The Leopard Hunts In Darkness Part 74

"This way." Vusamanzi's voice was a sepulchral echo.

"Beyond the turn of the rock." The cliff was folded back upon itself, a narrow concealed cleft, just wide enough for a man to squeeze through. Craig stepped round the corner and paused to let his eyes adjust to the poor light.

Vusamanzi had taken a cheap storm lantern from a shelf in the rock above his head and was filling the base with paraffin from the bottle he had carried in his pouch. He struck a match and held it to the wick.

"Come,"he invited, and led them into the pa.s.sageway.

"These hills are riddled with caves and secret pa.s.sages," Sarah explained. "They are all dolomite formations." A hundred and fifty yards further on, the pa.s.sage opened into a large chamber. Soft natural light filtered in through an opening in the domed roof high above their heads.

Vusamanzi extinguished the lantern and set it down on a ledge to one side of a hearth, manmade from blocks of limestone. The rock above the hearth was blackened with soot, and there was a pile of old ash upon the floor. Beside it was a neat stack of firewood.

"This is a sacred place," Vusamanzi told them. "It is here that the apprentice magicians live during the training period. It was here, as a young man, that I served under my own father, and learned the ancient prophecies and the magical arts." He gestured to them to sit down, and all of them slumped thankfully to the rocky floor. "You will be safe here. The soldiers will not find you. In a week or a month, when they grow weary of searching for you, it will be safe for you to leave. Then we will find a man to guide you "It's spooky," Sally-Anne whispered, when Craig translated this for her.

"Some of my women are following us with food. They will come every second &y while you are here, with food and news." Two of Sarah s half-sisters arrived at the cavern before darkness fell. They carried heavy bundles balanced upon their heads, and they set about preparing a meal immedi, lately. Their laughter and merry chatter, the flicker of the flames on the hearth, the smell of woodsmoke and food cooking, partially dispelled the oppressive atmosphere of the cavern.

Craig explained to "You must eat with the women" e old man will be very Sally' Anne "It's the custom- Th unhappy" an old dear, but underneath he turns out "He looks such male chauvinist pig she protested, to be just another pa.s.sed the beer, pot around their circle, The three men in the centre and the old and ate from the communal bowl man spoke to Tungata between mouthfuls.

"The spirits prevented our first meeting, Nkosi- We waited for you to come that night, but the Shana had taken you. it was a time of sorrow for all of us, but now the spirits have relented they have delivered you from the SP Shana and brought us together at last Vusamanzi looked of great portent that You and I at Craig. "There are things must discuss tribal matters!

"You say that the spirits have arranged my escape from the Shana," Tungata replied. it may be so but if it is, then this white man is their agent. He and his woman have risked their very lives to free me."

"Still, he is a white Man I , said the old man delicately "His family has lived in this land for a hundred years and he is my brother," said Tungata simply.

"You vouch for him, Nkosi?" the old man persisted.

"We are all 4speak, old man," Tungata a.s.sured him.

friends, here."

The magician sighed and shuffled and took another handful I of food. "As my lord wishes," he agreed at last, and then abruptly, "You are the guardian of the old king's tomb, are you not?" Tungata's dark eyes hooded in the firelight.

know of these things, old man?" he what do you countered.

when q know that the sons of the house of k.u.malo, they reach man hoods are taken to the tomb of the king and made to swear the oath of guardians.h.i.+p-" Tungata nodded reluctantly. This may be so." Do you know the prophecy?) the old man demanded.

d and said, "Mat when the tribe is And Tungata nod de sorely in need, the spirit of the old king will come forth to give them succour." "The spirit of Lobengula will come forth as a fire," the old man corrected him.

"Yes," Tungata agreed. Tobengula's fire."

"And there is more, much more do you know the rest of it, son of k.u.malo?"

ell it to me, old father."

"The prophecy goes on thus: The leopard cub will first his chains.

The leopard cub uill first break an oath, then break fly like an eagle, then suim likea fish. When these things have come to pa.s.s, the fire of Lobengula uill be freed from the dark places and come forth to SUCCOUr and save his People They were all silent, considering this conundrum.

"The leopard skin is the prerogative of the house of k.u.majo," Vusamanzi reminded them. "Thus the leopard cub of the prophecy would be a descendant of the royal house." Tungata grunted noncommittally.

"I do not know that you have broken an oath," the old man went on, 'but you have broken the chains with which the Shana bound you."

"Ehheh!" Tungata nodded his face closed and impa.s.sive. A.

"You escaped from)#Tuti in an indeki, flying like an eagle indeed," the old "Man pointed out, and again Tungata nodded, but in English he murmured to Craig, "The beauty of these ancient prophecies is that they can be moulded to fit nearly any circ.u.mstances They gain a little or lose a little with each repet.i.tion, depending on the mood and the motives of the seer at the time Then he reverted smoothly to Sindebele. "You are wise, old man, and well t tell us what of the swimming of the versed in magic, bu fish? I must warn you that I am not able to swim, and that the only one thing I truly fear is death by drowning. You must seek another fish." Vusamanzi wiped the grease off his chin and looked smug.

"There is something else I must tell you,"Tungata went on. "I have entered Lobengula's tomb. It is empty. The body of Lobengula has gone. The prophecy has been voided long, long ago." The old magician showed no distress at Tungata's words.

Instead he sat back on his heels and unscrewed the stopper of the snuff horn that hung around his neck.

