The Final Adversary

by Gilbert, Morris

  But Gardner didn’t come—not that night and not for the wedding. Barney moved through the day, saying the right things, but his heart was like lead. The bride looked beautiful and so did Dorothy in her new dress designed just for the wedding. Barney joined in the laughter and rejoicing, but it was all superficial, and he was relieved when it was all over.

  Two days after the Ranken wedding an exhausted runner came staggering through the gates of the mission compound. The word was relayed to Barney, and he rushed out to the well, where the dust-covered native was gulping down the water.

  “Not so much!” Myron Hansen was warning him, then turned to the small crowd. “Bad news, I’m afraid.”

  “What is it?” Barney demanded.

  “The situation at Gropaka—it’s terrible. This runner says Gardner has been carrying on a feud with one of the Pahn tribes. Chief’s name is Batoni.”

  “I know him,” Barney said. “Know about him, that is. He’s bad. What about Gardner?”

  Hansen shook his head. “He’s critically ill—or so this man says. The way he tells it, Batoni or one of his witch doctors has put a curse on poor Gardner. That sort of thing. But he’s very ill, at any rate.”

  “I’ll leave immediately,” Barney said.

  “That’s not all,” Hansen said reluctantly. “It seems that Batoni’s tribe has kidnapped one of our people.” He turned to Katie. “Your servant, Bestman. Batoni is going to kill him.”

  Katie’s face became ashen. “I’m going to him.”

  “Neither of you must go!” Hansen cried in frustration. “It’s politically explosive, don’t you see? We can’t afford to take part in these tribal wars, and that’s what will happen if you go trying to get your servant back.”

  “Father’s right,” Dorothy said. “We must notify the authorities.”

  “Notify anybody you please,” Barney said evenly. “I’m leaving in an hour.”

  That deadline was too ambitious, for it took until the next morning to get ready. Dorothy and her father argued against the journey most of the night, but Barney kept repeating, “I’ve got to go!”

  Dorothy eventually gave up, dejected, but her father had discovered a new quality in Barney. “You’ve found out that there’s some part of that young fellow you can’t touch, daughter—and I like him the better for it!”

  At dawn the party was ready to leave, including Del, when he heard the news. That made three—Barney, Katie, Del. After a quick breakfast they were off.

  They took a surfboat to Carroway, and pushed on by foot toward Gropaka. They talked little, prayed much, and walked as fast as they could. As they trudged along all day, Katie recalled an earlier trip when she’d been forced to ride in a hammock most of the way.

  The evening of October 15 found them a few hours from Gropaka. As they made camp, Barney said, “This may be our last night on earth, you know.”

  Del nodded. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

  “No,” Katie countered. “God will deliver us. He will deliver Awful and Bestman, too.”

  “Let’s trust so,” Barney said. They sat around the fire, praying and reading the Scriptures before settling down for the night. Exhausted from the whirlwind events, they slept, oblivious to the curious animals sniffing out these huge mounds of humanity. What would tomorrow bring? Life? Death?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The Juju House

  “Oh my, ’tis good to see you, dear boy!”

  A wave of relief swept Barney when he entered the center of the village and found Awful sitting at the well instead of lying in bed, unconscious and burning with fever. The tension that had been building since word had come from Gropaka lifted, and Barney cried, “Awful! We heard you were dying!”

  “No. I’m not plannin’ on it!” he laughed, turning to greet the others. “Del, how fit you look! And Katie, how wonderful to see you!”

  Katie took his hand, noting the bony surface—not strong and wiry as usual. “We were worried about you. The messenger said you were deathly ill.”

  “Oh, not as bad as all that!” But despite his protests, they could see he was not well. Though he had always been thin, now he was almost emaciated. He looked years older, his face was lined, and his eyes sunken into his skull. He moved slowly and carefully, like a very old man—or a very sick one—so unlike his vigorous self.

  “Come along, now,” he urged, “let’s have a spot of tea.” He hobbled through the village to the small house he and Barney had built.

  Along the way the villagers called “Kwi Balee!” while reaching out for Barney’s hand.

  Perceptive as usual, Katie noticed that though the natives greeted him, they seemed frightened, so she asked quietly, “What’s wrong with them, Barney? What are they afraid of?”

