Sunday rolled around and the family went to church. Of course, they did not see Scott there. He and his family had become infrequent attendees the last few years. But harsh and suspicious rumors were rampant among the congregants, nonetheless. Andi put in a prayer request for him and his parents.
He had a brother once, who was killed in Iraq. He had fought to be a Marine, even though his peace-loving parents advised him not to join, he had a full scholarship to USC for football. He died honorably saving some villagers from an enemy bomb. Maybe that was when the Bays family fell apart. Since then, Scott never wanted to talk about him. Dylan had been several years older, and he once was Scott’s idol. Now, he was an unmentionable dead sibling, with one photograph in his uniform proudly displayed on the Bays’ mantle.
Andi had not seen or even dreamed about Ain-u-tep in a few days. Thoughts of Scott’s incarceration and his parents’ death weighed heavily on her mind. They didn’t talk about it around the table. Mom didn’t want Scott to stay with them, in case he really was a killer. Dad had nixed all discussion. Sunday evening, the family had game night, even though Brook complained she had friends to see. Mom and Dad seemed to be united in the idea that they all needed more family time together. No cell phones, I-Pads, or pagers were allowed at the table. They played Apples to Apples, which seemed to help them talk. Then Mattie and Dad played a video game while ‘the Girls’ made dessert, a bakery bought apple pie and ice cream.
It was when Andi kissed everyone goodnight, that she felt a surge of something warm in her heart. Even Brook suffered a hug from her before disappearing into her room with her phone.
Andi lay in the darkness of her room, the night chilly, a fluffy blanket tucked high with snoring Snickers as her foot warmer. The laptop her only light, illuminating her lean, dark features. She worked on her haiku poems for Monday’s class. She was surprised that almost a week had passed so quickly. She was beginning to wonder if maybe she didn’t imagine the adventures and Ain-u-tep.
“I think I should pay better attention to my family” she mused, feeling sorry for Scott who had no one now. “I always thought they didn’t like me, but tonight was fun.”
“You didn’t like yourself.”
“Cat!” Andi responded. She looked about to see the smoky dark cat peeking out of the round cubbyhole on Petunia’s perch. She set aside the laptop and tossed away the covers, jumping up to rush to the perch. She reached a hand to the cat, petting its sleek head. “I’m glad to see you, girl. Where have you been?”
“Someone needed my help.”
Pouting, she said, “I needed you too.”
“Missed me?”
“Yes,” she said lifting the cat from the perch, she cradled and hugged her. “I miss Petunia too, and I forgive you for whatever happened.”
“Good. Now I need you.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere far-away. Get dressed and wear good boots, take your knapsack too. Oh, and wear Aaliyah’s pendant.”
Andi rushed about the room getting ready while the cat picked out appropriate clothes for the trip.
“You know I’m still grounded because I left without permission.” She said while putting on her camo jacket and dark brown twill pants. She laced up her Doc Martin boots and queried, “How long are we going to be gone?”
“Not sure, it could take a while. But do not worry, no one here will miss you.”
“That’s not nice.”
“Take the sword pommel and Arkan’s scale.” She watched restlessly as Andi packed it all in her bag. The cat leapt to the window seat near the perch. She looked out at the tree outside and up at the moon. “The moon is nearly full tonight. That is good and bad.”
Andi finishing stuffing a thermos of water, granola bars and packets of raisins in her pack, responded, “Why is that?”
“A bright moon helps us to see our way, but it also reveals us to our enemy.”
“Again, with the enemy stuff? I thought we were helping someone tonight.”
“Open the window,” the cat demanded and pawed at it.
Andi obediently cranked open the window, “I am not climbing in the tree,”
“You must, it is our portal.” With a swish of her fluffy tail Ain-u-tep stepped out the window onto the roof. A large branch of an oak hovered two feet above the eaves. “Come, Kitten.”
Andi squeezed through the window, then gripping the sill, she pulled her pack through then slipped an arm through a strap. She scooted on her butt down the clay roof tiles.
