Chapter 8 - Forty Thieves

Heroes are a staple of nearly every story ever written. Knights that slay dragons, warriors that battle great armies and the strong that defend the weak from certain doom. But not all heroes wear capes, don gleaming armour or sport lustrous golden hair that flows dramatically in the wind. Some are normal, everyday people that do their best to build, nurture and protect those around them. And this is where we start our adventure…with forty thieves.

Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but I’ll get to that, just give me a second. In the early 2000s, as Preferred Solutions started expanding, new additions were brought into the fold to run the ever growing machine. One of these additions was a 30-something woman from the deep, dark wilds of Africa (I grew up in the city folks. Farms look like ‘deep, dark wilds’ to me ok.) Made strong by her rough and tumble upbringing, Wilna Ferreira stood her ground against any and every man, beast or ne’er-do-well that would cause her trouble. The fight-or-flight response may have been a little skewed here, mostly to the ‘fight’ end of the scale. 

One of her greatest exploits happened on a normal day in an office hidden deep in the dark forest of Somerset West. An office braai was being had, but her keen, near-elven hearing alerted Wilna to impending danger. She strode into the office with the air of a dragon defending its lair to find a gang of bandits and thieves ransacking the office. As she bellowed at them, they turned to her, awestruck and petrified in her glorious and terrifying presence. They fled, with some of their ill-gotten gains still in hand. She pursued, for what must have been kilometres before finally striking out at the nearest cut-purse with her legendary weapon of choice, the half-full Savanna bottle. She smote the thief and as he staggered away, she knew he would come to rue that day.

Disclaimer: Some events may have been very slightly exaggerated for dramatic effect. There might only have been three thieves and she only ran for around 20 or so meters. And they didn’t get any of their stuff back, save for an empty handbag. But it made a good story so don’t tell anyone. Shhhhhhh…