Stones of Nairobi

by Vered Ehsani

  “She’s very noisy,” Yao confided as he leaned toward me. “And rude! Yao had to block her mouth. Even then, she wouldn’t stay quiet. She isn’t worth any dowry. Definitely no warrior will pay cows or goats to marry her. Maybe a few chickens.”

  He frowned and rubbed a hand over his chest. “Yao can’t understand why Mr. Timmons ever liked her.”

  “Indeed,” I said and staggered back to the kitchen. Grateful to see a steaming kettle on the stove, I collapsed into a chair and leaned my elbows against the table while I cradled my aching head in my hands. “What am I to do with her?”

  “I can think of a few things,” Koki suggested as she followed me. “We could offer her to Le-Eyo. I hear he’s still searching for a wife. Your Popobawa brother can always turn into a bat and drop her on a steamer far from shore.”

  “Oh, yes,” Yao enthused as he entered the kitchen and clapped his hands. “Or he could miss the boat and drop her in the ocean. The sharks would love her to bits. Or we could feed her to the lions. Or—”

  “Enough,” I said. My head flopped onto the table, my mouth almost kissing the wood. “This is a disaster.”

  “Yes, it is,” Koki agreed.

  “Worst ever,” Jonas added. “Mr. Timmons, he will hang for sure, and you, Miss Knight, you’ll go to jail.”

  “And who will look after Gideon and his monkey?” Yao asked.

  “Inconceivable as this may be to the three of you, your comments aren’t helping,” I said and groaned.

  “You’re right. It is unbelievable,” Koki agreed as she strolled over to the stove to inspect Shelby. “After all, I did offer a couple of helpful, practical suggestions which you have rejected.”

  “Yao did as well,” the Adze reminded us before turning about and drifting out of the kitchen.

  “As despicable as Miss Baxter is,” I said, lifting my head to glare at Koki, “I can’t murder her.”

  “Giving her to Le-Eyo isn’t murder,” she corrected me, an eyebrow arching. “It’s malicious and immoral, possibly illegal, but it isn’t murder. Speaking of murder, I must be off. We have a plan to set in motion, and I need to find Kam.” So saying, she departed through the back door.

  I raised my hands and face to the ceiling in supplication, wondering if anyone would answer.

  “You can try praying to Kam, but me, I don’t think he will hit her with lightning,” Jonas said, shaking his head mournfully. “Tea?”

  Yao bounded into the room before I could respond. “Here’s the letter,” he announced and proudly placed the condemning piece of paper before me. “Yao did a good job as a letterman.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “DON’T YOU WANT to read it?” Yao asked, pouting at my lack of enthusiasm for his endeavors.

  “Not really,” I sighed. “I already know its contents.”

  “But Gideon said the writing is very colorful,” Yao insisted, then frowned. “Yao can’t see any color on the paper. Is Gideon color-blind?”

  Moaning, I said, “Yao, please could you wait in the other room with our unwanted and reluctant guest?”

  Muttering to himself while casting a baleful glance at me, Yao left the room.

  “And Jonas,” I continued.

  “Yes?” Jonas looked up, his eyes twinkling in his wrinkled face.

  “Where’s that tea?”

  As he opened his mouth to respond, Tiberius burst through the outer kitchen door, his face the epitome of desperation.

  “Thank goodness you’re here,” he gushed as he paced the room. “It’s Lilly. I fear she may be having contractions.”

  “Surely it’s too early for those,” I replied, wondering how many more minutes I’d have to wait for my tea.

  “Exactly,” Tiberius exclaimed, his arms flapping in emphasis. “I’ve sent for Dr. Ribeiro but I don’t know what else to do until he arrives.”

  “A cup of tea wouldn’t hurt,” I muttered before addressing the agitated man. “I do wish you’d sit down. My nerves are already perched on a fine edge, as are yours, and all this pacing about won’t assist matters.”

  He twirled about and stared at me, the picture of anguish. “How can I sit when Lilly may be on the verge of an event that shouldn’t happen for at least a few more months?”

  “If I counted the number of ‘should’, ‘shouldn’t’ and ‘impossible’ that I’ve been tempted to utter in my life,” I said, rubbing my forehead, “I’d be at it all day.”

