A Tale of Five Bandits - Episode 8

 

“Keep staring and I will gouge your eyes out” Sewa folded her arms and sneered at Duro.

Leke stifled a laugh and Goke threw his rabbit’s bone at Duro “Oloshi, woman will not kill you”.

“I...umm”, Duro stuttered and simply shook his head.

The herbalist began clapping and chanting incantations. Everyone went silent and watched the old man . Some of them might have doubts in the gods but none was willing to risk their wrath. 
The herbalist looked to the sky with dreamy eyes “Ah, don’t you see it?”, he looked down at his comrades, “Don’t you feel it?”. Duro gave a furtive look at Sewa and nodded his head at the herbalist. Sewa shrugged back at him. The herbalist clapped louder as he chanted faster. He looked up at the sky and spread his arms “Don’t you see them? The gods dancing in the sky above us?”.

The bandits looked up to see a cloudless sky with the stars shining above. Monifa scratched her head confused. Goke raised his hands up and murmured, “Fathers, watch my enemies tremble before me”. Leke wavered half asleep as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

The herbalist laughed, “See...see them. See Oludumare on his throne

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. Ayao, Ibeji and Oba are dancing”. The herbalist stood abruptly and shrieked jolting up a sleeping Leke, “Osun, Erinle, Ogun, and Sango are comparing their strength and feats, arguing on which of them is the most powerful”.

Ajala looked down at his confused companions, “Ah, what a pity. If only your eyes were open like mine, to see what I see. Then you will be so joyous but don’t be sad, they are with you. You are all doing the gods’ will”.

“Of course”, she rolled her eyes, “I’m off to bed. Tomorrow is another day”, Sewa said as she curled up beside the fire under a fur shaped blanket.

The others nodded in agreement and went to sleep. 
                               *************************************

     On their way to the village of Aleshinloye, they passed through the riverbank of the small village where Duro had first spotted Sewa. The settlement was completely burnt to the ground. The stench of charred flesh filled the air as scorched skeletons lay scattered on the ground. 
The group came down from their horses to gawk at the horror before them. The herbalist fingered his beads as he shook his head sadly. Monifa covered his mouth and struggled to push down the bile that rose in her throat. Leke stared dazed. His fingers pierced his palm as his hands formed into a fist.  Duro placed his hands above his head and shook his head. The small village was a literal ghost town, nothing made a sound, no birds or dogs, no living person around to wail their losses.

Sewa walked in silence and stopped to see two skeletons clutching each other as they were burnt to death. She looked at the ground and knew she had been in this same position before.

Read " Living In The Ghetto " by the same author ( Obinna Tony )

. This was where she had given those boys her loaf of bread, the first time she had been in the village. She looked at their corpses and memories of her own butchered village flooded her mind. This massacre did nothing but fuelled her determination to stop the King.

She gnashed her teeth in anger when she saw a spear sticking out of the ground with a child’s head on its tip. The herbalist came beside her and muttered a short prayer.

“Where were the gods when this happened?” she asked him angrily?

He ignored her and stared at the corpses sadly, “No one can question them. They choose to save whoever they want. But they are fully awake now. They are working through this fellowship. They brought you all together”.

Sewa hissed and walked back to her horse. 
“Over here”, Goke called out. They rushed to meet him and he pointed at a woman gurgling as she coughed out blood. Two arrows stuck out with their tip buried in her stomach.

She stared at the sky with a catatonic gaze; her hands in the air as she muttered her child’s name repeatedly.

“You have nothing that can save her, do you?”, Monifa asked the herbalist.

“There’s only one escape for her now”, Ajala said as he stared sadly at their faces.

Sewa nodded slowly in understanding and nock an arrow against her bowstring. “Rest well”, she muttered, aiming for her head and released the arrow.