Chapter 8 We Give a Sign

It was almost morning when Infadoos came to us, followed by six fine-looking chiefs.

'My lords and Ignosi, true king of the Kukuanas, I have brought these men with me. They are great men and each has command of 3,000 soldiers. Now let them also see the mark of the great snake and hear your story. Then they will say if they will join you against Twala the king.'

Ignosi took off the cloth and showed the mark. Each chief came near and examined it by the low light of the lamp. Then Ignosi put on his cloth again, and repeated his story.

Infadoos said,' Will you help this man to be king, as his father was ? The land is crying out against Twala and the people's blood is pouring like rain.'

The oldest of the six men, who was short with white hair, stepped forward and answered, 'Your words are true, Infadoos. The land is crying out. My own brother died tonight. But how do we know that this is the real king? There will be rivers of blood before this ends, because many people will fight for Twala. If this man really is the king, he must give us a sign that everyone can see.'

' You have seen the sign of the snake,' I answered.

' That is not enough. Perhaps the snake was put there after his birth. We will do nothing without a sign.'

The other chiefs agreed. I turned to Sir Henry and Good and explained the situation.

' I think I know what to do,' Good said.' Ask them to give us a moment to think.'

I did, and the chiefs left the room. Good went to the little box where he kept his medicines. He took out a diary.' Now,' he said, ' isn't tomorrow the fourth of June ?'

We had counted the days carefully, and it was.

' Good — " 4th June, total eclipse of the moon, can be seen in Tenerife, Africa ..." There is a sign for you. Tell them that you will make the moon dark tomorrow night.'

'And if the diary is wrong?' Sir Henry said to Good, who was writing some numbers on another page.

' Eclipses are usually on time,' answered Good.' I do not know our exact position, but it will begin at about ten o'clock tomorrow night and end at half-past twelve. For an hour and a half it will be totally dark.'

' Well,' said Sir Henry,' I cannot think of a better idea.'

I could not either, so I asked Umbopa to bring the chiefs back.

'Great men of the Kukuanas, listen.' I said. 'We do not enjoy showing our power, but this is important and we are angry with the king. Tell me — can any man stop the moon and make the land dark ?'

The chiefs laughed at this, and the oldest one said,' No man can do that.'

' Tomorrow night, two hours before midnight, we will make the moon disappear for an hour and a half. Darkness will cover the earth. If we do this, will you believe that Ignosi is the real king of the Kukuanas ?'

'Yes,' the old chief said, and the others agreed.' If you do this, we will be satisfied.'

Then Infadoos spoke. 'Two miles from Loo,' he said to us, ' there is a hill shaped like a half-moon. If you really can make the moon dark, I will lead you out of Loo to that place. There you will be safe. And from there we can make war on Twala the king.'

' Good,' I said.' Now, let us sleep and make our magic'.

'I hope that this eclipse happens,' Sir Henry said, after they had gone.

' If it does not happen,' I answered,' it will be the last moon that we will ever see.'

The next evening we put on the chain armour from the king and went to the great square in front of the king's hut with our rifles. The square looked very different from the evening before. Kukuana girls were wearing flowers in their hair. Each girl carried a large leaf in one hand and a tall white flower in the other. In the centre of the open space Twala the king sat, with old Gagool at his feet. The boy Scragga and twelve guards were also there.

Twala greeted us and seemed happy, although he looked hard at Umbopa. Then,' The dance will begin,' he said, and the girls moved forward. They danced and sang, waving the leaves and flowers. At last they stopped, and an attractive young woman stepped forward and danced alone. When she became tired, another woman took her place, and then another and another.

The king held up his hand.'Which of these girls do you think is the most attractive ?' he asked us.

' The first,' I said, without thinking.

' Then my mind is the same as your mind and my eyes are like your eyes. She is the prettiest, and that is a bad thing for her because she must die!'

' Yes, must die!' said Gagool.

' But why ?' I said.' She has danced well.'

Twala laughed as he answered.' It is our custom, and she belongs to those stone figures.' He pointed towards the three mountains. ' If I do not kill the girl, bad luck will come to my people.'

Then, turning to the guards, he said,'Bring her here.'

The girl cried out and tried to run away. But two men caught her and brought her to the king.

' What is your name, girl ?' said Gagool.' Will you not answer ? Must the king's son do his work now ?'

Scragga stepped forward and lifted his great spear. At the same time I saw Good's hand creep to his revolver.

' Mother,' the girl answered, and her voice was shaking,' my name is Foulata.Why must I die? I have done no wrong.'

Good made an angry noise and moved towards the girl, and she threw her arms around him.

' Father from the stars,' she said,' protect me!'

'Yes, yes, of course,' Good said.

Twala made a sign to his son, who moved forward.

'What are you waiting for?' Sir Henry whispered to me.

'I am waiting for something to happen,' I said.'I have been watching the moon for half an hour and it looks completely normal.'

' Well, you must take a chance now, or the girl will be killed,' he said.

I stepped between the girl and Scragga's spear.' King,' I said, ' we will not allow this.'

Twala stood up angrily.There was a murmur from the chiefs.

' Will not allow this ?' he said.' Are you mad ? How can you stop it? Scragga, kill her. Guards! Take these men.'

As the guard moved towards us, Sir Henry, Good and Umbopa lifted their rifles.

' Stop!' I said.' Stop! We will not allow this. And to show my power, I will make the moon dark.'

The men stopped, and we all looked up. I was happy to see that we had made no mistake. There was a small shadow on the edge of the moon, and the light was already less bright. I lifted my hand towards the sky and began to repeat a poem. Sir Henry remembered some Shakespeare, and Good said all the bad words that he had ever heard at sea.

Slowly, a shadow crept over the moon, and a great cry of fear came from all the people.

' Look, King,' I cried.' Look, Gagool! Look, chiefs and men and women. Do the white men from the stars keep their promise ?'

' It will pass,' Gagool said.' I have seen this thing before. No man can stop the moon. Just wait and it will pass.'

But nobody listened to her. The shadow moved across the moon, which turned blood-red. The people stood still, staring at the sky.

'The moon is dying — they have killed the moon,' the boy Scragga shouted out at last.' We will all die in the dark.'

He lifted his spear and struck hard at Sir Henry's chest. But the spear hit Sir Henry's armour and did not hurt him. Before he could try again, Sir Henry took his spear and pushed it through him. Scragga fell down dead.

Then the girls ran screaming towards the gates. They were followed by the king, his guards, some chiefs and Gagool. We were left alone with Foulata and the chiefs who had spoken to us the night before.

'Now,' I said, 'we have given you a sign. If you believe us, let us run quickly to the place that you spoke about.'

' Come,' said Infadoos, turning to go.

We followed, and I saw that Good had taken Foulata's hand. It was now totally dark.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 767