John Dunn Pretty Much Done

So I'm pretty much done with the John Dunn story. I've just about completed the second draft, which was very necessary before anyone could read it. That includes beta readers, of course. I had to tie some strings together. One of them was the fleshing out of the sons of Theophilus Shepstone, who is the main antagonist of the story. The Secretary of Native Affairs in Natal, Shepstone gave up that position to become the president or prime minister of the Republic of the Transvaal, also known as the South African Republic. As such, he sided with the Boers in their land disputes with the Zulus, whereas before that he had favored the Zulus. Talk about betrayal of an entire people. Worse, however, he could have prevented the Zulu War, but he didn't. And a lot of people suffered and died for that.

But his sons weren't bad guys, even though they did fight against the Zulus in that war. They weren't British regulars, they joined up with the the cavalry volunteers, and one of them, the youngest, George, was killed at Isandlwana. At the same time, Shepstone's administration in the Transvaal was failing miserably, and the man retired and dropped from public life. That's the way I have it in my book, too. So in his conflict with John Dunn, it wasn't Dunn who did him in, it was his own failed attempt to lead a nation, and the tragic loss of his youngest son.