Chapter 3 3rd Chapter

"Sh, Quiet! I can hear someone shouting Rabu's name."

Wambui hushed the others who seemed to be absorbed in a hearty conversation as they cut down the shrubs to the ground.

The whole group halted in unison, but they barely heard anything.

"You must be daydreaming. Does anyone hear anything?" Nduna asked them.

"No," they all declined one after another. Then as if trying to spite Wambui said,

"It is too early to dream, my dear," Her voice was imbued with slight sarcasm. The rest agreed with her. Wambui was annoyed. She was sure she wasn't wrong. She glared at them. They pursued their giggles, but she listened intently to the sound. Minutes later, Amelia called out again.

"Rabu.."This time, her voice was audible.

"Wambui was right all along," said Nduna's first son. His mother glared at him feeling ashamed and defeated. Although Wambui and Nduna were both Mahuge's wives, they never got along. Not even their children could help mend their relationship. No one could define the reason for the rift between them; perhaps it was jealousy.

"It is too early to dream!" Wambui mimicked Nduna, "Who is dreaming now?" Wambui asked, ridiculously. The latter's blood boiled. She scowled and stuck her tongue out to provoke Wambui. Noticing that the two women were heating up, Amelia tried to revert curtail them wisely;

"You all have to retire home now. Mahuge wants everyone home." Said Amelia as her small eyes searched around for Rabu.

"Why? what happened?" Asked Wambui.

"Nothing." There's a visitor at home. Rabu and Nisha are urgently needed at home and the same goes for all of you. Wambui looked behind and realised that they had just cleared less than half of what they were supposed to do. Of all the three wives of Mahuge, she was the most hardworking. Perhaps that was why she was Mahuge's favourite. He was sure she would be able to feed his family even when he was gone.

"So soon! Who is that visitor anyway? Whoever it is, this wasn't the right time to pay a visit unannounced."

Amelia keeps quiet after swallowing hard. She loved and respected Wambui so much that she didn't wish to make an issue out of such a small matter. She wanders her eyes across the whole group, and asks,

"Where is Rabu? Didn't he come with you?"

"Where did Rabu go? Didn't he come with us?" Nduna asked.

They were all confused. None of them had noticed Rabu's absence until now.

"Perhaps he has gone for a short call." Suggested Amelia.

"If so, he should have returned by now." Wambui horned in.

Nisha raised his voice and screamed out Rabu's name. The sound of his voice echoed in the forest below them. It was loud enough to chase a stubborn ghost.

Rabu, predicting danger had sped off in the direction of the farm. Suddenly he heard someone shout yell his name and thereupon knew they were searching for him.

"Damn you, Tina!" He mumbled resentfully after listening to the echo of his name. He became tense. "Father will stew me alive." Rabu's fear was raw in his eyes.

" If anything happens to me, I swear you will regret it, Tina."

He thought in his heart and ran as fast as he lay his feet on the ground.

In a moment, Rabu stood at the back of the cleared part and gasped for breath. He was panting like a dog. He gasped for breath.

"Did anyone call for me? I came as soon as you called." He said breathing heavily.

His body was drenched in perspiration.

"You, are you a ghost that appears and disappears instantly?"

Wambui asked Rabu. The latter forges a smile and advances the group.

"I was repairing the fence on the other side. Remember what happened last time when our cows grazed in Juma's garden. I didn't want that mistake to repeat itself." He bolstered confidence in telling his lie.

"You did well my dear, "Nduna appreciated him with a smile.

We better get going before Mahuge calls and..." said Amelia springing into action.

"That was a narrow escape!" Rabu thought and sighed deeply in relief, but he knew that trouble was waiting for him at home.

***

Tina stares in her boyfriend's direction and then glares at her mother without remorse and storms off retreating to her father's compound. She grumbles and curses her mother for meddling in her affairs.

"What a pity to have such an uncomprehending woman as a mother! Is she jealous of me? Why can't she leave me alone to enjoy my life? Selfish woman. The reason why she married papa is the same reason that is driving me into madness. I don't..."

Mauda, having hurled a lot of repulsive insults at Mahuge's son, followed her daughter stomping in great fury, her heart wedged with contempt, fear and bitterness. She grumbled and cursed as tears welled up in her eyes.

Tina composed herself on the levelled ground with her legs stretched. She didn't see her mother come. Mauda stood behind her daughter glaring at her with a grimace. Tina was lost in meditative contemplation. In considerable anger, her mother raised the rod she held in hand, and, summoning all her strength, she landed it on her thin legs. Tina was taken by the storm. She shrieked, jumping off the ground. She stood aloof and groaned in pain. Her mother advanced in her direction to launch another attack. One lash wasn't enough for a mistake as grave as flirting with men at her young age. As she aimed at her, the latter took a quick leap off and avoided the lash. Mauda tripped off the ground and hitched forward. She fell on her stomach with a loud thickening thud and wriggled in pain. She sobbed in immense sadness as if she had lost her daughter indefinitely. Bitterness clutched at her hurt. She lifted her face to the sky and begged the gods in great agony.

" Gods of my ancestors, please pity me. Don't strip me naked. She is my only child."

Tina negotiated with the wood fence that surrounded her father's compound and vanished.

When Kaija returned home in the evening, her daughter hadn't shown up yet. Mauda paced back and forth fumbling around the compound in anxiety. She was ill at ease. Aware of her husband's short temper, she couldn't relax. Kaija would skin her alive if he noticed that her daughter was missing. She warmly received him with a smile and scooted back to the kitchen, and returned with a cup of water. "My husband, a draught of water to wet your throat." She said lovingly as she handed him the cup. Kaija chugged the contents and then said, "thank you, mama Tina." He flashed a smile at the corner of his mouth. Mauda responded with an enchanting smile that gave taste to her dazzling beauty. Kaija loved her more than her second wife, Shoocha, whom he had married out of necessity. He had thought that she, unlike Mauda, wouldn't fail to produce a male child. After three years of waiting in vain, his sanguine hopes were shuttered. He decided he wouldn't marry another wife that would bring her more shame than he already faced. He would first consult the gods for a sign. Short of that, he would keep his two wives and his two daughters. If anything, he still had a conviction that his favourite wife, Mauda, would one day bear him a son.

When he had finished gulping the water, he called his daughter to bring him his snuff box. Mauda's heart fluttered fast. She heaved and trembled.

"She must have gone to fetch the goats. I will bring it instead." She said nervously.