Prophets of Death

By KD Neill

The ELOS, a ruthless, dark society, has infiltrated the governments of Britain and the Cape Colony and now have enough covert ministers to take control of the British Army and Navy in the Cape colony. The Secret Field Police and their leader, Hugh Armstrong, have been suspended due to the influence of the ELOS ministers in London, also due to their influence, the governor of the Cape Colony has been secretly replaced by an elder of the ELOS. The new governor is also the general leading the British Army and has been ordered to enlist more troops, take no prisoners and to decimate the Xhosa natives for good.
Jamie Fyvie and Iain McColl were under-cover agents for the Secret Field Police, but now have to go it alone. They are trying to close in on the leaders of the ELOS before they can execute their plans. They have to stay ahead of an ELOS executioner hell-bent on killing them for the clues to a treasure buried by the Knights Templar, the executioner has decided to keep the treasure for himself.
The boys have followed clues to try and find the ancient relics and treasure, luckily they receive help from an unexpected quarter in the shape of the freemasons who are searching for the Knights Templar relics as well.
Jamie and Lydia’s love and passion for each other has grown immensely and so it goes against his better judgement when he has to infiltrate a sordid party organised by the elite of Cape Town, who act out their sexual fantasies in the lair of the ELOS, in an attempt to identify all the elders controlling the ELOS.
Time is running out for the Xhosa natives, will the chiefs believe the prophecy of the ancestors? Will they lead their people to start the killing and take them down the road to disaster?
Jamie and Iain are in a race against time to find the treasure, to stop the slave ships taking the Xhosa people and to defend their own loved ones against the evil of the EnLightened OneS, the ELOS.

• Language: English
• Publisher: KD Neill
• Release date: Jul 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463168394

KD Neill

I was born and raised in Scotland and started playing and reading music from the age of eight simply because my father was a musician, a self-taught clarinet and saxophone player. By the time I was twelve I was singing more than playing my guitar, no I did not go the route of the wind instruments. My forte was definitely singing it just came so naturally, besides, I couldn’t play lead guitar to save my life. I learned all the chords and inversions on my guitar and started to sing with bands and then as a solo singer.I went to engineering college and started an apprenticeship with a mining engineering company. The company had a branch in South Africa, east of Johannesburg and they wanted experienced people to go out there to fix some problems they were having with the hydraulics.I applied and went on a two year plan, but I fell in love with Africa and stayed there for more than half of my life.I always had a story or a novel in my head and at one point started to write it down but my recording career took off and I became a recording, TV and radio artist in South Africa, so the book had to take a back seat. I have made half a dozen albums including a Christmas album.I have composed a lot of my own work, which is on vinyl and CD. I played at many venues and resorts including Sun City, which had multiple venues where I shared the billboard but not the same stage as artists like Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Cher, Rod Stewart, Elton John, The Osmonds to name a few and I met them all bar Frank.I am a musician, composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, entertainer and now an author, I now live in Scotland.I have realised my ambition and dream of writing a book, not only one but three books. My debut novel as well as books two and three of the trilogy, Deceit of the EmpireKD Neill

Book preview

Other books written by KD Neill

The first book in the trilogy

Deceit of the Empire

Book One

To Skin a Leopard

The third book in the trilogy

Deceit of the Empire

Book Three

Weep the Righteous Warrior

Available in paperback and eBook

About the Author

KD Neill, musician, composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, entertainer and author was born and raised in Scotland and started playing and reading music from the age of eight.

Later in life the company he worked for needed two engineers to work in their branch in South Africa, he applied and emigrated on a two year plan, but fell in love with Africa and stayed there for more than half of his life. He now lives in Scotland.

Follow Kenny on facebook… Kenny D Neill

Tweet Kenny… @kd_neill

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Website: http://www.kdneillbooks.com

Email: mailto:[e-mail]

Copyright

2015 Copyright: K.D. Neill.

The right of K.D. Neill to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical without written

permission from the publisher.

