Barney took a bite, chewed it, and smacked his lips. “You know, this isn’t too bad!”
Gardner agreed. “I knew a fella once from Arizona. Ate snakes, he did! And there wuz a Frenchmen who come to the mission, claimed he ate snails back in France.” He shuddered. “Snakes and snails! I’d rather have good old monkey stew!”
By the time the meal was over, the sunlight had faded, and the darkness closed in. The natives huddled together for a time, the flickering firelight casting shadows on their ebony faces. One of them began to sing a slow, rhythmic chant, which the others echoed at intervals.
Katie and Irene sat close to the fire listening to the serenade, but after a while the bugs became too much, and the ladies climbed under their mosquito netting and lay down on a blanket, using the other for cover. The ground was hard, but they lost no time falling asleep.
The next day was even more tiring, but by sundown they reached a small collection of huts, and Bestman announced, “We here, Mammy.”
Suddenly, a group of warriors armed with cutlasses, spears, bows and arrows, and cudgels appeared and surrounded them.
When they recognized Bestman, they lowered their weapons and smiled. A long conversation followed. Bestman, Katie discovered later, told them, “We come peacefully. We mean no harm!”
“Good thing he’s here,” Gardner said. “They look like a lynch mob, don’t they?”
When the conference was over, the visitors were led into the village, and one of the warriors armed with an ancient rifle directed them to a thatched hut.
“Chief Teo say this your house,” Bestman said.
It was only a single room, apparently abandoned for some time. But Katie smiled at Chief Teo, saying, “Thank you, Chief Teo. May the Lord of heaven bless you and your house.”
Bestman translated, and the chief, a regal-looking man with teeth filed to fine points, grinned and made another speech. Bestman interpreted. “Chief Teo wants to know which of these two white men your husband.”
Katie flushed, saying quickly, “Neither of them! Tell him that Irene and I aren’t married.”
The chief listened to Bestman, then shook his head. “That is bad thing,” Bestman translated. “Chief say no good to waste two women!”
Gardner was amused by the exchange, but Katie was mortified. Barney saw her discomfort and came to the rescue. “We can’t go on to Gropaka tonight. See if you can find a place for the two of us, Bestman.”
Later that night, they once again ate rice. When a meat stew was passed around, all four missionaries added some fiery hot sauce to it. The chief asked for a sample, but spat it out on the ground.
“I think this stew has palm butter in it,” Gardner commented. “Most of the natives use it as a gravy or sauce.”
“Is this monkey meat?” Irene asked. “It doesn’t taste exactly like it.”
She asked Bestman, and he shook his head. “Oh no! This is rat stew, Mammy—very good!” A common dish for the Africans, they learned later.
They soon told Bestman they had eaten too much of Chief Teo’s good food and couldn’t eat any more. Bestman translated well without insulting the chief, but Katie felt her stomach churning for some time.
After the meal, the four went with Bestman to make what improvements they could on the house the women would be living in. Working by the light of one of the lanterns they had brought, and with some help from Bestman, they managed to rig two cots out of poles. They had brought plenty of rope, which they used to support the mattresses of stuffed grass.
Gardner looked at Barney and Katie’s efforts. “You two go get some more grass. Neither of you can tie a decent knot.”
“I’m not going out in the dark!” Irene cried, alarmed.
“Barney and I will get the grass,” Katie said. “You can stay here and help Awful.”
Barney lit the extra lantern, picked up the mattress covers, and the two went outside. The earth around the hut was trampled flat, but as they explored a little farther, they found a plentiful supply of long grass at the edge of the woods. They began pulling it and stuffing it into the ticking, and soon had two fat mattresses.
“They look like sausages,” Katie laughed.
“Better than sleeping on the ground,” Barney grinned. He looked up at the sky and added, “That’s the same moon we have back home, but it looks larger here.”
Katie nodded. “It does look big. And look at the stars!” The sky was spangled with countless points of light, some of them glittering like silver fire. “When I see the stars, I always think of what God said to Abraham,” she mused. “That he’d have more descendants than all the stars he could see.”
