Forest of the Pygmies(31)
The prisoners told Nadia that they were doing all the work in Ngoubé—planting, carrying water, cleaning, even building the huts. The one thing they wanted was to be reunited as families and go back to the jungle, where they had lived as a free people for thousands of years. Nadia demonstrated how they could climb the palisade and escape, but they answered her, with gestures, that their children were kept in the other pen, looked after by a couple of grandmothers, and they couldn't leave without them.
"Where are your husbands?" Nadia asked.
Jena told her that they lived in the forest and had permission to visit the village only at the times they brought meat, skins, or ivory. Their husbands, they said, were the musicians who played the drums during Kosongo's fiesta.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Sacred Amulet
AFTER TELLING THE PYGMIES goodbye and promising to help them, Nadia went back to the hut the same way she'd come, utilizing the art of invisibility. When she got there she found there was only one guard and, thanks to the palm wine, he was snoring like a baby, which was an unexpected break. She slipped silently as a squirrel over to Alexander, waked him—keeping her hand over his mouth—and in few words told him what had happened in the pen where the slaves were kept.
"It's horrible, Jaguar. We have to do something."
"What, for example?"
"I don't know. They used to live in the forest, and in those days they had normal relations with the people of this village. That was when there was a queen named Nana-Asante, who was from another tribe. She came from afar, and the people believed that she had been sent by the gods. She was also a healer who knew all about medicinal plants and exorcisms. The women told me that there used to be broad tracks through the forest beat down by the feet of hundreds of elephants, but that now there are very few animals left, and the jungle has swallowed up those trails. The Pygmies became slaves when their magic amulet was taken from them, which is what Beyé-Dokou had told us before."
"Do you know where it is?"
"It's that carved bone we saw hanging from Kosongo's scepter," Nadia explained.
They talked a while, discussing different ideas, each more risky than the last. Finally they agreed that as a first step they needed to recover the amulet and give it back to the tribe in order to restore their confidence and courage. Then maybe the Pygmies would be able to figure out some way to free their wives and their children.
"If we get the amulet, I'll go look for Beyé-Dokou in the forest," said Alexander.
"You'll get lost."
"My totemic animal will help me. The jaguar knows how to find his way wherever he is, and can see in the dark," Alexander replied.
"I'm going with you."
"That's taking unnecessary chances, Eagle. If I go alone, I can move more freely."
"We can't be apart. Remember what Má Bangesé told us in the market: If we're separated we'll die."
"And you believe that?"
"Yes. The vision we had is a warning: Somewhere a three-headed monster is waiting for us."
"There are no three-headed monsters, Eagle."
"As the shaman Walimai would say, 'Maybe yes and maybe no,'" she replied.
"How are we going to get the amulet?"
"Borobá and I will do it," said Nadia with great assurance, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
The monkey had an enormous talent for stealing, which had been a real problem back in New York. Nadia spent much of her time returning objects the little monkey had brought her as gifts. Now, however, that bad habit could be a blessing. Borobá was tiny, quiet, and very skillful with his hands. The hard part would be to find out where the amulet was kept, and to get past the guards. Jena had told Nadia that the talisman was in the king's hut; she had seen it when she went there to clean.
That night the villagers were drunk and vigilance was at a minimum. They had seen very few armed soldiers, only those of the Brotherhood of the Leopard, but there could be others. They didn't know how many men Mbembelé had under his command, but the fact that the commandant hadn't appeared during the fiesta the previous night might mean that he wasn't in Ngoubé. They had to act at once, they decided.
"Kate isn't going to like this at all, Jaguar. Remember, we promised her that we wouldn't get into any trouble," said Nadia.
"We're already in pretty serious trouble. I'll leave her a note so she'll know where we are. Are you afraid?" Alexander asked.
"I'm afraid to go with you, but I'm more afraid to stay here."
"Put on your boots, Eagle. We need a flashlight, extra batteries, and at least one knife. The jungle is crawling with snakes, so I think we should take a vial of snakebite serum. Do you think we can borrow Angie's revolver?" Alex wondered.
"Are you planning to kill someone, Jaguar?"
"Of course not!"
"Well then?"
"All right, Eagle. We won't take weapons." Alexander sighed with resignation.
The friends collected the things they needed, moving stealthily among the packs and bundles of their companions. As they were looking for the snakebite serum in Angie's first-aid kit, they saw the tranquilizer, and on an impulse, Alexander put that into his pocket.