An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed by Helene Tursten

Author:Helene Tursten [Tursten, Helene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2021-08-28T19:52:51+00:00

An Elderly Lady Takes a Trip to Africa

The heat struck Maud with full force as she stepped off the plane at Johannesburg’s international airport. According to the information a flight attendant read over the intercom, the temperature was in the high eighties, but the heat had never really bothered her.

A tall man was waiting in the arrivals hall, holding up a sign that read south africa grand tour. He must be their guide. He was wearing long, pale shorts that exposed his muscular, tan legs, and sturdy boots with white socks rolled down to his ankles. There was a discreet SAGT logo on his T-shirt, beneath the image of a roaring lion’s head. Maud knew that the twenty-two participants would be split into two groups; her party would be starting the tour in Johannesburg, while the other had taken a different flight from Dubai to Cape Town.

After a while, seven people had gathered around the guide; where were the other four?

“Welcome to South Africa and Johannesburg,” he said in English. He smiled at his little flock and added in Swedish: “I speak Swedish too. My mother is from Sweden, and my father is South African.”

Goodness! Is that young man going to be responsible for us out in the bush? Maud wondered. I bet he can’t even grow facial hair yet. However, she had to admit that he made a reassuring impression with his toned body and his height. He was obviously a talented linguist too; his Swedish was very good, although he did have a slight accent. And even Maud had to admit that he wasn’t bad to look at. He had long, light-brown hair with blond streaks that was tied back in a pony tail, and his blue eyes lit up when he gave a dazzling white smile.

“My name is Pieter Booth, and I’ll be your guide throughout your stay. As you can see, there are only seven of you in the group. A family from Norway had to cancel at the last minute, and we didn’t have time to replace them.”

He frowned briefly, then smiled at them again.

“We’re going to the hotel now, but we’ll go on a little tour of the city along the way. We’ll be there in about an hour, and you’ll have the opportunity to unpack and rest. We’ll meet at seven on the roof terrace for welcome drinks, and I’ll tell you about the itinerary and mention one or two things to keep in mind when you’re out and about in Johannesburg. You’ll also have the chance to ask questions, and we’ll get to know one another a little better. There’s no point now; I’m sure you’re tired after your long journey. Okay, let’s go.”

He led them toward the exit, where their minibus was waiting. It only had twelve seats, but it was clean and looked new. It also had air-conditioning; Maud noticed units on the side windows. The driver was a powerfully built black man, his curly hair peppered with gray, who welcomed them warmly.

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