and the blood poured out. For some reason he then left us alone and went back into the lounge where all the other men were guarding my husband, Mrs. Engelbrecht and the two younger children. I said to Lyndy “Lyndy, I’m going to get away and get help”, and she said “please Mummy don’t go, they will shoot you in the back”. I said “I must Lyndy, You don’t know the bush, and we are going to be killed”. I then ran along the passage and into the girl’s room, where I closed and locked the door. As I ran towards the window I noticed that the window was broken and the mosquito gauze had a big hole in it, and I remember thinking that Marianne must have done it and she hadn’t told me.

I opened the broken window and ripped the gauze apart and looked out towards the kitchen door as I thought one of them might have missed me and be waiting in the breezeway hiding behind the car. I couldn’t see anyone, so I climbed onto the window sill and dropped down into the flower bed and crouching down, ran across the driveway and onto the path leading to the Mill. As I ran I suddenly thought that I was a clear target for anyone looking for me, so I took to the bush at the side of the path. There had been a brush fire a few days before, and there were charred stumps sticking up all over the place, and I kept falling down, and once I lost one of my shoes.