“I am gonna get in so much trouble, Cat,” she grumbled. She followed the cat, when it leapt on the sturdy branch, trotted along to the trunk of the tree. Ain-u-tep turned about, with green eyes glowing in the gloom through the few leaves remaining on the tree. Andi afraid for the height then cautiously climbed onto the branch, and slid by her hands and rump, scooching along the branch. “If I fall,”
“Don’t fall. Hurry.”
“Hurry. It’s always a big rush with you.”
“Kitten!” Ain-u-tep hissed.
Andi arrived at the trunk, and braced herself, “What now?”
The cat bunched up her hind legs, “Hold my tail,” then sprang into the leaves of the tree above them. Screaming, Andi fell then flew into an indigo oblivion.
☼
Large branches entwined like a crazy nest, their leaves big and shady. Andi looked down and gulped, she patted her heart hoping to slow its erratic beat. “We are so high up here. What do we do now?” She looked out over the hazy golden savannah where several other trees with huge bulbous trunks stood. An elephant with waving palmate ears rubbed against one tree.
“Are we in Africa?”
“Good guess. We are near the Zambezi River, Kitten. Come, we must find the Sword.” The cat scrambled to a set of branches forming a vee near the trunk. She scratched the trunk making a strange set of markings.
“One, why are we in a tree in Africa? Two, why are you scratching the tree?” Andi asked, hitching her backpack more comfortably on her shoulders. She swept a hand over her brow. “It’s hot, why did I need a coat?”
The cat licked the tree where she had scratched. “Mm, I like baobab tree sap. Take a drink and then we go.”
Andi ran a finger along the leaking scratches. She sucked the juice saying, “Not bad, a little flat but wet.” At the cat’s urging, she bent and licked the other drops. The watery sap was a bit sticky.
“Now grab two of those fruits there.”
“Bossy, bossy.” Andi complained but reached into the canopy of leaves and forcefully yanked down two dark golden fruits the size of small spaghetti squashes. “What do I do with these?” She asked juggling the fruits.
“Give one to the elephant behind you and the other we take.”
Andi spun on the wide branch and yelped. Almost falling off, she grabbed a limb. “Holy smokes! The elephant is right there.” She knelt on the branch, still clutching the limb for balance and leaned out.
A grey, hair-tufted trunk whiffled along the branch, pulling leaves and questing towards her. She offered the fruit to the elephant. Its trunk wrapped about her hand and she giggled at the odd sensation. “A hot snake, but fuzzy.” She released the fruit to the animal. “Here ya go, girl.” She giggled as another younger and smaller elephant came along, it raised a trunk and squeaked. “Can I give the other fruit to the baby? He’s so cute.”
“No, let them feed themselves. We must go.”
Andi was learning to heed the cat, for she could tell it was impatient. She waved goodbye to the animals and crept along the branch again to the trunk and cat.
“Hold onto your pendant and say, ’Oeuvre la port.’” There, the cat dug furiously at the trunk, the bark weeping with running sap. Ain-u-tep was yowling and murmuring something unintelligible all the while Andi murmured the words and held onto the Jinni’s jade pendant. Then a flash of green light and all was darkness.
☼
“Oh man, what did you do. Cat? Where are we?” Andi moaned.
“Sh.” Cat hissed. “Wait for a moment.”
A strange rotting odor permeated the air. Cat nimbly moved past Andi’s legs. Andi felt about, one side had a fibrous surface, then only humid air on the other. “It’s cooler in here … wherever, here is.” She said. Again, a dim green glow began to emerge as she shifted about the side with the wall.
“Drop to your knees and crawl.”
“Cat, will you stop with all the mysterious stuff, let me put on my flashlight, here.”
“Stop. Just crawl and follow my voice, do not look.”
Something flitted past Andi’s face, and she let out a shriek.
“Now you did it. Hurry!”
Another thing hit her head. Andi felt the cat beside her urging her down through a narrow opening, still, there was a green glow, the horrible smell and now something made a slithering sibilant sound.
“Is that you?”
“Sh.”
