章 12: The search
After a while, Ego excused herself to answer the call of nature. She took with her a burning piece of wood to serve as a torchlight. She found a secure location not far from the hut and stooped to do her business. But as she was stooping down, she felt a movement, as if someone or something had rushed past her. Being a windy night, she assumed it was just the wind, or a small animal running for shelter. She was about going back inside the hut when she saw torches far behind the hut. The people carrying them weren't visible yet; there were about six or more people walking in a hurry towards the hut. She shivered in premonition even though could not hear what they are saying because they were far from where she was.
She called out to the old lady from where she was "Nne! Nne! There are some people coming this way and they don't look happy oh…" She waited for a response but none came. She called out to her again but she didn't answer. That was when she knew something was up; she hurried back into the hut with her torch only to see that the hut has been deserted. The old lady and her dog were nowhere to be found.
She rushed outside; searching around the hut while calling for them but she still got no response. She went back inside the hut trembling with fear. What was going on? Where could they have gone to just now without my noticing? These questions rang in her head as she gathered her belongings. She was still trying to figure out a reasonable explanation to their sudden disappearance when she heard the angry voices of the approaching mob. From their voices, she could tell that they were mostly men. This frightened her even more and she decided to hide in the bushes to avoid detection.
She hurriedly grabbed her wrapper and her basket that was on top the bamboo bed; she decided against leaving with a torch as the light will pinpoint her location, but she took with her some dry tinder with which she could light a fire if possible. Stepping into the dark forest robbed her of one sense and heightened the others. It was disorientating to be almost blinded but giving the ears of a wolf. Even the soft rustle of the branches felt heavy in the ears. Her sense of smell was hyperactive; the smell of the soil and decomposing leaves made the atmosphere close and thick. The darkness nurtured a sense of phobia inside of her even though the forest stretched unbroken for miles.
She ran as fast as her legs could carry her into the bush albeit careful so as not to alert the intruders. With heart thumping fast like bass drum and legs trembling with fear and body shivering with a cold she hid as far away as possible from the hut; but not so far that she couldn't observe the happenings. Enveloped in darkness, she hid behind an Ugba tree, stooping down and peeping between leaves to see the hut.
The stifling air of dead wet damp leaves made the night more uncomfortable. Tiny bloodsucking insects had fun feeding on her. Different blood chilling sounds were heard around the trees; it could be the sound of the animal predators and their prey; it could also be the dark more ferocious predators; those that leave you alive but dead. Ego has no intentions of finding out which it was though; she just wants to come out of this nightmare unscathed, hopefully with the old woman and her dog.
From her vantage point, she endured the unpleasant smell of decaying flesh blown from time to time by the wind. It could be human or animal, the forest has many such things. Ego risked the awful smell to prevent exposure. It even seems that the trees had eyes, doleful eyes, staring at her in silence, neither blinking nor looking away. Ego wished she had stayed back home in the morning.
The men got to the hut and were busy ransacking everywhere; throwing things haphazardly, tearing down the thatch door. They threw out the bamboo bed to check whether she was hiding under it. Ego couldn't see them clearly but she could hear the sounds of the splintering earthenware. The anger in these people was palpable; they didn't seem to mind attracting wild animals, or rather, the wild animals will know to stay away from the ruckus they were making.
"Where is that witch that killed our brother", said one of them.
"Does she think she can hide forever?" rejoined another.
"We will find her no matter where she hides or how long it takes", said another.
"Justice must be served so our brother will finally rest in peace".
The others were just as enthusiastic as these ones. They concurred with a resounding "Yes!" to all the sentences.
"Let us pair up and spread out, that way we will be able to comb the area better".
"We are going to give her an opportunity to prove she is innocent, she will swear before the gods", said a female voice. She was the first female to have spoken.
"Yes, that's exactly what we are going to do. Let's circle the area. We are not leaving this forest until we find that woman. If anyone finds her first, raise an alarm so the rest can come over there; you can tie her up so she doesn't escape again", said the first voice.
Meanwhile, as Ego quietly observed the whole incident, her mind was not at peace. She kept wondering about all she heard. She had suspected something was strange about the old woman, but she had seemed kind enough; she had even offered her home and fed her. She even seemed to truly care for her dog, a stray dog at that, could she have possibly killed her husband? Moreover, she has not heard the woman's version of the story, so she decided to look for her and her dog.
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