The Bride Price: An African Romance (Chitundu Chronicles) by Suzanne Popp

Author:Suzanne Popp
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-11-30T23:00:00+00:00

During a lull in the conversation, when lunch was over and the women gathered on the verandah, Gift offered another story. The women looked on with anticipation, as Gift’s stories were proving very interesting. Violet nursed the baby while the other women looked on.

“Did I ever tell you how Myrna saved my baby?” Gift began.

“No. Tell us,” the women said in unison.

“I was just married to Festal and I didn’t know exactly when the baby was due, as I had never had a period. One day, my waters broke and Myrna hitched up the donkeys, which she had never done before. She put her twins into the huge black pot with the three legs, and she hauled me to the doctor. Only my baby wouldn’t wait. So Myrna parked the wagon and delivered Royal right there on the wagon under the eucalyptus trees. The doctors said Myrna had the skills of a surgeon, the way she had washed me and wrapped me up tight in the cloth she had packed. I had a fistula, and without her help, I would have bled to death, they said. That is my only baby that has survived, so far.”

Beatrice was aghast at this story and praised her daughter for her courage. Violet said it just confirmed what a great doctor she might have been.” Did you know, Myrna, how I coveted that big old pot with the three legs? I knew what it meant to Mother, and when she gave it to you, I was bitter for a long time. Funny, because I never had a daughter to pass it down to.”

“I didn’t know that, Violet. I will see that you have it one day. I don’t think my girls will have any attachment to it, but it has been very useful to me.”

“Myrna, why didn’t you ever write and tell us that you did this? It is remarkable,” her mother added.

“She has been an angel and an example to my boy and me,” Gift said.

At the end of the week, Myrna was sorry to leave her sister and Joseph and the festive holiday they all enjoyed together. But she was glad to get back to her place, her women’s co-op, her calves, and the serenity of their life in Copperfine. They were laden down with gifts from Joseph and Violet, including a clock with red velvet roses and rhinestones on the hour hand, a new kerosene lantern, a knitting machine for the women’s cooperative, and half a dozen sewing shears.

Violet made a resolution to visit Myrna, once her latest baby was two and more resistant to disease. Gift, in her candid way, said, “In Copperfine, you could breathe flies if you weren’t careful.” That image disarmed Violet, so that she rarely found an opportunity to visit Copperfine.

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