  Striding toward me, he sunk onto one knee and grasped my hands in his. “Go to her, Bee,” he beseeched, his eyes peering up at me from under furrowed brows. “I implore you.”

  “And what use will I be?” I demanded. “I’m no doctor.”

  “You’re a woman,” he pointed out, breathless with desperation.

  My eyebrows rose. “I’m gratified that you noticed.”

  “Yes,” he pressed, “and surely you know something of these matters.”

  “I am all astonishment,” I spluttered, staring at him while freeing my hands from his grasp. “And that’s not something I admit to very often.”

  I leaned forward, one arm resting on the kitchen table, and confessed, “Being a woman doesn’t automatically qualify me as a midwife.” I held up a finger before he could interrupt and raised my voice. “Nor does it bestow on me a fount of knowledge regarding the delivery or care of babies, shocking as that might be to the male species.”

  “But you’re her cousin,” he wailed as he stood up and resumed pacing. “Surely your mere presence will calm and reassure her until the doctor arrives.”

  “That’s a marvelous if not severely flawed deduction,” I said, bestowing a look of disapprobation upon my deluded brother. “Nonetheless, I’ll go attend to her as best I can.”

  “Thank you,” he breathed out and exited the kitchen, perhaps to find a larger room in which to pace.

  “Well, that’s a pickle,” I said and wondered when Dr. Ribeiro would arrive.

  Jonas grunted and said, “Your cousin, she’ll be fine. Your brother, maybe not.”

  “Thank you, Jonas,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. Sadly, the sarcasm was wasted on him.

  As I began to stand up, Drew staggered into the kitchen, his clothes still clean and intact but his eyes wild. He slammed the door behind him.

  “Hello, Drew,” I said with a certain degree of caution. “As much as I’d love to resume your lessons on social etiquette and fashion, we have a minor medical emergency to which I must attend. I’m sure it’s nothing more than a misdiagnosed case of indigestion but still, one can never be sure. Speaking of emergencies, where is my tea, Jonas?”

  “The letter,” Drew grunted as he waved the paper before his face.

  Sighing, I said, “That cursed letter. Yao and Gideon intended well but as you may have noticed, they carried away the recipient — a woman by the name of Miss Baxter — along with the letter.”

  “Cilla,” Drew growled, his canines prominent. “Why didn’t you tell me about Cilla?”

  “Oh.” I could feel the color drain from my face and I leaned my hip against the table. “That letter.”

  “She promised me she was coming back,” he said, his eyes vacant. “She promised me. And now she’s not. Why?” He glared at me, his canines elongating, his voice thicker. “Why?”

  Just then, Gideon floated into the room. “Beatrice, Drew saw our new houseguest and… Oh, he’s here.”

  “It seems that’s not all he found,” I said, frowning at the ghost, certain this predicament was in some way or other his fault.

  “Well, in my defense,” Gideon huffed, “you do have a bad habit of leaving your correspondence out in the open.”

  “It was in a cubby hole in my writing desk,” I protested as I held out a placating hand toward Drew.

  “Which happens to be in the guest room,” Gideon said, shaking his head at me. “Can I help it that Drew asked for a paper and quill, and I directed him to your desk, and—”

  “Drew,” I interrupted the
ghost. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

  A snarl was my brother’s only answer. In a fit of despair, he tore at his shirt with sharp nails and began to shift.

  “Mr. Elkhart, come quickly,” Gideon whispered. “Blast it. Why can’t I shout like a normal person?”

  He dashed through the wall as Drew’s features continued to transform. Jonas grabbed up a cast iron frying pan, preparing to smack someone or something should the need arise. Not a few seconds had passed before the door to the kitchen was flung open, and Tiberius stood in the doorway, chest heaving in agitation, the fire poker in his hand, his own teeth elongated. By then, Drew was a wolf.

  “Behind me, Beatrice,” Tiberius ordered as he positioned himself in front of me, brandishing the poker.

  “He’s not going to attack me,” I complained but with little conviction and even less energy.