Andi put one hand on the cat’s back to steady her as she continued to slide in a downward motion. Then the light grew brighter as they emerged from what seemed to be a tunnel or chute. Ain-u-tep agilely jumped across a four-foot gap, while Andi felt her way across. A deep cut seemed to let air and a tiny bit of light into the gloom.
“My Lord, I am here.”
Andi felt the cat in front of her, a dim outline of smokiness clinging to the edge of a ledge. She looked down and saw something, a pile of rags huddled on the littered ground. “Why is the floor moving and the ceiling too?”
“Wait here. Take out the fruit and your little knife.”
“My knife!”
“I saw you slip it in your pack.”
Andi pulled out the items, and before she could query what to do with them, Ain-u-tep knocked the fruit out of her hands. It fell with a soft thud near the rags. “Your knife, throw it down too.” The cat followed the path of the knife.
Andi watched as the cat approached the rags, the animal batted the heavy fruit near the pile. She witnessed the pile move then a dark hand reached out to the cat. A raspy voice deep with fatigue and wear spoke to the cat. The cat quickly turned about in a circle three times, and whatever was on the floor of this strange place took flight.
Andi covered her head as winged dark things flew upward. “Bats!” She shone her penlight around her and quickly extinguished it as she caught the glimmer of many eyes and writhing shapes. “Cat, hurry, I don’t like it here.” She whispered and shied from something moving along the ledge toward her.
Suddenly, she was on the floor with the cat and the person. “Phew! Man, it stinks.” She held her nose but looked at the person. Its hair was matted and long, nearly to its knees, short stumpy legs and big bare feet stuck out of the rags. It wore metal rings and chains around the skinny ankles and wrists. She watched as the person cut open the fruit and then began to suck on the inner flesh.
“Bitter, but needed,” he said, yet her ears heard him say something else. “Thank you, my friend. You are here to help me escape my dungeon? Or is your visit only out of pity?”
The cat crouched on the floor looking like a black stone, shook her head. “Your master is loose in the world again, Sefu.”
“That is too bad. While I do not like it here, maybe I am safer than you.”
“He put you here. It is time for you to return to the light. I finally have a key.”
Andi sitting on her knees, listened to the interchange for a few minutes wondering why the dull echoes of their voices were in another language yet she understood them. The acrid smell became more familiar as the man chewed the sour fruit, overpowering the other rotten odor around them. She wondered what it was. The ragged man seemed to be slowly coming alive, somehow refreshed and strengthened by eating the fruit. She took out her thermos of water and offered him a cup of it. His nails long, filthy, and ragged, scraped her hand when taking the cup. He sipped it slowly. He seemed to be uncurling from his nested position among the refuse on the floor, which she now saw were dead leaves and many tiny bones. She blanched and her stomach roiled wondering if the man’s diet had been the bats.
Obsidian eyes in a dark bearded face turned to her, the voice slightly stronger. “Yes, child, bats and snakes. This fruit is the best I have feasted upon in many years.”
Stunned, she shifted her weight and awkwardly fell back against the wall. “Where are we? A prison?”
“Yes, inside a living baobab tree. While it lives, I die.” He said with a small choking noise.
“You must be starving,” Andi rummaged in her pack and passed over two granola bars.
But the man shook his head. “No, you keep them for yourself. I have but two teeth.”
Nausea rose, causing Andi to vomit. Wiping her face, she apologized. “I don’t know why I did that,”
Cat stepped closer to Andi and sniffed her. “We must go now. Kitten is affected by Sawan’s spell. Are you ready, my lord?”
“Yes, maybe.”
The chains and manacles fell to the ground as he struggled to stand. Supporting himself against the wall, he breathed heavily. “I have not stood in a long time.” He glanced down at the irons and easily slid them from his bony wrists, and then stepped out of the ones on his legs. “I am but a string. I can see now that I could have escaped them some time in the past. But where could I go …” he left the statement hang in the humid air.
“Not really, you had no hope, now you do. You have a reason to return to the living above.”
“I am Lazarus, raised from the dead.”
The cat seemed to smile and rubbed against his bony knees. “I give you strength and hope, dear Sefu. Come, walk with me.” She said and spun about three times saying something.
