Anathi quickly stood in between Edward and Karabo. ‘Don’t you dare touch her,’ she threatened. Edward shoved Anathi aside, and she fell to the floor, the wind knocked out of her. In two quick strides Edward stood in front of Karabo. She lifted her chin up to look at him.

‘I’m sorry Karabo,’ she heard William say.

‘I’ll need the elephant,’ Karabo said calmly, as she opened her palm.

Edward regarded her for the briefest moment and then dropped the elephant in her hand. The small golden elephant landed in Karabo’s palm and burned her.

‘Ow!’ she screamed, reflexively opening her palm, dropping the elephant to the floor.

Edward narrowed his eyes while Karabo bent down and picked up the small piece of burnished gold again. This time she expected the heat, and as she closed her palm around it, she let the heat move up her arm, through her veins into her heart. Her eyes shut and the heat filled her body. She could hear them, the elephants. They were running, stampeding and trumpeting while the men, dragging trunks of ivory, came bustling into the cave. Clouds of dust lifted off the floor as they scraped the dry surface with their trunks and lug boxes. In the cave, they climbed onto a boat, which crossed the lake through the waterfall. Over and over, the men took the boxes through the waterfall, and returned without anything.

The treasures were beyond the waterfall!

Karabo gasped, the elephant became ice cold in her hand and she began to shiver uncontrollably, slowly opening her eyes. Edward was staring down at her.

‘So?’ he raised his one eyebrow.

‘Behind the waterfall, it’s all there,’ she stated. A fact she knew to be true. She heard Cedric wail and fall to the ground and Mrs Khumalo cackled wickedly in response.

‘Karabo’ called Anathi’s voice from the ground where she lay. Karabo could barely look at her mother. ‘I’m sorry Mom, he was going to hurt us,’ she said.

‘Enough!’ shouted Edward, ‘Gert, swim through the waterfall. Jim, get the dingy from the Landy, now’ he barked, before turning to William. ‘Finally, you have made yourself useful’ he sneered. ‘Tie them up with the cable ties,’ he ordered, throwing a backpack at William.

Karabo watched William closely, as he tied each person up, except for Penelope. Even the still unconscious Mzi had his feet and wrists tied. As William came to Karabo she spoke. ‘Will, you promised you would never tell anyone what the sangoma had said.’

‘I’m sorry, Karabz. He would have killed you all until he got what he wanted. I know you understand’ he said, not looking up, his voice definite.

‘Wooohoooooo!’ shouted a voice. It was Gert. He had swum out from the waterfall. ‘It’s all there boss. Freaking amazing. Piles and piles of gold. Boxes of diamonds. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life!’ he shouted as he swam towards the edge of the pool.

Edward English threw his head back and laughed. His voice filled the cave. Karabo slid to the floor and hung her head. The treasure of the Matabele people was going to be taken by a pirate. She wanted to be sick.

Isla began shuffling towards Mzi. He seemed to be waking up. ‘Mzi, are you OK!’ Isla called as she came towards him.

‘My head…’ he moaned.

‘Shut up brats!’ shouted Edward, ‘Watch them William. I don’t want to hear a peep, and for crying out loud get that shotgun!’ he barked.

It was hard to tell how long it took. It seemed to take hours,  and the cold and wet seeped deeper into their bones. They were trapped, watching Edward and his two muscle men row their dingy through the waterfall and return with a boat overloaded with tusks or crumbling wooden boxes, diamonds glinting and sparkling. When they had finally taken everything, a soaking Edward stood in front of them, a small wooden box under his arm. ‘I’m still tempted to kill you pathetic lot. But, I don’t feel like murderer being added to my title of ‘World’s Best Pirate’, so I’ll spare you. Seems gentlemanly,’ he laughed at his poor joke.

Penelope slunk towards Edward. ‘I’ll make my way up to the car,’ she told him as she brushed past him and left the cave. William stood up from his guard to follow his father out of the cave.

‘Goodbye, Cedric, Anathi and girls. And of course, our fantastic guide. I hope someone finds you,’ said Edward as he left the cave.

‘You’re not like him!’ shouted Karabo to William. He slowed down, but didn’t turn around, before picking up his pace again to catch up to his father, leaving only the sound of Cedric whimpering in the rush of the waterfall.

Edward and his small group emerged from the darkness of the cave, blinking in the sudden glare of the sunlight.

‘Get out of the car, snitch!’ barked Edward, talking to Penelope.

‘Excuse me?’ she said sitting upright and raising her eyebrows above her enormous glasses.

‘I said, get out. You’re not coming with me. Take their Landy, make up a good story. Those are your boxes there, he said, pointing at three lug boxes in the hotel’s Land Rover.

‘That’s not enough, Edward!’ she spat at him.

‘I decide what’s enough Penelope,’ he hissed, his eyes narrowing, and she quickly understood that she didn’t have a choice; she would have to take it. She climbed out of the Landy. ‘I’m following you out of here, I’m not going back to the hotel!’ she responded.

‘Fine,’ said Edward without a backward glance.

‘Dad, we can’t just leave them there. No one knows where they are,’ said William, ‘I tied their hands and feet. They won’t be able to get out, and she was supposed to tell the hotel’ he said pointing at Penelope, who shook her head, her mouth pursed.

Edward turned to his son. ‘William. You really are the runt of the litter, aren’t you? Your brothers get it. We are thieves, traders, bootleggers, pirates. We do it well because we don’t let other people’s problems get in our way. But you, you have a lot of growing up to do my boy. It’s time you learnt how to survive on your own. I’ve spoilt you enough,’ said Edward as he reached into the pile of treasure and grabbed a handful of diamonds and chunks of gold.

He threw them at William. ‘Take that as an advance. Let’s see if you can make something of yourself, before you judge me. Call me when you’ve grown up,’ he said, before climbing into the idling bakkie, turning his back on William. In a cloud of red sand, diamonds and gold scattered at his feet, William was left at the entrance of the cave.