Mama Mondo saw them coming as she sat by the fire waiting for the porridge to cook and said, “We were about to send a search party because you have been gone for hours!”
Mabige started apologising, “It’s my fault for taking her away, Mama, I am very sorry, we were feeding the animals and I was just showing Beko around.”
Mama Haga laughed and said, “She is only joking, Mabige, relax, don’t work yourself up!” All the women laughed hard.
Papa Haga heard them laugh and came out of the house and said, “Aah, Mabige, don’t worry you will sooner get used to women winding you up more than those beasts you are keeping on the farm, trust me you will learn quick!” They all laughed and ate their breakfast.
Beko and her mother spent another night in Huru before heading back to Goza. Beko had spent most of her time with Mabige and the two got on like a house on fire. Mama Mondo had worried that Beko might find it hard going being a farmer’s wife, but she was taking everything in her stride that it was early days yet and that her daughter was naturally hardworking anyway.
She had a very good feeling about the two of them and had seen the way they made each other so very happy just by gazing into each other’s eyes constantly at every stolen moment. Mama Haga had snuck Mama Mondo into Mabige’s house while he was on the farm with Beko to see if he was clean and to see the way he lived. She was very impressed at how pristine he was, even for a farmer who works in muck and mire all day long.
Mama Mondo had asked Mama Haga, “Are you sure you don’t do all the cleaning for him and you just want him to take all the credit for it?”
Mama Haga retorted, “Definitely not, he has always been like that. Even you go and see the farm and garden and where the animals are kept, you will not believe your eyes. He takes a broom to the entire place as though it was inside the house. The place is spotless because of his cleanliness! It’s your daughter I am worried about to have to keep all this up!”
They both laughed and Mama Mondo said, “My daughter is more than capable of handling anything after living with those brutes she calls brothers and her father to boot, I think she can do anything under the sun!” They laughed and laughed until they could laugh no more. It was at that time that the lovebirds walked back to the yard for some breakfast.
The following morning, Beko and Mama Mondo left for Goza and bade farewell to some of the people who had woken up early to do their usual chores. Mama Haga wept silently as she had become fond of Mama Mondo and had seen a true friend in her for the last couple of days. Papa Haga was fast asleep at the time they left and he had given them his blessings and said his goodbyes the night before.
Mabige carried their loads on one of the donkeys and escorted them far into the woods before returning back home. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with Beko as he was not going to see her again for the next few weeks at least. They talked and talked all the way to the middle of the dense forest. He had to turn back as the animals would still be waiting to be fed and watered and he had a lot of catching up to do on the farm as he did not do much in the last two days.
He bade the women farewell and went back to Huru. Beko and Mama Mondo talked all the way to Goza about Beko and Mabige’s future marriage plans and all that they had discussed during their time alone. Her mother was very pleased with the outcome and looked forward to her daughter getting married in a matter of weeks!
Chapter 23
The people of Goza felt their comfort and happy moments are under immense threat and things were going to change forever. The thought of what was going to happen filled them with great dread, especially the idea that they did not know when the evil spirits would strike.
Zuka and Makaba thought warring against the spirits should be easy as they felt they were warriors in their own right, whom the king called upon for protection. Surely, the spirits were not as powerful as they were being made out to be. So they thought.
“We just need to keep our weapons sharp, that is all. Then we are fully equipped to deal with them. I personally think that prayer is not going to work,” said Zuka with confidence.
“I agree, because what is a few words going to help when dealing with blood-sucking vampires like that?” added Makaba.
“Why is it so difficult for you to take instructions?” said Mama Mondo with annoyance, “Who in the past have you heard of winning this war with evil using weapons?”
“Yes, Mama, you are right,” said Makaba apologetically. “If those people who were destroyed by the same spirits failed to win using their weapons, what chance have we got?”
“After all the Angel gave instruction to pray knowing full well that no other method would work,” Mama Mondo added.
Mama Kama secretly felt horrified at the thought of being consumed by the evil spirits and she wished she lived elsewhere in the world. She felt she needed to go and speak to the king in private where she could express her fear without inhibitions as she thought the king
