27 Ochiengs (2/2)

”Where have you been for all this time?” He asked in the end.

Just as the son was about to answer, Achola Nyakune who had been watching the commotion that occurred a few minutes ago, bolted out of her hut towards Ochieng' with a piece of firewood held tightly in her right hand. She was shouting things that were not very clear.

”Hmmm” A few elders and warriors snorted at the same time. They had been standing like statues after bowing to Ochieng' waiting to hear what their 'new chief' had to say. They knew Nyakune was courting death by daring to make a move on Ochieng'. They knew even if Ochieng' did not deal with her personally, Ong'am couldn't spare her, right?

What happened next proved they were right. The moment the woman arrived before the young man, she lifted the piece of wood to hit him. The young man instead of even pretending to be panic-stricken, he stood there coolly as if it was not him who was going to receive the beating but some tree somewhere.

This did not mean that the chief wasn't worried, the moment the woman lifted the piece of wood, he stopped it in a jiffy and then pushed the woman aside. He did not want harm her because it was derisory for a man to lay his hands on a woman. It could even soil his reputation more given that he was the chief and that was his married woman.

The love of a woman compelled Nyakune to stand and hit Ochieng' again. Though this time it wasn't the chief who did the kibosh, it was someone else. Ochieng's eyes unknowingly blushed and the woman stopped her movements and looked at him directly in his eyes. He didn't know how and why but somehow, he was reading the woman's mind. As he read, the frown on his face deepened.

The looker-ons' jaws dropped. The chief's mouth twitched uncontrollably. He was prepared to help his son but what happened to his wife? Didn't she want to retaliate and give 'justice' to her son? Then what was with their posing. Not knowing what to do, he turned to Ochieng' and asked him what was happening. His son didn't even turn his head to look at the him let alone answering him. It was as if the chief did not say anything.

”Where did he come from?” The chief wondered looking at his son as if he was some behemoth.

The ability to read one's mind was one amongst the many powers Ochieng' had obtained from the inscrutable horse. All the powers of the beast were received by him without even being aware. He completely did not know how to use or how to put any of them in to use. They worked by chance alongside his own.

After reading everything that was in the woman's nous,Ochieng' leapt in craze. He could not believe that this woman was the reason why the clan was currently the way it was. Many had died including Elder Anyona who had sent him a dream a few days ago in the forbidden land. Even his own father could have died in the hands of his own son if he did not arrive in time to save him. Not even one death was good enough to punish her.

Unable to control his booming anger, Ochieng' drew his sword and in a trice, he slit her throat. Blood flowed off her cut throat furiously before she dropped dead. It is then that he felt his raging surliness curbed. He heaved a long sigh before returning his sword in its sheath.

What followed in the setting was complete muteness. Everyone present felt their hearts beating hard and loudly. If someone was incisive enough, he could clearly hear the beating of their hearts. Most of them were struck with dread, dread that came from the bottom of their hearts when they looked at Ochieng'. Others were filled with fear for him while a few were totally confused.