  “I don’t know, but something has happened. Let’s wait till we talk with Awful.”

  Inside the house, Awful had already made up a pot of tea when the rest got there. Barney wasted no time. “Awful, what’s happened? You’ve been very ill. Was it malaria? And what’s wrong with the people? They’re scared to death.”

  “Ah, now, one question at a time, laddie,” Gardner said. He sipped his tea with a trembling hand, his eyes drooping drowsily. Finally he put his cup down and began to speak. “Well, now, I did have me quite a bad time a couple of weeks ago. Matter of fact, I’m still not too well.”

  It was the first time Barney had ever heard Awful utter a negative word, and he leaned forward. “Malaria?”

  “Actually, it wasn’t so much like that,” Gardner replied slowly. “I didn’t have no fever, or at least not so much. If it was just malaria, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.”

  “What was it like, Awful?” Katie asked.

  Gardner blinked his eyes several times, fighting sleep. “More of a—a spiritual thing, it was. Hard to describe, you know. Once I had a bad accident back home and was given large doses of laudanum. You know what that does to a chap! You get all groggy . . . can’t sleep, yet not really awake either. That’s sort of what it was like.” He looked disturbed as he tried to recall the experience. He bit his lower lip. “It was like that—only worse.”

  “The runner said Chief Batoni had put a curse on you. Is that true?” Del asked.

  “I’m not sayin’ that ain’t so, lad.” Awful drawled out his words. “We’ve all seen things out here that nobody would believe on Water Street. And Batoni would do me in if he could, you can believe!”

  “What’s been the trouble with Batoni?” Barney pressed.

  “It’s the juju, I suppose. Since you left it’s been pretty lively.”

  The Pahn people, like many tribes in Africa, believed strongly in fetishes, a type of idol worship. They wore fetishes around their necks or about the waists, and often hung the charms above the doorways of their huts. Special celebrations, directed by the local witch doctor, were held in honor of the large fetish. On moonlit nights the people would sometimes sing and dance all night, accompanied by the beating of drums.

  Most of the people were very superstitious. By wearing fetishes on their bodies, they believed they could be protected from wild animals and hostile tribes. They thought the fetishes would keep sickness away and assure long life. Even babies and little children would be decked with charms hung about their necks.

  “You and me have been tryin’ to get our people to get rid of them things ever since we came to Gropaka,” Awful said to Barney. “So, about a month ago, I decided to meet the thing head-on. I wanted to show the people that the Lord Jesus is the true God, and I kept askin’ the Lord to help me.”

  “It’s the same in my village,” Katie said. “They’re afraid to get rid of the fetishes because the witch doctors tell them they’ll die if they do.”

  “So they do,” Gardner nodded. “Well, it happened this way. I called a meetin’ with Chief Lodi and his head men, and I said, ‘Chief, it ain’t right to have that big heathen shrine in the same village with a Christian mission station.’ And I
told him he ought to get rid of the big juju house.”

  Barney remembered the juju house. It was built in the form of an arch made of wooden poles and thatched with grass. On each side of the structure was a bench made of bamboo poles; and on one seat sat an image of a man made with goat’s hair, shells and mud. On the opposite side were two earthen jars that served as beehives. The bees belonged to the fetish and were considered sacred.

  “What did Lodi say?” Barney asked.

  “Well, he made quite a speech, lad,” Awful nodded emphatically. “I was wishin’ you wuz there while he was talkin’. He said he’d heard both of us preach that our God could do anything—open the eyes of the blind, cleanse lepers, even raise the dead. Then he said, ‘You want us to give up our old gods. First, we want to see your God do these things.’ Quite a speech,” Awful smiled. “And when he was through I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what to do.”

  “We’ve all heard that sort of thing in one fashion or another,” Del nodded. “I never know what to say. It wouldn’t be right to get into any sort of competition, would it? Beg God to do miracles just to satisfy the people?”

  “That didn’t even work for Moses,” Katie added. “And when the Israelites saw God destroy Egypt, when they went through the Red Sea on dry land—even that didn’t make them strong believers. They just went on complaining.”

