I can't promise you the world, but I can promise you the sky. Marry me.

Jade looked at the stunning sapphire once more and recalled her fears when Sam had been raving sick. Once again, the laibon's words came back to her.

When this killer comes for you again, Simba Jike, you must seek help from your mate.

She had heard these words when Harding opened fire on her, and called to Sam, just as she'd gone to Percy when the leopard attacked. Which yellow-eyed killer had the laibon meant? And did it really matter?

The stone matched the sky around her as if a chunk had been crystallized and preserved just for her. She knew that Sam was waiting behind her, silently manning the controls, anxious to know what her answer would be.

She wondered herself.

AUTHOR'S NOTES.

THERE'S A TENDENCY to become politically correct in books, but Jade's att.i.tude toward the African natives is in perfect keeping with historic sensibilities. As proof, I refer you to letters from the a.s.sorted clergy that appear in the Leader of British East Africa and the East African Standard during those years. People in London even formed antislavery societies, protesting the forced labor of the native tribes. There is also an excellent book, Kenya, written by Norman Leys, MB, DPH, a health officer in Momba.s.sa. Published in 1925, it exposes the travesty that enforced labor laws wreaked on Kikuyu life and culture.

For a beautiful look at the Maasai tribe, see Maasai (1980) by Tepilit Ole Saitoti, photographs by Carol Beckwith. The author is a Maasai, so the text is written with excellent insight into the culture. Maasai proverbs and beliefs are explored in The Masai, Their Language and Folklore (1905) by Alfred C. Hollis.

One of the most famous men to capture wild animals, Frank Buck, has written several books describing his experiences, including Bring 'Em Back Alive! Chapter four of Harold J. Shepstone's 1931 book, Wild Beasts To-Day,gives an excellent description of the capture and shipping of wild animals.

Mapping 1920 Nairobi required its own detective work. No one seemed to include any maps in the handbooks and guides. The closest I came was a proposed redevelopment of the downtown area in the September 4, 1920, issue of the Leader of British East Africa. As Mr. Jim McGivney of Kenya Books, Brighton, UK, surmised, "The only important road would be the one that led from the station to the Norfolk Hotel bar!" But The Traveller's Guide to Kenya and Uganda, 1936 (published by the Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours) does include a Nairobi map. Combining this with local newspaper ads from 1919 to 1920, I was able to piece together an idea of the town in 1920.

Old Nairobi and the New Stanley Hotel (1974) by Jan Hemsing has many interesting photographs and notes on early Nairobi, but the best view of all came from Nairobi's own newspapers: the Leader of British East Africa and the East African Standard. These are available on microfilm, and through their personal columns, ads, and letters to the editor, I gained a window into life in 1920 Nairobi. The plot of this book was inspired by an actual missing-person notice and a pitiful plea for someone to adopt an orphaned baby boy. These microfilms are an excellent example of why newspapers must be archived in their entirety, instead of saving an electronic cache of the headline stories. Otherwise, how will future generations be able to see into our thoughts and daily lives?

Readers interested in more tidbits about life in Jade's time can visit my weekly blog, "Through Jade's Eyes," at www.suzannearruda.blogspot.com or by clicking on "Suzanne's Blog" on the Web site at www.suzannearruda.com.

OTHER BOOKS IN THE JADE DEL CAMERON SERIES.

Mark of the Lion.

Stalking Ivory.

The Serpent's Daughter.