19 - The cat is out of the bag

Chloe awakens. The headlights illuminate the spooky, narrow path that runs through the high blue gums. She looks at Hunter who drives the Cooper. He feels her gaze upon him and smiles at her. "We are back at your place, Sleeping Beauty." Chloe frowns embarrassed. "I hope I haven't snored too loudly; I am so ashamed of myself." "Mostly it is overweight people that snore heavily. I haven't even heard you breathing." Last night she submitted and slept over at his place and from then on he has driven the Cooper. Hunter accompanied her to buy everything Lyle needed and he helped her to choose sets of spanners for her two heroes. A man cannot have enough tools, Tony always said. Thereafter, they took Lyle to buy personal things and then they took him to school over the mountain pass. She is now looking at Hunter with admiration in her eyes. "Thank you so much, Hunter, for caring. I feel so safe near you, but we are taking over your life completely. Don't you have clients waiting?" "Your timing was exquisite. I'd just completed my previous assignment when you phoned. I am not going to accept any more cases before I figured out what is going on and make sure that all of you are safe. Tonight I shall sleep at your place and tomorrow morning at first light I shall go to Robert and ask for his help. We will make sure your place is safe before I shall let you stay here alone." "Oh, you know Robert, how are you going to communicate with him? And what are you going to do to make the place safe and who says he will agree?" "I know Robert very well. I've always visited him, just like your father, when I incidentally had work in the vicinity to see how my recluse friend was. He is the only one who survived the family murder years ago. He was just at the wrong time at the wrong place. He was a teenager and slept over at his nephew and niece. Then everyone was murdered and he was left for dead behind before his uncle committed suicide. He and his sister, Mrs Kennedy, inherited this place and Robert moved in to take the role as caretaker. I am sure he will not hesitate to help me and don't stress. We communicate excellently." "Hunter, my father have always been out of his skin when you visited. We all could see there was a special bond between you and you only told me superficially that he saved your life. He never wanted to talk about his army days. Please, Hunter, tell me why my father was so secretive about his past." "It was a long time ago, Chloe." Chloe frowns en sighs despondently. "It seems to me you are just like him. Why won't you talk about those days? What is it that is keeping you from telling?" It might be her imagination but she sees a soft tenderness in the way he looks at her when he answers: "Not all soldiers were in the front lines, but those that were, know that war is an ugly business. Some of the war veterans have posttraumatic scars that they must carry. Most of us are not proud of what we did, but we respect one another because it is only special people that can do the dirty work and then leave it behind and carry on with their lives." "But, why are you not proud of what you had to do? You only fulfilled your duties as soldiers, not so?" "Chloe, some of the soldiers don't have a conscience and they went on after the war and became mercenaries for whoever pays the most. Most of us, however, wake up with a start in the middle of the night and relive our experiences, and see before our eyes the corpses of people we had to murder in service of a senseless war. It is not easy to take someone else's life. This haunts you for the rest of your life." "Had you and my dad have to kill people?" Hunter is silent for a while as if he considers his answer, but then he speaks: "Your dad and I weren't ordinary soldiers, Chloe. We were part of the Reconnaissance unit. We were called Recces. Out of the 100 000 who tried to become recces only 400 qualified. The recces penetrated deep into Angola to do reconnaissance and the information that they gathered was of cardinal importance. This information mostly determined which operations should be carried out and how they should be carried out. Frequently the recces had to carry out sensitive operations themselves that caused the enemy severe damage. While South Africa told the world that no operations were on-going in Angola the recces secretly, like phantoms, caused paralyzing damage to the communist alliance deep in Angola. "For example, during a critical time in the bush war, I was a major in the aquatic unit en Tony a staff sergeant. We damaged ships in the harbor that brought provisions to the enemy and we blew up their fuel reservoirs. The enemy was paralyzed and could not continue with their offensive. Then they flew in a massive stock of weapons, aeroplanes and tanks via two airports and the SADF and UNITA were threatened by a giant force while they also took over the airways. Our forces were in a difficult situation. "We were threatened by four brigades and they gathered at the south of a strategic bridge to launch the mother of all offensives. Our unit was sent to the bridge to damage it so that provisions for their soldiers were cut off and thereby halt the offensive. We only succeeded partially. An airplane with a clever bomb eventually destroyed the bridge so that the enemy had to make new plans to get provisions through, but much time had been wasted." "Later on I will tell you more if you want to know. But do you understand now, Chloe, we recces were trained to carry out sensitive missions successfully and annihilate any enemy in our way quietly. We have blood on our hands because sometimes we had to personally in close combat silently get rid of soldiers or else either by gunning them down or by bombing them. I don't know how many people we killed and that is why we don't talk about the war." Chloe is astonished. Goodness! Now suddenly everything makes sense to her when she thinks back to all the things that Tony taught her. He taught her to dissect all the weapons on the farm blindfolded and to assemble them again. How to maintain them. How to shoot accurately even if you run or are on horseback or are driving or are rolling on the ground. Even how to survive from insects and shrubs in the veld. How to collect dew in the morning for fresh water and which shrubs have enough potable sap. When Lyle tried to kick her, she avoided his kick with correct timing and movement or she broke it and simultaneously kicked his leg that carried his weight from underneath him. At other times she had to show him his balls are unprotected and once she kicked him accidentally spot on. Shame, it was very funny, but he survived. When he tried a straight arm karate attack and didn't pull his arm back quickly enough she showed him how she would pull his arm straight and how easy it was to break his arm. When he placed his weight on his front leg, she had to show him how easy it was to damage his knee or kick his feet from underneath him or to bruise the nerve on the side of his upper leg. Shame, one time she did it by accident and he couldn't walk normally for two weeks. When he tried a spinning or back-kick, she easily moved into a back-to-back position and demonstrated how she could easily break his neck over her shoulder. She will never forget his amazement when he proudly demonstrated the actions he had learned in karate, just for her to show him Tony's superior techniques. "Why so quiet suddenly, Chloe? I hope I haven't upset you by telling you all this." Chloe smiles, leans over and plants an unexpected kiss on his cheek. She looks at him with admiration in the dark. "Thank you so much for telling me, Hunter. For the first time, things are making sense to me and as far as my father is concerned, he taught me so many special things and I understand you also better now." Hunter shows clear relief. "Wow Chloe, you made me sweat when you became silent all of a sudden …"