“What happened to your grandmother?”
In the moonlight, I could see Bantu’s eyes suddenly fill with tears again. This time a few of them fell. He didn’t wipe them away, like all the boys at school would have. He didn’t seem embarrassed to have them on his cheeks. “I never saw her again. She did not want the city life, and continued down the trail, trying to find the rest of the Zolani. The trail was hundreds of miles long, and she was alone.”
I saw the tears shining on his face and felt my own eyes watering.
“I loved my grandmother very much, you see. She was as much a mother to me as my own. I begged for her not to leave us, or for me to be allowed to go with her. But I never saw her again. And I know that I never will.”
Finally, he wiped his cheeks and cracked an unexpected smile. “Now you know the story of Bantu Akwalk Alsheer,” he said. “Off the record.”
Now that I knew Bantu’s secret, I couldn’t stop thinking about everything he had been through. Everything was beginning to make sense—his mother’s reaction to our documentary, how she called the Zolani “her people.” As I sat deep in thought, Bantu pulled something out of his pocket and turned to me.
"I get a sense that you are not completely in agreement with this project your parents are on, but you still want to do what you can to help them win this award. Why is it that you are against it?"
I knew that after he had been so honest with me, it would be a slap in the face to lie to him, so I tried to be honest without giving away too much. “I’d rather not go into detail about it…but yes, I do want to do whatever I can to help them win the FISH. It means a lot to them.”
“You’re a good daughter, Nadia. Your parents are fortunate to have you. I would like to help you help them.”
“You are,” I said. “You’re helping us find the Zolani.”
“No,” Bantu said, shaking his head. “I want to help you help them.”
"How are you going to do that?" I asked, confused.
Bantu pulled out a small object wrapped in a gray cloth and placed it in my hand. I unwrapped the cloth. In my palm was a shiny black square stone, dangling from a thin leather strip. The stone was smooth and hard. In the middle was a small green marble. "This is beautiful," I whispered. "But how is this going to help me help my parents?"
Pointing to the green marble, Bantu said, “This is the Eye of Zinnia. It sees into the hearts of others. Those who are pure in heart will be granted a power.”
“What kind of power?” I asked.
“It’s different for each person. The Eye sees what the person needs to do, and grants them the ability to do it.”
Putting the leather necklace around my neck, I asked, “How did you get something like this?”
He said, “The Kamju tribe was full of magical objects and heirlooms. When my father became the High Priest, it was he who anointed the tribe members with their gifts. Before that, it was my grandfather.”
I realized for the first time that Bantu must have a magical gift, too. “What did he give you?”
“Before I was taken to Uganda, my father anointed me with the gift of where.”
“What’s the gift of where?”
“It means I have the ability to find my way to any desired location.”
“Why would he do that?”
Bantu drew absent-minded lines in the dirt, sort of like the way I'd always pull up grass in P.E. class when I felt embarrassed about being picked last.
“My father was not a good man,” Bantu said, not looking up. “He was power-hungry. He wanted to conquer other lands and take their riches. He was going to use me to find those lands,” he said sadly.
Something clicked in my head. “Is that why you’re our tour guide? Your gift of where?”
Bantu shook his head. “The foundation does not know about my gift. They believe I know the area, but this is not true.”
“But you have a direct connection to the tribe,” I said.
“Had,” he said. “I had a connection. The Zolani could have moved on from this area, or they may have died out. I am not sure they would even remember me. In truth, I can only use my gift of where to guide my search.”
For a moment I got nervous. What I’d thought about Bantu was true. He didn’t know where we were going. I was going to have to trust him. I felt the necklace he gave me, the stone smooth in my hand. “What gift did you give me?” I asked.
Bantu smiled and said, “You’ll find out when you need it.”
“Bantu,” I said. It was the first time I said his name out loud.
He looked at me in his weird cap.
“Why do you have a British accent?”
“Ah. From the moment I moved to Fort Portal, I was given a tutor in English. Mr. Hensher taught me for many years. He was from a town called Brighton, on the south coast of England.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly feeling stupid. “And how come you wear that hat?”
“Very good for the sun,” he smiled. “A hat with two visors! A gift from Mr. Hensher.”
Nodding, I looked up at the sky. “It’ll be morning soon.”
“Yes, and we should both get some sleep,” Bantu said, walking back around to the front of the tent. He paused before holding it open for me. I looked in his eyes.
“Nadia, let all of this remain a secret between us,” he said.
I nodded and tucked my necklace under my shirt.
Another secret for the vault.
Chapter Six
The next morning I was tired, but I didn't have any regrets about my talk with Bantu the night before. I only had questions. What would the Eye of Zinnia do, if anything? Would his gift of where lead us anywhere but a dead-end? And why had a Guardian Soul come to our campground, if they only attacked revolters? The questions swarmed around in my head.
As we all packed our supplies and got ready to leave for our first adventure, I overheard Chris talking to Bantu. “Did Nadia really hear someone outside the tent?”