Cover design by K.D. Neill

Cover Photograph by K.D. Neill

Map illustrations by K.D. Neill

ISBN: 9780463168394

Other books by KD Neill

About the author

Eastern Cape Frontier map

Cape Town and South Peninsula map

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty Four

Chapter Thirty Five

Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty Seven

Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty One

Chapter Forty Two

Chapter Forty Three

Chapter Forty Four

Chapter Forty Five

Chapter Forty Six

Foreword

I lived and worked in parts of Africa from 1977 until 2010 mostly in South Africa and wherever I worked I tried to read as much as I could about the local history especially in the Eastern Cape, where I took a great interest in the Xhosa wars of the nineteenth century and often visited the museum in East London and the museum and central library of Cape Town.

Reading the history of this period gave me an insight into the trials and tribulations of the settlers, but especially the native tribes fighting to take back their land and freedom seized by the British Empire.

This book was inspired by actual events, which took place in the Eastern Cape, mid-19th century that caused a devastating loss of life to the Xhosa people. This is a book of fiction and apart from the old ancestral chiefs all the characters are fictional.

It is necessary to explain the use of certain words that appear from time to time in this book.

The word Kaffir is an Arabic word meaning ‘unbeliever’. Arab slave traders hunted and captured Africans before the Europeans arrived in Africa. They used this word to denote Africans and, over time, Portuguese explorers adopted the word, as did British and Dutch explorers. The idiom continued to be used over generations until eventually, it became an offensive and abusive term as racial hatred grew.

This word, as with heathen and native, were words commonly used as part of the terminology of the day by colonials and settlers to describe the local people. I do not mean any insult or disrespect to anyone in any way by using this word in this novel. KD Neill

Eastern Cape Frontier, Cape Colony

Cape Town and South Peninsula

Chapter One

June 1856

The Elephant’s Eye, Table Mountain, Cape Town

‘Where else would you want to live?’ said Jamie.

‘Aye… where else indeed.’

Jamie Fyvie and Iain McColl unpacked their picnic and sat down on the rocks at the entrance to the huge cavern known locally as the Elephant’s Eye, located just below the cliff-top on the south-east side of Table Mountain. They were taking in the vista in front of them that was part of the Cape Colony, South Peninsula.

The view showed the flat land stretching away to the Hottentot Holland Mountains to the east; Table Bay to the north and the white beaches of Muizenberg on False Bay to the south.

They left their house, in upper Wynberg, by carriage just before sun rise instructing the driver to drop them off at the old Post House in Muizenberg. From there they hiked up the steep, boulder-strewn mountainside and picked their way across the rocky terrain, over a ridge to a large area of grassland, crossed a small stream then a short walk to where they climbed up to the Elephant’s Eye.

It was Sunday morning and the sun was shining brightly. They enjoyed cold meat, cheese and bread washed down with Groot Constantia wine from the estate, which could be observed off to left on the lower slopes.

‘It seems like years ago when we found the clue in this cave,’ said Iain.

‘Aye and after we found it we were made redundant,’ said Jamie bitterly.

The redundancy was from the Secret Field Police, a cloak-and-dagger, secret service for Queen Victoria’s government led by Hugh Armstrong in London until he and the department were suspended.

Armstrong recruited Jamie and Iain and sent them undercover as immigrants to Cape Town with orders to seek out and destroy members, or elders as they were known, of a deadly underground organisation called the EnLightened OneS or the ELOS, stop them from taking over the Cape government and prevent them decimating and enslaving the Xhosa tribes of the Eastern Cape Frontier, which the boys achieved just before the suspension of the field police by a new tory government influenced by certain ministers, who were ELOS infiltrators.

The clue found by Jamie and Iain in the Elephant’s Eye was the second of a series of clues which, purportedly, would lead to a treasure trove of ancient relics, gem studded trinkets and gold buried by the Knights Templar five hundred years before. The alleged treasure was also sought by the ELOS to fund their campaign to further infiltrate the Cape Government and the first stage of their annexation of Southern Africa.

‘In a way I’m glad that we were ordered to stand down,’ said Iain. ‘It means we can concentrate on our business and spend more time with Clara and Lydia.’