  “Right-O!” Awful nodded. “Exactly my thought. But at the same time, Lodi had a point. Jesus did perform miracles, and we’ve all seen God do the impossible, haven’t we, now?”

  “Wish I’d been here with you, Awful,” Barney said quietly. “Though I don’t know what I could have done. What happened next?”

  “I done a lot of prayin’, but for a few days it seemed like nothin’ wuz goin’ to change. Then Chief Batoni comes in with some of his witch doctors.”

  “Is he as wicked as they say, Awful?” Katie asked. “I’ve heard he practices human sacrifice.”

  “He’s deep into witchcraft himself,” Gardner nodded. His voice was getting scratchy, so he took a sip of tea. “And his tribe is powerful, much more warlike than Lodi’s people. All the local tribes are scared of him, so when he come to Gropaka, it just about put poor Chief Lodi under!”

  “We heard what Batoni did to the village over near the coast,” Del said. “When they crossed him, he took his band and massacred the whole village.”

  “Yes, he done that, and he’s lookin’ for an excuse to take over this village,” Awful nodded. “He hates Christians particularly bad, he does. When I went to the meetin’ he wuz havin’ with Lodi, I thought he’d do me in right then! He jumped up, pulled out his knife and made a run at me, yellin’ and screamin’ like they do. Well, I just said, ‘Jesus, take care of your old servant,’ and he finally cooled down. But he kept threatenin’ Lodi, tellin’ him if he didn’t run me out of the village, he’d have bad luck.”

  “What did Lodi say?” Barney asked.

  “Oh, he tried to straddle the fence,” Awful shrugged. “He’s a good man, but scared stiff of Batoni. The argument went on for hours, with Batoni sayin’ I had to go and Lodi tryin’ to find a way to let me stay.” Gardner grimaced as if recalling that dreadful scene.

  He shook his head, a look of amazement on his face. “Well, while the two chiefs were debatin’ the thing, we heard the death wail. Went through me like a knife, it did, just like it always does! Well, somebody come and told Lodi his favorite wife Laota had just died.”

  “Poor woman!” Barney murmured. “She was a leper. Nothing but a skeleton! I’ve prayed for her many times, but she just got worse.”

  “Yes, she was a good woman, but sufferin’ a lot.” He sighed and went on. “We all got up and went to Lodi’s hut, even Batoni. I hated to go! You know how I always detested the way these people treat their dead!”

  The tribe did not bury their dead. Instead, they carried the corpses to a fetish grove and left them for the hyenas, jackals, and vultures to devour. Consequently, every village that practiced this type of rite reeked with the sickening smell of decaying human flesh. But the people clung to their custom.

  Awful continued. “There wuz a lot of women at Lodi’s house, cryin’ and wailin’, and there wuz Lodi’s wife, all laid out on a trash heap, wasted to mere skin and bone. But then I noticed something.” Gardner’s eyes grew bright. “I saw her muscles were twitchin’, so I says to Lodi, ‘She ain’t dead, Chief. I seen her move.’ ”

  “But Lodi said, ‘That’s nothing. It will stop soon.’ ”

  “I looked at the woman, and suddenly I thought I could hear God speakin’ to my heart and He was sayin’, ‘I’m goin’ to show my power to these people. Pray for this woman.’ You can imagine what I thought! The whole thing was so impossible!”

  Katie remembered when she had faced the witch doctor with the cup of poison. She leaned forward. “What did you do?”

  “Do, lass? There was nothin’ for it but to trust God! So I said to the chief, ‘God is able to raise your wife.’ Well, that set off something I can tell you! Batoni laughed at me, the poor chief was dumbstruck, but I was in too far to back out. So I put my hands on the woman and began to pray. I mean pray. If ever this old man prayed a fervent prayer, that was it! I can’t say how long, but it was a long, long time. I more or less lost track of time, because when I came to myself, it was dusk. Most of the people were gone. Only Chief Lodi and a few faithful ones still there.”

  Gardner stopped, seemingly overcome. When he lifted his head, tears filled his eyes. “The woman’s body began to jerk in hard spasms, and then her eyes opened and she spoke to her husband! Oh, there wuz rejoicin’, I tell you!”