Andi watched them disappear in a puff of green smoke. The darkness grew about her. She waited patiently for what seemed like long minutes, then began to cry.
“Cat? Where are you? Come back.” She could feel the humidness of the tree and ground. In the gloom, she felt about the girth of the tree, stepping carefully around the lumpy base and large roots. Parts of the lower ceiling moved, and parts were higher. She began to fear that she was lost, stuck in the man’s prison when the cat dropped from the ceiling upon her. She screamed which was a bad idea, for the prison denizens squeaked and moved about. Several bats struck her head and face in their frenzied flight. “Get me outta here, Cat!”
“As you wish, Kitten.”
Brilliant tangerine sunshine heated her limpid limbs as Andi collapsed upon the rough ground. She lay for a long moment, then rolled to her back. Heavy dark clouds tinged with rose and orange hovered above and on the horizon. Heat radiated in waves above the swaying grasses. She heard a roar and then a bass rumbling. She wondered if somehow the dragon had returned. But then she saw clouds of dust rise as several elephants thundered across the savanna. She felt her body and limbs then finding them whole, she stood.
The earth and everything was tinged in the exquisite glow of the setting orb on the horizon. The words flowed poetically in her mind, as she breathed in the spicy dust, the tang of the dried grasses, the acrid smell of the baobab trees nearby. Their spidery arms like entangled roots jutted up into the sky, while their bloated belly trunks and many root legs kept them earthbound. She saw the ragged man drilling a hole in the bark of the tree nearest them. Drops of water drizzled into the Thermos cup he held in his filthy hands. Now in the sunlight of the fading day, she could see him properly. Short of height, bowlegged, skinny as a skeleton, he stood patiently as the cup filled. He sipped some then turned and carefully padded to her. “Drink, little sister. You will be refreshed.”
Again, her mind translated his foreign words. Normally, she would have cringed and refused the cup, afraid of the germs, but his glowing black eyes had an intensity to them, and she was compelled to obey. The water was refreshing and she felt cleansed.
Cat paced about, her tail waving, then she said, “Go bathe, my friend, the river is only a short way from here.”
“I can smell the water and my soul leaps at the chance. Thank you, my friend.” He bent and stroked the cat, then picking up a long stick, using it as a crutch, he hobbled through the tall grass toward the sunset.
They followed the strange man to the river. In places, it flowed brown and muddy, and in others, a foamy green passed to clear around the rocks. He waded into the water and bathed, sometimes dunking down then erupting from the water like a breaching fish, gulping for air. Soon, he emerged from the river, his rags now white and clinging about his frail body. “I am renewed.”
He bent to pluck leaves from a bush and used them to briskly dry his ebony skin till it shone in the dimming light. “Make us a fire and I will catch us fish. I have not eaten one in a long time.”
Cat smiling, winked and then pawed at the dirt. A fire sprang up and she settled among the rocks on the riverbank to bask in the fire’s heat.
Andi felt like an observer, to the strange pair. She smelled badly too, so she shed her coat and bathed her face and hands in the river water. Then following the example of Sefu, she used some of the oily leaves, finding they were aromatic like eucalyptus cough drops, leaving her skin fresh and tingling. She hunkered near the fire opposite the cat.
The glow from the fire now their only light as the hazy red and tangerine along the horizon faded to purple and then indigo. The stars twinkled in the heavens above and the moon was a lazy half hanging in the sky. She thought it curious that it was a full moon when they left home earlier today. She sat drowsily pondering the conundrum wondering how much time had elapsed both here and at home. She also worried if anyone missed her. She thought of Scott in jail and said a prayer for him whether to comfort him or what, she didn’t know. “God help him … and us.” She added and rose to pace about the cheery chuckling fire which seemed to have no end of fuel. “I wish we had marshmallows.” she mused.
“A fish is better.” Cat said with a smile as Sefu returned with several small fishes. He used Andi’s knife to clean them then spitted their bodies on a stick and leaned them on the hot rocks around the fire. Soon, their skins were crisping, their flesh steaming and Sefu laid each fish on a broad leaf. He pulled some grasses and chaffed them between his hands, letting the herbs settle on the fishes. He passed one to Andi and another he put on the ground for the cat. Ain-u-tep pawed at the hot fish, it flaked and she delicately ate the steaming pieces.