‘Aye, there is that but there’s just something nagging at the back of my head to get it finalised, you know what I mean?’

‘I know what you mean Jamie, and like I’ve said before, I don’t think Armstrong will leave it unfinished.’

‘Now that Robert Fairbairn is back from the frontier we’d better be wary. It was no big surprise that he turned up alive after his brother said he’d been killed. Why would he tell us his brother was dead?’

‘Probably just to cover his back; sow a bit of confusion, anyway, they were Jonny Fairbairn’s last words. Robert also needs to be put down and I would like to be the one to shoot him as well,’ said Iain.

‘Fairbairn has ambushed us twice and would have killed us and anybody that was with us. I have no doubt that he’ll try again to get his hands on the clue, especially after we killed his brother,’ said Jamie.

‘Why doesn’t Fairbairn just follow us and let us do all the work of finding the treasure and then attack us and try to take it. I think he wants it all for himself.’

‘Well, one of his masters, James Storer, is dead so let’s hope the plans to wipe out the Xhosa natives died with him along with the bleddy treasure hunt,’ said Jamie. ‘I think Storer’s right-hand man, Nicholas Banbury, is pulling Fairbairn’s leash now.’

‘Aye, you could be right,’ said Iain. ‘Come on, let’s get down the mountain, the carriage will be waiting for us. I’ve some work to do at home and then I’m going to fetch Clara in the buggy and take her around the peninsula. Are you seeing Lydia?’

‘Not today, I’ll be having a quiet day.’

The boys had met Lydia and Clara Knowles during the voyage to Cape Town on the clipper ship, The Flying Fish. The ship had been owned by their father, George Knowles and his treacherous new wife Anne.

Anne conspired with James Storer, an elder in the ELOS and the Colonial Secretary for the Cape Government, for her to marry Knowles then kill him and take over his shipping business in order to smuggle guns for Storer to the Xhosa natives in South Africa to start a rebellion against the white men.

Jamie and Iain thwarted this threat whilst at sea by severely injuring and disfiguring Storer and killing his mutineers. It was never proved that Anne murdered George Knowles.

The boys were sitting at the table on the stoep going through some paper work and finishing off a hearty lunch prepared by Mefrou Le Roux, their house-keeper and the owner of the house, when a closed carriage arrived with Bill Hutchison on board.

Hutchison was also an operative for the Secret Field Police and had the dangerous job of being the assistant to the Governor of the Cape, General Sir Gerald Cuthbert, an elder of the ELOS, manoeuvred into the governorship by the elders entrenched in government positions in London.

Hutchison was the liaison between Jamie and Iain and Armstrong, through coded despatches sent with the government couriers unbeknown to Cuthbert.

‘Bill! This is a pleasant surprise sit yourself down,’ invited Jamie. ‘Can I get you some tea or coffee?’

‘Yes. I will have some tea please.’

‘You’re taking a chance being seen with us after all that’s happened, are you not?’ asked Iain.

‘Yes, I am. There have been some developments and we need to talk, let us sit in the house.’

The three men sat around the table in the library and waited for Mefrou le Roux to leave the room after serving tea.

‘Come on then Bill, what have you to tell us?’ said Jamie impatiently.

‘I have received a very complicated encoded message in a despatch from Hugh Armstrong,’ said Hutchison.

‘I knew it. I knew Armstrong wouldn’t lie back and let these bastard ELOS get away with this,’ said Iain clearly delighted.

Jamie said. ‘Are you sure it’s from Armstrong and not the ELOS, to lead us into a trap?’

‘Yes I am sure, we have more than one confirmation of identity and the code is known only to Armstrong and me.’

‘So are we back in business?’ asked Iain.

‘We are back in business gentlemen,’ said Hutchison dramatically. ‘But there are conditions.’

‘That is good news Bill, tell us everything,’ said Jamie.