  “Drew, calm down and sit in that corner,” Tiberius said and gestured to a corner of the kitchen. “If you don’t, I’ll fly you off to the middle of the Rift Valley and leave you there. Do you understand?”

  The only answer was a howl that reverberated with all the torment contained in a breaking heart. Shelby began to screech as she clambered onto one of the overhead beams.

  “Oh, Drew,” I sobbed. “I’m so terribly sorry.”

  Whimpering, Drew retreated to the corner and collapsed, his yellow eyes fixed on me, his sides heaving with barely restrained emotion.

  “Thank you, Tiberius,” I said as I placed my hands on the table for support. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and inhaled the sting of ozone. “What now?”

  I opened my eyes in time to see Kam make an appearance in the middle of the kitchen.

  “Koki told me we need to talk,” he said by way of a greeting.

  “Yes, we do,” Koki said as she entered through the outer kitchen door.

  “What’s wrong with everyone today?” I demanded.

  Jonas snorted as he handed a peeled banana to Shelby, thus silencing her. “Seems normal to me.”

  “You remember the dwarf’s plan,” Koki said, her face unusually flustered. “Send a message to Liongo that Kam wishes to face him, thus luring him into—”

  “How could I forget,” I interrupted her.

  “That’s treacherous and dishonorable,” Tiberius commented, no doubt finding the entire situation deplorable. At least it distracted him for a moment from his worries.

  “Yes, it is,” Koki agreed. “Deliciously so.”

  Kam remained silent, his arms folded over his muscular chest, his expression not revealing his feelings regarding the plan made on his behalf to murder his father.

  “What of it, Koki,” I said, weary from the conversation and the comings and goings of so many people.

  “Well, it seems Liongo has other plans,” Koki said, her hands clenching and unclenching.

  “Of course he does,” I said. “Has he taken over the coast yet?”

  Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “No, not yet. It seems he decided that chastising his deceitful son was more important. A little birdie told me he’s been searching for Kam.”

  We all straightened up.

  “This should make your plan easier to implement then,” Tiberius said, his lips quirked in disdain.

  Koki shook her head and glanced at Kam. “He knows you’re here and he’s on his way right now. We have no time to set up the trap. He’ll be here by nightfall. Nameless isn’t scheduled to arrive for another day at least, as he’s still finalizing his energy-trapping device.”

  “You need to leave, now,” Tiberius barked, his canines lengthening as he whirled about to confront Kam. “We can’t have your family feud outside our home.”

  I glanced out the window. The shadows were stretched out along the ground, and the sky wasn’t the blinding blue of day.

  “It won’t matter if Kam goes,” Koki murmured as she too looked out the window. “Liongo will assume correctly that everyone residing here is associated with his son. He will…”

  She paused and turned to Tiberius, her eyebrows drawn together. “Your child will never see the light of day if we don’t defeat him tonight.”

  A guttural roar filled the kitchen as Tiberius’ face elongated into something that resembled a bat’s snout. Leathery wings sprouted from his back, knocking against the pots hanging from the beam above the counter. Flinging himself at Koki, he finished changing form just as he collided into her. Without thinking, I jumped into the fray just as Kam did.

  “Tiberius,” I shouted. “Save your strength, for this won’t stop Liongo.”

  Kam didn’t bother with logical arguments; he merely wrapped one arm around Tiberius’ neck while zapping my brother’s head with a small lightning bolt. The air smelled of ozone and burned hair. Meanwhile, Koki had transformed into a slightly smaller version of her Mantis form; one of her front clawed limbs was poised to strike.

  “No,” I screamed.

  Drew leaped, his jaws latching onto Koki’s upraised limb and dragging it away before it could descend toward Tiberius’ chest. Shrieking, Shelby jumped onto one of the pots swaying overhead and gnashed her teeth while Gideon circled around us, his faint voice lost in the cacophony of growls, snarls, hisses, shrieks and metal clanging.

  “It’s not her fault,” I yelled at both my brothers. “Let her go. Drew. Tiberius. Let. Her. Go.”

  Tiberius snarled, his solid black eyes layered with a reddish sheen as he strained against Kam’s hold. Drew dropped to the ground and skulked back to his corner.

