The Black Hill by Mamang Dai

Author:Mamang Dai [Dai, Mamang]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mobilism
Publisher: Aleph Book Company
Published: 2014-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

1853

Flight to Mebo Zumsha. The Menace. A Miracle. The Parting of Ways

She prepared to set out. There was nothing she wanted to take with her. Her pathetic belongings were not worth carrying. Her knife was securely tied around her waist and whatever she needed she would get from the land. She wrapped the baby in her old green ga-le and stepped out. A blast of wind almost forced her back into the house. She bent her head and walked out feeling the wind whistling in her ears. A figure stepped out in front of her. Kajinsha! He’s back, she thought, but it was Awesa. Where had he sprung from? She hadn’t seen anyone since the day Kajinsha had left. ‘Go way!’ she hissed at him. He stepped to one side murmuring words and smiling idiotically. Go away! She pressed against the wind clutching Siengbow. The wind was tearing the ga-le off him, flapping the cloth like a piece of paper. ‘How will I travel like this?’ she wondered. Awesa stood in front of her again and reaching his hand over his shoulder, tapped his back. When he saw Gimur stop he bent down and tapped his back harder in a gesture of carrying the baby. It’s not a bad idea, she thought. I cannot carry him all the way. I might slip. I have to cross rivers. I might lose my way. I will need some help. Already a heavy mist was descending like a white blanket.

She nodded and walked up close to Awesa. He opened his eyes wide and began to blink rapidly. She gripped him by the shoulders and turned him around. He understood and bent his back, standing like a mule. She tied the baby firmly onto his back and he took the eppon, the carrying strap expertly and tied it fast across his chest. He smiled at her. She sighed. The baby was secure. That was all that mattered. She signalled for him to start walking.

It would be many years later that Gimur, remembering her flight from the Dau valley, would realize that without Awesa’s help she would have never found her way out of that accursed place. The mist was so thick. She walked as if in a trance. Sometimes Awesa, a few paces ahead of her, disappeared from view. This made her panic and shout for him. Then Awesa would stand still and wait until she collided into him. She recoiled at this contact. He bent his head and plodded on. Gimur stared at his bent figure and wondered if he knew where she was going. She had no idea of the route and thought Awesa might be leading her into a trap. If he looks at my face he will know everything, she thought, but Awesa, even when she had narrowed her eyes and stared at him, had simply responded with a smile that stretched his mouth wide across his face, showing his big teeth. What happened to him? She wondered. Was he born like this? Kajinsha should be ashamed.

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