“God gave him a big promise. We are part of that promise, part of his covenant, Awful told me, and can expect the Lord to do big things for us here.”
“He will,” Katie said, thinking of Beecham’s prayers for all of them.
Barney gazed at the panoply of the heavens, remembering how his father had wondered what the sky would look like in Africa.
“The stars look so close. I wish I knew enough constellations to write my father about them,” he said. “Somehow it looks bigger here than at home.”
As they stood in the small clearing, caressed by the warm wind, they breathed in the fragrance of the forest. Many of the odors were alien to Katie and Barney—the smell of ancient dark earth, the endless variety of trees, the rotting leaves, the compost that was made and remade endlessly as the trees grew to dizzying heights that cut out the light of the sun, then fell to become part of the black earth. In time those trunks would be reduced to dust through the work of worms and a thousand species of insects.
The sounds were as strange as the odors of the jungle. In addition to the faint drone of human voices, Barney could hear the animal life roaming the trackless woods. A sharp chattering sound came at regular intervals. A faint scream from far away scored the night, and then a hoarse grunting not too far from where he and Katie stood.
Barney sighed. “We’re a long way from home, Katie.”
“No, we’re really at home now, Barney!”
He smiled at her. She is lovely, he thought. The moonlight made a silver corona around her head, framing her face. Her eyes sparkled from the soft light of the full moon.
“I’m glad you said that. I’ve been standing here feeling like some sort of out-of-place fellow. But you’re right, Katie. This is our home now.”
Her comment had drawn them closer somehow, and each of them felt better knowing they were not alone.
Suddenly a fierce scream rent the air, and Katie cried in fear as she grabbed Barney.
Barney instinctively wrapped his arms around her, hunching his shoulders to protect her from the sharp claws he fully expected to slice into his back. They stood there, nerves shrieking with shock. Then the scream faded into silence.
Barney felt Katie’s body shaking as he held her. They were both too numb to speak. Finally Katie raised her eyes to his. Her lips trembled as she said, “I—I guess it’s gone!”
Barney nodded and was about to release her when he was struck by the beauty of the woman he held in his arms. Her face was only inches away. Impulsively he lowered his lips to hers.
Katie had grabbed him out of sheer reflex, but as she felt his lips on hers, a sense of need rushed in. She had stood alone for so long, had been lonely for so long, that now she simply accepted his kiss and gently returned the pressure of her own. She had not realized her deep desire for someone to share with, for her call to Africa had obliterated everything else—including her need as a woman.
Then his arms tightened around her, and she gasped and pulled away. He released her and she stepped back, confused and afraid. Not afraid of him, but of herself, of the sudden streak of passion that had gripped her.
Barney sensed the emotional turmoil and was himself surprised at what had happened. “I’m sorry, Katie,” he whispered. “I guess I just wanted to let you know—” He broke off and tried again, “I guess we were both frigh
tened out of our wits. When I get scared like that, I just—I grab the first thing I see.”
“Me, too, Barney,” Katie murmured. Then with a burst of nervous energy, she picked up the mattress, saying brightly, “We’d better get back before that thing really comes to get us!”
Neither of them referred to the event, but the next day when Gardner and Barney said goodbye to the women, he could tell that Katie was not as open as she had been. I’ve disappointed her, he thought. Why did I ever do a thing like that?
“We’ll come back in a month.” Gardner’s voice exuded excitement and cheer. “You ladies try not to get eaten by a lion or something.”
Katie avoided Barney’s eyes, her cheeks flushed.
Irene didn’t miss a beat and after the men had left, asked, “Why’d you blush like that?”
“Oh, I’m just sorry to see them go, I guess,” Katie said defensively. Then she forced herself to smile. “Well, we’re here, Irene. Let’s start being missionaries!”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Witch Doctor!
“What day is it, Katie?”
Katie looked up from the notebook. “It’s Thursday.”