“What Nadia saw and heard was most definitely real,” Bantu said, rolling up his sleeping bag. “What she saw is called a Guardian Soul. His job is to protect the land of my ancestors from those who are threats. Tribal leaders will often release them during times of war to help them fight off night attacks from their enemies.”
It was a little different from the version he'd given me. Chris frowned like he was trying to believe him. Charlotte rolled her eyes like she refused to.
“Get rid of!” Teddy shrieked. “You mean like kill?”
“Don’t worry, you are safe,” Bantu said. “If the Guardian Soul doesn’t see you as a threat, he will just try to chase you away,” Bantu said.
“I do wish we’d seen it for ourselves,” my mom said.
“No, you don’t,” I said, shivering at the memory.
“If only I’d gotten it on camera!” Mrs. Haynes said.
“How much of this territory does the Guardian Soul cover?” my dad asked, helping Bantu take down the tent.
"It's hard to say. It depends on where the tribe is located. We don't know where that is yet, but the journey I'll guide you on today should point us in the right direction," Bantu said, glancing at me with a wink.
“The good thing about all of this is that now we know there’s a tribe somewhere in the area,” Mr. Haynes said excitedly.
“Yes, that’s all well and good, but none of it is going to matter if we don’t get a move on. We are wasting daylight dawdling like this, and I most certainly don’t want to try to navigate a river in the dark,” said Mrs. Haynes.
“You’re right, Mrs. Joyce,” Bantu said. “Let’s get going. We can talk more once we’re on the river.”
To get to the caves we were visiting that day, we were going to have to travel by river. That particular part of the river wasn't wide enough for boats, so we had to take a canoe. To be exact, we had to take two long, narrow canoes that looked like one person might be too many for it to hold. That didn't fool me. Canoes look light, but when y
ou have to carry one on your shoulder for two miles, they tend to gain weight.
The caves we were visiting had been seen by another anthropologist named Dr. Klein a few years ago. Dr. Klein had told my parents about the cave markings he saw because he knew they'd be interested, but he seemed really spooked when he did. At first, he tried to brush over it like it was nothing, but the more he talked, the more freaked out he got. Dr. Klein told us about how beautiful the land was during the day, and how it changed into something like the netherworld at night. Strange creatures wider than giant redwoods roaming around, chanting. My mom thought he was joking until he mentioned the caves and the writing on their walls. Then he told her about these strange little birds that followed him, saying they chased him until he fell in the river, and then they just watched him float by, flapping their wings.
After hearing Dr. Klein's stories, I was worried that my mom was getting a little out of hand chasing after this FISH award. My mom thought Bantu might be able to interpret the cave markings, which might give us clues to the whereabouts of the Zolani. None of the adults knew how to find the caves, but Bantu was confident he knew the way.
As exciting as all of it sounded, I was still freaked out that the Guardian Soul could be following us. Hoping that I was just being a scaredy-cat, I asked Charlotte what she thought.
“Oh, who knows,” she said, as we marched uphill carrying the tail end of our canoes.
"It's kind of spooky, not knowing if the Guardian Soul can follow us the whole time, or what he's capable of," I said.
Overhearing our conversation, Bantu chuckled. "Don't worry. The Guardian Souls don't usually come out in the daytime. You should be safe right now."
I hoped he was right.
Once we got to the most level part of the river, we started to get into our canoes for the six-mile ride.
"Now, remember everyone," Mr. Haynes said, "we must work as a team in each canoe. Everyone paddles in the same direction and steers in the same direction, otherwise your canoe will flip over. Keep your life jackets on at all times. There will be no swimming in this part of the river. There could be crocodiles or piranha in there. Either way, we don't want to find out first-hand. Each person has a job. Bantu is the navigator in the first canoe. Greg will be up front and steer the second canoe since he has the most experience."
By the look on my dad's face, he wasn't exactly thrilled to be steering the canoe. I was just glad that Teddy and Chris were steering the back of each canoe, while Mom and Mrs. Haynes took photos and videotaped. Charlotte and I had the easy jobs: we were the middle paddles. All we had to do was paddle and not flip the canoes over. That sounded easy enough. Boy, were we wrong.
Once we got going on the river, we realized how hard paddling was going to be. It felt like there were more rocks than river. We spent almost three hours zigzagging in between rocks and strange roots that weren’t attached to trees. As we slowly made our way downriver, I noticed the tree roots beginning to take on strange shapes. Some of them even seemed to sway with the current. Even as we sat quietly in our canoe, there was a rusty purring sound in the air.
“What is that noise?” Chris said from behind me.
“What does it sound like?” Dad asked, wiping sweat from his brow.
“It sounds like a cat with a dry throat,” he said matter-of-factly.
My dad shrugged. “Maybe it’s the canoe.”
I knew canoes didn’t sound like that.
As we continued on the river, Bantu explained from the first canoe that the area was in the middle of a dry spell, which caused the river to be lower than usual, and more difficult to navigate. Until Bantu mentioned it, I hadn’t noticed that the water was lower than normal.
“Is that why we can see so many tree roots?” I asked.
“Tree roots?” Bantu said over his shoulder. “There are no trees in this river.”
