Chapter 14

"So what should I do? Should I take her to the river now?" Adigun asked. 

"Please do...and be careful so that my mother doesn't sense her presence yet. She'll be furious." Enitan handed the suckled baby back to Adigun.

Nodding, Adigun wrapped up the child in a piece of cloth and carefully made his way to the river that night. Immediately he was gone, Enitan laid down to rest unaware of the men who were lurking in the farm, having surrounded the hut earlier on. When Adewale was sure that Adigun had left, he and his men emerged from their hideouts bearing torches and clubs.

His plan was to kidnap the mermaid and take her into hiding where he would forcefully make her answer his every beck and call. Leading the way, Adewale stealthily moved towards the hut and when he saw the mermaid taking a repose, he signalled to his four strongest men to follow him into the hut.

Immediately, Adewale pounced on Enitan and clamped a hand over her mouth while two strong men held down her tail and two other men pinned her hands to the floor. Enitan's eyes flew open in alarm and she immediately sensed danger when she saw a man she had never seen before smirking down at her.

Ripping the necklace from her neck, Adewale pulled it loose and quickly tucked it into the pocket of his sokoto. "Mo ti ka e leni. (I've caught you today!)"

Enitan tried to struggle free but she was strongly restrained. Adewale stood up and scrutinized her body, taking every detail in. "Carry her." He ordered his men but when they tried to lift her off the bed, they only groaned under her weight and gave up, especially because her struggling made it very difficult. 

"My prince, it's not possible o. She's very heavy." One of the men at the tail complained.

Adewale was furious. "So you mean as strong as you four men are, you can't carry a common woman?" He asked in disgust.  

"But my prince, this is no ordinary woman, this is a mermaid." The first man pinning down Enitan's right hand stated.

Adewale paused as he took a good look at Enitan. "If she can't be taken with us, I could as well have her right here...who knows..." He hesitantly said with a lecherous look on his face. "I might become very powerful if I'm to lay with her... She looks hideous anyway and taking her might bring me nothing but nightmares and misfortune. The old man said the necklace is more important and I already have that in my possession." Then he began to scrutinize her body as if searching for something. "Can any of you figure out where her womanhood is?" He asked.

One of the two men holding down her tail noticed her slit and said, "I'm not sure, but that might be it." He gestured with his chin at Enitan's pelvic.

"Let's try it out, shall we? Hold her down very well! I don't want her clawing my eyes out whilst I'm in ecstasy." Adeola said and took off his traditional agbada, and when Enitan realised what was about to happen, she began to scream and struggle even more.

Her scream was so distinct and deliberate that it went straight to Adigun who was lowering the baby into the shallow part of the river near the bank. In alarm, Adigun gasped, turning his head back towards the direction of his farm. Sensing that his lover was probably in trouble, he got up and immediately raced for the farm, abandoning his baby in the water. For now, Enitan was more important to him than the baby was.