Andi was grossed out knowing there were bones, and she didn’t like the cloudy eye staring back at her. She set the leaf wrapped fish on a rock. “Mr. Sefu you may have my fish.”
Cat growled amid gobbling her fish. “You must eat something more than your snacks. The fish is good.”
The man was wolfing down his portions, and wiped a ragged sleeve across his messy face. “Yes, the best, next to the fruit, I have eaten today.” He looked over to Andi and asked, “Do you not wish to accept my gift of thanks for my freedom?”
His voice sounded hurt. Andi shook her head, “It’s not that, sir. I do not eat meat of any kind.”
“She is a vegetarian.” Cat added.
“Ah, an Essene.”
“I don’t know what that is, but thanks anyway. I am just glad we could help you, sir.” She shifted about and went near the cat. “Are we going home tonight?”
“No. Soon enough.” Cat purred between bites of her meal.
Andi drank some of her water and ate a packet of raisins. The susurrus of the gently waving grasses, the nearby rippling river and a few brave night birds lulled her to sleep. She was warm near the fire and knowing that the cat and Sefu were near, she did not fear the night on the savannah.
☼
It was in the early morning that she awoke to a huffing noise answered by a deep, resonant growl. She sat upright and watched as a pride of lions lazing in the brush near their fire began to move away. Their golden saucer eyes lit by the fire. A pair of leggy cheetahs suddenly sprang away through the tall grass. She sat still in awe of the beautiful but deadly beasts. She searched for cat and Sefu, and found them sitting together on a large rock at the edge of the river. She wondered what they were saying, and how they had all survived the night amid the lions and cheetahs.
She stretched and reached for her backpack which had become her pillow. The air was slightly chilly and damp near the river and she pulled on her jacket. She dug about for the thermos, drank and ate more raisins and part of a granola bar. She watched as the man and cat sauntered along the river bank to the low fire. There were more fish steaming on hot rocks and she gulped wishing she had better food. Perhaps she could pick another fruit and eat that, even though they smelled a bit overripe. The man had enjoyed eating it, but then again, he had been eating a terrible diet for who knew how long! Anything else would taste terrific.
She did a double take as the man easily sat in a Lotus position near the fire. Even though his skin was dark, he looked rosy cheeked, healthier than yesterday. His clean nails were trimmed, his hair no longer a frowsy mass of matted mess. It hung in loose long spirals, not frowsy dreadlocks but curls. He was leanly handsome. He no longer had sores on his legs, feet, and hands. Her mind suddenly flew to the Bible stories, maybe Sefu was Lazarus, risen from the dead and now thriving among the living. His voice no longer raspy and feeble, it had a soft timber and almost sing-song tone. His transformation through the night was miraculous.
Andi found herself watching and listening to the muted conversation between Ain-u-tep and Sefu, not understanding it at all, the language strangely accented. Yet they seemed old friends, for he petted and stroked the cat and she in return, touched him or sat on his lap, purring and gazing up at him.
A dazzling gilded eye rose over Andi’s shoulder. Its heat imminent and radiant. It was as if everything on the earth awoke at once: the buzzing of many insects, the chirp and call of birds, the trumpeting of elephants, yodeling yips of hyenas, the braying of giraffes and zebras, the roar of lions and rasping calls of cheetahs echoed in a discordant symphony along the savanna.
Sefu stood and stretched his limbs to the sky, his head tilted back, eyes closed as he breathed in the morning dewy air. Ain-u-tep repeated his movements, lithely stretching and yawning. She opened her green eyes, reflecting the rising sun and spoke to Andi.
“Kitten, meet Lord Sefu Tinotenda, a very old friend of mine. He is like your Saint Francis, a friend to all creatures.”
Andi stepped to the pair and offered her hand to the man, who stood only a little taller than she. He warmly grasped it and held it for a long moment.