Hutchison stood up and started pacing the floor. ‘Armstrong received an intelligence report from our operative in the local government in Freetown, the capital of our colony in Sierra Leone. Our man was checking the shipping manifests looking for the usual signs of gun-running and slave trafficking and overheard the captain of a ship saying he was unhappy about taking a local black man, a freed slave who is supposed to be a voodoo witchdoctor from the West Indies, to Cape Town with an English businessman by the name of Nigel Renton. The operative checked Renton’s name on the passenger list and he was indeed sailing for Cape Town. Now we know that the ELOS have and use two houses in Freetown for their elders who are there on, so-called, legitimate business. Our man had the houses watched and sure enough a senior ELOS elder, Edward Carrington, who is attached to the colonial office in Whitehall with Earl Harold Greyson…’

‘The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and is also a senior ELOS elder,’ said Jamie.

‘Exactly. Carrington was observed at one of the houses talking to a man who wore a veil over his face; this man was assumed to be Nigel Renton.’

‘Why would he have a veil over his face?’ asked Iain.

‘We don’t know for sure, something to do with a skin condition, but he sailed for the Cape with his servant called Samuel Gubotu. Armstrong is sure Renton must be the replacement for James Storer.’

‘Which means they’ll carry on with their plans to take control of the government, army and navy to decimate the Xhosa natives and sell any survivors into slavery,’ said Jamie.

‘It would appear so.’

‘So where did this Nigel Renton come from?’ asked Iain.

‘Nobody knows. It was rumoured that he came over from America because of his health, more than that I cannot tell you,’ said Hutchison. ‘Except that he is here in Cape Town. He bought Storer’s mansion on the mountain and is there with his servant or bodyguard, Samuel Gubotu.’

‘Christ that was quick. He’s here already?’ said Iain.

‘He is and Nicholas Banbury, now elevated to fill Storer’s position as Colonial Secretary to the Cape Government and also an ELOS elder, is always with Renton; as he is a supposed, new major investor here,’ said Hutchison.

‘This can’t be coincidence; don’t you think?’ said Jamie.

‘No. I think Renton in Storer’s house and being chummy with Banbury has all been carefully planned,’ said Hutchison. ‘Another thing is, we are not officially sanctioned to start operations again. Armstrong wants us to infiltrate the elite of Cape Town in secrecy to track down and expose the ELOS elders and of course, find the treasure. He will expose and arrest the elders of the ELOS in England, but the timing is crucial to bring them all down at the same time. You have to be aware that the ELOS are moving along rapidly.’

‘Then we have to get moving as well,’ said Jamie. ‘We’ll go to Roger Willard and sail for Knysna as soon as possible.’

‘Why, what’s in Knysna?’ asked Hutchison.

‘The clue we have points to Knysna to dig up a treasure or find another clue to tell us where to go next.’

‘Which means you will both be in the Eastern Cape for the next two to three months; maybe longer?’

‘Yes. By the time we get everything and everybody in place it could be longer,’ said Jamie. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘You can’t leave right away. You have both been invited to the Governor’s Ball at the castle along with the dignitaries of the Cape elite,’ said Hutchison handing out two sealed documents. ‘The ball will probably be in about two months to allow dignitaries from as far afield as King William’s Town to attend.’

‘We are planning a day out to the beach in Fish Hoek with Lydia and Clara, the Butlers and Roger Willard in the next four or five weeks we don’t want the dates to clash. When is the ball?’ asked Iain

‘The ball will definitely be after that, so that’s fine.’

‘Good. But why the hell is the governor hosting a party?’ said Jamie.

‘He wants to celebrate the defeat of the Xhosa tribes and show everyone that the British Empire is still strong.’

‘Well, well,’ said Jamie. ‘Showing everybody who the boss is.’

‘Does this mean we will have to buy some toff clothes with a top hat?’

‘Well, yes it will be very formal. As new businessmen in the community with obvious wealth and contracts with local government you have now been welcomed into the fold. No-one snubs an invite to the Governor’s Ball. Captain Willard will almost certainly be there as well as Lydia and Clara Knowles and their guardians, Godfrey and Sarah Butler.’

‘So I take it this is the beginning of infiltrating the upper echelons to find out how the ELOS are going to carry out the enslavement of the Xhosa,’ said Jamie suddenly interested.

