Stay and Die

Chapter 4

I woke up on a mattress.

The people around me stirred when I groaned. Enwati reassured me that although I got hit on the head, I only had a bruise and their healers had checked to see if I was okay.

The chief placed a bowl of soup beside me.

"Drink it, you will feel better." She patted my body.

The soup was red and murky, but I did not question her. I tried to get up and the healers tried to stop me. My body slammed the mattress.

A healer said, "You shouldn't try to get up. Although you are okay, you have less strength. She fed me mouthful by mouthful. It tasted pretty good actually. After a few spoons, I felt better.

"Let me try to get up." I told them. It worked! I could get up!

The chief spoke again. "Wow, it actually worked! Gerndhi, write it down. A soup of rat legs, duck tongue and watermelon root gives strength!"

A man holding a scroll replied with a "yes", and wrote that down on some parchment. WAS THAT WHAT I JUST DRANK?

I felt faint again. The healers rushed to supported my body.

"He probably needs more sleep." The healer said. I woke up many hours later. It was dinnertime. A bowl of what looked like vegetables was beside me. There was a spoon too. I obeyingly took the bowl and ate its contents. There was no spicy taste of the chilli evidently inside. Interesting.

Within seconds of finishing the bowl, the chief walked in. "Young one," she droned. "You look better now. Would you like to join Hakim for our evening jog?" Another jog? Again? That was all they did...never mind then. I agreed and we were soon gathered at a empty space in the middle of the village.

"It's a game! First one to get the deer has it for supper!" Hakim explained, seeing how I was puzzled about why the men stretching. I could give it a try.

Everyone ran ahead of me. I was panting. Enwati walked up to me. "What's your name? What are you doing here?" He enquired.

"My name is Jake. And I have business. Don't worry, nothing bad intended." I told him.

He raised one eyebrow and continued running. I struggled to keep up. How were they so fast? I saw the same house. "Can I enter that house?" I asked Enwati.

"No sir, that is where all the bad things come from!" He covered his mouth. "What do you mean, bad things?" I pursued. Aha!

"Uh, uh...never mind!" Enwati tried to end the topic. I needed to know! Perhaps I could use this as my report information instead of mangroves! Yes, I was a science correspondent, and I hated the job.

"What is it?" I demanded. "Well, the Screecher lives there," he replied. "The one who took the girl. The flashback of blood on the floor greeted me. I had to investigate, even with no connection. This was a murder case!

"Enwati, please take me there. I need to see! Please! You can't just let some random thing kill people! You know that it isn't right..." I pleaded. Enwati looked at me for 3 seconds, then he muttered, "Fine then."