A STRANGE CASE OF MUSENGABERE: II
If you haven’t read Part I:
Dananai’s homestead was to the east of the hill, separated from it by the largest branch of Chitupo river and an expansive plain. The river almost cut into the hill as it flowed south. South-east of the hill, just after the river was the forest. It was fairly large, composed both of tall and short trees, bent and straight ones with numerous notable copses sparsely placed. The vegetation was green; tufts of grass and shrubs. Life brimmed in it, from ants to badgers to antelopes escaping the hot sun in the open plain. Vines crawled up trees and some spread on the ground, extending and reaching out to the spirit of the forest. Roots bulged out of the earth, exposed by the rain and others were too large to be contained. Holes and dens on the ground were commonplace, housing snakes, mice and all kinds vermin of the forest.
Further south of the forest, the river had tributaries that spread both east and west. Along the tributary Chionde, as it thinned out, most women went to collect water there using either metal buckets or large, round clay pots. The path from Dananai’s homestead to the tributary took a few turns. Along it, at the middle mark, were two large, tall trees, known as Uyo and Uyu, twins on either side. This was where Tanaka and Gamu planned to ambush her.
The plan was set, ready for execution…
Five boulders stood at the helm of the hill. On one of them, a heron was perched. She was thrice the size of an ostrich and completely white save the blue line that ran along the middle of her body. She ruffled up her feathers and called out to her owner. There was a grey saddle on her back, reins connected to her neck, body and bill by a complex network of ropes and leather. Three saddles in fact, a small one in front for baggage and two more for the riders, one behind the other.
Chengetai stood on another boulder, the most strategic one, giving him a clear view of the forest and what lay beyond it. The widest part of the river ran beside the small hill, almost cutting into it, separating it from the fairly large forest. The sky was clear; sunny weather and not windy enough to sway him off the rocks.
He looked upwards and the sun was at its zenith. He took off the cloth which covered his torso. He then removed the piece of leather around his groin and the strap with a knife around his left calf. With his clothes piled in one heap, he extended his hand and a force emanated from his fingers. The force grabbed his clothes and he flung them at the heron’s face. She shook her face and the clothes dropped. She proceeded to spit at him, knocking him off balance but not enough to topple. The heron then used her big bill and placed the clothes below its breast.
“Thanks Shirihuru.” That was her name. She’d been a present from the man whom he’d done the King’s daughter job for some years back.
Chengetai stood there, stark naked and at ease with himself. He always told his friends, Gamu and Tanaka, that he worked best with no weight on his shoulders. They never really understood how deep the statement went. The wild dog pups cried from the bottom of the boulder near the cave mouth. Chengetai felt complete now, at one with nature.
He set his feet into the stone and it crawled up to his ankles like a viscous liquid. He looked down at the forest and yonder at the path to the river tributary which Dananai would take. He concentrated and his eyes bulged out a wee bit. His pupils constricted and became slit like a jackal’s. He could now see his two friends hid behind a tree by the edge of the forest. Tanaka had clammy, shaky hands. Gamu was picking at his teeth with a straw and sitting, back pressed against the tree trunk, legs splayed like an old woman. He glanced at his partner.
“I’m nervous,” Tanaka spoke.
Gamu chuckled. “Now you’re nervous. Don’t be silly. Think of Dananai in your bed.”
“Not helping Gamu.”
“Well, you’re the one who insisted on waiting. Your father really made a principled man of you.”
Tanaka grinned. “I love her. Lying with her is the least of my reasons to wed her. Our lips have never even touched.”
“Well then, think of me with …”
“Aye, I get your point. It might be high on the list then, maybe.” Tanaka looked at the sky.” She says she can’t wait to too. But I would rather not think of that. Father says marry a woman for her mind and character not for her abilities or appearance. She is the most intelligent woman I know.” He smiled stupidly.
“Then after you shall help me make an honest woman of Shamiso. She looks smart, I guess. She loves me, I just know it.”
“If we survive this. You forget we are treading crocodile-infested waters here.”
A small imprint of a hand formed on the ground, two paces away from the two. They noticed it.
“This is it. Good luck, jaya,” Gamu spoke. They both ran out of the forest into the plain. Gamu ran at normal speed, accommodating Tanaka. The grass wasn’t completely green out here; some were just brown patches of withered blades. It was about knee length and so were the many dry stumps of long lost trees scattered everywhere. They arrived at the hiding position, by Uyu and Uyo. Each trunk was three times that of their chests. Gamu stood behind one, Tanaka got behind the other with Dananai’s homestead against their backs. Five pebbles fell before each of them. It was code. ‘Dananai has left her homestead, accompanied by four other girls,’ it said.
