It had been days since the dark night. News of the death and the retreat of the man-eaters spread all over. Wangui still hated it that she hadn't been able to kill the master by herself. Though she was happy to know that his arrogance and pride had led him to his death.
Gitahi was almost fully recovered. Much to everyone's delight. He just needed a few more days and Wangui was willing to give him that before they both went to surprise his wicked and sadistic father. She had been searching for a way to go back but none of the suggested ones seemed to be of help. There was one way she knew would work. Taking down the curse. But it had a heavy consequence. Taking it down would take her along with it. The blood of the man-eaters had been absorbed by the curse making it stronger. And taking it done would require a whole dozen of witches. However, risking her life wasn't an option. She would look for another way or let the curse wear out on itself. However long it took.
"Have you found a way yet?" Gitahi asked sitting on the pallet Wangui made. The latter was sleeping on his laps.
"Not yet. Though I think of trying some things," she said hopefully.
"Would you mind telling me?" he asked smiling at her face.
"I wish to call upon my father's grandmother. The chiefdom was her ancestral home. I may not know her but she can have some answers concerning her generation," she responded.
"Mayhap it will work," he said hopefully. He wanted it to work. His patience was almost on the edge of breaking.
"I ought to believe in it," she huffed.
He bent and kissed her fair cheek. Despite what he was going through, he was still able to see a bright day because of her. Polygamy was expected in his tribe. But he wasn't going to settle for it. He was going to settle for the one woman who shared his desires and imperial darkness. He believed that they were quite a rare pair that needed to be paired forever.
Ndegwa entered the cave carrying a deer on his back. It was the couple's hunting day. Wangui grinned at the huge prey. Njeri entered carrying firewood. It was almost nightfall.
"You surprise me. How long did you have to travel to get the meek beast?" she asked sitting up.
"The whole day, my friend. I tell he made me walk through the sloppy hill just to get to it," Njeri complained.
"You liked it when I carried you down the slope," Ndegwa countered.
"You didn't carry me," she pouted.
"Goodness, my friends. Do you always have to keep taunting each other?" Wangui asked smiling.
"Most certainly," Njeri responded arranging firewood by the fireplace. Wangui huffed giving up.
"How do you feel?" Ndegwa asked his friend.
"Better than yesterday," Gitahi responded lively.
"Have you an idea today?" Njeri asked Wangui.
"Yes," she responded.
"Good. I am twisting my fingers willing it to work. I already feel impatient. I can't stop envisioning your wicked father's face when he sees us. Do you think he'll look like a puppy hiding its tail between its legs as if it the most important organ?" Njeri asked in a serious tone that left everyone bursting in laughter.
"What? I'm just asking a question. It wasn't meant to be funny," she protested frowning.
"Shall you help me conduct the séance?" she asked hopefully.
"Gladly," she responded.
"We'll work on the deer while you get started," Gitahi said.
"Alright," Wangui agreed.
She and Njeri sat cross-legged around the fire. They their hands and murmured a few chants as the lads kept watch.
☆☆☆☆
They woke up in a cornfield. A few metres beyond was a grassy field. Empty. Silent. Lonely. The ladies stared at each other in confusion.
"My child, what is it that you seek in the spirit world?" an old woman asked behind them. They were startled before they turned to look behind. She was beautiful even in her old age.
"Grandmother?" Wangui called. The old woman smiled. "I seek answers. How will I and my friends be able to return to a chiefdom we were cast out?" she continued.
"Wangui, you and your friends were never an outcast. It was your destiny to live in exile. You had to go through what you did so that you could have the life that awaits you," she said shocking Wangui.
"We can enter even when the curse is still there?" she asked in a little confusion. The old woman nodded. The ladies smiled. It was good news to know that they were free to enter and leave as they wished.
"Which is that life that you speak of though?" she asked clocking her head towards the old woman.
"Just look at the field beyond," she instructed them. They did as they were asked.
☆☆☆☆
"Mother, mother, Waithera wants to take my head," a young boy ran towards his mother who was arranging firewood behind her hut.
Wangui recognised the woman. It was her. Gitahi emerged from the front of the hut and walked towards the boy she couldn't see his face.
"Greetings, father," the little boy greeted in a hurry. As he was bowing, he fell face-first on the grass making his father laugh. A girl frailing her hands up and about came running behind the boy.
