Assegai

Manyoro and Loikot warned Leon that the last section was too steep and narrow for the horses so he sent Ishmael and the groom back down to the base of the mountain with orders to circle to the southern side and bring the horses up along the easier, more familiar route.

Once they had disappeared, Leon, Eva and the two Masai started up the track beside the waterfall. The way became more difficult with every step they climbed. At some places they were forced to traverse the face of the mountain on ledges along which only one could pass at a time, and always the exposure to height became more severe. For the most part the waterfall was hidden by rock, but twice as they edged around a buttress they were presented with a spectacle that bated their breath. The torrent seemed to swirl around them in silvery sheets, confounding their senses. The rocky walls and the shelf under their feet were wet and slippery with a coating of slimy algae. Their upward progress became more and more laborious.

The sun was reaching its noon when they came out on the plateau of the summit. Manyoro and Loikot sought shade under one of the trees and threw themselves down to rest and take a little snuff. Leon led Eva by the hand to the brink of the precipice. There they sat together with their feet dangling over the void. Leon picked up a pebble the size of his fist that had cracked from the ledge on which they sat and dropped it over the edge. They watched with fascination as it fell three hundred feet without touching the rock wall. The tiny splash it made as it struck the surface of the pool was barely apparent in the tumultuous waters. Neither spoke, for words seemed superfluous in the midst of such splendour. At last Manyoro called them and, reluctantly, they stood up and backed away from the void.

‘How far to Lusima Mama’s manyatta?’ Leon asked.

‘Not far,’ replied Loikot. ‘We will be there before sunset.’

‘A mere stroll of twenty miles or so.’ Leon smiled. ‘Let’s go.’ The two Masai picked out the overgrown pathway unerringly and set an easy pace. For once there was no hurry and the three men could enjoy their surroundings, which seemed so remote from the floor of the Rift Valley. It was Eva’s first visit to the mountain, so the scenery and vegetation fascinated her. She delighted in the flowering orchids that hung in festoons from the high branches of the rainforest trees, and laughed at the antics of the Colobus monkeys that scolded them as they passed. Once they stopped to listen as a herd of heavy animals crashed away through the undergrowth, alarmed by their presence.

‘Buffalo.’ Leon answered her silent question. ‘There are some enormous brutes up here in the mist.’

At one point they descended into a steep gorge and climbed up the far side to reach an open tableland as flat as a polo ground and devoid of trees. At one end the cliff fell away abruptly for hundreds of feet. A pair of large, reddish antelopes stood against the forest at the opposite end of the clearing. Creamy stripes were emblazoned across their shoulders and their ears were large and trumpet-shaped. Their horns were massive black spirals with sharp white tips. ‘How beautiful they are!’ Eva exclaimed, and at the sound of her voice they slipped into the forest, without disturbing a leaf of the dense shrubbery. ‘What were they?’

‘Bongo,’ Leon told her. ‘The rarest and shyest of all our animals.’

‘I hadn’t known how beautiful everything is in this country of yours.’

‘When did you make the discovery?’ He laughed at her enthusiasm.

‘At about the same time that I realized I was in love with you.’ She laughed back. ‘I don’t ever want to leave this land. Can we live here for ever, Badger?’

‘What a splendid idea,’ he said, but she could see he was distracted.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘This!’ With a sweep of one arm he indicated the clearing in front of them. Then he strode down the length of it, counting his paces and examining the ground underfoot. She noticed that at no point was the undergrowth higher than his knee. Suddenly she felt hot and tired. She found a tree stump and sank down on it thankfully, mopping her face with her bandanna. On the far side of the clearing Leon and the two Masai were in deep conversation, and it was obvious to her that they were discussing this unusual extent of open ground. After a while Leon came back to her. ‘What did you find? Gold or diamonds?’ she teased him.

‘Loikot says that in the time of his grandfather the Mkuba Mkuba, the great god of the Masai, was displeased so he threw down a bolt of lightning to warn the tribe of his anger. No trees or large plants have grown here since that day.’

‘And you believe that?’ Eva challenged him.

‘Of course not,’ Leon replied, ‘but Loikot does and that’s what counts.’

‘Why are you so fascinated by this bare ground?’

‘Because this is a natural landing strip, Eva. If I side-slipped her between those tall trees at the end of the clearing I could put the Bumble Bee down here as sweetly as spreading a spoonful of honey on a slice of buttered toast.’

‘Why on earth would you want to do that, my darling man?’

