Lucas rushed into the barn and slammed the door behind him. Outside the large, orange sun was lazily setting, and the dying light cast long shadows everywhere. The two bath tubs were unoccupied and Teetoo's shackles stay lay on the floor where Lucas had left them. Tentatively he called out.
"Hello? Teetoo? Seepo? Where are you?"
He waited in silence for a few moments, narrowly avoiding soiling himself as a large rat squeaked loudly and run across the barn floor
(1).
"Guys? Come on! Where are you?"
There was a rustle from above and Seepo's head peeped out from the loft.
"It's not my fault, sir", he wailed, "Please don't have me flogged. I told him not to go, but he's so stubborn; kept babbling on about his mission."
Lucas paled
(2).
"Oh, no!"
Without another word he leapt to his feet and ran out of the garage with Seepo stumbling after him. The sun had almost set now, but the whole veldt was bathed in a beautiful, deep orange glow. Lucas shaded his eyes with his hand and scanned the horizon, desperately trying to catch sight of the run-away slave. Seepo shook his head sadly
(3).
"Teetoo has always been a bit of a problem, sir. It's the youth of today - they're getting quite out of hand. I just don't understand their logic at times."
Lucas nervously ran his hand through his hair.
"How could I be so stupid? He's nowhere in sight. Blast it!"
(4)
"Pardon me, sir, but couldn't we go after him?"
The look that Lucas gave him shared a lot with the look he would have given someone who said "Why don't you put your hand near that crocodile's mouth - they don't bite unless they're angry!"
(5)
"It’s too dangerous with all the Mensevanzand around. We'll have to wait until morning."
Seepo paused.
"The who?"
"What?"
"Who are they?"
"Who are who?"
"You sound like an owl, sir."
"An owl?"
"Yes, sir."
He stopped. Lucas looked blankly at him.
"'Who-who?' That was just my little joke, sir."
He paused to let Lucas take it in.
"Ah. Ok. I get it. Actually - I don't. what do you mean?"
Seepo shook his head quickly.
"Just ignore it, sir. It was just a little quip. So, who are these Mensevanzand?"
Lucas waved his hands up and down in a universal gesture meaning "shush!", looked nervously over his shoulder, before bending forwards towards Seepo, his voice barely a whisper.
"You mean you've never heard of the Mensevanzand?"
Seepo shook his head.
"That's rather why I asked, sir."
"They're a group of vagrants and robbers that have bases all along the banks of the Orange River. At night they roam this region looking for victims to rob and kill."
"Charming."
"Yeah. I hope Teetoo’s going to be ok. With all the Mensevanzand out there..."
"Looooooooooooookaaaaaaaas!"
Both men flinched as Beru's yell carried from the farmhouse across the veldt. She was so loud that a nearby bird was so surprised at the sudden shattering of the peaceful transition between day and night that it fell from its tree and landed in a stunned heap on the ground, where it was promptly savaged by a waiting group of hyenas
(6). Lucas ignored the sounds of Darwinism in action and turned back to the homestead.
"All right, I'll be there in a few minutes."
He turned back to Seepo.
"Boy, am I going to get it. You know, that little guy is going to cause me a lot of trouble."
"Oh, he excels at that, sir."
As the pair of them trudged back to the barn Lucas turned to look at Seepo, his eyes wide and imploring.
"Explain to me again - how exactly is it I sound like an owl?"
~~~
1. Lucas had once made the twin mistakes of accidentally crushing a rat underfoot and then, grief-stricken, telling his friends about it. Big Piet had then convinced Lucas that rats shared a hive mind and were vengeful creatures who always sought to avenge any slight upon their kind. Ever since then Lucas had been as scared of rats as Menzies-Campbell was of pigs.
2. Or rather, being Lucas, he went paler. When Lucas paled he went from really, really white to pale blue.
3. This is a survival trait that all humans learn at an early age. If you take two children, both of whom are in trouble, one of them will inevitably try and curry favour with the adult dishing out the trouble in the hope that their punishment will be lessened. Those of you with two or more children will be intimately familiar with this.
4. This was about as close as Lucas came to swearing. He was a good boy at heart.
5. Jurie could get Lucas to do most things, but, gullible as he was, he had very keen survival instincts.
6. This happened often enough that the hyenas near the Lars homestead were a distinct species unto themselves. Whereas most of their kind shared a trademark scrawny, emaciated look (heinously plagiarised by today's catwalk models), the hyenas in the vicinity of the Lars farm were so well fed that they bordered on obese.