ESCAPE!

Chapter 3

       Enorhor paddled awhile as silently as she could. She felt more tired with each stroke of the paddle. It took all her experience to manoeuver the boat in between the thick mangroves that grew on both sides of the river. The mangrove is an invasive plant species that grows mainly on the coastal saline or brackish water in the intertidal zone. It is an aggressive plant that brooks no opposition as it kills off most indigenous plants species wherever the mangrove grows. They are hardy and tough to the extent they are resistant to both insect and rot. Enorhor had to avoid the mangrove aerial root system which extend down from the limbs to anchor themselves in the ground. She made sure the boat did not become entangled among the long spindly roots. Every now and then she glanced at the basket in the covered end of the boat. She could barely see their features in the fast approaching dawn. Voices could suddenly be heard faintly over the night air. No doubt a search party was out to sieze them.

Obviously, the chief priest had sent a party early to Enorhor's house to bring the twins in preparation for the sacrifice. Enorhor could not help but think the chief priest derived some pleasure in dispatching twins to the great beyond. He must be very disappointed at the turn of events. The fowler had lost his quarry. He must be very pissed off. Enorhor instinctively put in more efforts into the paddling. After an hour paddling, the mangrove began to thin out. Not because the water was becoming more salty-since the mangrove can thrive in water up to a hundred times saltier than other marine plants species can tolerate-but because of the increasing water depth.

The Atlantic Ocean beckoned to the boat. In a little while the boat was embraced by the ocean. At this juncture the weariness took the better of Enorhor as she rested her head on the cross plank of the boat and fell into a deep sleep. She woke up groggily in the night. She saw the night sky with the stars twinkling far above her. The humidity was high and the air heavy. The elements conspired to make Enorhor weak, frail and vulnerable. She couldn't keep awake. She fell into another round of deep sleep.

Enorhor was woken up by the soft cries of the twins. Apparently one woke up crying and woke the other. Enorhor, body and joints aching, roused herself up and hastened to the basket.Enorhor saw the babies before she was aware of her surroundings. With her maternal feelings for the twins at the peak, her breasts started to swell with milk. She gave the female her breast, maneuvering the nipple in between the baby's pink lips. As the baby tightened her lips around Enorhor's nipple, the latter experienced a rush of adrenalin coursing through her body. She felt young all over again. She fed the baby with her milk and took turns in feeding the boy. The boy was more active during his feeding as he tried to squeeze more milk into his mouth using his tiny hands to press the breast. For some reason Enorhor found this funny and she chuckled to herself. After feeding the twins and laying them back into their makeshift cot, Enorhor sat back and took a look of her environment.

The boat was nestling against the shore of what looked like an island. It was obvious that the boat had drifted farther than the village fishermen had ever ventured. She must have slept for a very long time due to her exhaustion. For all she knew, her village could be located in any direction of the compass. One thing she knew, however, was that the island was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. As dusk would soon be setting in, she hastened to investigate the Island. She got off the boat and stepped into the water. The water was up to her navel. She waded out as she pulled the boat after her. She secured the boat to a big rock. She took the basket containing the twins with her. She couldn't afford to leave anything to chance.

The island was more or less flat, apart from a sort of forested area about two kilometers away. From her reckoning the island was roughly four kilometers by three kilometers. There was a mound of earth some two hundred meters from the shore. Some trees were growing here and there. These include coconut and mango trees. They obviously got on the island through their seeds which were carried by the ocean current from far away. These were deposited on the island whereupon they took root and perpetuated themselves. The earthen mound was about ten feet by twenty one feet at the top. It was about five feet seven inches tall.