Due to Mrs Young’s opposition to the close relationship between Neville and myself she persuaded the Fosters that I should not be the only girl invited over for weekends on the farm. We found this very annoying but defeated her, partly by Neville inviting six other children for one weekend and then, me alone on the alternate weekends. Mrs Young also advised Zoe and my parents that we should go to  separate secondary schools in order to develop our individual personalities. Whether or not it was because of this advice we will never know, but I was sent to St Georges, Turi and Neville to Limuru Girls School. However we spent every together.

My father knew that I had a wonderful life on the farm and it also gave him and Rene a greater freedom.  Sadly, she was unable to have children of her own which was very hard. She had worked with x-ray machines in her early nursing years in Maidstone and in those days they did not wear rubber aprons or any form of protection and this, apparently, was the likely cause of her infertility  Earlier she had developed tuberculosis which was the cause of her broken engagement – from someone who considered her no longer a person who could give him strong healthy children! Lucky for my Dad.

My time at Kaptagat School was very happy on the whole. There was one term however, in which we had a very unpleasant teacher. Michael Kerfoot was not long out of school himself but was a real bully. On one occasion we were asked what books we had read in the holidays. I put up my hand and said ‘The sale of two titties’. I  had not meant to produce this spoonerism but he thought that I was trying to be funny and I consequently received several whacks on the palm of my hand. I can remember he would ask a question in class and if you couldn’t answer he would walk very slowly up the room towards your desk with his ruler outstretched and repeating the question over and over – then it was “Hold out your hand” and two or three really hard slaps with the ruler. How I hated the man.  We sometimes caught him kissing another teacher (Eileen Pitt). This happened when they were in charge of us on Sunday walks. He made us all play rugby (not comfortable for some of the girls who had budding breasts) and cricket – ending each session by throwing the ball high in the air and calling out a name. The nominee was expected to run forward and catch the ball – I was often the wimp who deliberately let it fall between my hands which usually resulted in being whacked over the behind with a cricket stump. His methods became known to the Youngs and eventually he was told to leave, taking Miss Pitt with him. They married and went to live at Kitale.

The family at Kaptagat consisted of Hugh who was married to Zoe who was, I think, ten years older, their children Neville (Zoe’s daughter from her previous marriage  to Norman Parker), Robert four years younger, Francis two years younger again and lastly Mary about four years younger. Zoe had had very red hair when she was a young girl and still had a hint of that as I remember her.   She had a freckled attractive face with brown eyes, a rather square sturdy body, shapely legs and was always dressed in khaki shorts and a loose shirt except for special occasions. She was an ebullient, dynamic character and was very much the centre of life in the family on the farm. Hugh was a strong character and they obviously loved each other very much but to me he seemed a rather distant and frightening person. He headed the table at lunchtime but breakfast was a noisy affair which he preferred to partake of later after his morning bath and he would then discuss affairs with his Headman – summoned to stand at the foot of the steps while Hugh eat his breakfast at the large dining table on the front verandah where he would discuss farm affairs and set out the work for the day. His older brother Fronny (Francis) lived close by and was married to Zoe’s  mother, Lil. Lil looked very like Queen Mary, always elegantly dressed, with a chiffon scarf tied in a bandeau round her tight white curls. She and Fronny were always part of our safaris and she was a tough old lady. Robert looked just like Zoe and Francis just like his father (ie he had Hugh’s beaky nose) and both boys were covered in freckles. They were also both redheads, Francis carrotty and Robert auburn, both with tempers to match. Neville was lovely, very pretty with honey coloured hair and very blue eyes. Mary was not so much part of our life because she came along that much later. She was quite gorgeous with blonde curls and huge brown eyes and we all loved her – but she was positively adored by her grandmother and could do no wrong in her eyes. I don’t think anyone was jealous of this but just accepted it as part of life. On a Friday, Fronny and Lil would shop in Eldoret (about sixteen miles away) and then call at the farm on the way home. If we were all on the front verandah, Aunt Lil (as she was known to us) would usually greet us with “How are you all?” to which the reply would be “She’s (Mary) fine and is round at the back playing with the kittens” … or whatever it was, and Aunt Lil would go off to find her and give her the bar of chocolate she’d bought. There were a large number of animals on the farm. The domesticated  ones were a number of dogs  of various breeds at different times. Hugh had a pointer which was the dog he took out when shooting birds. There were a number of Staffordshire bull terriers and my golden cocker spaniel, various cats – all either tortoiseshell or ginger (the idea being that one day we would breed a tortoiseshell tom or a ginger female and make a fortune). Apart from these there were the wild animals or part–tame which I have already mentioned. Then there came the chimps.

The first of the chimps was a full grown chimpanzee called Andy. He wore a collar attached to a stout chain which allowed him a good deal of activity – up and down the  telegraph pole to his house and round the area at the bottom.   Hugh could approach him and feed him and play with him but everyone else was forbidden to go within his reach. I don’t remember how long he was at the farm but we were all fascinated with him and used to play by throwing the end of a rope or sack for him to grab and then having a tug of war with him. He was extremely cunning and would throw his end of the sack to the apparent limit of his reach, even lying on his stomach with arm outstretched, but having a loose loop of chain behind him. The unsuspecting opponent would get hold of their end of the sack and Andy would then jump forward and grab hold of his arm if he could. Hugh forbade us all from playing this game with Andy but there was always the concern that someone would do so when Hugh wasn’t there. Occasionally ducks would stray into his territory and they would be despatched and eaten by Andy.

One day Mary’s small kitten ran into the arena and Andy grabbed it and started to swing the little creature round his head. Mary, aged about five I think, was seen rushing to the rescue. There was a huge commotion with African servants and everyone calling out and hurrying to the scene. I can’t remember the fate of the kitten but no one else was hurt. It was however obvious that Andy must go and he was duly sold to someone in Nairobi. We heard some years later that he had continued to use his wily tricks and, when being teased by some Italian prisoners of war who were billeted nearby, he apparently grabbed one of them by the arm and mauled him severely. He was then shot and his body donated to the Coyndon Museum, Nairobi, who had it mounted and displayed.   Very sad and he deserved better. A little later we acquired a second chimp, Andy the Second, about two years old and easy to handle and train. He lived in the garden in a small kennel on top of a platform and could jump down to the ground and travel around, about a hundred yards in several directions. He was perfectly happy so long as there was someone to show off to and was very friendly. Visitors staying at the Kaptagat Arms Hotel (to whom Zoe gave a free invitation) enjoyed playing with him. He also had a lot of freedom but in the end he, too, got into too much trouble. He seized a small African baby suckling at it’s mother’s breast and ran off with it with me in hot pursuit. He handed it back to me unharmed and it was returned to it’s mother but clearly, he would have to be more restricted now that he was so boisterous.