Chapter 7 A Forest of Air

I could not describe my excitement after Kinyua translated that we were to be freed to go back home. We were to be the messengers to deliver a verbal message to our council of elders. They needed us to fight invaders from the south. I for one stood ready to battle any who dared take our territory. After the Maa-rati dispersed to meat, we were taken to the manyatta of the Maa-rati called Lerionka. Here we were plied with loins of cows and our regiment commander shared loud laughter with the Maa-rati warrior. Mukwa Njugu and I sat a little aside, chewing heavily on thighs of goat. Shortly we saw approaching us a group of Maa-rati women, wearing long skins, smeared with red ochre. They had hundreds of beads on their necks, which were long and swayed as they walked. On closer observation I noticed that the leading woman was breathtakingly beautiful. I paused in the act of biting down on tender goat, and noticed that every man was in the same posture.

 The women headed straight to where Lerionka and Kwaria Muniu were seated. They paused two or three paces from the warrior. He stood and touched the forehead of the damsel. A few words were exchanged and I saw the two walk a short distance apart. I let my breath go with a drawn out hiss and noticed everyone had been holding their breath.

 "The woman is stunning," I told Mukwa Njugu amidst powerful chews of my meat. He grunted none commitally. "Not as beautiful as Kui" he muttered as he stripped a bone clean. I looked at the two again. They were obviously in love. It reminded me of my woman back in the village. The urge to leave rose even more.

 After a thorough feast we retired to our manyatta to rest. We intended to head out early the next morning. While resting, we were paid a discourtesy call by Lengoibon. I had seen him only briefly the day of the seer's address of the people. He hadn't seemed happy at what was said. He strode straight into the manyatta, and stood staring at us malevolently.

 He gestured to Kinyua to translate. "My commander, he says we may have somehow gotten the goodwill of the seer, but he isn't fooled. He says that we would be wise to watch our backs because Maa-rati spears will scratch them for us." At his entrance, I had seen our commander Kwaria Muniu perk up like a wolfhound that had smelled prey. Even as the Maa-rati talked, Muniu clenched his fists, his jaw tight, teeth grinding in silent fury. This was interesting. Muniu was rarely so expressive. I pitied the Maa-rati commander. I could not see how his life was going to sustain over the long season. He did not talk with us long, and none was displeased to see the Maa-rati's back. We were left to our own thoughts.

 Early the next morning before even the cocks had gathered themselves to crow, we were gone, escorted by Lerionka's regiment to the outskirts of the village. Each man had his spear and a knobkerrie, some donated by the Maa-rati warriors. Though excited to be on my way back home, I was sorrowful. Of the fifteen men who had left our territory, only nine were making it back, and two would still need plenty of rest to recover fully.

 I inhaled the air deeply, letting the smell of freedom fill my lungs. How sweet the taste, the tang of fresh forest air upon the point of the tongue. This reminded me of why I loved being in the wild so much. We hurried on, not talking, each man with his thoughts. As usual, our commander was deep in thought, caressing his knobkerrie as if it was an aid to discernment. The plains were laid out before us, though it was still dark. We could hear the distant cocks crowing, announcing the dawn of another existence in this vale of tears.

 Mukwa Njugu strode on strongly, sudden enthusiasm evident in his strides, leading me to suspect that the man was eager to see Kui again. Speaking of Kui, I too was eager to see Njokii, my woman. Perhaps she had missed me but one never knew with women. I focused on the road ahead.

 By late afternoon, we had traversed a considerable distance. We were not moving particularly fast because of those with injuries, but I could see that within the next day we would leave the plains and enter deep forest. The plains were teeming with animals, wildebeest, zebras, buffalos and the small roan antelope that cheeters so love to eat.

 Although we had carried plenty of meat, Kwaria Muniu insisted that some of us would hunt the next day. It would not do to appear before the clans empty handed. That evening Muniu identified our camp site near a small stream. We cut green branches and created a lean-to that we then thatched with long leaves and bushes. This lean-to was made such that it had only one exit. We then set about setting up a big bonfire just outside the lean to. Two went to try and catch some fish in the river, two went to look for the biggest logs they could find.

 Once the logs were found, the rest of us all went to help haul them. We positioned them in such a way that they blocked the entrance to our shelter. They were placed parallel to each other then we piled on firewood on the side. Mote then set out on a search. A few moments saw him back with a pile of dry elephant dung. He added some dry leaves and small bits of grass, placed them near the whole lot and sat down cross-legged. He took two sticks, placed one on the ground and squatted. Using his toes, he held it in place. The other stick he held between his palms and started twisting it sharply to and fro against the other. Shortly a tendril of smoke appeared. He used his toes to nudge small bits of grass and dry dung near the smoke. A small blaze sprung from the mixture, which he encouraged by blowing softly. He transferred the flames to the rest of the firewood and soon we had a huge fire going. One warrior dug a hole under the bigger log, to act as an air hole.

 Meat appeared as if by magic from pouches and it was placed strategically on the flames. It was not given time to roast too much before it was quickly devoured. The few fish that were caught were sliced in half. The stomach contents were removed and a stick inserted at the lower fin all the way through and out the mouth. The impaled fish was then placed next to the fire to roast.

 Satiated, we lay carelessly about like a pack of crocodiles. A watch was set, consisting of the uninjured men. It would not do to be too complacent. There were enemies everywhere. Sleep was slow in coming. I had the third watch and I needed to sleep. My mind however was in a disobedient mood. It kept going back to the activities we had witnessed.