Irene stirred the beans in the cooking pot, put the lid on, then walked to the bench outside their house and sat down. “I mean what day of the month.” She pulled her sun helmet off and wiped her brow with a limp handkerchief. “Every day’s just like every other day here. I lose count.”
“It’s the twenty-fifth of August,” Katie said after consulting a small calendar she had glued in the back of her notebook.
“We came on April fourth, so we’ve been on the station five months.” She leaned her head back against the side of the house and closed her eyes. Fatigue had etched small lines on her forehead, and she had lost weight. Finally she said without opening her eyes, “It seems like a lot longer than that.”
Katie nodded. “Yes, it does, Irene. Time’s not the same here as it is back home.”
She set the notebook aside, got up from the chair she’d brought outside, and walked to the gourd where they kept water. It was tepid and flat, and no matter how much she drank, she always seemed to be thirsty. She swallowed some more, then sought the shady side of the house.
The afternoon sun was a huge pale globe in the sky, throwing heat that would have turned her skin lobster red if she hadn’t protected it. Shortly after arriving at the station, she had suffered a mild case of sunstroke because she’d forgotten her helmet.
Irene, too, had learned to be careful. She had visited a sick woman in a neighboring village, and discovered the next day that the African sun was not very kind to the white women as she removed layers of skin from her arms. The sun and the heat meant little to the Africans but was a constant enemy to the white missionaries.
“Time really isn’t the same here, is it, Irene?” Katie said again. “I mean, the days go by, but there’s nothing to really mark them, like at home. Here we just get up and cook early to avoid the heat, study the language, and visit the sick. But it’s like being on a boat that goes down a river with trees on either side. Every day you go by more of the country, but the scenery doesn’t change.”
Irene opened her eyes. “I guess that’s right. We never see anybody except the villagers. And they do pretty much the same thing all the time.” She laughed. “You know, I thought our biggest problem would be wild animals or getting eaten by cannibals—but the deadliest is pure old boredom!”
They had seen no one except the natives of the village for three weeks. Gardner had come through in May, headed for the coast for supplies, but had pushed on after checking on their needs. On his return trip, he only stayed overnight.
Katie recalled their conversation. “Barney and me have been havin’ a time of it,” he said. “I took malaria, and after I got over it, Barney went down. Don’t you ladies go off the station till you have your first round of malaria.” When Irene had suggested they might not get it, he had said, “No hope of that, my dear. Everybody gets malaria. Just stay close to the station till you get well.”
“How’s Barney?” Katie had asked.
“He’s a tough ’un, Barney is!” Gardner laughed. “Got all the natives talkin’ about him. They ain’t never seen many white men, see, and they ain’t never seen one that could out-walk ’em. But Barney can! Oh, my word, he can! So they come up with a name for him—Kwi Balee. Means ‘White Antelope.’ Oh, he’s got ’em thinkin’ he’s the big rooster, right enough. Made a few good shots with his rifle, bringin’ down game, and they all say he can’t miss, and he hits five monkeys with every shot!”
But aside from those two short visits, the women had only each other to talk to. The Pahn language was difficult for Irene to grasp and she would have given up but for Katie’s prodding. From dawn till dusk they worked hard, going through their daily routine—housekeeping, cooking, washing, studying, teaching the children, ministering to the sick, and holding services. The deadly boredom of the “dailys” ate into their resistance and drained their strength.
Nothing had prepared them for this drastic change. The glamour of sacrificing all to bring the gospel to an unreached people on another continent had soon vanished.
Irene got up and checked the beans. “These are about done. Do we still have some of that meat Chief Tenki sent?”
“No, but let’s finish what we got from Mutali. I still don’t know what it is.”
“It tastes like old rope,” Irene grimaced. Then she brightened. “Let’s go see Chief Tenki. I’ll bet he’d give us something better than this.”
