Chapter 11 chapter Ten

"Oh, I have some good news for you, Mrs. McGregor," said Dr. Teagle, smiling. "You are pregnant." Margaret was shocked by his words and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.good news?It is simply impossible to bring another child into a marriage without love.Margaret could no longer bear that humiliation.She had to find a way out, and as she was thinking about it, a sudden nausea made her drenched in sweat. Dr. Teagle said, "Is it a pregnancy reaction?" "a little bit." He handed her a few pills. "Take these medicines. They will help you. You are doing very well, Mrs. McGregor. There is nothing to worry about. You hurry home and tell your husband the good news."

"Okay," she said dully, "I will." ※※※ They were sitting at the dinner table when she said, "I went to the doctor today. I'm pregnant." Jamie threw down the napkin, stood up from the chair without a word, and walked out of the room with a thud.At this moment, Margaret discovered that she could hate Jamie as much as she loved him. The pregnancy was so reactive that Margaret had to stay in bed most of the time, feeling weak and tired all over her body.Lying in bed, delirious, she imagined Jamie kneeling at her feet, begging for forgiveness, and then frantically making love to her again.But these are pure illusions.The reality is, she's stuck.She had nowhere to go, and even if she could leave the house, Jamie would never allow her to take her son.

Jamie is now seven years old.A healthy, handsome boy with a quick mind and a great sense of humor.He grew closer to his mother, as if he had somehow become aware of her pain.He made little presents at school and brought them home for his mother.At this point Margaret would thank him with a smile, trying to shake off her depression.When little Jamie asked why her father didn't come back for the night and didn't take her out, Margaret always replied: "Your father is a very important man, Jamie, busy with important things. It's too busy." The rift between his father and me is personal, Margaret thought, but I must not use it to make Jamie hate his father.

※※※ Margaret's belly was getting bigger and bigger.When she was walking down the street, acquaintances would often stop and say to her, "Soon, Mrs. McGregor. I bet there will be another good boy like little Jamie. Your husband must be very happy." !" But behind her back, they said, "Poor thing, it seems—I'm afraid she must have found out that Jamie was keeping whores..." Margaret also wanted to let little Jamie know that she was about to give birth. "You're about to have a brother or sister, baby. Then you can play with him all day. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Jamie hugged her and said, "This way you have more people with you, mother." Margaret swallowed her tears back. ※※※ The labor pains started at 4 in the morning.Mrs. Tully called Hannah to deliver the baby.The baby was born at noon.It was a stocky baby girl with a mouth like its mother's and a chin like its father's, with curly black hair around a little red face.Margaret named her Kate.It was a good name, a strong name, Margaret thought, she would need that kind of strength.We all need it.I must take the children and get out of here.But I don't know how yet.I must find a way.

※※※ David Blackwell burst into Jamie McGregor's office without knocking, and Jamie looked up at him in surprise. "What's up……?" "The Namib Mine is in trouble!" Jamie stood up. "What? What happened?" "A black kid tried to steal a diamond and got caught. He dug a hole under his armpit and hid the diamond in it. Hans Zimmermann whipped the kid in front of the other workers to make an example .and the child died. He was only twelve years old." Jamie had an exasperated look on his face. "My merciful Lord! I have decreed that flogging of miners is prohibited in all mines."

"I warned Zimmerman, too." "Fire that bastard." "We can't find him." "why?" "The black man has him locked up. The situation is out of control." Jamie grabbed his hat. "You stay here, take care of things, and wait for me to come back." "I don't think it's safe for you to go there, Mr. McGregor. The boy Hans killed came from the White Polorang tribe. They will never forgive, and they will never forget. I can..." But Jamie is gone. ※※※ Jamie McGregor was ten miles away from the diamond mine when he could see a cloud of smoke rising into the sky.All the grass huts in Namib were set on fire.These bloody fools, Jamie thought.They also burned down their own houses.As his carriage approached, he heard gunshots and screams.Chaos ensued as uniformed police officers shot at blacks and people of color as they tried to flee.There was a huge disparity between whites and blacks, equal to one to ten, but the whites had weapons.

Police Chief Bernard Southey saw Jamie McGregor and ran to his side and said, "Don't worry, Mr McGregor. We'll get the last bastard out." "To hell with you," Jamie yelled, "order your men to stop shooting." "What? What if we..." "Do as I say!" Seeing a black woman fall under the rain of bullets, Jamie raged, "Tell your men to stop shooting." "Since you say so, sir," the chief of police ordered the assistant, and three minutes later the shooting stopped. Dead bodies littered the field. "If you'll listen to me," said Southie, "I'll—"

"I don't want your advice. Bring their leaders to me." Two police officers lead a young black man to where Jamie is standing.His hands were handcuffed and blood was all over his body, but he didn't look scared at all.He stood there straight, his eyes burning with anger.Jamie remembered a word Banda mentioned that the Bantu people were proud of. Isiko. "I'm Jamie McGregor." The man spat. "What happened here was not my order. I want to compensate you." "Talk to the family of the deceased." Jamie turned to Southie and asked, "Where's Hans Zimmermann?"

"We're looking for him, sir." Jamie saw the light in the black eyes and knew that Hans Zimmermann would never be found again. He said to the black man, "I'm going to close the diamond mine for three days. Please tell your people. Put your demands on the list and I'll take a look. I promise you I'll do justice to this ...anything that doesn't make sense here, I'll change." The Negro looked at him with suspicion on his face. "There will be a new foreman in charge, and the working conditions will be greatly improved. But I expect your men to be back on the job within three days."