Chengetai zoomed in on the house. He drew a sudden breath of air. Two ostriches approached from the north-east. One man held a spear, the one saddled on the darker bird. The other rider looked old, head bald and wrinkled skin about his limbs. However, he didn’t look frail. He wore a piece of white cloth and an amulet, with the head of a black bull worked into it.
How does one such important person decide to visit on such a day? Chengetai grew irritable. They didn’t even have code to say that the one of the King’s representatives and his guard are at your betrothed’s place, perhaps we should abort. Apparently, Dananai’s father had friends in court and didn’t shy away from the politics of Nyika-Ibwe. The three knew that, but this was something else. This made stealing Dananai all the more dangerous. During the chase, no one could be killed, no use of metal weapons was allowed. But if you were caught, you were sent before a dare and they passed judgement. Most times, it ended in decapitation unless your father was influential or you went on the run. Chengetai turned to his friends.
Tanaka heard a branch snap, a bundle of leaves fell to the ground. Another code. ‘Double danger, complication, but something we can deal with if we act faster.’ Gamu being the boy he was tried to peep from the curve of the tree. A thunder of a slap graced him as he tried to.
Foolish Runner, Chengetai spat.
Bastard brother mine. I hope you fall off those rocks and hyenas feast on your corpse. As that thought ran through Gamu’s mind, a pebble dropped in front of each of them. The giggles of the girls became audible. A few moments later at third pebble followed.
Tanaka and Gamu glanced at each other and nodded in synchrony. Tanaka relaxed and his heartbeat slowed, thumping less in his chest. As the girls walked past the trees, the two slowly rounded their respective trees, avoiding being spotted and positioning themselves behind them, now facing Dananai’s homestead. Tanaka peeped and found Dananai in the middle. Her back was unmistakable even if there were a hundred maidens’ backs. Tanaka made a steeple with his hands, facing the hill north-west of him.
A moment later, the two girls on either side of Dananai fell forward, thrust by a hidden force. They screamed as they did and Dananai was the loudest. She dropped her clay pot and it broke with a clatter. Gamu, in a blur, rushed to stand between Dananai and the other girls. Tanaka made to grab his beloved but she scratched him viciously. “Get off me you dirty dog! My father will have your head!” She was so convincing Tanaka almost believed it, except that the second were true, if they were caught. His backhand connected with her soft cheek, a slap which saw her stumbling to the ground. A distance away, two girls lay there unmoving. One rose. She was plump but agile. She attacked Gamu faster than –
Haa?. Another runner. Gamu tried to predict the next blow but couldn’t. She was just faster, more trained somehow. As the blow landed, he took her by the neck and pushed her to the tree trunk of Uyu in a swoop before the pain settled. When it did, he let go of her frantically and curled on the ground, hands cupped between his legs, about his groin. He felt as if two balls of steel had been launched into his abdomen. She took a knife stashed by bossom. She raised it, pointed at the folded man on the ground. Then a force found her and she was all of a sudden pulled and glued to the Uyo, stiff as a rock.
You made me sweat there. Faster than a gazelle, you are. Chengetai spit to the side but the wind carried it away. A cold breeze swept by the hilltop.
The other girl hopped on Tanaka, pummelling his head, with half-formed fists. Tanaka bent over and toppled her. She grabbed with both hands for the wind. Her head fell at an unusual angle. A dangerous one. She yelled and something yanked her away into the grass. At the same time, the plump girl came free and she made for the homestead, eyes wide and palms flushed with a deep redness. The other girl writhed. The touch on her feet felt masculine somehow though she couldn’t see anyone; she had never been touched before by any man. She landed with a thud a distance away, knocking her clean of any air in her lungs. She took deep breaths then found her voice again. She started crawling back, shouting Dananai’s name. It happened again. A hand held her nose, another her mouth. She clawed but she only clawed her own face. She struggled, eyes bulging. Then the world faded and it was a blackness.
Cheeky one, Chengetai remarked from the hilltop.
“You slapped me, Tanaka!” Dananai protested, arms akimbo. This small boy slapped me, how dare he.
“But I love — ” she tried to continue. He quickly grabbed her by the throat. He whispered,” Remain in the act, someone might be watching. I still love you of course.” He continued to pin her down, face flat on the ground, hands behind her back. She kicked but he placed his knees by her calves. He hated it with his whole being, hitting her. It reminded him of his uncle and wife. It hadn’t ended well. But this was a job. Think of it as a job.I have done numerous jobs, this is one too. He still hated it but continued, muscle memory helping with the manoeuvres. Gamu slowly stood up, groaning.