“It is well with you this morning?” he inquired kindly, his dark eyes intent on her face.
Andi nodded. “And you?”
The man beamed a winsome smile, now with small clean teeth and dimples, his beard neatly shaved into a line along his jaw and chin. “It is well with me.” Patting her hand, he said, “Come, let’s eat. I have something good for you.”
Andi followed him to the large rock, there were several fruits and a little gourd dish of mashed grains. “Oatmeal?”
“No, but good. Try it.” He motioned to dip with her fingers and eat.
She did and tasted the cooked grains. “Good. Sweet. Thanks so much.” She sat on the ground and ate nearly all the grains and a greenish-yellow fruit resembling a mango but it was tarter. Then she remembered her manners. “Would you like some too? You are starving.”
“No child,” he patted her head, “this is yours. Ain-u-tep and I have fish.” Seeing her happily eating another piece of fruit he left her, joining the cat. They devoured the small fishes and he a pair of the yellow fruits. The pair trotted to the river and washed then returned. Sefu picked up his stick and silently walked away into the dawning sunlight.
Andi was unsure if she should follow. She wiped her face on her sleeve, feeling oddly satisfied by the breakfast. She went to the cat, who was kicking dirt on the fire.
“Help me put out the fire.” The cat yowled.
Andi wanted to ask what they would do next, but it seemed moot for the cat ran off after Sefu. She checked to make sure the fire was out, even taking a few handfuls of river water and pouring it on the coals and dirt. She kicked mud on the dead fire and then trudged after the pair.
☼
They walked into the sun for what seemed like hours, until it hung high over them like a brutal, hot eye. Earlier, she had abandoned her coat, stuffing it in her backpack, then tied her plaid over-shirt around her waist, and wore a scarf over her head. She felt the heat soaking into her pale skin like hot oil, sizzling and a little painful, yet they walked on in absolute silence. She wanted to say something, and was eager for her companions to talk, but they did not. She could tell the little cat was tiring, for she was limping slightly on a hind foot, and running a little to keep up with the fast walking Sefu. His stick an ever-moving pendulum swinging back and forth as he trekked along the sometimes, rocky ground.
They came to a forest at the edge of the plains, there were giant baobab trees, and many others Andi could not identify, but if she was to guess, it might be the beginning of a jungle. As they walked today, she took note of the many animals living on the plains. She laughed at the silliness of the phrase, ‘Lion, King of the Jungle’.
“They don’t live in jungles, and neither do the giraffes or elephants.” She grumbled. “Those Tarzan and old safari movies got it wrong.”
She did find it odd, that every so often she would hear footsteps behind her or a rustle of the grasses. She would look back and at times there would be a few animals following. “Sefu is the pied piper of Africa.” She giggled and avoided stepping in a huge pile of animal droppings. The little birds darted away from the pile but returned when she left. “Gross.”
Everything today was a ‘little gross’. She hated reptiles and creepy-crawly things, yet she had been inside a tree with snakes and bats. She had watched the man catch and kill fish and he and the cat ate them. She had avoided termite and ant colonies, several feet high. She watched with amusement hyrax sunning themselves on the rocks, and the antics of ground dwelling rodents running and jumping into their colony holes. Meerkats popped up from their homes, sniffing and barking at them. She had seen soaring birds of prey hunt and vultures and hyenas feasting on the dead.
She shivered even though it was hot. She was bug-bitten and scratched at a few places. Her feet felt blistered and swollen from walking so long as did her tongue. She sipped a little water, feeling it soothe her scratchy throat. Finally, she screwed up enough courage to shout, “Are we gonna eat lunch or stop any time soon? I’m hungry and thirsty.”
Sefu must have heard her. He stopped and immediately sat in the high grass. She came even with him and cat and panting, bent to them to catch her breath. “We must have walked miles by now. Are we getting there, I mean where you want to go?”
Cat licked her paws and washed her ears. Grooming, she answered, “We have one more day,” she blinked up at Andi to then say, “although if you continue to complain and stop to rest, it will take longer.”
Andi gaped, “I haven’t complained, not one word.”