The police chief said incredulously, "You mean you're going to let this man go? He killed several of us." "A full investigation will be conducted and—" At this time, there was a sound of hooves, and Jamie looked back, and it turned out to be David Blackwell.His sudden appearance put Jamie on alert. David jumped off his horse. "Mr McGregor, your son is missing." The whole world turned cold in an instant. ※※※ Half the population of Kripdrift is out looking for little Jamie.They searched all over the countryside, and searched all the ravines and valleys, but they couldn't even find the shadow of the child. Jamie was devastated.I kept thinking: maybe he just ran off somewhere.he will be back. He went into Margaret's room.She is lying on the bed and breastfeeding the baby. "Any news?" she asked. "Not yet. But I'll find him." He glanced at his baby girl, turned and walked out of the room without saying anything. Mrs. Tully came into the room and wiped her hands on her apron. "Take it easy, Mrs. McGregor. Jamie is a big boy, and he knows how to take care of himself." Margaret's eyes filled with tears.No one would hurt little Jamie, would they?Of course not. Mrs. Tully bent over and lifted Kate from Margaret's arms. "Go to sleep." She carried the baby girl into the nursing room and put her on a cot.Kate looked at her and smiled. "You've got to get some sleep too, baby. You've got a busy life ahead of you." Mrs. Tully walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. In the middle of the night, the window was gently pried open, and a man crawled into the room.He approached the crib, put a blanket over the baby's head, and took the baby girl away. Banda left as quickly as he had entered. ※※※ It was Mrs. Tully who discovered Kate's disappearance.At first she thought perhaps Mrs. McGregor had come in at night to take the baby away.She went into Margaret's bedroom and asked, "Where's the baby?" From Margaret's expression, Mrs. Tully immediately understood what had happened. ※※※ Another day passed, the son was still missing, and Jamie was on the verge of collapse.He approached David Blackwell. "Do you think anything will happen to little Jamie?" His voice was almost out of control. David tried to look confident. "I don't think so, Mr. McGregor." But in fact, he guessed something must have happened.He had warned Jamie McGregor that Bantus neither forgive nor forget, and this time it was another Bantu who had been murdered.One thing David was certain of: if the Bantu had taken little Jamie, he must have been brutally murdered.Because those people want blood for blood. Jamie arrived home exhausted early in the morning.He personally led a group of residents, miners and police to search everywhere, spent a whole night round every corner, but still to no avail. David was waiting for Jamie when he entered the study.David stood up. "Mr McGregor, your daughter has been kidnapped." Jamie looked at him silently, his face ashen, then turned and walked into the bedroom. Jamie hadn't been in bed for two days and two nights.He fell on the bed, feeling extremely tired, and fell asleep immediately.He vaguely felt that he was lying under a bread tree, and a fierce lion was coming towards him in the depths of the grassland.Little Jamie kept shaking him.Wake up, Dad, a lion is coming.The beast went faster and faster.His son shook him vigorously.Wake up! Jamie opened his eyes.Banda was standing right in front of him.Jamie was about to speak, but Banda put his hand over his mouth. "Easy!" He sat Jamie up. "Where's my son?" Jamie asked. "He is dead." The house began to spin. "I'm sorry. I went too late to stop them. Your people owe the Bantu blood. Our people demand revenge." Jamie covered his face with his hands. "Oh my God! What did they do to him?" Banda's tone was also full of incomparable grief. "They dumped him in the desert. I... I found his body and buried him." "Oh no! Oh no!" "I tried to save him, Jamie." Jamie nodded slowly, having to accept the reality.He asked blankly again, "How is my daughter?" "I took her before they got her. Now she's back in her bedroom, sleeping. If you do what you promised, she'll be all right." Jamie looked up, his face seemed to be wearing a mask of hatred. "I keep my word. But I want those who killed my son. They will pay." Banda said softly, "Then you'll have to wipe out my whole tribe, Jamie." Banda is gone. ※※※ It was just a nightmare, but her eyes were still closed because she knew that if she opened them, the nightmare might come true and her child would die.So she's going to play games.She was going to close her eyes until she felt little Jamie's hand in hers and said, "It's all right, Mother. We're here. We're all safe." She had been lying in bed for three days, refusing to speak to anyone or see anyone.Dr. Teagle was coming and going, and Margaret didn't even know it.In the middle of the night, Margaret lay in bed with her eyes closed.Then she heard a loud bang coming from her son's room.She opened her eyes and listened.Another voice was heard.Little Jamie is back. Margaret jumped out of bed and ran across the corridor to the closed door of her son's room.She heard a strange animal-like sound coming from the door.Her heart was beating violently, and she pushed open the door hard. Her husband was lying on the floor, his face and body contorted.He closed one eye and stared blankly at her with the other.He tried to speak, but the words sounded like animals, and the saliva continued to flow down his mouth. Margaret cried softly, "Oh, Jamie...Jamie!" ※※※ Dr. Teagle said, "I'm afraid I have bad news for you, Mrs. McGregor. Your husband has suffered a severe stroke. Life and death are unpredictable—though, if he does, he will be in a vegetable state. I try to Put him in a private sanatorium where he can be properly cared for." "No." He looked at Margaret in surprise, "No...why?" "Not in the hospital, I let him stay with me." The doctor considered for a moment and said, "Okay. You need a nurse. I'll arrange—" "I don't want a nurse. I'll look after Jamie myself." Dr. Teagle shook his head. "That's impossible, Mrs. McGregor. You have no idea how much trouble this is. Your husband is no longer a normal human being. He is completely paralyzed and will remain so for the rest of his life." Margaret said, "I'll look after him." Jamie was truly hers now at last.