“Hurry up!! We don’t know what the complication is. We might as well be dead, Gamu.” Tanaka barked it out.
Gamu groaned again.
“Stop your whining already. The Runner girl of yours has gone to inform on us.”
Gamu gathered some strength, ignoring the fact that the supposed betrothed hadn’t seen her land a blow to his — . He knelt and brought his hands together, palm on palm in a horizontal plane. He moved one hand away from the other repeatedly, each time faster than the last. It formed lines, nets, only visible to his eyes. The strands were a deep blue sky colour and the pattern formed loops. In one motion, he touched Dananai’s back and the netting stretched. Tanaka snarled. Dananai barely let him touch her, even a stroke of her cheeks or interlacing of fingers. The net spread down to her buttocks, down her thighs all the away to her heels. The protesting stopped, her motion was limited. Tanaka could only guess what was happening. From the same source, where Gamu had touched her on her back, the net spread up along her back, engulfing her shoulder and creeping up her slick arms. The last one wrapped her neck and head, this net had a diamond pattern now. Gamu made a pulling action and she was suspended in the air, bound but not too tightly. She couldn’t move of course, just the wiggling of digits or the occasional flex of the head. She left odd, like floating in a river, but without the water.
“Meet you at the boat,” Tanaka told his friend.
Tanaka eyed his betrothed. She snarled fiercely. Gamu prepared to run and Tanaka was darting into the forest when they heard it. Kuuuuu-uuuu kuuuuuuu-uuuuuu. They both froze in place. That sound was familiar. Dananai whispered, “Ostriches!!” arms with a small tremor. They are dead, my love. He’s dead, release me, let me be in your arms before you die. She couldn’t say that. By the way she knew him, he always had a plan. Or did he?
This is bad, really bad. So much for the man loving challenges. Gamu looked at Tanaka. Tanaka just shrugged though his body showed something else, confidence. He’s just doing that for her, but he knows this is the end. He could run off, avoid capture but he wouldn’t abandon his friend.
“Try to stay alive,” he finally said to Gamu.
“I have speed, plus her. I can always feign her as a hostage. You on the other hand…” A pause. “Musika-“
“MOVE!” Tanaka said in an outrage, looking towards his betrothed homestead. There was dust and a small head poking from the plane. A small bird-like head.
Tanaka just darted into the forest, headed straight for the boat. The straightest path possible. Gamu ran off in a different direction but also towards the forest. He remembered the trail they had practiced so many times. A group of zigzags meant to confuse pursuers. But these weren’t ordinary pursuers. And everyone knew those beasts had an edge for the supernatural, like how in the West they were known to migrate abruptly from areas that experienced earthquakes only a few days later. They called them the King’s beasts, only afforded to him, his guards and court members along with their guards. He felt familiar heat from his core radiate. Breathing was as important as the strides. Too little and you could never reach a high speed. Too much and you would overheat the core and tire too quickly. Being a Runner was being a partly good statistician, mostly in the Sprinting bit. The ‘invisible’ blue net containing Dananai followed him. He dashed into a Sprint, stride by stride, sidestepping and diving to avoid obstacles which appeared as fast as they went. A decision had to be taken in a quarter on an eye blink.
Tanaka looked back and his body almost jumped out of his skin. The head of the ugly thing lashed at him. He quickly hugged the tree in front of him and circled it a full hundred and eighty degrees, bruising his skin against the dark, hard trunk. The ostrich came to an abrupt stop. As it struggled to do so and try to turn at the same, Tanaka tossed himself forward, two straight legs pointed forwards and perpendicular to the ground. He hit the thing by the neck. The ostrich tumbled and fell along with the rider. A crunch followed. He looked towards the scream and the man had his leg pinned under the beast, spear a few paces away. The light brown skin of the man became a tainted red. He kicked the rider under the chin and the riders teeth clattered twice. He closed his eyes and lay there limp. The ostrich struggled to rise. Tanaka didn’t wait. Who would kick an ostrich like that and wait around to see what it would do? He picked off and continued towards the boat, shooting glances at his back every now and then, waiting for a big, clawed foot to push him over. He hoped he wasn’t too late. Gamu might be waiting for him.