“Maybe not out loud, but we can hear you. Every step and blunder into the brush, is an ouch or an exclamation. Sefu does not like your crude words.”
Embarrassed, Andi shook her head but offered, “Well, you are limping. And what about him? He was in prison yesterday and starving to death. How can he go for so long with nothing to eat or drink?”
Cat sat up and licked her shoulder. “It is his way. But if you must eat or rest then we shall.”
Sefu finally spoke. “If you can go a little farther, we shall have the protection of the trees. There are other beasts out here that are not friendly but will not go into the trees.”
She could hear a few screams and barks from the trees. “What are those?”
“Baboons and some howlers.”
“Baboons can be vicious. I saw a show on Animal Planet once,” Andi remarked but held her ground. “I don’t know if I want to stay there. And what about the snakes? I hate them.”
Sefu nodded, “As do I. But, we should move on now and take a little time later to make sleeping nests in the trees. Night does come all too soon.”
Andi sighing, nodded. “Okay, but just so you know, I’m probably in really big trouble by now. Mom and Dad are gonna kill me.”
Sefu rose from the ground, he came to Andi. Putting a gentle hand on her cheek, he asked, “Is it that they might worry or that you are afraid? Or is it something else?”
“I am just scared … about everything.” She looked nervously about and into the nearby grove of trees. “I’ve never been out in the boonies like this. I couldn’t even go to Scout camp, without freaking out.”
“Freaking out. This is a bad thing?”
“Yeah.”
Sefu put his arm about Andi, “You have greater courage than you know. It is only for a night. Besides, you have your friends to guard you and this,” he pointed to the amulet. “It once belonged to a great Jinni, it won’t allow harm to come to you or anyone who you care for.” He smiled down at Andi. “Come, we can soon rest for the night. I know a good place for water and food. You will like it.”
She gave in, and walked arm in arm with the short man. Cat kept pace alongside. Andi giggled, “We kind of look like Dorothy, the scarecrow and” she glanced at the cat, “a very tiny lion.” Humming, ‘we’re off to see the wizard’, she trekked into the forest. It soon was dark and dank there. Shivering, she said, “I just hope there are no flying monkeys or the Wicked Witch of the West.”
Cat exchanged some comments with Sefu and they both laughed. He responded, “I promise, no flying monkeys, but maybe a few bats.”
“I can deal with those.”
☼
Their night in the forest was not quiet. The constant rustling of leaves, grasses, and the wind made Andi startle constantly. The slithering of snakes in the tall grass or among the trees, the constant chittering of little Vervet monkeys, the roars and howls of baboons amid some that fought, was not pleasant. She lay awake nearly all night, eyes wide, searching the darkness, yet nothing hurt her or slithered over her. Every so often she heard the huffing and roaring of lions out on the plains in their nocturnal hunts. She wished now they were her guardians again.
Amid the nest of leaves and vines, cat and Sefu curled together, sleeping soundly. Although a few times Andi felt cat’s eyes on her, and heard her voice in her head, “Be brave, Kitten. We do this for the good of all.”
Andi was truly perplexed, why they went on these odd adventures, taking things and then rescuing prisoners. She wondered if Sefu was really someone evil. Yet his gentle demeanor and when he touched her, she only felt at ease with him. He was like her imagination of Jesus, how it might feel to be in his presence, a kindly calm, and wise man, who took away fear and pain. Except Sefu looked far from Jesus, with his dark skin, long curls and rags. Sighing at the odd thoughts, Andi shifted on her nest, a few leaves fluttered to the ground. She closed her eyes to the starry night, saying a prayer, “God keep us all safe tonight. Help Sefu find what he needs. I want to go home.”
The forest was still dark when the trio awoke, but above the trees and between the leaves, a pink tinge grew as the sun came upon the land. Again, Andi was startled by the waking calls of many animals, including a pair of little black-faced monkeys who sat staring at her. As soon as she moved, they screamed and leapt onto another branch then swung away higher into the forest canopy.
