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mostly titanium ore. They occur naturally in the sand around here. The ore originated in the Drakensberg mountains. It was eroded over time, transported to the sea by the rivers, and then washed north by the current to end up in these dunes.’
    ‘Oh, OK then. That makes sense.’
    ‘That’s why the leatherback turtles come here to breed.’
    ‘How do you mean? Because of the dunes?’
    ‘Because the sand is so incredibly mineral-rich. They swim thousands of miles every year to lay their eggs here.’
    ‘I haven’t seen any of those yet. They sound like amazing … er … animals.’
    Was it correct to call a turtle an animal? Or should she have referred to them as reptiles? Jade wasn’t sure.
    ‘There should be some loggerheads around now, although it is early in the season. They are incredible. The world’s fourth-largest reptile. But sadly, they’re an endangered species.’
    So she’d been wrong. They were reptiles. Oh well. Turning her attention back to their surroundings, Jade watched as the torch beam swept over the dark tree trunks, brightening the foliage from shadowy grey to deep green. She kept her gaze fixed on the trees, listening to raindrops spattering on leaves, scanning the narrow strip of forest for any signs that somebody might be hiding there. There would be giveaways. A flash of colour from clothing. Sudden movement that was not caused by the wind.
    ‘The mineral wealth in the sands is a mixed blessing, because it has historically made this area an endangered one,’ Craig continued. ‘Back in King Shaka’s time, we know that limited mining took place here, because there are remains of metal weapons in the old Zulu settlements—weapons made from minerals mined from these dunes.’
    ‘And what about more recently?’
    ‘In the mid-1990s, there was a massive outcry when a company wanted to strip-mine the dunes.’
    ‘I’m sure I remember hearing about that in the news,’ Jade said.
    ‘It made headlines all over the country. All over the world, in fact, because it would have been an ecological disaster. One of my very first projects was working to oppose that strip-mining operation. It was successful.’
    ‘What was the outcome?’
    ‘The St Lucia wetlands area, or iSimangaliso, as it’s now known, was proclaimed a world heritage site, the first one in South Africa. That put a stop to all such operations within the park, although a couple of areas were mined nearby. And now the dunes are under threat again.’
    ‘Why’s that?’
    ‘There’s increasing pressure from developers to have the 1996 legislation overturned, to allow mining to take place in the park, and to open up the area to industrial development.’
    The forest area was jungle-like in its density, the area under the trees thick and matted with ferns, lichens and other plants that Jade didn’t recognise. She supposed Craig would know their names. And she assumed that if anybody had tried to hide in here, they would have left an obvious path behind them as they battled their way through the overgrowth.
    Craig was still chatting casually about the local ecosystem. It was fine for him to do that, because that was his work. But Jade’s work was different. She knew only too well that locating a hiding fugitive could literally mean the difference between life and death. She couldn’t allow herself to relax, or get too distracted by a conversation that she had to admit was beginning to pique her interest.
    ‘What’s the justification for scrapping the old laws?’ she asked, despite herself.
    ‘Well, the argument for declaring the area a national park was that ecotourism could bring as much benefit to the area as mining. But that hasn’t ended up happening as fast as it should have done, for a variety of reasons.’
    ‘What are those?’ Jade paused to wipe the rain from her face.
    ‘Practically, the lack of roads is the biggest problem. And, of course, you can’t even build an ecolodge in an area that has