Book excerpt: It’s a black karoo night and a young woman covered in blood is running along a deserted dust track. Siena must reach Seekoegat Primary School, the only safe place she knows, but it’s a long way to run, a three-day ride on a donkey cart. As Siena runs, her story, and the story of her two friends, comes alive. Growing up with her in the margins was Boetie, neglected and wild, and Kriekie, whose mother worked the n1 truck-stops. When they meet again as grownups, the three must relive the devastating events that set them each on a new path.