‘That’s the only thing I don’t like about flying,’ he answered. ‘Every time you take off you have to think about where you’re going to land. I’ve got into the habit of making a note of every possible landing strip I come across in the bush. I might never need it, but if I ever did I imagine I’d need it pretty damn badly.’

‘But on top of this mountain? Aren’t you carrying your search a little too far? I’ll give you a kiss if you give me one good reason why you might ever want to put her down here.’

‘A kiss? Now you have my interest.’ He lifted his hat and scratched his head thoughtfully. ‘Eureka! Got it!’ he exclaimed. ‘I might want to bring you up here for a champagne picnic on our honeymoon.’

‘Come and get your kiss, clever boy!’

As they left the clearing it started to rain, but the drops were as warm as blood and they didn’t bother to take shelter. An hour later, with dramatic suddenness, the rain stopped and the sun burst out again. At the same time they heard distant drums.

‘Such a stirring sound.’ Eva cocked her head to listen. ‘It’s the very pulse of Africa. But why are the drums beating in the middle of the day?’

Leon spoke quickly to Manyoro, and then he told her, ‘They are welcoming us.’

‘But how could anyone know we’re coming?’

‘Lusima knows.’

‘Another of your little jokes?’ she demanded.

‘Not this time. She always knows when we’re coming, sometimes before we know it ourselves.’

The drums urged them forward and they quickened their pace. The sun was low and smoky red when they emerged from the forest and smelled woodsmoke and cattle pens. Then they heard voices and the lowing of the herds, and at last they saw the rounded roofs of the manyatta and a crowd of figures in red shukas coming towards them, singing the songs of welcome.

They were swept up by the crowd and carried along with the laughing, singing throng to the village. As they approached the large central hut the others hung back and left Leon and Eva standing alone before the hut.

‘Is this where she lives?’ Eva asked, in an awed whisper.

‘Yes.’ He took her arm possessively. ‘She will make her entrance after keeping us in suspense for a while. Lusima enjoys a little drama and theatrics.’

As he spoke she appeared before them through the doorway of the great hut, and Eva started with surprise. ‘She’s so young and beautiful. I thought she’d be an ugly old witch.’

‘I see you, Mama,’ Leon greeted her.

‘I see you also, M’bogo, my son,’ Lusima replied, but she was staring, with those mesmerizing dark eyes, at Eva. Then she glided towards her with regal grace. Eva stood her ground as Lusima stopped in front of her. ‘Your eyes are the colour of a flower,’ she said. ‘I shall call you Maua, which means “flower”.’ Then she looked at Leon. ‘Yes, M’bogo.’ She nodded. ‘This is the one of whom you and I spoke. You have found her. This is your woman. Now, tell her what I have said.’

Eva’s expression lit with joy as she listened to the translation. ‘Please, Badger, tell her I’ve come to ask for her blessing.’

He did so.

‘You shall have it,’ Lusima promised her. ‘But, child, I see that you have no mother. She was carried away by a terrible disease.’

The smile faded from Eva’s face. ‘She knew about my mother?’ she whispered to Leon. ‘Now I believe all that you have told me about her.’

Lusima reached out with both hands and cupped Eva’s face between smooth pink palms. ‘M’bogo is my son, and you shall be my daughter. I shall take the place of your mother who has gone to be with her ancestors. Now I give you a mother’s blessing. May you find the happiness that for so long has eluded you.’

‘You are my mother, Lusima Mama. May I give you a daughter’s kiss?’ Eva asked.

Lusima’s smile was a thing of such loveliness that it seemed to light the gloom. ‘Although it is not the custom of our tribe, I know that this is the mzungu way of showing respect and affection. Yes, my daughter, you may kiss me, and I shall kiss you back.’ Almost shyly Eva went into her embrace. ‘You smell like a flower,’ Lusima said.

‘And you smell like the good earth after rain,’ Eva replied, after a pause to hear Leon’s translation.

‘Your soul is full of poetry,’ Lusima said, ‘but you are hurt and tired to the depths of it. You must rest in the hut we have built for you. Perhaps, here on Lonsonyo Mountain, your wounds will be healed and you will be made strong again.’

The hut to which Lusima’s handmaidens led them was newly built. It smelled of the smoke of the herbs that had been burned to purify it, and of the fresh cow dung with which the floors were plastered. There were bowls of stewed chicken, roasted vegetables and cassava meal waiting for them, and after they had eaten, the maidens led them to the bed of animal skins with carved wooden headrests set side by side. ‘You will be the first to sleep here. Let our joy at your coming be your joy also,’ they told them as they withdrew and left them alone.