Gamu raced through the forest. Then something flashed, a swoosh sound. He looked over his shoulder. He turned back to find a root elevated further than it had been before, an old, weathered thick root. Was Chengetai playing games when his life was in danger with such tricks? He jumped over it. No, he wouldn’t. Another one and this one rose as he jumped and he tumbled and fell over. Dirt rubbed into his shoulder and a rock grazed his cheek. Dananai didn’t fall though. But she did experience some jerks, still floating there in the air. Quiet, nauseated. She vomited. She had never ran so fast. And now she was being hauled at such a speed and not even able to move her limbs. She couldn’t even think straight. She was regretting this but she wasn’t sure, everything was unclear.
The roots crept and held his ankles. Not funny, Chenge. Then he looked to his right and saw a man, tall, staring at him. He tugged at his feet. Nothing.
It was Shandaiwo, Dananai’s elder brother. He grinned at him as he lay there, eyes gleaming a light grey. He jumped off the ostrich but as he did, the dirt below him dislodged. He regained balance by leaning on a tree. He looked around, searching the forest. Gamu had got up, the roots loosed. Shandaiwo walked to her sister, face grim. He could see the net too. Movers could see the nets and lines of Runners, even trails of the path on occasion. Lucky day for him. No one knew why it was so. A force hit the man from the back. He g He knelt on one leg, breathing deeply. But he also took the chance to observe from the corner of his eyes. A few gasped, hands on knees, face down. Paces away, a mound of earth rose, like a mole’s and advanced at Shandaiwo. But the man was aware this time. It rolled to him, getting bigger the more it approached. When it was near enough he jumped, aided by a Move jerk, into the air and stomped the mound with a Reverse Move. The force emanated from his torso, down his thighs and thick calves into the mound. It transferred to Chengetai, who if not for being immersed ankle-first into the rock, would have been propelled into the Heron or off the edge. A slight opening, whoever was attacking him would be stunned. He grabbed a knife and meant to throw it at the attacker.
Ooo, I had almost forgotten. Shandaiwo threw the blade, force-enhanced and it sank into Gamu’s shoulder. He let out a cry, loud and vibrant, pain and surprise in it.
This is taboo, my own brother! She grimaced. Is this monster my brother? A pious boy. I was wrong. Breaking rules and such. She observed, unable to speak. She just couldn’t and she didn’t know why. Was it the death of Gamu being on her head all for love? She wasn’t sure.
Tanaka heard the cry, but there was nothing he could do. He just winced and winced. He trusted Chengetai to handle it. Let each man play his part, it is a job. Each part has a function.
Gamu became a blur to Shandaiwo and was soon out of sight. He let out the heat in his core in a blast and now there was no way the brother would catch up. Larger strides, heat rising just as quickly. Dananai just stared into space. It was all hazy. She had avoided her brother’s gaze. The blood on Gamu’s back. My brother!!
Chengetai regained focus and he zoomed in again into the forest. He saw the ostrich but no rider. Shandaiwo was nowhere to be found. Chengetai moved his hands side to side like a sidewinder in the desert, releasing a pulse of low-frequency Move-force which allowed him to trace the ground for footprints. He felt some, Gamu’s. He’d known those since he was three. Two swoops of Move-force, five swoops, then he felt a dimple in the ground. He followed the trail, trying to anticipate its path. But he could not feel any feet. It meant only one thing.
Chengetai moved his feet and the rock which had embalmed his lower leg crept back into the boulder, returning the all-too smooth surface. He ran to Shirihuru and dressed up, adding a mask of tired-looking badger. He mounted the large bird. “Beautiful lady in all the bird-world,” he said, “and human one.” He chuckled. “My plan failed. Seems this brother of hers wants to see me in full action. I wish I could go in my natural form but then Dananai would.., you know,..” The bird raised her bill to the sky and turned her head, giving him a glance. Her crown feathers danced with the wind. He took the reins and tugged at them. Shirihuru rose to her feet, extending her legs as if she were a person yawning, arms stretched. The joints creaked.
“See the boat, you’re going to go there. Drop me over there.” He pointed to a place somewhere in the middle of the forest. “Let me feel it first.” He swooped the ground in the forest with his low-frequency pulses. He found the footprint and swooped more along them, then finally felt the feet. Clumsy man, he thought I was gone. He moved at them and then felt the body. His Move was so subtle, Shandaiwo barely noticed a force about him.
