106 CHAPTER 13
Sabie River, eastern Transvaal, South Africa, 1902For the second time in as many days, Blake lay on his stomach just below the brow of a low hill and watched the abandoned trading post, with its small house and stable.
Someone had been back here. There were two bags lying outside the front door of the house; both were open and their contents – clothes by the look of it – were scattered on the ground. Looters, perhaps? Blake thought it unlikely – there were no Shangaan tribal settlements within a day’s ride and no Boer commandos in the area.
He scanned the surrounding bush again and reassured himself there was no one else nearby. Blake left his horse tied to a bush and approached the buildings cautiously on foot, his Broomhandle Mauser at the ready.
In the empty stables h
