The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

63.

'My in-law, is everything well?'

This was Cheneso's father who had just appeared from the front of the compound unexpectedly.

'Everything is well, my in-law,. It is you who we should be asking. To what do we owe the pleasant surprise?' Garikai asked.

His voice was still hoarse from coughing while his head was spinning, but he managed to maintain the façade of being well for as long as possible.

'I'm afraid I bring bad news today,' he said.

'What happened?'

'Cheneso has been nowhere t be found since she went to sleep in her hut last night. I fear something terrible has happened to her,' he elaborated.

'That is terrible news indeed, have you informed the elders yet?'

'I wanted to talk to you first, to inform you of the situation before I elevated the matter, we have been searching since sunrise but I am afraid she has been snatched from us, but a bigger fear is that she has run away,' the man said.

'Run away?'

'You see, she has been exhibiting signs of reluctance,' he continued.

'That is understandable, I know how strongly she felt for my nephew,' Garikai replied.

'And strong delusions,' Cheneso's father added.

'What kind of delusions?'

'She confided in her mother recently, about seeing a man who resembled Simba and something about a stream, a ravine or pool. It is all nonsense of course, but it is worrying, you s-'

'Did she say where this supposed pool was by any chance? Perhaps it is where she has gone,' Garikai interrupted.

***

When Ushe returned from the palace, Tapfuma was already waiting for him, infact he was the first person he divulged the news to. Ushe had been infuriated by Hombarume's escape and how much the Chief had tried to hold him responsible for it somehow. He could always tell that the man despised him, but he had finally put him in place when he questioned his actions. He said things that all the other elders had been wishing to say.

He was angry about how mismanaged this whole situation had become, the Chief's incompetency in all of this was borderline treasonous. Obviously now that he had openly provoked him, he would keep a close eye on him, or even worse, something bad would happen to him.

Ushe was also angry at his friend, why would he escape when they had planned to hear his story, to let him explain what had happen. If he was not guilty of the crimes that he was being accused of committing, why then would he run. The Hombarume he knew would never just leave. He had his mother and father worried about him, he had Nakai his beloved who cared for him and lastly he had him, his friend since childhood, someone who had been like a brother to him for as long as he could remember, someone who was ready to believe him, to go above and beyond for him, but the new situation had just made it harder to do so.

'He escaped,' he said, full of exasperation.

'I know,' Tapfuma said.

'I cannot believe that he ran. We will never know now. We will never know what happened,' Ushe said.

'Sooner or later, everything that is hidden comes to light. We will know,' Tapfuma said.

'Why are you saying this with such surety? Do you know something that I do not?'

'Ushe is almost in Makura by now,' Tapfuma said.

'Yes, that probably will be his first thought, but he has travelled these forests, he knows places that we do not,' Ushe said.

'I know exactly where he is headed,' Tapfuma said.

Ushe regarded him for a second, as if he was waiting for him to elaborate that what he was telling was a joke, but he did not.

'And how exactly would you know that, Tapfuma?'

'Remember I told you that I hear things, see things that are concealed from other people, that cannot be explained? Well I saw Hombarume and I think it is because I have something that belongs to him,' Tapfuma said.

He could see that Ushe was not entirely convinced by what he had just said, but he wanted him to believe him. He wanted him to be on his side, because he had been the only one who had managed to help ever since the killing of his father, so he elaborated on what he knew, on what had happened, on what he had figured out so far.

'This voice, it tells me stories, most of which I have never been able to comprehend. The unnerving part is that I was somehow able to see into the new story, to experience it, it was about me,' Tapfuma added.

'I found this dagger in a ruin that this voice described to me, that is when I saw Hombarume, with the head of the Chief's guard,' he said finally revealing the majestic relic.

'So this dagger, what does it do exactly?' Ushe asked.

'I do not know, but I think he will,' Tapfuma replied.

'So I should follow him, then, find him?' Ushe asked.

'No, you should not,' Tapfuma said, suddenly frowning.

'Why not?'

'Hombarume will be back, but you have somewhere else to go.'

'Where?' Ushe asked.

'Chikuni village. As for what you will find there, I do not know. I found something else that felt really perculiar, an outline of the head of a lion and feather engravings. The relic itself was missing.'

After all this, Tapfuma waited to be reprimanded, to be laughed at and mocked, but Ushe just remained silent for a while, then he said:

'I believe you.'

'Mukoma, What made you believe me? A story like this is hard for anyone to even consider, it took a while for me to even believe my own eyes and ears, but here you are, listening.' Tapfuma asked.

'One of the missing relics you mentioned, the lion head with feathers, I've seen it before and you are in luck because I know where it is,' Ushe replied.

'Butmost importantly, I believed you because I wanted to, because I never doubted you to begin with.'

Glossary

Mukoma - Brother