“So that sound isn’t the canoe scrubbing against the roots?” Chris asked.
Shaking his head, Bantu answered, “Not everything is as it seems. Listen carefully. You will hear a breath behind that purring sound.”
Out the corner of my eyes, I saw Chris leaning closer to the water so that he could hear. "You're right. I can hear something that sounds like breathing."
Just as Chris turned his head back towards the rest of us, a huge crocodile popped its head out of the water with its mouth open. Letting out a loud growl like a purr, the crocodile unhinged its jaws, preparing to take in my brother’s entire body without even trying to chew.
"Chris! Look out!" I screamed, completely forgetting about paddling. Reaching back, my dad snatched Chris from the edge of the canoe.
"That's not a good idea," Dad said.
That was an understatement.
Looking down at the edge of the boat, Chris pointed down at the water. He seemed about as scared as my dad. “That’s not the only one. He’s got friends.”
A swarm of crocodiles was swimming towards the canoe. Ramming their heads into the side of our boat, the crocodiles did their best to try to make us their breakfast. They kept smashing into our canoe, causing us to collide suddenly with the other. Without any warning besides a scream, Charlotte was thrown out of the boat.
“Charlotte!” I said.
“Get me out of here, get me out of here!” She splashed desperately, creating a curtain between the crocodiles and the canoe. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Charlotte scared, period, but this was the most terrified I’d ever seen her. I was so afraid I could hardly breathe, and I was still in the canoe.
“You have to stop splashing, you’re drawing the crocodiles to you!” her dad yelled. Our canoes sat still in the water as we watched the scene like something from a horror movie. The crocodiles circled around Charlotte while she splashed and tried to scare them off, which was having just the opposite effect.
Turning to me from his canoe, Bantu said, “You must do something, and you must do it now.”
Looking at him like he was insane, I asked, “What am I supposed to do? I can’t fight crocodiles!”
He pointed to my necklace. “Allow Zinnia to show you.”
Looking down at the small green marble, I could see that it was glowing. “What does that mean?” I asked Bantu.
“You will know your power when you need it,” he said, pointing towards Charlotte.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. When I opened my mouth, I started to sing. It wasn't a song that I had ever heard before. The melody was crisp and smooth, and the words rolled right off my tongue. The crocodiles stopped in their tracks and listened to my song. As I chanted the words--Mabaya hawezi kukaa hapa--the crocodiles began to turn, swimming in the other direction. As I kept singing, my mom turned and looked at me like I was one of the exhibits in their human zoo.
“Where did you learn that song?” she asked in awe.
Pretending that I didn’t hear her, I kept singing. Everyone watched in relief as the crocodiles swam away. Mr. Haynes quickly steered the canoe over to Charlotte while Mrs. Haynes and Teddy pulled her into the boat.
“Thank goodness you’re alright,” Mrs. Haynes said, wrapping her arms around Charlotte. Suddenly a loud banshee-like scream cut through the Haynes’s celebration.
“Bantu, what was that?” I asked. Bantu focused on steering the canoe. “Those crocodiles weren’t the only spirits in the area.”
Horrified, I looked around, expecting to see a Guardian Soul following us.
"Don't worry, my friend. We are protected, for now, thanks to you."
“Really?” I said, surprised. “How did I know the words to that song?”
“You will soon learn that you now have many talents,” Bantu said. “From the looks of it, you have the gift of lugha.”
“What’s that?” I said.
“Roughly translated, it is the gift of tongues. It seems that you can speak the language of the spirits. It is given only to those who show the most promise—the most special, the most trustworthy.”
; “Special,” I whispered, running my fingers across my necklace. I could hardly believe my ears. I had been called a lot of things, but special wasn’t on the list. It was always Chris who was special. I was just Nadia- ordinary. My insides warmed as pride flooded my chest. I couldn’t wait to find out what else I could do.
Chapter Seven
We ended the rest of the trip without too much chaos. Charlotte complained the rest of the way that she smelled like fish, but at least no one else fell into the river. Even though Charlotte kept paddling like everything was okay, I could see her shaking in the canoe in front of me, and I knew it wasn’t from the cold.
After pulling the canoes on land and tying them to nearby bushes, we had a five-mile hike uphill to get to the caves, with Bantu in the lead once again. There wasn't much to see as we walked. Small bits of dried grass and hornbills flying overhead were our only view. The early-morning gray of the sky had turned into a mid-afternoon blue, leaving us completely exposed to the sun's heat.
Under Bantu's direction, we made it to the caves. By then, I'd stopped doubting his gift of where. My dad, Bantu, and Mr. Haynes pitched the tent near the cave's entrance where we would start searching first, while my mom and Mrs. Haynes got the cameras ready. Charlotte changed into dry clothes and went with me to get water while the boys collected firewood. I still couldn't figure out why the Guardian Soul had shown up the night before, not to mention the crocodiles, and I wanted to see what Charlotte thought about the whole thing. As we walked, I filled her in on my thoughts and waited for her to say something.
Nadia Knox and the Eye of Zinnia Page 5