THE SHORT WAY

I sank rapidly until my legs hit the bottom of the river. The current pulled me away and the thought of drowning crushed everything else out of my mind and caused me to beat the water frantically. My hands spread around grabbing at the water and catching nothing.

My lungs screamed in pain and my muscles felt as if two horses were pulling them apart. My head broke out of the water at last, and I took an automatic deep breath, easing the pain in my chest. I rubbed the water off my face and saw Tolu and Mr. Potter standing on the bank, their clothes dripping water. 

'Run,' Tolu cried. 'Run.'

I turned. Joseph and Bayo had reached the other side of the river. Joseph stopped and raised his hand. I waddled faster, my heart beating rapidly. 

'Don't shot them, you baboon,' Eric's voiced cried somewhere far and disappeared in the cry of the gun shot. I heard the slugs zipped pass in the water. I came out of the river and into the grasses, just about the time I heard two loud splashes from the river. 

Mr. Potter and Tolu were gone by the time I reached the grasses. I glanced across the river and saw Joseph and Bayo swimming toward the bank with amazing speed. I turned and ran after Tolu and Mr. Potter, breaking through the thick shrubs and twigs that covered the way. 

'Tolu,' I yelled, not seeing him or Mr. Potter. I increased my pace, fighting the green twigs and grasses, my lungs burning as if hot towels had been stuffed in them. 

I heard the sound of the passing truck before I saw the road. A huge relief fell over me and I increased my pace. 

I bumped into Mr. Potter standing alone by the edge of the road, panting and staring at the left side of the road. I looked in that direction and saw Tolu running up ahead. The road ran ahead of him for almost a kilometer before it turned into a corner around a bunch of trees. The road was deserted and looked rough—a road meant for trucks carrying timbers. 

'Tolu,' I shouted. 'Wait.'

Tolu turned but did not stop. 

'Let's go,' I said and started after Tolu. 

'Wait,' Mr. Potter said, his breath still coming in rapid paces. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder. 'Wait a minute.'

I stopped. 'What? What are you waiting for? They will be here any moment.'

Mr. Potter pointed to our right. 'Let's go that way; it's shorter.'

I looked at the direction of his hand. 'How do you know it's shorter? Tolu is going that way.'

'This way is shorter,' Mr. Potter said and began to run in the opposite direction.

I stood for a second looking after him and then turned to look at Tolu. Then I understood what he meant. Going to the right will take us to a turn faster than Tolu will have gotten to the turn on the direction he took. 

'Hey,' I cried after Mr. Potter. 'Wait.' 

He did not stop. I turned one more time in Tolu's direction; he was far away by now, but he had not gotten to the turn. He was as visible as an Apple logo. Joseph and Bayo will see him as soon as they get to the road.

'Wait,' I called out again, running after Mr. Potter.

Mr. Potter raised his hand and beckoned me over, but he did not wait. I chased him and we soon took the turn, going out of sight before Joseph and Bayo got to the road. Mr. Potter slowed down and I caught up with him.

'Let's get off the road,' he said, panting heavily. His face had turned a darkish pink. 'They might share themselves to take both ways of the road.'

He left the center of the road and walked toward the grasses on the edge of the road. He parted the grasses, looked ahead and took the first step forward. He repeated the movement and took another step. I followed him, wondering why he was so careful. He squatted in the grasses about five paces from the road and I did the same. We could see the road from this position, but it would be difficult for anyone to spot us from the road.

'Blimey,' Mr. Potter said. 'I haven't had this kind of exercise for ages.'

'Do you think they will catch up with him if they go the other way?' 

'I don't know. He had a good start.'

'He ran and left us!'

Mr. Potter chuckled. 'Don't blame him. Toolu is a survivor; he is always watching out for his good. It's a primal instinct.'

I looked at the road. 'Did you see the truck? Where was it heading?'

Mr. Potter pointed in the direction we were going toward, opposite where we came from.

'I saw it a couple of seconds after it passed,' he said. 'By the time Toolu got to the road it had gone far. Maybe we will see another and get a ride out of this place.'

