On 24th January 1953, just three months after a state of emergency was declared, the Mau Mau claimed the Rucks, a family of English heritage that had always been regarded as dealing with their black employees in a fair-minded and benevolent manner. They even supported a clinic at their own expense.
The bodies of the husband, wife, and their six-year old son were found so hacked and ripped that they were hardly recognizable.
Earlier, in the month when the emergency was declared, in October 1952, a lone white settler had been killed and disemboweled.
These successive macabre killings so infuriated the settler community that they staged protests, lashing out at the colonial government for neglecting their safety interests.
Later, it was learnt that staff employed by the Rucks were behind the killings.
What the white settlers were learning, to their obvious horror, was that African workers suddenly could not be trusted. Naturally, mistrust rose considerably.
The butchery that descended upon the Rucks had the white farmers watching their employees apprehensively, at the same time preparing for another brutal attack on their homes, many of which were built in isolated locations.
In-fighting and mudslinging among the white community mounted, with nervy individuals accusing their neighbors of harbouring suspects by not exposing them to interrogation.
Yet another raid would occur on 26th March 1953, this time against the police station at Naivasha. The station was overrun and guns and ammunition taken away in a truck.
This particular raid was led by Mbaria Kaniû, who actually hailed from the other side of the Aberdares, in Fort Hall (Murang'a).
Still, later that very night, in the infamous Lari massacre, Mau Mau at Lari poured gasoline over thatched roofs of a village and set the homes on fire.
Most of the men of the village were away serving in the Kikuyu Guard, an anti-Mau Mau force.
They would later return to be met by the worst tragedies of their lives. The 90 bodies of victims found in the charred remains were those of women and children.
As if the calamity on the families wasn't enough, as the Mau Mau retreated, they mutilated more than 1,000 of the villagers' cattle as further punishment.
All Mushrooms are edible! Some Mushroom are only edible ONCE!