West with the Night

Now 18 years old and living in a hut near the stables where she trains horses, Markham looks over her list of tasks for the coming days. In six weeks, there will be races in Nairobi, for which she is preparing horses. Her syces from Njoro have followed her to Molo, and she gives them as much work as they can do without her oversight. Markham misses friends from her youth.

From outside her hut, Markham hears the single-word greeting “Hodi” (146), which is another way of asking if the speaker can enter. She feels surprised to see her childhood friend Kibii, who has passed the maturity rites and become a Nandi Murani whose name now is Arab Ruta. He tells her about his vast travels and asks if she will allow him to work as her syce, as “Arab Ruta ha[s] not forgotten what he knew about horses” (149).

While riding Pegasus in the countryside, Markham encounters a man with a broken-down automobile. This is her first meeting with Tom Black, a World War I Royal Air Force fighter pilot who wants to bring aircraft services to Kenya.

Markham writes of encountering many horsemen, travelers, and other Europeans at the Muthaiga Club in Nairobi. The club’s motto is Na Kupa Hati M’zuri, meaning “I bring you good fortune.” Markham pays attention to comments made about the upcoming race meet, in which she will have a number of horses, some of whom she knows will win their minor races. She will place a filly named Wise Child in the Saint Leger, the premier race in Kenya. Markham has also been training a superior colt named Wrack, who is expected to win the race easily. However, the colt’s owner pulls the horse away from Markham 12 weeks prior to the race.

When she begins training Wise Child, the filly has injured tendons from training on a track too hard. The owner of Wise Child, Eric Gooch, believes in Markham’s abilities. Markham knows the horse is very fast but worries that its tendons will give out over the course of the race, which is 1.75 miles long. As the time for the race approaches, Markham works with the horse, who remains completely calm. She believes the horse is telling her that it will give all it has and that the only question is whether its legs will hold up on the racetrack. Markham tells the jockey, Sonny Bumpus, to ride behind Wrack for the first quarter mile of the race. After this, he should take Wise Child to the front and let her lead the rest of the race. Markham fears that the horse will lead until the last furlong and then be overtaken by Wrack.

The race initially unfolds as Markham predicted it would, with Wise Child overtaking Wrack and leading for most of the race. However, in the last furlong, Wise Child seems to falter but then gathers herself and finishes the race ahead of Wrack by six lengths. Eric and Markham decide that they will retire Wise Child after her victory.

Markham’s second encounter with Tom Black comes one night in Nairobi, when she and a group of others watch a single-engine plane descend. The plane circles a little landing field to chase away animals on the runway and then lands. Tom gets out and announces that he has a passenger, an injured hunter who needs to go to the hospital. Markham and Tom go to an all-night coffee stand and discuss the fact that he finally has his plane and is bringing air travel to Kenya. She writes, “Tom Black had flown 6000 miles with a new airplane and a new idea” (178-79).

Markham returns to the stables and speaks to her friend Ruta, explaining that she has decided to learn to fly. Ruta says, “If it is to be that we must fly, Memsahib, then we will fly. At what hour of the morning do we begin?’” (182).