Free Yesterday's Promise by Linda Lee Chaikin Page B

enough.
    â€œEnough of unpleasant things for now,” she said with forced cheer. “If you won’t go see Julien now, and insist on going to Kimberly, then I’ll bring you to the train depot. On the way you must tell me all the news. Tell me about Evy, Grimston Way, and what girl Charles is seeing now…”

C HAPTER F IVE

    Rogan had managed to deliver his baggage to the railway and purchase a ticket for a sleeping compartment. It was several hundred miles northeast to Kimberly. The train rattled over the track northward through a wide, flat plain dotted with thorn scrub and grasses. Rogan stood at the back of the train enjoying the wind, the fragrance of the open veld, and the expansive view. Before darkness fully settled, he saw some steenbok antelope and a pair of solitary gray duiker that were early morning and evening feeders. He watched the pair through his glass, noting the variable color from grizzled gray to a yellowish fawn, with a dark stripe down the nose. The male had long, slender upright horns. As the intruding train neared them, he watched their zigzag run and plunging leaps as they darted across the golden veld to take cover in thicker brush.
    With the darkness came a stillness, except for the lonely rhythm of the train’s engine passing through the wild, open land. He looked up at the dark, star-tossed sky until he found the constellation of the Southern Cross. An awesome longing came over him at the realization of the greatness of God, a longing he could not satisfy. He tried to think of what Evy might say if she were here now.
    The first rosy glow of sunrise in the eastern sky tinted the distant, brooding hills to salmon, while a delicate mist garlanded the rocky crests. A short time later that morning, the train pulled into Kimberly’s switching line yards where much activity was under way.
    Rogan jumped down onto the platform as the locomotive slowed to a stop. Heaving his bag over his shoulder, he turned to the conductor.
    â€œWhere’s a good room with a bath and something decent to eat?”
    The man gestured his head up De Beers Road. “Blue Diamond.” He looked Rogan over. “Mighty expensive for a new digger, though. What’s your name, young man?”
    He refrained. He might learn more if he acted like a busted prospector newly arrived from England.
    â€œHeard of Julien Bley?” He kept his voice casual.
    Rogan saw the man’s mouth tighten.
    â€œThat Sir Julien Bley’s an important man in Kimberly. That, and the Chantrys, too. There’s a Chantry who’s come recently from England. Works over at the fancy De Beers building.” He nodded his gray head once again down the street. “Important people. Knee deep in diamond shares of De Beers Consolidated. Tati gold fields, too.”
    Rogan nudged, for he could see something just below the surface that was goading the old man.
    â€œWhat kind of a man is Julien Bley? A fair man, is he? I heard he’s in thick with Rhodes.”
    A look of anger flickered in the watery gray eyes as the conductor pushed his cap back and glanced down De Beers Road as if he could see the men in question. He turned and studied Rogan.
    â€œIt wouldn’t be smart for me to say, now, would it, sir? They got enough power to run me out of Kimberly.”
    â€œWhy would they bother, rich and important diamond rands like that?”
    The old man looked sheepish. “No reason.” But then he seemed to change his mind, and his cheeks became florid.
    â€œDiamonds aren’t enough for men like that. Too greedy wanting to own everything, they are. Not that Rhodes lives high, mind you. Dresses casual, no more style than I have. Doesn’t spend lavishly on himself either. No, it’s what the diamonds and gold and land can do that Mr. Rhodes wants. He wants an empire for England.”
    Rogan was nettled. “If England doesn’t step lively, Germany, France, or Portugal will