"My head, my head. I want my head. Give it back to me," she demanded in her soft voice. When the little boy heard her screaming, he rose and bypassed his father. He ran straight to his mother and hid behind her.
Wangui looked at him with a puzzled look. She didn't know which head they were talking about. The little girl, Waithera kept running towards them.
"Which head do you think she wants?" she asked the little boy.
"The one with big," he demonstrated with his little hands, "eyes and teeth that keep falling at night."
Wangui laughed as she figured what he was talking about. They were fighting for the skull of the old chief. The little girl bypassed Gitahi without much acknowledgement. He chuckled watching her in amazement.
"Auntie, auntie. My head," she demanded.
"Njeru, where is the head?" Wangui asked him.
"But mother," he pouted. He knew that she was going to give it to her. She had always done that and he didn't like it.
"Njeru," she prompted.
"In the granary," he spilt. Wangui laughed.
"Why should you hide it so far away?"
"She will take it," he protested. The little girl caught up and stood before her aunt. Looking up at her with puppy eyes she couldn't resist.
"Waithera!" Njeri approached calling.
When the little girl saw her mother, she joined Njeru behind her mother. She hid behind him as if he could shield her whole body. When her mother neared them, she squirmed before pulling Njeru with her.
"Run!"
The little ones ran away towards the huts leaving Wangui and Gitahi laughing. Njeri huffed in annoyance. Ndegwa threw her pawpaw that knocked her on her back making her more annoyed. And entertaining the couple.
☆☆☆☆
"That's a glimpse of the future. A future of your family. One is Njeru and the other is Waithera. Named after your brother and Ndegwa's grandmother. They are destined to be. She'll be a witch doctor and he'll be a seer."
"Grandmother?" she uttered in a smile as tears threatened their way out. Well, Njeri was already sniffing them away.
"It's beautiful," Njeri commented.
"The children will live and grow in different chiefdoms." Wangui did not understand. "Ndegwa has his own chiefdom. His grandfather will come for him. As for you, you already have your own."
"Gitahi has a grandfather?" she asked.
"His mother's father is the chief of a chiefdom in the South. It's a long way off. He didn't have any heirs but destiny will find its way to get him to his grandson." Njeri smiled. Ndegwa would be happy upon hearing it.
"I am moved. I do not know what to say," Wangui said honestly.
She had called out to her great-great-grandmother to seek answers but she got more than she needed. Which she was grateful for.
"Just help Gitahi fully recover. And as soon as he feels well, go back and acclaim what is yours. Then live a happy and prosperous life, my child. As for you, you'll have to wait for some time to get your share, but eventually, it will be there. Now, go."
"Many thanks to you," she said.
In a flash, they opened their eyes. The lads stared at them in shock. They didn't know what to expect. They were hanging in the balance. It was either good news or very bad news. Njeri squealed like a little kid. Though Wangui fell on her back in a dizzying mood. She was back again in the grassy field.
"Little sister," a male voice called. She turned to look behind.
"Brother?" she called as tears pricked the edges of her eyes. In spirit form, he was grown. Handsome and glorious.
"You'll see me in your son," he said before thinning out.
"Why has she passed out?" Gitahi asked in a panic.
"I do not know," Njeri responded.
"Wangui?" she called to her before she jerked up.
"What happened?" Ndegwa asked.
"My brother pulled me back. Just reminding me that I should name our first son after him," she responded.
The lads stared at her as if they couldn't understand whatever she was talking about. So, she took it upon herself to explain everything that happened in their little trip to the spirit world. What she left out, Njeri gladly explained. In the end, the lads were beyond exhilaration. If they were asked, they would have preferred being back in the forest and dancing to drum beats. Behind their grief and hopelessness, there was still a hidden light waiting to shine bright.
"It seems like the prophecy was there," Njeri commented.
"Indeed it was," Wangui agreed.
"I'm better!" Gitahi explained. Wangui shot him a glare that sent his raised hands lowering slowly like a good boy and calmed down.
"Until I see that, you're still not better," she stated. He groaned and pulled her to him. She protested but to no avail.
"You have to let me go. We need to prepare supper," she whined.
"Let me and my friend do it. After all, that was what we were supposed to do when you went into that dream world. Now, you and Njeri can gossip about my father's tail," he said with a grin.
☆☆☆☆
Three days after the following day, they left the cave. They walked towards the village proud to return to what was once their home. But at the same time humble that they had been given a chance to return. They entered the chiefdom through Waithera's garden. Ngare couldn't stop wagging his tail. He smelled blood and was overexcited.
