Forest of the Pygmies(35)
Kate went running out as if she were possessed, before the guard at the door could stop her. Outside, the village was coming to life. Children and a few women were moving around, but there were no men to be seen; no one was working. In the distance they saw the Pygmy women who had danced the night before. Some were going to the river for water; others were headed for the huts of the Bantus or on their way to the fields. Kate ran to ask about Alexander and Nadia, but she couldn't communicate with them, or else they didn't want to answer. She went through the village calling the names of her grandson and Nadia, but she didn't see them anywhere; all she achieved was to stir up the hens and attract the attention of a couple of the soldiers of Kosongo's guard who were beginning their round at that moment. Without a break in stride, they took her by the arms and literally carried her toward the compound of royal huts.
"They have Kate!" screamed Angie, who was watching from a distance.
She tucked her revolver into her waistband, picked up her rifle, and waved to the others to follow her. They should be acting like guests, she said, not prisoners. The group pushed aside the two guards at the door and ran off in the direction in which the writer had disappeared.
By that time, the soldiers had pushed Kate to the ground and would have started beating her had they not been interrupted by her friends, who streamed in shouting in Spanish, English, and French. The foreigners' bold behavior confused the soldiers; they were not used to being disobeyed. There was a law in Ngoubé that no one could touch one of Mbembelé's soldiers. Even if this happened by accident the punishment was a beating; when it was intentional the cost was a life.
"We want to see the king!" demanded Angie, backed by her companions.
Brother Fernando helped Kate up, but a sharp cramp in her ribcage kept her from fully straightening. She thumped her chest a couple of times, and then was able to get her breath.
They had ended up in a large mud hut with a floor of tamped-down earth, bare of furniture. On the walls were two mounted leopard heads, and in a corner an altar covered with voodoo fetishes. In another corner, on a red carpet, sat a refrigerator and a television, symbols of wealth and modernity, though totally useless since there was no electricity in Ngoubé. The room had two doors and there were openings in the walls to let in a little light.
The sound of voices outside caused the soldiers to snap to attention. The foreigners turned to see a man with the look of a gladiator make his entrance through one of the doors. They had no doubt that this was the famous Maurice Mbembelé. He was very tall and muscular, with the build of a weight lifter: enormous shoulders and a thick neck; prominent cheekbones; thick, well-defined lips; a boxer's crooked nose; and shaved head. They couldn't see his eyes because he was wearing mirrored sunglasses, which gave him a particularly sinister appearance. He was clad in army trousers, boots, and a wide, black leather belt, but his torso was bare. He showed the scars of the Brotherhood of the Leopard and wore a strip of leopard skin on each arm. He was accompanied by two soldiers nearly as tall as he.
When she saw the commandant's powerful muscles, Angie was wide-mouthed with admiration. Her fury dissolved in an instant, and she felt as flustered as a schoolgirl. Kate realized that she was about to lose her best ally, and stepped forward.
"Commandant Mbembelé, I presume?" she asked.
The man did not answer; he merely observed the group of foreigners with an inscrutable expression, almost as if he were wearing a mask.
"Commandant, two of our group are missing," Kate announced.
That news was received with an icy silence.
"Two young people, my grandson, Alexander, and his friend Nadia," Kate added.
"We want to know where they are," Angie put in, no longer struck dumb by passion.
"They can't have gone very far; they must be in the village," Kate babbled.
She had the sensation that she was sinking into a quagmire; she was unsteady on her feet and her voice trembled. The silence became unbearable. A long minute passed before they heard the firm voice of the commandant.
"The guards who were so careless will be punished."
That was it. He turned on his heel and left the same way he had come, followed by his two personal guards and those who had manhandled Kate. They were laughing and talking as they left. Brother Fernando and Angie caught part of their joke: The white boy and girl who had escaped were really stupid; they would die in the forest, devoured by wild beasts or by ghosts.
?
Seeing that no one had an eye on them or even seemed interested in them, Kate and the remaining members of the party went back to the hut they had been assigned to.
"Those kids have just vanished. They're always causing me problems. I swear they're going to pay for this!" Kate groaned, tearing at the short gray clumps of hair that crowned her head.
"Don't swear, woman. We should pray instead," Brother Fernando scolded.
He knelt down among the cockroaches that were calmly moving about the floor and began to pray. No one joined him; they were too busy speculating and suggesting plans.
Angie believed that the sensible thing to do was negotiate with the king to provide them a boat, the only way to leave the village. Joel thought Commandant Mbembelé was in charge of the village, not the king, and that since he showed no sign of willingness to help them, the best idea might be to ask the Pygmies to lead them back along the secret forest trails that only they knew. As for Kate, she had no intention of going anywhere before the two young people returned.