The IGBO SORCERESS – episode 3

THE IGBO SORCERESS – Episode 3
 
Ifeoma and her brother held their mother firmly,
their little hands holding her as though contact
with her would protect them from the slaughter
outside and make the cries they heard from
people outside to stop. Even Ngozika’s newborn
baby held its peace. So not to appear cowardly,
Kenneth stood beside the metal door and held his
machete ready to attack whatever would attempt
to break through the door. Within him, he prayed
fervently that the nightmare would cease. “Mommy
let us go into the bedroom and lock ourselves
in,side,” Ifeoma whispered. Ngozika nodded and
led them into her bedroom. She made sure none
of them made a noise. Kenneth’s anxiety grew as
Ngozika and her children left him in the living
room. Within minutes he began to sweat terribly.
Something was standing outside the door, it must
have been humongous in size, judging by the
sound of its feet. “This can’t be a cow,” Kenneth
mumbled to himself.
He was right, it wasn’t a cow. It was one of a few
ghostly beasts swept into their village by the evil
wind sent by the sorceress. The beast sniffed at
the door to find out if someone was hiding in,side.
Kenneth read that well and inched away from the
door, carefully p—y-footing so not to give himself
away. “Grrrragh! Grrrragh!!” the beast howled. The
sound of its growl almost stopped Kenneth’s
heart. He could then figure out the reason Ifeoma
asked her mother to take them into the bedroom.
The little girl must have seen that too. Had they
heard the sound at the decibels he did, they would
have cried out in fear and would have let the beast
right into the house. Kenneth was sure the door
would not have resisted the beast long enough.
Far enough from the door, he began to pray. In the
bedroom, Ngozika and her children were also on
their knees pleading with God for mercy. “Send
help; God please, send help. Send help before the
sorceress wipes out my village,” Ifeoma prayed,
her eyes filled with hot tears. Ngozika looked at
her daughter with awe, wondering just her a little
girl like her said the things she often did.
 
A blood curdling cry outside and a heavy thud on
the door left them all frozen with fear. It was
obvious the beast had torn apart a man who had
run into it in error.
At the town hall, Uju lay beside the trunk of a
fallen palm tree. She made sure to hide herself
with the dead bodies around her. The dust had
settled and there was no long a soul in sight,
however, an evil presence hung over the town hall.
Once in a while she would hear someone scre-m
and beg for mercy until their voice would fade in
death. It was the sorceress; she was ripping them
apart from the air. “God have mercy on me. I
should have listened to Daniel and his mother,”
Uju prayed and squeezed her eyes shut as frissons
of dread shot through her entire body. She could
not believe a day would come when she would
seek refuge amongst the dead.
Far away from the town hall, Nze Emeka ran with
a limp on his right leg. He had managed to escape
the cow at the town hall. His white Senegalese
outfit had turned red with human blood. He looked
frail and spent. The thought that he could have
stopped the carnage in his village was far more
painful than the pains he felt in his body. The
sound of rustling wind and the breaking of twig
made his heart to leap with dread. “My wife and
children…” he paused to sniff painfully. “My wife
and children…what could be their fate? God keep
them safe, I pray thee…” “They are dead!” a
callous, female voice replied him from the air. It
was a mind game. Nze’s family might still be alive.
Nze looked around, wondering where the voice
came from. Then he heard the sound of heavy feet
pounding the ground. Ignoring the pain in his leg,
he bolted off.
Well, he couldn’t get far. Tired of running and
immobilized by terror, he backed himself up
against a palm tree, his eyes darting about for the
heavy feet he had heard. Out of the thin air, the
mad cow galloped out. Its speed was unnatural.
Nze made effort to run, but the cow rammed into
him from behind, plunging one of its horns straight
into the back of his chest. Nze’s cry, was spine-
tingling. From his mouth blood oozed. The mad
cow was not done yet. It galloped around with Nze
hanging on one of its horns, moving a bit away
from one of the palm trees close to it, the cow
surged forward and crashed Nze’s body against it.
The force of the crash snapped his neck. The cow
galloped around and swung his body away. It then
ran over to where the body lay and trampled on it
a few times before bolting back to the village.
“Mama someone has to save our village,” Daniel
whispered to his mother from under the bed where
they hid in fear. “And who might that be?” “I don’t
know, but I can try…” “Speak no further child! Do
you want to kill me? Don’t you know that you are
my reason for living and my answer to your cruel
father? You will do no such thing Daniel!” Ignoring
her, Daniel said, “I made an observation about the
cow in the last few days…” “I said speak no more
about the cow child!” “If you won’t listen to me
mama, then I will scre-m right now and draw the
cow to us!” His mother went white in the face with
dread. Nodding her head like a little child, she
said, “Okay, what did you observe?” “The cow
seems to avoid opete leaves. It has so far not
attacked any farm which has opete and makes
sure to keep away from tracks where opete plants
abound.” “So what is your point Daniel?”
“I am hopping you will explain that to me. What
does opete mean to our people? Does it have
spiritual power, mama?” “What you observed is
mere coincidence. Opete means nothing to our
people. We need to hide here till we can get out of
this village.” Daniel could tell she was lying to him.
He crawled out from under the bed, standing to
his feet, he demanded with his voice raised a bit,
“Mama, people are dying outside! I want to know
why the cow avoids opete plant!” “Okay! Okay! I
will tell you…I will tell you. Please come back
under the bed.” “I won’t mama. Uju is probably
dead out there, and if there is a chance she is
alive, I want to save her and the others. Now tell
me, what power does opete plant possess? I am
sure God made me notice the cow avoids opete
for a reason.”
“It is the plant of justice. It is highly potent.
Witches and wizards dread its power. When I tell
you that your father shall someday come back for
us, it is because I am sure of it. I cursed him with
opete leaf in my mouth. He shall never have
another male child until he comes back to
apologize to us. You are his only male child, the
one who will keep his name alive.” “I guess I have
to be on my way now. I have to go find some
opete leaves. The cow and the sorceress have to
be stopped!” “No Daniel! Please don’t go, I beg of
you, don’t. The closest place you can find an
opete plant is the farmlands. You can’t get that far
without being killed. Please stay with me.
Hopefully by dawn this will be over and we will go
back to Lagos.” “This is my home town and I am
not running from it, mama!”
Daniel picked up his machete and yanked at the
door to open it. “Wait! Please wait child!” His
mother crawled out from under the bed and made
a run into one of their rooms. Daniel followed
behind her. A raffia bag was on the wall and his
mother rummaged in it for a moment and brought
out a dry leaf. “This is the last I have left, take it
with you,” she said. He took it from her and cut it
into two, threw one into his mouth and gave the
other to his mother. “Do everything you can to stay
alive. I will be back, okay,” he assured his mother.
“May Chukwu Abiama be with you,” she prayed for
him. “And may he be with you too, mama,”
responded Daniel.
Running to the door, Daniel made to open it and
then suddenly stopped. Turning around he asked
with the look of worry on his face, “Mama, why is
it you know so much about opete and our
medicine men do not?” “Which medicine men do
you mean? The very ones who want opete out of
our village because of their evil deeds? When you
see one ask him why they did not recommend
opete when the young men were sent to capture
the mad cow. When you are asked who told you
about the potency of opete, make sure not to
mention my name, please child.” “Okay mama, I
won’t.”  Yanking the door open, Daniel bolted off
with his machete in his hand. The first thought on
his mind was to save Uju if she was still alive
before anyone else.
 
STORY CONTINUES…