"In the assembly of your people, what do you have to say about your illegitimate son becoming the next chief?" an old man, Wangungu, asked on behalf of the two couples.
They had managed to speak to a few who were against the wicked chief in secret. Once they had gathered enough men, they sent word to every homestead calling for an assembly.
"You ought to speak, oh, great chief," another one, Njuguna, spoke.
The old chief was still dumb. He couldn't believe anything that had happened. He thought that escaping the prophecy was going to be easy but it wasn't. He was now going to pay for his wicked deeds. The Council on the other hand was drivelling in low tones in their seats. Wangui didn't like their disrespect and she was a minute away from strangling them to death.
"He is the rightful heir. I needed to see that it was done," he said confusing the people.
"You mean you killed one son and cursed the other so that your illegitimate son could get the chiefdom?" Wangungu asked. The old chief took eons before he responded.
"Time is precious," Wangui commented.
Everyone who believed in her agreed. They had been taken through her life story by Gitahi, Ndegwa and Njeri. They were generous enough and they did not leave any detail untended or unmentioned.
"I wanted to keep the chiefdom in my lineage," he mumbled.
"He has spoken," the elderly said. "Mayhap one member of your Council can tell us why you killed the chiefdom's renowned herbalist," he said willing it to be a question demanding a response immediately. They stilled for a few moments. The humiliation was too bright it blinded them.
"She was working against the chief's orders," one managed to respond.
"Very unwise of a great chief as proclaimed," Njuguna commented. "I fear that I have no more strength to keep interrogating guilty criminals. I would very much like if we proceeded to the punishment."
The crowd roared in anger. Ngare shifted in excitement. The beast was really enjoying the whole scenario and couldn't wait to get to the best past. Watching them die. If only her had a mouth to talk, he would have said such.
"Wangui, please," Njuguna called and ushered the platform to her.
"For the protection of the children, they'll need to be taken away. They do not need to have very sad and disturbing scenes rooted in their memories. Keep them in the homesteads until after nightfall when everything is over.' she told them. "Oh, beware, a storm will come. Not a friendly one. You ought to stay indoors until it's over. However, another gathering will be summoned to let you know what happen next. You can now return to your homesteads and keep up with your daily routine until then."
The crowd bowed and then dissolved as people walked back to their homesteads. Gitahi and Ndegwa helped the guards take the lot to the valley. It's where everything was going to take place. Ngare was trading loyalties lately. He had grown to love Gitahi too much that he kept to him more than he kept to Wangui. The latter wasn't bothered as long as the beast was happy, strong and healthy.
Dark nimbus hovered unnaturally over the chiefdom. You'd think the storm ranging was a sign of angry ancestors sending a message. But that had been summoned by the powerful Njeri. Her witchery had improved after lots of practice. Wangui smiled as she watched the first drops mark the dusty ground. She ordered the guards to hurry. The rain was only going to last a few hours. She was going to accomplish what her mother once envisioned. The chief's family and his associates doom by fire on a rainy day. It was an unprecedented thing but once they were done, it would become a precedented thing.
Upon their return, after the chief's and his family, rebels and the Council's doom, they burned down all the huts of the concerned personas. They were going to build new ones with the help of the people who magically seemed to support them. Neither of the two couples wanted to live in those places let alone huts with gory memories. They wanted to have a fresh start. Somewhere they would call theirs and make their own memories. Also, build a great fortress for their generations.
As time bypassed, new rules were inclined. The practice of witchery was on top to be restored. The people were allowed to do any sort of witchcraft except dark witchcraft. It was punishable by death. Unless badly needed. Dark witchcraft was powerful and its consequences were always over the top. Intermarriage was a legal practice. Unity was mandatory.
Everyone who wished to rebel against any rules or decisions was supposed to take his grievances to the chief. He would in turn see what he would do to satisfy their needs. More were added with time but none seemed to oppress the people. Something that made them happy and grateful to have the new chief and his wife on the stool.
Adjustments continued to be made in the chiefdom. It took almost three seasons for people to change and settle in. Nothing seemed the same anymore, much to the villagers' delight. None of them wanted to dream or think about the wicked old chief and his regime. It made some sick, others fearful, others traumatic as the list continued. To be precise, they hated him to their core and they loved the new life they had.