She sat up and stretched, yawning away the early morning, oddly feeling ready to take on the challenges of the day again. She followed the example of Sefu and the cat, by climbing down the tree, taking the same paths as they did. Sefu stopped at a tree and using Andi’s knife bore a hole into its trunk. Water splashed down, he drank and motioned for Andi to do the same. Cat licked the running water from the bark. Andi’s stomach growled and made everyone laugh.
They walked for a time through thickets and a jungle of trees, every so often picking a variety of large fruits, and round yellow marble-sized berries covered with a thin papery-husk. They ate nuts, cracking their shells with rocks like the monkeys did. After a time, their grazing ended and Sefu seemed full of purpose. Using his walking stick, he beat and pushed back thick vines and leaves as he walked deeper into the jungle.
They trekked for hours then suddenly came the roaring sound of rushing water. They arrived at an overhang and saw the great Zambezi River rushing through a chasm below. Successive elevated rocks created cascades and pools. Across the river was a deep green jungle. There amid the trees, Andi spied white and blue spires and clay rooftops. “There’s a city over there.” She said excitedly, and pointing. “Is that where we are going?”
Sefu nodded. Tears ran down his hollow cheeks. “Yes.”
Cat brushed against his legs and saying something in another language, she stepped away, her plumed tail waving in invitation.
They walked along the cliff edge of the river until they came to a bridge.
“Uh, that looks really old, and not safe.” Andi said, eyeing the many broken slats and the frayed pieces of huge rope that spanned the chasm.
“It is old.” Sefu commented, “It was built in my time.”
“And that would be how long ago, Sefu?”
Sefu nodded at the cat. “Should we tell her, my pet?”
Cat sighing said, “Over four hundred years ago in your time, Kitten.”
“Wait, are we … um, maybe I should ask, when are we?”
“Twenty-two fifty-three.”
“A.D. or B. C.?”
“In your time.”
“Wow.” Andi sighed in awe. “So, you are really old. How long were you in that prison, Mr. Tinotenda?”
“I have been in many prisons, off and on since sixteen-ninety-nine. The last time since nineteen-fifteen. The French gave me to the traitor, Sawan Ali Bin Laddin Habidi and he did his worst.”
They talked as they wound through the lush vegetation, still with the river in sight, looking for a better way across. She was disheartened when they returned to the rope bridge.
“So why are we in the future?”
“Sawan is long dead, it is safe for me to come out. But his brother, Jameel Jafari Habidi the Evil, is in power again in your time.” He nodded to the cat, “Ain-u-tep has been telling me all about the horribleness that has been set upon your world, again. It is an uprising of many factions who will soon bring your world to war if your world leaders do not defeat them.”
“So why are we here?” Andi shivered with fear, wondering why she was involved in all this mess.
“We must recover a great artifact and I will rebuild my kingdom here. I once had power and many people as allies, great tribes at my call, but it is different now. I am hidden here, and I can begin to do my work.”
Andi realized they were walking on the bridge and she had followed the pair while they were talking. Ain-u-tep leapt from slat to slat easily. But Andi gulped at the height and kept her eyes on Sefu’s shoulders as he walked casually across the decrepit bridge. She knew one misstep or a foot to fall in between and she might plummet to the river below. “I never knew there was such a river. This is like an Indiana Jones movie. Cool.”
She heard Sefu and the cat exchanging laughs. But Sefu answered, “Yes, this is a great adventure, but one that we must desperately achieve for peace in your world and perhaps now in mine.” He stepped upon solid land and turned about to reach a hand to Andi. He hugged her, “There, you have done well, child.”
Andi looked back across the vast expanse, noting many places that she could have easily fallen through, yet she made it. “Whew! That was something.”
“Yes, you are something.” He spread his arms, “Welcome to Moyo, my former kingdom, it once, was the heart of its people.” The man seemed to swallow hard, then said, “According to my cat, my people are no more.”
“Your cat?” Andi queried, caught on several points of Sefu’s words. “And you are a king?”
Ain-u-tep daintily rubbed against Sefu’s thin legs, saying, “Yes, I am his pet and life-long friend. We help each other when times are grave, such as now. We must continue, my friends. Hurry, before darkness falls.”
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