Chief Tenki’s tribe was located about fifteen miles from Maoli. Katie and Bestman had visited the chief, and to her delight had discovered that he was a Christian—a convert of one of the early missionaries who had died and was buried in his village. Tenki was a short muscular man of fifty, and could speak English fairly well. He had been delighted to see Katie, and had begged her to move to his village. When she had been unable to promise that, he had insisted she send another missionary as soon as possible.
“We have very bad witch doctor!” Tenki had said. “His name Maioni. Very bad man! Bring curse on many people here!”
His plea had disturbed Katie. Could the open door to Chief Tenki’s village be a call from God? She shared it with Irene, who said, “As long as we stay together, it’s all right with me.” But Katie had been unable to arrive at a firm decision, so nothing had been done.
****
Two days later, Katie was teaching hymns to the children—her favorite activity—when Chief Mawali and Bestman came hurrying toward them, accompanied by a stranger. Both the chief and Bestman appeared very disturbed.
“What’s wrong?” Katie jumped up.
“Bad thing!” Bestman said. “This man from Chief Tenki’s village. Very bad thing!”
“Tell me, Bestman!”
“This man, he say Chief Tenki in bad trouble! He say chief die soon.”
“Is he sick?” Katie asked with alarm.
“No! Witch doctor, he go kill chief! This man, he say Chief Tenki say Mammy come quick.”
“I’ll go at once!”
When Bestman interpreted, Chief Mawali shook his head, gesturing violently and speaking with great force.
“Chief Mawali say you no go, Mammy.”
“Why not?”
“Witch doctor strong man—very strong! Chief, his brother, he die. Maioni, witch doctor, say Chief Tenki put evil eye on him. People lock up chief. Him die soon.”
Katie set her jaw. “I’m going to Chief Tenki.” She whirled and ran to her house, calling as she entered, “Irene, I’ve got to leave!”
She explained the situation while she packed, but Irene insisted on going along. “I don’t like to be alone, Katie,” she said.
“It won’t be for long,” Katie said. “One of us has to stay here.” She didn’t add that the trip was potentially dangerous, but said only, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. You get all the Christians praying for me.” With that she kissed Ir
ene and ran out of the house. She found Bestman alone.
“Where’s Chief Mawali?”
“Chief, he scared,” Bestman nodded. “Nobody else go, Mammy.”
“Will you take me to Chief Tenki, Bestman?”
The tall African nodded, surprised. “Bestman always go with Mammy.”
“Bless you, Bestman,” Katie smiled. “We go now!”
****
As they walked into the cluster of thatched huts, an overwhelming oppression hit Katie. It was not doubt, or even fear. This was different.
The deeper she went into the village, the more suffocating the assault on her spirit became. She had never encountered such heaviness. Though the sun was overhead, there was a sense of darkness she knew was not physical. A strange silence hung over the village—no children laughing, no murmur of voices. Even the dogs were silent as she and Bestman walked slowly toward a large hut.
Katie could almost hear the palpitation of her heart. Her knees trembled, and she wanted to flee the miasma of fear and darkness that seemed to hover over the silent village.
When they neared the hut, Bestman whispered, barely able to speak, “Witch doctor, he come, Mammy.”
What a heroic and courageous thing for Bestman to come, Katie thought. He knows all about the fear, yet he came!
Suddenly a grotesque figure burst from one of the huts. His long mop of hair, smeared with palm oil and cow dung, hung over a face deeply etched with tattoo scars. Almost naked except for the string of leopard’s teeth around his neck, pouches of juju and fetish medicine hanging from his waist, and several white tails of bishop monkeys trailing behind him, the man was the strangest creature Katie had ever seen!
Her pulse throbbed in her ears, but by sheer iron will, Katie did not blink or show a sign of fear as the man came toward her, shrieking, his face contorted with rage. A line of men, armed with bows and arrows and ancient muskets, formed a circle around Katie, Bestman, and the witch doctor.
The witch doctor screamed and several times advanced to within a few feet of Katie, shaking bones in her face. She knew instinctively that he was trying to break her nerve, but she stood perfectly still, watching him without a word or sign of fear.
The Final Adversary Page 20
