Hi-Tech Hijack Read Free Page A

mother for leaving her father. She chose to live with Aubrey and saw very little of her mother. She would flee the cold, depressing London winter months and join her father in Zimbabwe where she spent every school vacation.
    As Benjamin grew into a responsible and reliable young man, Aubrey delegated more and more of the farm’s duties to him and began visiting less frequently. Rose, however, did nothing of the sort. Every winter like a migrating bird returning to its wintering grounds, she would fly to Zimbabwe to the farm just outside Harare, the capital. She would spend Christmas there with Benjamin, whom she regarded as her older brother and true soul mate.
    Rose, a girl of nature and open spaces, never felt at home in the urban confinement of London. Her big, brown gazelle’s eyes would light up as soon as she passed through the farm gates. She would hop down from the Land Rover, stretching her back and straightening it to the full extent of her five-foot-nine frame that seemed to shrink during the London winter. The farm dogs would immediately gather round her licking her face lovingly, and she would return their love by cuddling and stroking each one in turn. She would have dog drool all over her blouse and couldn’t care less. She was happy. Within days her entire appearance would change. Her pale skin would turn a honey tan, and her legs in short trousers would be covered in bruises and scratches. Her increased appetite would make her put on some weight and gain some curves. Every year before the trip, she would cut her hair, which had grown almost down to her shoulders, into a shorter in a boyish style. Her tall forehead, round cheeks, and shapely nose would all be covered in freckles. It was Rose’s season to bloom, and her delicate, smiling lips conveyed a clear message to any observer as to just how happy she was.
    For Benjamin too, Rose’s arrival marked the beginning of a season of adventures and endless talks in the African nights with the sounds of crickets and cicadas serving as the perfect background to her energetic story telling.

Chapter 4
    “This wine is making me kind of sleepy,” said Amit. Sitting with the other three on the farmhouse veranda, Amit pretended to be tired on their third night. The conversation slowly died down, and they sat there quietly enjoying the sounds of the night after a spicy barbecue dinner orchestrated by Benjamin with the help of one of the farm workers.
    “I think I’ll call it a night as well. I have a busy day tomorrow,” Benjamin said a few minutes after Amit’s departure, and he left Rose and Eddie to themselves.
    An awkward silence hung between them, and Rose was the first to break it.
    “Strange how the Southern Crux isn’t visible tonight.”
    “Isn’t it too early still?”
    “Maybe, or perhaps it’s blocked from view by the awning. Let’s go out into the yard and see.” Rose got up and held her hand out to him. Eddie took it and they stepped out together, hand in hand.
    They spent a long hour wandering the grounds going all around the farm. Rose taught Eddie to identify the night’s different sounds—how to tell a cricket and a cicada apart, or how to spot the cry of a bird disturbed from its nest by a nocturnal predator. The dogs followed them, yearning for a pat on the head from their mistress. Love, a beautiful brown Shar-Pei, even growled at Eddie at one point and bared her teeth as he put his arm around Rose’s bare shoulders to shelter her from the night’s chilly air.
    “It’s all right, Love,” said Rose, calming the dog down. “Eddie’s not going to harm me, is he?” she asked and smiled at Eddie.
    “We both want to please one another,” Eddie responded, smiling back at Rose and stroking her cheek tenderly. He tried to remember when he last felt the soft touch of a woman’s cheek. It had been more than a year since he’d been in a relationship, and one-night stands weren’t his thing. He was a quiet kind of guy who found it