  “We have to prepare,” Kam said, his voice rumbling. “If we fight amongst ourselves, he will win.”

  Between those words of wisdom and the stranglehold around his neck, Tiberius was finally persuaded to loosen his grip on Koki. The two separated and shifted back into human form, their gazes fixed on the other in a glaring match.

  “It’s a group fight. What fun,” Yao said from behind me. “Why didn’t anyone call Yao?”

  Collapsing into a chair, I turned to Jonas who had remained by the stove with the frying pan in hand, and said, “Please make a larger pot of tea. I think we’re going to need it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “WE DON’T NEED tea,” Tiberius growled, his voice gruff and coarse. “We need a battle plan.”

  “Without tea,” I asserted, “there is nothing but darkness and chaos.”

  “That’s a fairly good description of the current circumstance,” Koki said, her smirk reasserting itself.

  “Which is precisely why we need tea,” I said, miffed at my brother’s lack of comprehension. “Jonas, don’t dawdle.”

  Not bothering to hide a gaping yawn, Jonas set out to prepare more tea in a leisurely manner. Tiberius joined me at the table while Koki remained on the other side of the kitchen. Kam studied the scene outside as if life and limb depended on it, and Drew curled up in a corner, his werewolf eyes glittering at me in condemnation.

  “So, no group fight?” Yao asked, his lips set in a pout.

  Gideon appeared by his side, sighed and said, “Sadly not.”

  “Save your strength,” Kam ordered. “Without the dwarf’s help, we will have enough fighting tonight.”

  I frowned at the reminder. “Yes, his plan unfortunately hinged on his energy-trapping device. Without it, I wonder how we will contain Liongo.”

  “What energy-trapping device?” Gideon yelped.

  “Oh, that’s right,” I said, biting on my lower lip. “You’d left the room when Nameless shared his grand plan.”

  “What’s to say he doesn’t use his infernal device on us?” Gideon demanded, scowling as he referred to his previous experience with Nameless.

  While I didn’t believe the dwarf had any interest in collecting ghosts, I could appreciate the distrust in Gideon’s eyes.

  “Go to Lilly,” Tiberius implored me as he recalled the reason for his presence in my kitchen.

  “We should all retreat to the main house,” Koki said. “We can set
up a more impressive defense from there. And if we’re really lucky, we can survive the night.”

  “Assuming we don’t kill each other first,” I muttered.

  “We’re not going to engage in a battle while my wife is possibly delivering our baby,” Tiberius snapped.

  Koki’s eyes widened. “That complicates matters. But don’t worry. I have some experience in delivering babies.”

  “So does Yao,” Yao said, clapping his hands and smiling in anticipation.

  Tiberius’ chair hit the wall behind me as he leaped to his feet, shouting, “Stay away from her!”

  “We were just offering to help,” Yao said, his lower lip jutting out in a sulk.

  “And look what happened the last time you offered,” I reminded him as I accepted the tea Jonas had prepared. “Now we’re guilty of theft and abduction, amongst other crimes.”

  “How marvelous,” Yao enthused, his toothy smile reasserting itself on his charming visage.

  Unwilling to engage in the conversation any further, I requested Jonas to collect my bow, walking stick and crocodile shield. Thus armed as well as any woman could hope to be, I led my companions to the main house, carrying my teapot with me. After all, there was no point in abandoning it, for who knew when I’d have another opportunity to enjoy a cup or two. The Underworld was decidedly lacking in areas of refinement, a matter I would have to raise with Le-Eyo, the God of Death, if I found myself there after the night’s battle.

  We filed into Father’s library. Once he was apprised of the dilemma, he sent for Lord Hardinge and presented an odd proposal.

  “Are you sure?” Lord Hardinge asked, his fair eyebrows rising.

  I’d always liked the man. Despite being a Lord, he didn’t have the pretense and snobbery I normally associated with that breed of Englishman. Instead, he exuded a gentle humility and sincere concern for others that reminded me of Father. No wonder that the two were friends, and that Father had entrusted his son to the other’s care.

  “It’s for the best,” Father said. “If matters do not turn out in our favor, you must leave the colony at once, for Liongo will track down all who are associated with this household.”