‘Exactly right Jamie. Everybody from the governor down to a certain level in government and society; solicitors such as Godfrey, who, as you know, was the late George Knowles’ business partner, businessmen from all over the colony and basically anyone with a prominent position or who is wealthy in the community will be invited with their wives. I, for instance, will not have an invite as I would be deemed far too insignificant to be invited to such an auspicious occasion.’

‘But we are just a couple of workers from Scotland that got lucky,’ said Iain.

‘Ah but you must remember that there are a few businessmen here who, as you call it, just got lucky, but made a lot of money and boosted the local economy. The community likes that, aside from the fact you uncovered a plot to start an insurrection and dealt with it. You see, in the eyes of some of the elite, who know what happened to Storer on the ship, you two saved us all by uncovering this dastardly plot and so enabled the army to take steps to put down the natives.’

‘So, the thing is, we have to do this. We will go to this ball and get friendly with the non-natives.’

‘Yes that’s a good way of putting it, but there is something else you need to know. There’s a high probability that someone at the ball will be inviting certain people of the upper class of Cape Town to a very private party, I suppose you could call them the elite of the elite, who indulge themselves in closed door secret parties where they act out their sexual desires and fetishes.’

‘Fetishes, I must be a bit naïve, what the hell is that?’ asked Iain.

‘It is mainly sexual perversion, I believe it’s rife in London as well as the colonies. Believe it or not people like to have communal sex. It’s very fashionable,’ said Hutchison clearly trying to be humorous.

‘Fashionable? Are people actually in the same room doing these things to each other?’ Iain asked dumbfounded.

‘They’re rich people who don’t work and have nothing else to do with their time. They’re extremely bored. It’s as simple as that.’

‘When we were on-board the ship sailing to the Cape, Anne Knowles actually told me that the rich are at it in most of the colonies,’ said Jamie. ‘She said I would get my eyes opened when I get here.’

‘I have led a very sheltered life,’ said Iain dismally.

‘No Iain, you’re just normal; be glad of that,’ said Hutchison. ‘But I diversify, when you’re at the ball you will, obviously, meet and be introduced to many people and you will be expected to dance as well.’

‘Dance? I don’t dance; I don’t know how. I think Jamie should go on his own. I’ll be sick with something,’ said Iain.

‘Make a note to talk to Lydia. I’m sure she and Clara will show us a few steps to get by,’ suggested Jamie.

‘Have a look at the men and the women closely,’ said Hutchison. ‘Not so much the younger generation and especially the women; look to whom they are talking to and flirting with and then make your move to be invited to the closed party. There will be a party simply because all the members are together under one roof and it will be finalised on the night of the ball; someone will be organising this, make no mistake. I’ll get word to you when I find out if the party is on; or not.’

‘How do you come to have so much information on this party Bill?’ Asked Iain. ‘Have you been to one?’

‘This information came from inebriated, boastful men with loose tongues at the club,’ said Hutchison.

‘Don’t worry Bill, we won’t let you down,’ said Jamie. ‘We’ll go to Roger and arrange to sail to Knysna the week after the party under the proviso that we want to look at some property there and do some business.’

‘Yes do that and I need to know where you two are at any given time. Now. I suggest you, Jamie, infiltrate the party and you, Iain, will be the backup on the outside if there is any need to help Jamie.’

‘And we have to find out who’s handing out the invites while we’re at the ball,’ said Jamie.

‘Good, we’re making headway into finding out how the ELOS will execute their plans. Governor Cuthbert has soundly thrashed the natives, or maybe I should say, massacred them, and received the chief’s unconditional surrender.’

‘You would think that the Xhosa, now subdued, would be unable to rise and cause any more trouble on the frontier. There’s no sign of them being sold into slavery, there aren’t any ships that we have heard of taking them away so what the hell is the master plan to get rid of them?’ asked Jamie to no one in particular.

