The priestess stopped dead. Her body swayed, then she caught her balance. Her mouth was open, her body moving with her breaths. The woman let out a yell, hopped two spaces to her right, and touched Kemi on the shoulder.
Chapter Twenty-One
Did the priestess touch Kemi? She couldn’t have, not my Kemi. My eyes must have deceived me.
“Yes!” screamed the crowd. People clapped and cheered.
I grabbed the boy standing on my right by the arm. I wanted to ask him if the priestess had touched Kemi, but words deserted me. The boy just stared at me with a bewildered look on his face. I turned to the girl on my left.
Within seconds, people stepped back and created a path from the front to Kemi’s row. It only meant one thing; the harvest selection had ended, and two children had been selected.
Two soldiers walked to Kemi and stood one on each side of her.
“Let’s go,” said one of them, and they escorted her to the front.
Everything around seemed to slow down. I clutched my chest as if I’d been pierced by an arrow. “No!” My knees wobbled, unsure if they could hold my weight.
The girl on my left touched me and pointed.
I jerked my head up. “What?” I looked where she was pointing, and my heart stopped. Dotan, shoulders rounded and staring at the ground, took short steps towards the front flanked by soldiers. Only then did I realize that both Kemi and Dotan had been selected.
My legs gave way, and I sank to my knees. It was all my fault. My siblings had gone hunting with me and had been selected by the priestesses.
All around me, parents and families were celebrating their good fortune. Their child was not selected. Whole clans clasped each other on the shoulder, glad it wasn’t their child or relative. How would I live without Kemi and Dotan? In the past years, none of the children taken to Ode had ever come back.
My mind rushed to Mama. As much as I disliked how she treated me, she wouldn’t last a day without Kemi to fuss over. I should go to her. I thought and looked to where she’d stood with Kemi before everything fell apart. She wasn’t there. I walked towards the spot and searched the crowd as I went, but nothing. Wherever she was, her mind must be in total disarray.
Nobody came to comfort me or paid me any attention as I walked amongst them in a daze.
“But this is strange,” said an old woman in a shaky voice. “All the children selected from one family? Maybe the gods are trying to tell us something.”
“I’ve always known something was wrong with that family,” said the man with her. “Remember ten years ago when the king’s guards came and took their father away? He never came back. I heard the daughter used magic to kill him and kill the soldiers, too, to preserve a secret.”
“What was the secret?” asked the woman.
“How would I know? Do I remind you of any of the gods?” answered the man. “All I know is that they might be the cause of all the problems in the kingdom.”
The old woman snapped her fingers. “I was in the market this morning. They said the daughter is a shifter.”
“They should take the whole family to Ode and hand them over to the priests,” said the man. “Even their mother. That would be good riddance.”
The old woman looked up, saw me, and her eyes looked like they would pop out of her head. She grabbed the man and pointed at me. “It’s her; let’s go before she infects us with their bad luck.”
I watched the man and woman shuffle away.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I continued to walk, my mind numb. I couldn’t think of anything to do, but I knew I must do something. I had to find Mama and comfort her. The crowd had dispersed. Only a handful of people stood around, discussing their good fortune.
I looked towards where the cart was and gasped. Dotan and Kemi stood in front of the cart, heads lowered, their backs to me. I moved towards them. My feet wanted to walk and run at the same time. “Dotan… Kemi,” I whimpered. My eyelids were heavy with tears but I refused to let them come.
As I got closer, a glare hit my eyes. I raised my hand and blocked it off. Who thought it was funny to play flashing lights with a mirror at this particular time? With a cruel joke at my most vulnerable time?
Whoever it was, was relentless. My whole body went tense and hot. I clenched and unclenched my fist. I tried to see who was behind the glare, but each time I removed my hand, the glare came back and blinded me. I had no other option. I headed toward the source.
As I got closer, I realized I was heading towards the cart, then I knew. I pushed on, faster. Reminded of a few hours ago. Kemi and I had never been closer. Now, we were threatened with separation. A lump formed in my throat that wouldn’t go away, no matter how hard I swallowed.
“Kemi!” I cried and rushed forward.
Kemi, Dotan, and the soldier closest to Kemi all turned.
“Nuju!” said Kemi, her voice a croak.
The soldier’s eyes widened. He stepped forward and drew his sword. “Stop right there!”
“Take… Take me. Take me to serve the gods at Ode.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Don’t move.” The soldier pointed his sword at me.
I placed a hand on my chest. “I want to volunteer.”
“Um… uh, volunteer for what?” asked the soldier.
More soldiers gathered around us.
The chief priestess came down from the cart. “What’s the problem?” Her black beady eyes roamed around, then settled on me. They didn’t seem to miss anything.
The soldier that had drawn his sword came behind me and pushed me towards the priestess. She raised her hand and I screeched to a stop.
“Nuju,” whispered Kemi behind me.
The priestess raised her head. “Who are you?”
Four soldiers formed a protective wall around her as villagers crowded closer to see and hear what was going on. My hands shook as I realized I’d become the center of attention. I had to be strong. I blinked to hold back the tears as my newfound bravery wavered.
“Speak!” yelled the head priestess.
