Forest of the Pygmies(40)
The Pygmies believed they had greatly offended their ancestors, and that's why they were suffering at the hands of Kosongo. They didn't know what their offense was, or how to mend it, but they believed that their luck would change if they soothed the ancestors' anger.
"Let's go to their village and ask them why they are offended, and what they want of you," Alexander proposed.
"They're ghosts!" the Pygmies exclaimed, horrified.
"Nadia and I aren't afraid of them. We will go talk with them; maybe they will help us. After all, you are their descendants; they must feel a little sympathy for you."
At first the idea was rejected out of hand, but the two foreigners insisted and, after debating a long while, the hunters agreed to go as far as the outskirts of the forbidden village. They would stay concealed in the forest, where they would be preparing their weapons and holding a ceremony while the foreigners attempted to talk with the ancestors.
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They walked for hours through the forest. Nadia and Alexander let themselves be led without asking any questions, although sometimes it seemed to them that they had passed the same place several times. The hunters moved forward confidently, always at a trot, without eating or drinking, impervious to fatigue, sustained only by the black tobacco in their bamboo pipes. Except for nets, spears, and darts, those pipes were their only earthly possessions, Alexander and Nadia followed along, stumbling and tripping, dizzy from exhaustion and the heat, until they simply sat down on the ground, refusing to go any farther. They had to rest and eat something.
One of the hunters shot a dart at a monkey, which fell like a stone at their feet. They cut it into pieces, skinned it, and sank their teeth into the raw flesh. Alexander lighted a small fire and roasted the pieces he and Nadia ate, while Borobá covered his face with his hands and moaned. To him it was a revolting act of cannibalism. Nadia offered him bamboo shoots and tried to explain that given the circumstances they could not refuse the meat. Borobá, however, unnerved, turned his back and would not let her touch him.
"How would you feel if a group of monkeys were eating a human in front of us," Nadia said.
"I realize that we're doing something really awful, Eagle, but if we don't have food, we can't go on," Alexander argued.
Beyé-Dokou explained what the Pygmies planned to do. They would go into Ngoubé at dusk the next day, when Kosongo was expecting his quota of ivory. He would, predictably, be furious when he saw them coming with empty hands. While some of them distracted him with excuses and promises, others would bring weapons and would open the pen where the women were kept. They were going to fight for their lives and rescue their children, they said.
"That sounds like a very brave decision, but not a very practical one," Nadia protested. "It will end in a massacre, because the soldiers have rifles."
"They're ancient," Alexander reminded her.
"Yes, but they still kill from a distance. You can't fight firearms with spears," Nadia insisted.
"Then we have to get control of the ammunition."
"Impossible. The weapons are always loaded and the soldiers wear cartridge belts. Is there some way we can disable the rifles?"
"I don't know anything about those things, Eagle, but my grandmother has reported several wars and lived for months with guerrillas in Central America. I'm sure that she'll know how to do it. We'll have to go back to Ngoubé and set things up before the Pygmies come in."
"How will we do that without the soldiers seeing us?" Nadia asked.
"We'll go in at night. It's my impression that the distance between Ngoubé and the village of the ancestors is relatively short."
"Why is it you're so set on going to that forbidden village, Jaguar?"
"They say that faith moves mountains, Eagle. If we can convince the Pygmies that their ancestors are protecting them, they will feel invincible. And they also have Ipemba-Afua; that will make them even braver."
"And what if the ancestors don't want to help?"
"There are no ancestors, Eagle. The village is nothing but a cemetery. We can spend a few quiet hours there, then go and tell our new friends that the ancestors promised support in the battle against Mbembelé. That's my plan."
"I don't like your plan. When you're not honest, things never turn out right," said Nadia.
"If you want, I can go alone."
"You know that we're supposed to stay together. I'll go with you," she decided.
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There was still light when they reached the place where they had earlier seen the bloody voodoo dolls. The Pygmies refused to go any farther; they could not take one step into the domain of the hungry spirits.
"I don't believe that ghosts get hungry. How could they if they don't have a stomach?" Alexander commented.
Beyé-Dokou pointed to the mounds of garbage scattered everywhere. His tribe made sacrifices of animals and brought offerings of fruit, honey, nuts, and liquor to lay at the feet of the dolls. At night most of it disappeared, swallowed up by the insatiable specters. Because of the offerings they lived in peace; if the spirits were fed as they were supposed to be, they didn't attack human beings. Alex hinted that rats must have eaten the food that was left, but the Pygmies were offended and flatly rejected that theory. The elderly women who were responsible for taking the bodies to the entrance of the village of the spirits after the funeral rituals could testify that they saw food there. Sometimes they heard horrifying yells that reached such heights of terror that they turned the mourner's hair white within hours.