Edward and his men sped away in their Land Rover, followed closely by Penelope in the hotel vehicle. William felt as if the world were closing in around him. He couldn’t think. His father had left him behind. His own father, who he had been trying so hard to impress by finding out everything he could at school, had just thrown him aside and told him to grow up. He felt as though he was about to have a heart attack, the pressure on his chest squeezing the life out of him. The words of the sangoma reverberated in his head.

‘You fight the demons of your family. You are the good AND the bad. But the bad is strong. You will need to fight harder or you will become your father.’

For so long he had been trying to be accepted by his father, recognised like his brothers, as a true English, worthy of his father’s praise. But he had never earned it. Then Edward had given him the opportunity to earn it by becoming friends with Mzi and finding out about the key. He had never expected to meet Karabo. She was like no one he had ever met. Unique didn’t even begin to describe her.

He looked at his feet, chunks of gold and diamonds lay scattered in the red sand around him. For centuries Lobengula’s treasure had remained a secret, hidden from people who didn’t have a right to it. Thanks to him, one of the most ruthless felons now had all that treasure – treasure that belonged to the Matabele. The guilt overwhelmed him. He had not only helped steal priceless treasure, but he had also broken a promise to the first person who had ever been a friend to him, and the consequence had been catastrophic. Would Karabo ever forgive him for telling his father that she was the key? William’s chest tightened even more and he slumped down onto the sand, holding his head in his hands. What had he done?

He didn’t know how long he sat in the sand, trying to breathe, feeling completely useless and disgusted with himself, but eventually the faint calls from inside the cave reached him. Reality dawned on him as he realised everyone was still tied up in the cave. Coming onto his hands and knees, he scrabbled through the settling sand for the diamonds and gold his father had thrown at him, and shoved the treasure into his pockets. Once he had it all, he stood up and ran into the cave, the desperate calls for help becoming louder.

‘We’re here, please…help us!’ they called.

William ran into the cave and all the calling stopped. Mzi was sitting up and he recognised William first.

‘What are you doing here? Go back to daddy!’ he spat.

‘I…I’m sorry. I couldn’t do it. He would have left you all here to die. He threw me out,’ said William, speaking quickly. ‘He left me behind. I didn’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,’ said William, terrified they wouldn’t believe him.

‘You’re a liar!’ shouted Mzi.

‘I promise Mzi. I made a mistake. My father’s a clever, cruel man and I was trying to impress him. I made a mistake,’  begged William.

‘He’s just a boy,’ interrupted the resigned sad voice of Cedric. ‘His father had no right to enlist him in his campaign, and then throw him out when he was no longer of any use,’ Cedric stated.

‘Untie us!’ shouted the guide who was struggling against the cable ties. ‘I have a pocket knife in my shirt. Take it and get us out of this cave!’

Without further discussion, William made his way over to the guide and quickly cut everyone loose. As he leaned over Karabo he could smell the scent of her shampoo.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered to her.

‘I know,’ she whispered back to him, so no one else could hear. For a split second he caught her eye. The whole world stopped, and he felt his heart beat in his ears.

‘Let’s stay all together. Once we are back up, we should be able to get a signal off of the mobile phones and then we can call the hotel for help,’ explained the guide, as he grouped everyone together and motioned for them to follow him. William stayed last and looked at the waterfall one last time. ‘I promise, I will do everything I can to return the treasure,’ he said to the empty cave, before he lunged down the passage after the others.