I jerked back, lips trembling.
“What are you waiting for? Go on, speak,” encouraged a soldier.
I took a deep breath. “Take… take me instead of my brother and sister.”
“No! No!” screamed Dotan behind me. His voice was strong.
I whirled, startled and surprised by Dotan's forceful outburst.
Dotan’s nostrils flared. In his eyes, I saw something I’d never seen before.
“Nuju, you cannot take my place!” said Dotan.
The priestess looked at Dotan, then me. “Take you? My priestesses did not select you.”
My pulse raced as I searched my mind for something to say. The tension on the priestess’s face suddenly relaxed. Something just gave.
“Take you?” the priestess mumbled. “Siblings?” She pointed a bony finger at Kemi and Dotan. “You are sister to these two?”
My lips and chin trembled. I swallowed and tried to speak, but words deserted me. I nodded.
“This has never happened before,” said the head priestess. She stroked her cheeks, nodding her head. “You are a brave girl. What’s your name?”
“Nu… Nuju,” I stammered. “Nuju Ademola.”
“And you want to save your brother and sister?” She paused, looked at the ground, and jerked her head up. “If they had selected you, would they have stepped up for you?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Yes!”
The head priestess looked at me, then at Dotan and Kemi. “But it is strange, two children selected from the same family. Maybe the gods are trying to tell us something.” She stroked her chin. “Hmm.”
“Head priestess,” a woman said in a shrill, squeaky voice.
I turned to face her. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Mama Ayodele. Is she coming to my rescue?
“The family is possessed!” said Mama Ayodele, her chest heaving up and down. “They are evil. You made the right choice.”
The head priestesses turned to the woman. “How?”
Mama Ayodele’s lips and chin trembled. She backed away into the growing number of people, and soon the crowd swallowed her.
I looked at the priestess. I had to say something to bring her to my corner, to give her a new perspective on how to look at the situation. She had listened so far. “Please take only me. My sister is not yet thirteen and shouldn’t be here.” I spoke fast, not to give her time to think.
“They have already chosen her,” said the head priestess. “It doesn’t matter anymore. We cannot anger the gods.”
“My sister and brother did nothing wrong to deserve this,” I stammered.
“Wrong?” said the head priestess. “Of course, they did no wrong, that’s why the gods want them!” She pointed at me. “But you, what wrong did you do? Why wasn’t the priestess directed to select you to serve?”
My chest tightened. I felt hot all over. My eyes found the ground. The image of the bird with the face of an old woman flashed through my mind. Was that the reason Kemi and Dotan were picked? Was I being punished for shooting the bird?
The priestess chuckled. “Nothing to say?” She clapped her hands together. “The people don’t seem to like you and your family. But, let’s ask them. Maybe they’ve had a change of heart; you never know until you ask.”
I looked at the faces around us and knew it was hopeless. I’d already heard from some of these people.
The priestess spread out her hands. “Should this girl take the place of both her brother and sister?”
“The gods have spoken,” said an old man. “We should stick to tradition. The answer is no.”
“Take her, too,” said a middle-aged woman with a scarf on her head. “The family is trouble. Take them all to Ode, they will be sorted out there.”
A debate broke out amongst the people. They spoke about my family and me as if we were not there. They talked about the bird I’d seen in the forest. The circumstances surrounding Baba’s death. Dark clouds were gathering over our heads.
We didn’t stand a chance. Typical. Give a cat a bad name and nobody will be surprised by what she drags in. They would never help us.
“People of Nuso, lend me your ears!” yelled a familiar deep voice.
Everybody turned to the voice. Alaba, the butcher, my father’s friend, stood on a rock, one fist raised.
“People of Nuso, we all know these children. We watched them grow in front of our eyes. I knew their father. He was the village hunter, and a good one at that. He was a friend to me, and to most of you here.”
There was silence as people listened.
“Don’t be afraid. Don’t turn your back on Tunde’s children. Don’t fan the flames of hatred. The demand for high taxes, crop contributions, and our children—our flesh and blood—come from Ode. You cannot blame these children for whatever ill that happens in our village. The king—”
“Yes, we can!” shouted a woman with a scarf on her head. “Even their mother, too. I knew her as a young girl, she was an only child. The five babies after her were stillborn. She always preferred her own company to spending time with other people. Take their mother, too. The whole family is evil. They bring bad luck; take them all!”
Alaba tried to talk, but everybody was talking. He looked defeated, but he pressed on.
“Last year it was somebody’s children. Today, it is the hunter’s children, tomorrow it will be your own children, then what?” His voice was low. Tears brimmed in his eyes.
“Enough! Enough!” said the head priestess. “Guards, bring the three.”
“No… no!” I cried. “Please—”
“Don’t resist,” whispered one of the soldiers. “You’ll only end up getting hurt, and we’ll still take you all to Ode.”
I knew he was right. My heart sank. I looked at the people around. Each person I made eye contact with looked away. They knew what they had done; sold us out as if we were nothing.
My blood boiled. Heat rushed through my body, and my hands shook. I fell to my knees and then looked up to heaven to make one more plea to the gods.
“Get up, get up,” said the soldier.