"If you have entered the king's tomb, then you have broken your oath to defend it intact," he pointed out with a wicked twinkle of his eyes. "The oath-breaking of the prophecy could that be it?" He did not wait for a reply but poured red snuff into the palm of his hand and drew it up each nostril. He sneezed ecstatically with tears running down his withered old cheeks.

"If you broke your oath, Nkosi, it was beyond your powers to prevent it. The spirits of your ancestors drove you to it and you are without blame. But, now let me explain the empty tomb." He paused and then seemed to take off at a tangent "Have either of you heard of a man who lived long ago, a man they called Taka-Taka?" They both nodded.

"On the maternal side Taka' Taka was the great-grand, father of Pupho here. "Tungata nodded at Craig. Taka' Taka was a famous white soldier in the old days of Lobengula.

He fought against the king's imp is Taka-Taka is the sound that his machine-guns made when the warriors of the Matabele went against him."

"Old Sir Ralph Ballantyne," Craig agreed. "One of Rhodes" right hand men, and the first prime minister of Rhodesia." He changed back into Sindebele. "Taka-Taka lies buried in the Matopos Hills close by the grave of Lodzi, Of Cecil Rhodes himself."

"That is the one." Vusamanzi wiped the snuff from his upper lip, and the tears from his cheeks with his thumb.

"Taka-Taka, the soldier and the robber of the sacred places of the tribe. It was he who stole the stone birds from the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe. It was he also that came into these very hills to desecrate the tomb of Lobengula, and to steal the fire, stones that hold the spirit of the king." Now both Craig and Tungata leaned forward attentively. "I have read the book that Taka' Taka wrote describing his life-" old Sir Ralph's handwritten diaries were part of Craig's personal treasure that he had left at King's Lynn when Peter Fungabera had driven him out. "I have read the very words of Taka' Taka and he does not tell of reaching Lobengula's tomb. And what are these fire-stones you speak of?" The old man held up a restraining hand. "You go too swiftly, Pupho," he admonished Craig. "Let the son of k.u.malo explain these mysteries to us. Have you heard of the fire-stones, Tungata Zebiwe, Who was once Samson k.u.malo?"

"I have heard something of them," Tungata agreed cautiously. "I have heard that there was a huge treasure in diamonds, diamonds collected by Lobengula's aniadoda from the white man Lodzi's mines in the south-" Craig started to interrupt, but Tungata silenced him. "I will explain later," he prorriied, and turned back to the old magician.

"What you heard is the truth," Vusamanzi a.s.sured him.

"There are five beer, pots filled with the fire-stones."

"And they were stolen by Sir Ralph, by Taka' Taka Craig antic.i.p.ated.

Vusamanzi looked severe. "You should go to the women's fire, Pupho, for you chatter like one of them." Craig smothered his smile, and sat back suitably chastened while Vusamanzi rearranged his skin cloak before going on.

"When Lobengula was put to earth and his tomb sealed by his half-brother and loyal induna, a man named Gandang'YIho was my great-great-grandfather," Tungata murmured.

"VA-Lo was your great-great, grandfather the old man agreed. "Gandang placed all the king's treasures with him in the tomb, and then led the vanquished tribe of Matabele back. He went back to treat with Lodzi and this man Taka Taka and the tribe went in to the white man's bondage.

But one man stayed in these hills, he was a famous magician named Insutsha, the arrow. He stayed to guard the king's tomb, and he built a village near the tomb, and took wives and bred sons. Insutsha, the arrow, was my grandfather-2 they made small movements of surprise, and Vusamanzi looked complacent. "Yes, do you see how the spirits work? It is all planned and predestined the three of us are bound by our history and our bloodlines, Gandang and Taka -Taka and Insutsha. The spirits have brought us, their descendants, together in their marvellom fas.h.i.+on."

"Sally-Anne is right it's b.l.o.o.d.y spooky," said Crail-I and Vusamanzi frowned at his gauche use of a foreign language This TakaJaka as I have hinted already, was a famous rogue, with a nose likea hyena and an appet.i.te likea vulture." Vusamanzi gave this summation with relish and glanced significantly at Craig.

"Got it! Craig smiled inwardly, but kept a solemn expression.

"He learned the legend of the five pots of fire-stones, and he went amongst the survivors of Gandang's impi, the men who had been present at the time of the king's death, and he spoke sweet and gentle words and offered gifts of cattle and gold coins and he found a traitor, a dog of a dog who was not fit to be called Matabele. I will not speak the name of this piece of offal, but I spit on his unmarked and dishonoured grave." Vusamanzi's spittle hit the embers of the fire with a spluttering hiss.

"This dog agreed to lead Taka-Taka to the king's burial place. But before he could do so, there was a great war between the white men, and Taka' Taka went north and fought against the German induna called Hamba-Hamba, "the one-who-march.e.s.h.ere,and,there,and,is-never caught "Von Lettow'Vorbeck," Craig translated, "the German commander in East Africa during the 1914-1918 war." And Tungata nodded agreement. "When the war was over Taka-Taka returned and he called the Matabele traitor, and they came into these hills with the dog of a dog leading them four white men with Taka' Taka as their chief and they searched for the tomb. They searched for twenty-eight days, for the traitor did not remember the exact location and the tomb was cunningly concealed.

However, with his hyena nose Taka -Taka smelled it out at last, and he opened the royal tomb, and he found wagons and guns, but the kings body and the five beer-pots for which he hungered so violently were gone! "This I have already seen and told you,"Tungata said. It was an anti-climax and Tungata turned one palm up in a gesture of resignation, and Craig shrugged, but Vusamanzi went on resolutely.