CHAPTER EIGHT

Instantly the old man was on his guard again. 'There must be a man somewhere in the background' he thought. 'What woman with an infant would be wandering around the forest unprotected? She could be a trap; but if there was a young man out there who wished to kill him, what could he do'? He took up fee twigs he had broken and turned to leave.

"sekuru(grandfather) , please do not throw me to the beasts of the night. Help me! But if you would not help your daughter, the please save my son. He has not yet tasted life, he must not die so soon.

The baby's strong, incessant crying and the mother's entreaty touched the old man. He hesitated then turned back to her. From her speech he realised she was a stranger to the area. He decided that whether she was alone or not, he would help. Cautiously he approached mother and child and asked:

"Where have you come from my child; and why are you travelling alone?"

"I am Sekai from Chief Zvedi's Village." she hesitated, not wishing to reveal everything until she was assured of shelter for the night... Darkness was fast gathering around them, so the old man kindly said: "Come, my child, we will talk in my hut."

Gratefully but with many misgivings, Sekai followed him up the slope and down the other side. As they walked conflicting thoughts flitted through Sekai's mind. She was torn between trust and fear. The old man's grey hair, his kindly voice and friendly manner reminded her of Chief Zvedi. And he seemed almost as old as her Chief. She therfore want to trust him. On the other hand, he could be a wizard, who might kill her and her precious baby during the night. But if he was a wizard, she could not really escape from him. And where else could she spend the night? In the old man's hut, death was a possibility; out in the bush with the wild animals it would almost be a certainty. She decided to take her chances with the man.

Having made her decision, Sekai relaxed; her mind felt at ease. Soon they arrived at the old man's hut. He threw down his bundle of twigs beside the embers of a fire outside his door.

Sekai put down her spear and knobkerry, knelt, began breaking twigs and putting on the fire. Soon it was blazing again. While she was making the fire, the old man went inside the hut. Her immediate task was finished, Sekai gazed about her. From the many fires which she saw blazing merrily she realised that there were many dwellings farther down the slope. The hut to which she had come was a little apart from the others in the village. From the fact that the old man had been collecting his own firewood, Sekai knew that he had no wife.

Sekai was so absorbed in her thought that she did notice that the old man had returned and was standing behind her. She was startled by his voice.

"Here my daughter" he said, offering her a calabash of sour milk and a large lump of 'sadza'. "Eat this and then we will talk.

Sekai sat down carefully on the grass and began to eat. However, she kept Takadini securely tied to her back. As she ate she continued to glance around the old man and at her surroundings. She judged that his was about one hundred paces from the restsof the huts.

Why was he not part of the village? When next she stole a glance at him she thought she saw the flicker of a smile on his face. He had been looking at the bundle on her back. Sekai shivered. Yet, neither the look in his eyes nor his smile seemed evil.

"I have heard of Chief Zvedzi," he began. "Here you are in the village of Chief Masasa, and I am Chivero, the 'N'anga'. Welcome to our village. Now, my daughter tell me why you're travelling alone and where you are going."

With appropriate modesty and respect, Sekai replied :

"I and my fathers thank you for your kindness, baba Chivero." she stopped talking and searched her mind for words as she realised the true nature of her predicament. Where would she go when daylight came again? She had ran away from her husband's people and in her flight and fear had rejected returning to her parent's village. What was she going to do if these people did not wish to have her child among them. She decided to risk her fate on the natural kindness which she sensed in Chivero.

"Baba, you are a father to me, so hear my case and judge me. For nine years my husband and I longed for a child but none came to me. And then one day I knew I was pregnant. My shame was taken away, my husband's love for me grew strong again; and my Co wives and the other women respected me. I had great hope of giving my husband his first son because all the children of the other wives were females Then when my time cam, I gave birth to 'this'!" Sekai's voice failed as the tears flowed freely while she fumbled to untie the 'gudza'. Opening it she revealed to Chivero the creamy coloured infant she was carrying. Takadini began to cry. His mother stopper Ed his mouth with a full breast. At the sight of the baby, the old man's mouth dropped open revealing his toothless gums. He covered his fave with one hand while he scratched his grey beard with the other. But he did bit interrupt Sekai.

"Ambuya Tukai, the midwife, wanted to kill my child but I refused. My Co - wives jeered at me; my husband's disappointment was great and not even his love for me could overcome it. Makwati rejected our son. He did not want him, would not even touch him. As if all that was not enough, the elders were going to test if I was a witch and my son an evel spirit. So I fled before the trail because my husband said they were going to kill both myself and my child. Baba, as your child, I ask you, what can I do?" There was panic and desperation in her voice.

Baba Chivero stroked his white beard, but for a long time said nothing. He sat staring into the fire which like a" magic lantern" rolled back time and erased distance, mixing past, present and future. 'he was a young man again lying in his hut with his beloved Shuvai. When she cried out that her time had come, he had rushed out in the early morning mist to call the old midwife. And Chivero remembered the pian in Shuvai' s face and voice when a fee days later she said to him as he proudly held their daughter :

"There were two of them, my husband ; we had a son also, but Ambuya took I'm away."

"Why" What have they done with him?" he had foolishly asked in his ignorance of his youth. And he remembered the grief which he and Shuvai had secretly nursed for many years. He had never fathered another son.

A short snort which, with a smile Baba Chivero recognised as the beginning of a snore, jerked him back to the present. "Yes my daughter I understand," he said softly, gently as if speaking with himself. "I have lived long and seen much. I have been a warrior and travelled far to raid and kill; and I have seen my wives and children slaughtered by the enemy when it was our turn to be raided. I came to realise that it was better that the died in infancy before the grow to twine around your heart.

"No," said Sekai. "Sekuru, you do not understand. You are a man. For you, love begins with what you see and accept. My husband Makwati longed for a son. When I became pregnant he made a son in his mind and loved that one which he saw. Now he does not want this child which is different from the one he made. But I loved the life which was growing in me, and no matter what form it took, I would love it just the same. I will live this child all my life and if possible I will give my life to protect him, sekuru. "

" Yes, my daughter, I understand much more than you think, " answered baba Chivero. " So you are fleeing from your people in order to tmsave the life of your son. I have never seen anyone like him before; and why? Because our people destroy them as soon as they are born. They are different and they do not fit in. We don't like sudden changes ;we prefer when change creeps up on us like a chameleon, slowly and unnoticed."

He yawned and rubbed his eyes then added" Not leap into our midst suddenly like a frog to frighten us."

Chivero lapsed into silence for so long that Sekai thought he was asleep. He shook his head as if to dispel the encroaching fog of slumber, and spoke again:

"Tomorrow I will speak to the chief on your behalf. You are young and desirable; I am sure he will welcome you among us. But for now you may light the fire in my cooking hut and spend the night there."

"And what of my son sekuru; will they also want to kill him?"

Old Chivero pulled his beard and sighed.

"That I do not know my child and I cannot tell. I will speak to the Chief; we are two old men, and we are friends. There may be a way, let us hope. But now, sleep sits on my eyelids. Perhaps you too feel his presence. Sleep well, my daughter."

Without waiting for an expression of thanks, baba Chivero Rose and slowly limped into his hut. Sekai returned Takadini to her back, took some twigs and went into the hut indicated by baba Chivero. There she revived the dying fire. She closed the door, spread her 'gudza' not far from the fire and sat down. After removing the baby from her back, she lay down and placed him in the protective semi-circle of her drawn up thighs and loving arms. Exhaustion from the day's events and relief at how they had ended, balanced each other in Sekai's mind and soon she was asleep.