‘Therein lies the problem Jamie, the Xhosa chiefs have demonstrated this ability to incite the natives to rise again, as you call it. Time and time again they have shown they are capable of starting another costly war and this is what the ELOS want to eliminate in the future. They want to destroy everything that holds up or delays their relentless march to total domination and power; they care not how it is implemented or about public outrage.’

‘We’ll get to the bottom of this Bill; we want it finished and out of the way,’ said Jamie.

‘Good luck. I have to get back to town. Oh, by the way, you remember I told you the girls’ stepmother, Anne Knowles, will not be tried for treason as Storer and all the witnesses are dead? Well, she was released from custody in London, Armstrong has mentioned that she could be arriving in Cape Town very soon and no, I don’t know where she will be staying; very mysterious.’

‘We knew she would be arriving sometime or other; Lydia and Clara are aware of her imminent arrival,’ said Jamie.

‘Enjoy your Sunday gentlemen,’ said Hutchison and left.

Chapter Two

June 1856

Cape Town

‘We’ve found out who is following and tried to ambush Fyvie and McColl, Rory, his name is Robert Fairbairn,’ said Hamish McFarland. ‘He was court marshalled in England for killing a British soldier in Africa, Sierra Leone to be precise, and putting a captain in hospital after picking a fight with him. He was mysteriously cleared of all charges, exonerated and received an honourable discharge, a case of mistaken identity.

‘So how did he end up in Cape Town?’ asked McGregor?

‘He turned up in Cape Town conveniently working for the Attorney General’s office. When Governor Cuthbert arrived he commissioned Fairbairn to form a voluntary corps now called Fairbairn’s Volunteers. The corps is a nasty piece of work. He is obviously a recruit of the ELOS brought here as the henchman of James Storer, and Nicholas Banbury, who has probably replaced Storer, and of course the new Governor, Cuthbert.’

The Grand Lodge of Scottish Freemasonry in Edinburgh was aware of the clues leading to the Knights Templar artefacts and treasure buried somewhere in Southern Africa and sent Rory McGregor to follow Jamie and Iain from Liverpool to Cape Town.

He was instructed to use any means necessary to ensure the boy’s survival in order for them to follow the clues to either find the ancient relics and treasure or prove that it did not exist.

McGregor had been on these hunts before in places like the Holy Land and honed his own survival techniques over the years in order to locate and retrieve any Knights Templar artefacts and take them back to Scotland for safe keeping. He truly believed that the artefacts and treasure were buried somewhere in the South of Africa. The problem McGregor had to overcome was to convince Jamie and Iain to let him take whatever they found back to Scotland.

Hamish McFarland was Master of a lodge in Cape Town, and along with another brother mason, Arthur Burton, they were helping McGregor to accomplish this.

‘So the ELOS are well placed in the Cape Colony. Whatever their business is in this country we, and I am talking about the brethren in Scotland, cannot and will not get involved in this war of theirs,’ said McGregor. ‘We have one objective here and that is to preserve Fyvie and McColl’s lives until they uncover the buried artefacts. They are the only two people who can do this for us, we need to protect them from Fairbairn. We also need to know where Fairbairn is at all times because he is stalking these two laddies and he seems to be hell bent on getting to the treasure before anybody else. I wonder just how much information he has been passing on to his masters. It may be that Fairbairn has got greedy and is looking to retire early in life.’

‘Our brother mason in local government informs me that Fairbairn’s brother broke into Fyvie and McColl’s home with the intent of killing them and stealing the clue; McColl shot him dead. Also, your laddies, as you call them, have been to visit the Captain of the clipper, The Flying Fish and hired him to be ready to sail to Knysna a few weeks after the Governor’s Ball. The laddies have been invited to the ball’ said McFarland.

‘So it’s safe to assume Fairbairn will want revenge for the killing of his brother.’

‘Yes. I would say revenge will be on his mind.’

‘I presume there will be a masonic presence at the ball Hamish?’

‘But of course Rory,’ said McFarland. ‘It won’t be for another few weeks but you will have an invite.’

‘Good man. This is a bit of good luck, I am looking forward to meeting with our two adventurers; it will be interesting to find out first-hand what kind of men they are.’