The soldier kicked my side to motivate me. I ignored the pain and lifted my eyes up. The sun, a bright fiery mass in a clear blue sky, blinded my eyes. I shut them tight, then reopened them a slit to the sun’s relentless fury. Sweat poured out of every pore in my body.
The image of the woman with a bird’s body flashed before me. Her words thundered in my head. I raised my hands, her words kept on repeating inside my mind like a mantra: “Oru yoo wa ni ọjọ! Night shall come in the day!” again and again.
A gentle breeze started and gained strength.
“Look!” A soldier pointed in the sky.
A large dark object inch by inch made its way over the sun. The sky darkened. I heard the cries of fear from the people around and lowered my head and glanced around. People looked up, mouths open, eyes wide with fear.
Chickens and roosters clucked and dashed about the town square headed for their resting places. A cloud of bats rose from the forest into the sky, darkening it further.
Crickets and frogs chirped and croaked, the sound they made getting louder and louder as if it was night.
“The world is about to end!” a voice screamed.
Like a candle flame blown out at night, the whole town went inky black in the middle of the afternoon.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I’d once seen lightning strike a tree and cut it in half. I had been just a few feet away, but the heat and energy were intense. That was how I’d felt; like I’d taken a direct hit.
My body shook like a baby wracked with a high fever. I opened my eyes wider and tried to see through the blackness. Where the sun had been a few seconds ago was a circular black shadow surrounded by a glowing rim of pulsating light.
All my senses became heightened. The breeze brushed against my skin like the touch of a feather. The neighing of horses and the bleating of sheep and goats mixed with the screams and whimpers of the crowd to create a bizarre sound.
Quick prayers to the sky god for forgiveness and deliverance sounded like the speakers had their lips pressed against my ears.
The smell of horses, stale sweat, animal manure, and unwashed bodies were suffocating. The stench from latrine pits was overpowering as if I was submerged in one. All the smells were coated with an overarching sickly odor of raw fear.
I don’t know how long we’d been in darkness, but the screams continued all around me.
“She has darkened the afternoon!” a voice screamed with terror.
“Forgive and forget,” wailed another.
“Bring back the sun! Priestess, take her! Leave the younger ones!” pleaded a voice.
The shouts and pleas seemed to be inside my head. I covered my ears, but the sounds still came through.
Just like darkness had descended upon us, the shadow over the sun inched away, and the day got brighter. The colony of bats roamed the sky in confusion, swooping down onto the crowd, causing chaos and then flying away into the forest. The frogs and crickets sang offbeat, and moments later stopped singing altogether, silenced by the sudden return of daylight.
My head seemed heavy as if I’d just woken from sleep filled with nightmares. I stood up, staggered, and steadied myself. “What happened?” I murmured.
An old man raised his hand, muttering. “Praise the sky god! Praises to them all! We are saved!”
People who a minute ago looked at me with contempt now looked on with fear and disbelief.
Did I make that happen? I repeated the words to myself and looked up. The sun remained in place. I lowered my head. The soldiers all looked terrorized. Fear was a great motivator. I’d seen a small cornered animal transformed from prey to predator by fear. Fear had helped people make up their minds fast. I must utilize it before they realize it wasn’t me.
I found the chief priestess surrounded by soldiers gripping the handles
of their swords, their eyes not leaving me.
The chief priestess and I locked eyes as I walked towards her. Her nostrils flared. The muscles in her jaws clenched and unclenched. Was she afraid? It didn’t matter. I’ll help her save face and ask for something in return. I went down on one knee at her feet.
“Please… please, our poor mother would die from a broken heart. Take me instead of my sister.” I looked up at the priestess with eyes filled with unshed tears.
The priestess exhaled. The tension in her face disappeared. “Aha, now you’re making sense!” She spoke to the other priestesses, then barked out orders to the soldiers in the common tongue.
Someone drove one of the carts up to where we were.
A soldier walked to her. “Little girl, come.”
Kemi hesitated, then got up and walked to the edge of the cart. The soldier helped her down. I opened my arms, and Kemi rushed in. I held her tight. “Don’t worry, we’ll be alright.”
I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know how I did it; all I said was what the bird woman had said. Were the people right in assuming my family was linked to something out of the ordinary? The crowd dispersed, but some remained, hunched in groups, discussing what had happened.
“Nuju, did you make it go dark?” asked Kemi.
I hesitated. “No, Kemi, I didn’t cause it.” That was the truth. I couldn’t replicate it.
“Why us?” asked Kemi. “What did we do wrong?” Her body shook against mine.
“We did nothing. It’s the king’s orders; the priestess must select two children.”
“Well, either the king or the law has to be changed,” said Kemi.
“Shh.” I glanced around to make sure nobody was watching. “Don’t say that out loud. Someone might twist your words and before we know it, we’ll be accused of something else.”
Alaba came up and squeezed Kemi’s shoulder. His eyes glistened with tears. “Tunde would have been proud of you. I’ll make sure she and your… mother… are…” The butcher’s voice broke. He looked up into the sky, his lips quivered, hands on his hips, and shook his head. “She and your mother will have enough to eat.” He wiped his eyes.
The Selection Page 7
