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see you need a little breaking in.” He pushed her legs apart with his knees and kicked at her ankles. She fought for breath under his bulk as he lay down on top of her.
    Anna felt him tearing at her bloomers with his free hand, paralyzed as she felt his rough hand creep under her dress. She closed her eyes, biting down as he crushed her breasts in his hands. Jooste forced his hand between her legs. Then the pain. She cried out, the movement inside her tearing, stabbing, the smell of him rancid against her face. She tried to force the reality of what was happening out, but thoughts of her home quickly regressed to burnt-out buildings and camp graves. Jooste grunted as his body went into a spasm.
    â€œClean yourself.” Jooste pulled away. It was the first time she had seen a grown man like that. “And don’t bother trying to escape,
Suster
. The nearest town is thirty kilometers away,
ja
. If the animals don’t get you, the
kaffirs
will.”
    Imposing stone steps rolled down from a wide
stoep
. An enormous door interrupted the house’s pristine white facade and rounded gables. A vision of splendor, it was almost ten times the size of Vergelegen, its windows covered with thick wood panels, British soldiers standing guard at the gate.
    But the bare interior of the building offered no opulence. No sunlight penetrated the thick walls, and the hallways were cold. Polished floors reflected the light from large oil lamps, placed sporadically on the floor. The room Jooste had taken Anna to was sparsely furnished, the floors scrubbed dull, the walls unadorned. A large desk stood in the middle of the room, books piled haphazardly on top. In one corner, a bed peeked out from behind a white screen. A strange object rested on a table next to it, copper coiled around a spindle, exposed wires attached to a black box.
    â€œDamn it all, Jooste. I told you to be careful with them.” The man, who had introduced himself as Dr. Samuel Leath, dropped Anna’s bruised wrists. Other than his white temples and trimmed beard, he was completely bald, dressed in a black suit with a cravat and polished black boots.
    â€œShe tried to escape, see? Had to be restrained.”
    â€œIs she intact?”
    Jooste shot a warning look at Anna. “If she’s not, it has nothing to do with me,
ja
? I only catch them and bring them to you.”
    â€œIt’s not all that important. I can still use her, as long as she’s fertile.”
    Jooste shrugged. Leath ran his fingers over Anna’s face, inspecting her like a horse, with instructions to turn and look up issued in a monotone. He took Anna’s head in his hands. A shudder ran through her. Leath had been civil enough, but there was something about the way he looked at her, his deadpan expression and indifferent eyes, that made him seem soulless as a serpent.
    â€œKeep still.” Leath pulled her eyelids down with his thumbs. He bent over the desk, dipping a pen in ink and scribbling something in a leather-bound book. He pulled her lips away from her teeth with his thumbs. “Fine specimen otherwise. Where did you get her?”
    â€œBloemfontein.”
    â€œI have someone working that camp already.”
    Jooste shrugged. “It’s doubled in size. Plenty to go around.”
    â€œDid you use the doctor?”
    Jooste sneered. “The girls from the hospital are ill. I found this one myself.”
    â€œWill she be missed?”
    Jooste shook his head. “They’ll think she’s run away,
ja
. A lot of them do.”
    â€œI need more.” Leath returned to his desk. “But go somewhere else. Winburg, perhaps.”
    â€œIt’s too far.”
    Leath’s face reddened slightly. “I am doing important work here, my good man. I don’t need it compromised.” His voice took on a defensive tone. “That Hobhouse woman from the Ladies’ Commission is causing a racket back home after her