‘I can assure you Rory, Fyvie and McColl may be a bit rough around the edges but my source says they are honest men with integrity and my source is a good brother mason.’

‘He must be well placed.’

‘He works in the Governor’s office and he is, as your laddies are, an operative for the Secret Field Police.’

‘How much does he know about the artefacts?’

‘He says that initially Fyvie and McColl didn’t say anything about looking for any buried treasure, obviously acting under orders to keep it to themselves but when they got to know him they opened up. He did say they were working on another very sensitive operation, the details of which, he could not divulge to me,’ said McFarland.

‘I will introduce myself to Fyvie and McColl at the ball and make an assessment on whether to reveal myself to them. Meanwhile you could approach the shipping company taking Fyvie and McColl to Knysna and persuade them to give me a berth to go with them as I would like to look at buying some property with the view of starting a business. I have a feeling they are looking for the next clue and I would like to be on hand.’

‘Why don’t I come as your business partner on the ship? Once we know the date they are sailing we can send Arthur Butler and some men ahead to watch for our arrival and keep an eye out for Fairbairn.’

‘Yes, that’s not a bad idea. Fairbairn obviously has spies everywhere and is bound to find out where and when the laddies will be going.’

‘At the ball you will also be able to see the enemy at close quarters; I will point out who they are, discreetly of course. Cuthbert and especially Banbury will have their informants as well no doubt,’ said McFarland.

‘I have a feeling that matters will come to a head after we find out what is in Knysna. We must tread carefully Hamish, we don’t want to attract any attention to ourselves; especially if we find the artefacts and start to move them out of the country. It’s not so much the wealth in the treasure but the ancient relics we have to protect; they could have a profound effect on Christendom as we know it.’

‘It might be wise, as you say, to tell the laddies they are not alone; god knows they will need all the help they can get.’

Chapter Three

June 1856

King William’s Town

When Robert Fairbairn learned of his brother’s death he almost killed the messenger.

‘You were supposed to follow Fyvie and McColl and report back to me,’ said Fairbairn holding the man by the neck and a knife to his throat.

‘Jonny said he would follow them for a while and then hand over to me but he didn’t come back sir,’ said the messenger. ‘He was like a man possessed when he left. I heard he broke into their house and waited for them so he could kill them and take the clue, but he was shot by McColl.’

‘You’re sure it was McColl who killed Jonny?

‘Yes sir.’

Fairbairn released his grip on the messenger and shouted, ‘Get out!’ and stuck the knife into the table.

He had to get his wits about him and recruit some other ne’er-do-wells and cutthroats to replace the men he lost to Fyvie and McColl in his previous disastrous attempt to ambush them. He now realised that his greed for the treasure and his impatience to be rich had seriously clouded his judgement and cost his brother’s life.

Captain Robert Fairbairn, an ex-British soldier, was a member of the ELOS, a psychopath, recruited as their executioner along with his equally psychotic brother, Jonny.

Robert was sent to follow Jamie and Iain in order to lead the ELOS to the treasure. Instead he tried to ambush and kill them on more than one occasion in order to take the second clue, steal the treasure for himself and his brother and flee the country as well as the ELOS, but failed miserably.

Jonny wanted to prove himself worthy to his brother and so broke into Jamie and Iain’s home to kill them and steal the second clue but was shot dead by Iain McColl in the subsequent shoot out.

I will have my revenge on McColl and Fyvie, he thought. Stabbing the table over and over.

But now it was imperative that he go back to Cape Town and report to the elder, Nicolas Banbury, and convince him that he was doing his upmost to follow the Scotsmen but he could not keep on their trail because he was under the orders of Governor Cuthbert to police the unruly natives and make sure they were under control.

He did indeed keep the natives under control. He exacted his hatred and vengeance for his failed attack on the boys and Jonny’s death by killing any hapless Xhosa man, woman or child he and his men happened upon, taking their trophies of war in the shape of severed ears as decoration, scrotums as pouches and the odd boiled skull.

He spent his last few days in King William’s Town getting drunk and abusing some