When light comes

Part 8

Four days had passed and Solomon hadn't seen or heard from the lad that worked for him on his farm . Among all his employees,Zebu was one of his best hands.He was a hard and diligent worker .He would surely miss the boy if he wasn't coming back .

What could have gone wrong...he thought to himself. It was so unlike Zebu to miss his two square meals at the farm kitchen.
Chai! that boy loved food..Solomon thought; smiling to no one in particular as he scratched his scruffy dreadlocks under his sun hat .
No wonder the other farm boys called him Oliver Twist. If Zebu didn't ask for second helpings from the cook ,then there was the likelihood that the lad had taken ill.

Suddenly, two farm boys came running from the makeshift rooms that were built in the plantation fields were the helpers slept each night when they had to harvest the crops .

"Uncle Solo! ,Uncle Solo!..shouted the boys, Tenu trying very hard to outrun his friend Abe.
The farmer rolled his eyes at them as they made their way towards him , everyone knew the two were chronic chatterboxes.
"What do you two want now?" Said the farmer, " yesterday, you both claimed to have seen a wild dog in the chicken coup, only for me to round-up everyone and find one of Coja's puppies chasing the chickens".

Tenu and Abe stood in front of their master, panting hard from their run. Both wanted to speak at the same time but they refrained from doing so because they didn't want Solomon's knuckles to come in-contact with their heads .
Yesterday's experience with Uncle Solo's hands was enough to last a lifetime.

"Ha! Un..Uncle Solo," Abe stammered, as he pointed at his friend, "it was Tenu who claimed to have seen the wild dog oo, I simply..."

"Sharrapp my friend!", shouted the farmer in a stern voice , he looked at the two of them with suspicion in his eyes. "Don't waste my time this morning, Say what you came here for and go back to your work!".

"Uncle, we found Zebu in the banana plantation fast asleep" continued Abe.
"Yes sir" Tenu added, "he was naked ,except for his underwear. There were ants climbing all over him", Tenu described this by running his hands all over his body with an exaggerated look of disgust on his face.
"We tried to wake him, sir" said Abe, " but he was out cold, like a drunkard or something".

Solomon stared at the two in amazement. Sure, the two trouble makers didn't like Zebu because they never measured up to him when it came to working on the farm,
but this!..
"If you two numb skulls are making this up.." Solomon countered.
"No..no sir, come and see for yourself", said Tenu.

Reluctantly, Solomon put down the rake he had been holding and picked up his cutlass . He could never be sure with these two boys , it might actually turn out to be a wild animal .

They all raced towards the banana plantation. Even Coja, the Alsatian farm dog and some of her puppies followed along ,barking and keeping close to their master's heel.

By the time they arrived at the spot were the two boys claimed to have seen Zebu, he was seated upright,hugging his knees to his chest and looking very dazed and lost.
Zebu looked up at them with questions in his eyes, he wondered how he even got to the farm were he practically lived .
"Zebu!" Solomon cried out in amazement, "what happened to you,...who took your clothes ".
The lad was filthy and smelled real bad. His fellow mates used the edge of their shirts to cover their noses .
Spit and mud had caked around his mouth and down his neck . "Who did this to you, Zebu" ..Solomon inquired in an alarmed tone.
Zebu tried to speak but didn't even know what he was going to say. He was just so confused as to how he got there .

   But the unusual thing was Coja .  She kept her distance from the boy,..barking and snarling at Zebu. Her actions totally threw everyone off balance . In truth , Zebu and the dog were inseparable.
From the time Solomon bought her as a puppy, the lad had taken her under his wings. They went everywhere together, even when he was off duty.