  “What did Batoni and his witch doctors say to that?” Barney asked.

  “Well, he’d gone back to his village, but when he heard about it, he scoffed and said the woman wuzn’t really dead. He’d have to say that, of course!”

  “Is she well, the chief’s wife?” Del inquired.

  “Yes, she’s gettin’ better all the time, muscles fillin’ out, walkin’ stronger, even leprosy disappearin’.” Gardner seemed to be tired, but his eyes were bright. “It’s been a great thing for the village. Everyone knew she was dyin’, and now she goes about tellin’ the people about the miracle, how Jesus raised her from the dead.’ He frowned, adding, “Of course, the trouble with Batoni started when I asked the chief to get rid of the juju house, which he did.”

  “I noticed it was gone,” Barney said. “That thing was a monument to Satan! I’m glad he got rid of it.”

  “Yes, but Batoni wuzn’t,” Gardner told them. “They say when he heard about it, he swore that he’d kill me. Then when I got sick right after that, everyone thought his curse wuz workin’ on me.”

  “You had a hard time of it,” Katie said sympathetically. “But what about Bestman? We heard that he’d been kidnapped by Batoni.”

  “I’m afraid that’s true,” Gardner nodded. “He heard about the miracle God did and came down to see the chief’s wife. He’s a relative of hers, you know. Well, he went wild for joy, my word, he did! But the next day he was gone. I asked around and found out that he’d left to go preach the Good News. But he went straight to Batoni’s village, and that old pirate locked ’im up.”

  “We heard that Batoni was going to kill him,” Katie said. “We’ve got to do something!”

  “Yes, we do indeed, lass.” He had a determined look in his eyes as he spoke. “I would have gone to get him before this, but I’m too weak. And these people are still terrified of what will happen to them if they cross Batoni.”

  “I’ll go first thing in the morning,” Barney said grimly. “We can’t let him stay in the hands of Batoni.”

  “Ah, that’s my dear boy!” Awful smiled. “I’ve been prayin’ that the Good Lord would help me get to that village, and He’s sent you.”

  “You’re in no condition to make that trip, Awful!” Del protested.

  “I’ve got four good men who’ve agreed to carry me.” Awful looked at him d
efiantly. “I was goin’ to start in the mornin’ by myself anyway. But now you can come along with me.”

  The argument was sharp, but brief. Nothing would dissuade Gardner. “You’d be better off prayin’ than arguin’ with me.” A humorous light touched his eyes. “God may answer your prayers to save Bestman, but I’ll never let you change my mind!”

  “You are a rebel!” Barney smiled. The sight of Awful, sick as he was, brought a sense of joy to him, and he hugged the thin man, his friend. “I’d lock you up, but you’d probably pick the locks!”

  Awful looked Barney straight in the eyes. “I’ve missed you, dear boy—indeed, I have!”

  Barney’s eyes burned, and he turned his head away. “Katie, I’ll get you a place to sleep. Del, you can stay with Awful and me.”

  Barney took Katie to a hut where a middle-aged woman was cooking over an open fire, and called, “Laota!”

  Overjoyed to see Barney, she dropped her stick and grabbed his hands as he came near. She talked so fast Katie couldn’t understand a word.

  “Katie, this is Chief Lodi’s wife. You’ll stay with her tonight.”

  Katie fixed her eyes on Laota and stammered, “I—I thank God that He touched you, sister.”

  Bobbing her head and smiling broadly, Laota chattered on.

  “She’ll talk you to death, Katie,” Barney smiled. To Laota he said, “I’m so happy God has made you well.”

  Tears ran down her cheeks, and she said in broken English, “God Him good. Bring back Laota from dark place!”

  She beckoned to Katie. “Come. I show you bed.”

  Turning to leave, Barney said, “I’m going back to talk with Awful, Katie. He really looks weak.”

  “I’ll go with you, Barney,” she insisted. She took Laota’s hands in hers. “I will come later,” she promised.

  Katie and Barney started toward the mission house, waving to the smiling faces along the way. “You’ll never change his mind,” Katie said soberly. “He’s very stubborn.”

  “I don’t want you to go to Batoni’s village, Katie,” Barney said abruptly. “It’s too dangerous.”