“Let’s go. Fly Shirihuru.” She lifted off, flapping in the wind, shifting the debri on the boulder with audible wind gushes. Her nimble feet touched the ground again and she ran and jumped off the edge, entering into determined flight. He located Gamu, still running towards the boat, a few paces away from it. He had never seen him run this fast. He was almost there, and no sign of pursuit. Shirihuru got past the river bank. Chengetai spotted Tanaka, anxious as a hen that has spotted an eagle, tapping his foot. He turned the beast and they flew toward the middle of the forest. He stood on the beast’s back and balanced then he dove into the air, feet pointed downwards. He was there a short while. He hit the ground and it rippled for a good fifteen paces. The ground rose in a wave and suddenly the ripple undid itself, travelling back to the point of origin. The Move force returned to Chengetai’s body and the ground regained its flat consistency. The ripple had shaken off some dirt which fully covered Shandaiwo and he was now visible. The trick could only work for so long. The force pulsed against Chengetai’s skin and so he skid towards Shandaiwo who had already spotted him, amazed to see a man drop from nowhere. Must have been in the trees, Shandaiwo thought. As much as he acknowledged this man from the sky, reaction was slow. Chengetai slid to his side and grabbed the back of his throat, slamming him into a tree. Blood spots on the trunk. “You should have stayed home, Amateur,” Chengetai voiced. Chengetai then crawled up the tree, furthering his opponent’s confusion. Shandaiwo recuperated, looked around. No one. He glanced up and before Chengetai could pounce on him, he punched the tree across the trunk, letting out splinters and sharp, penetrating noises of wet wood and dry bark breaking. A few monkeys bellowed as the tree fell. Chengetai meant to jump off but Shandaiwo held him by the shoulders and thrust him into the ground, directly in the trajectory of the falling tree. Chengetai grabbed a handful of soil and tossed it at the man’s face. Force-filled, he shot up and flew over his opponent before the tree had gathered enough momentum to slam into the ground. There was a vicious echo of the ground trembling. When Shandaiwo’s vision cleared, he saw the masked man, drop into the earth. The ground looked undisturbed where he had been consumed. Shanda raised a foot to strike the earth with a force-blast but it was suddenly grabbed by a brown hand encrusted with solidified dirt from the bottom. Then the second leg was held. His feet felt like two large granite rocks. He raised his hands and started to drop them with Move-force. His legs were freed and the force he had been using to detach from them saw him falling forward. He fell face first into the dirt. He felt like a play-thing. To his opponent, he was just a baby.
“Whoever you are, I’ll kill you. My sister isn’t game for you poor folk. I don’t care what the rules of Musengabere say. I will strangle you with my two large hands.” Chengetai swirled out of the dirt in front of him as the latter was getting up hesitantly, trying to anticipate the next attack. They faced each other and for a moment, only their breathing was audible. And the stench of sweat of men wrestling in a crowded underground room. The white of Chengetai’s eyes was the only visible thing on his face.
Chengetai lightly tapped Shandaiwo’s cheeks. “All for nothing I suppose. Dananai will be air-borne soon if not already and Tanaka, the love of her life, will be in his bed.”
That’s it. That bastard, marrying my sister. No wonder that friend of his was with her. Shandaiwo made a fist and raised it, willing it smash the masked man’s face.
Chengetai pressed his thumb against the left part of his nose and let out some snot. He waited. The fist shook terribly next to his face.
“Seeing you haven’t punched me, I believe your father taught you well in the art of reasoning. Or perhaps you have acknowledged that you cannot beat me. The first is common for most men like you, the second is rarer than pangolins. It was wise choice, whatever reason you have. And you let my mask stay, at least that is one rule you followed.”
Chengetai raised his forefinger and in a comical manner spoke. “If a man or woman, one of those whom chooseth to help the bridegroom, chooseth to withhold their identity as a Musengabere proceeds, they shall be granted the privilege.” Chengetai smirked but the mask hid it. “See you at the wedding Shandaiwo.”
Chengetai started running towards the boat. He left an angry Shandaiwo. The amount of force that pulsed in that man was something he’d never seen before. One of hate and rage mixed. But the man held it back. Even I don’t have such discipline, he retorted to himself.
‘Wait for me Shirihuru,’ Chengetai stomped on the ground in code. ‘If you leave me, you will be in trouble. No tiger fish for a month.’ The bird sat on the wet ground by the river and waited for its master despite the protests of Tanaka and Gamu. Dananai was still quiet and stunned, wondering if Chengetai had killed his brother.
“Now Tanaka is married. Gamu is waiting for Shamiso and Chengetai for whomever fate gives him.” Chengetai laughed and let the ground take him to the bank, as the ground rose and fell in ripples with him riding the waves of the earth.
