13 The Bird (2/2)

”I am Apeleka from the Lang tribe.” she suddenly spoke after a long silence.

”I'm Ochi...” he wanted to say his name but remembered that the lady already knew him. He then kept quiet because he was run out of words. After another long silence, he asked with a lot of concern, ”How did you get here? Are you not aware of the dangers lurking here? ”

”I have been sent to exile with my tribe... ” she started answering when Ochieng' leapt in anger before asking in a trembling voice, ”Why?”

She didn't really expect him to react that way but considering her beauty, that was to be expected. Was there a man who could not want to please such a beauty if opportunity came? She gave him an answer in the end as he listened carefully.

According to her story, she was to be married to the eldest son of the chief of a neighboring clan. She didn't want to be married to the man and decided to flee from home, a day to the day she was to be married officially. She went back home after three days only to find the chief and the son in her compound with thirty heads of cattle as dowry.

As a woman, having no say in where she was to be married, her running away didn't change anything. It only annoyed her tribesmen who were eyeing the large number of heads of cattle. Since she knew she could not walk away, she took a piece of firewood, sneaked to where the man she was to marry was and hit him on the head to his death

Knowing what catastrophe her daughter had put her clan in, Apeleka's mother advised her to hide because she had to be punished, or the tribe would have to bare the consequences as that chief was a very powerful one. Her mother could rather be punished along with the clan than see her daughter in trouble.

Understanding how severe the consequences of her actions were, Apeleka decided to be punished despite her mother's refusal. The punishment she was given was to be taken to the forbidden land. That punishment was worse than death. She was carried until the gates of theland blindfolded so that she couldn't trace her way back. She was then left tied on a tree trunk for fate to deal with her.

Before she was sent to the forbidden land, the chief lashed her on the back to vent his anger. Her mother who couldn't watch her daughter's skin being ripped by the tongues of the chief's whip zonked out. That was the last time the mother and daughter saw each other because when the mother woke up, Apeleka had already been taken to the forbidden land.

Ochieng' unconsciously found himself shading tears while listening to her ordeal. He promised to help her take revenge in the future. He then remembered something and lifted his head to ask how she came to know him only to find her absent. ”She was just here a second ago, how did she disappear? ” He wondered.

Raauuu!

The bird changed to another song to wake the two up. Immediately they got up, it disappeared. Ochieng' wanted to look for Apeleka when he suddenly found himself lying next to Mudho. He realized he was in an illusory world but the image of that young lady did not leave his mind.

”What just happened? Why do I feel so strong? ” He couldn't help but ask.

”The bird.” Mudho answered.