Starlight in the Ring Read Online Free

would be the motive behind it?
I think of many things. However, I couldn’t be certain my guesses were right. Baas always says, “Be vigilant – we have enemies around here.” At the same time, he never reveals who they are. So, ‘our enemies’ did it, perhaps.
    As we stand there wondering what to do next, the lightning flashes, and the rumbling thunder follows. The rain pours heavily. We walk around, foolishly not knowing what to do. We carry on searching, ignoring the rain for a little while. It gets heavier, making it difficult for me to see the way. The water starts dripping from my clothes. Feeling soaked from head to toe, I struggle, dragging myself, trying to speed up. I brush off the rain from my eyes with my hands, to be able to see the way. Different thoughts cross my mind.
    If we return home now, Baas Jimmie Douglas will be extremely annoyed with us. “Where is my herd of cattle, Betty?” he will ask aggressively. He might lash out; I know him. What shall I say to calm him down? He can be a monster, demanding things to be done his way throughout.
    Jimmie, with his wife Theodora, and their only son, Mark, own this farm. They inherited it from Jimmie’s parents. Jimmie, the giant with big, blue eyes and grey moustache is frightening. He has a distinctly loud, hostile voice, and never laughs with farm labourers. He is short-tempered, and very unpredictable. He maintains his dignity in that scary, intimidating way. He wears clothes according to seasons. Two things that make him special – he hates lazy people, and swears a lot. He never enjoys seeing people sitting down or sleeping, except at night when all the jobs are completed and the animals are asleep. However, I still believe he is a really nice man, generally. Where would I be, should he not have given me and my family a home, made of bricks, instead of just shacks like houses for labourers in other farms?
    I imagine the conflict, if we return home without finding the cattle. I can’t provoke him. I dislike hearing him swear when he is angry. Though no one ever challenges his behaviour, he shouts non-stop, calling all the bad names he thinks of. He usually leaves me emotionally scarred after a conflict. I have to live with these scars as I cannot erase them.
    “Where have the cattle gone, Rita?”
    “I don’t know,” Rita replies, clenching her lips, eyes opening widely, and shrugging her shoulders.
    “Huh, we’re in great trouble today,” I suggest, feeling uneasy, confused and frightened with wobbly knees, shivering from cold.
    “No, I don’t think so,” Rita replies hesitantly, with her eyes gazing about, searching. Our pace slows down for a while, and then gradually improves.
    “For goodness’ sake, we must find his cattle, Rita. That will cheer him up. We can’t get away with it.” Feeling heartbroken and dismayed, I shout loudly at the top of my voice:
    “Betsy!”
    ‘
Betsy.
’ I merely hear a faint echo.
    “Buttercup!” I call as loud as I possibly can.
    ‘
Buttercup.
’ I hear an echo again.
    I stand on the riverbank, looking down and across the river, hoping to find clues for missing cattle. My eyes look between the bushes, under the dancing leaves of the willow trees, towards the cliffs, and at the foot of the mountain. I wonder why Baas’ cattle can’t respond to my voice today, and come to me running. “Stanford, beautiful Stanford, come to me!” I plead, in desperation, with my whimpering voice, and with tears in my eyes.
    “Ferdinand! It’s time to return home!” I say, running out of words, and getting tired of screaming. My head starts pounding.
    There’s no sign of the herd of cattle. I always call once or twice before they recognise me, and then come running and bellowing. However, not today – all I can hear is my echo. Suddenly, Rita and I plunge into the dirty deep water swimming across the river. We reach the other side, force our way through the wet thorn trees. We walk across the barns, towards the