'We have to go; I don't want the night to meet us here. There are bound to be armed robbers and snakes creeping around in the night.'

Mr. Potter stood up and strapped the bag on his shoulder.

'Let's go,' he said, and walked briskly back to the road.

 I shuffled through the grass and met him by the road. The road remained as bare and lonely as the streets of New York under lockdown.

'Let's see where this road leads to,' I said.

Mr. Potter adjusted the bag on the shoulder, and we walked on, turning occasionally to watch our back. Our clothes still stuck to our bodies, but they weren't as cold as when we came out of the river. 

I said: 'I hope this way is not a dead end. We could be moving away from civilization and help, for all we know.'

Mr. Potter chuckled but said nothing. We walked in silence, with the leaves on the trees overhead waving at us and the birds chirping incessantly. 

'There!' Mr. Potter said. 'Look there. A house! Help at last. They should be able to help us. Let's go.'

I looked in the direction of his hand. I saw no house at first, and then I saw it. It was partially hidden by a cluster of trees. We ran toward it, and as we got closer, my excitement waned. The entrance's door, ribbed brown by the activities of termites, hung askew on the lower hinge and green fungi covered the walls. Tall grasses stood on the entrance to the house, giving it a look of abandonment. The windows were gone, and half of the roof was opened, probably stolen or blown away by wind. 

We reached the front of the house and stopped in front of the tall grasses.

'This is a ghost house,' Mr. Potter said. 'I suppose our journey continues, doesn't it?'

I nodded. 'There is nothing here. Let's keep moving.'

Mr. Potter sighed. 'I am tired. Maybe we should hide in there and wait for the next truck to come by.'

I shook my head before he finished speaking. 'Not a good idea. This will be the first place the gang with look if they come this way.'

'You are right. But I am tired. Can we find a place to rest before we go on?'

'Where?' I asked. 

'Anywhere under a tree,' he said. 'My only fear is for those creepy things.'

'Snakes?' 

He nodded. 'No point running away from the gang and only to get killed a snake, is there?'

I thought about the snake in my dream. 'We just need to watch out and to be—'

'Hey,' Mr. Potter cried. 'Look at that tree. Over there.' he was pointing to my back. 'It's the biggest I have ever seen.' He walked toward it. 'Let's stay under it for a while to catch our breath.'

I followed him, and up ahead, the huge tree stood over the other trees like a skyscraper over duplexes, and its branches spread out widely at the top giving it the shape of an umbrella. 

'This is a wonder of nature,' Mr. Potter said, walking hurriedly toward the tree. I followed him, looking at the tree and checking our back as well. He got to the tree and stood looking at the protruding roots, large and whitish, like ridges crisscrossing the ground. The trunk was as big as the middle of a gas truck.

'Wow,' Mr. Potter said. 'You could hide a Toyota Prius behind these roots, and no one will see—'

We heard the sound of the engine at the same time. 

'Quick,' I shouted, 'behind the roots.' 

We ran to the tree and hid behind tree's gigantic and exposed roots. The sound came not from our back, but from where we were headed, and it drew nearer to our position. We kept our heads low behind the root, hearing the cranking of the engine coming closer and getting louder by the seconds. It wasn't the sound of the truck I had heard earlier. 

'It's the jeep,' Mr. Potter whispered. 'It's the gang; they don't give up, do they?'

You think? I thought but said nothing. 

The sound was louder now, and the jeep passed slowly, the way a patrol jeep would pass an area under suspicion. Then the sound stopped.

I raised my head slowly over the top of the root and looked at the road. The jeep had parked in front of the dilapidated house and Dracula and Eric came out of the jeep after a couple of seconds and walked toward the house. They got to the door the stopped. Dracula spoke to Eric and Eric nodded. Eric turned, came down the stairs and walked through the grasses, going behind the house.

'They are going into the house,' I whispered. 

Mr. Potter said: 'That was close. I hope they don't see this tree and come this way.'

Dracula brought out a pistol from the inside his hip pocket and walked into the house.

He walked with the caution of a cat stalking a mouse.