“I don’t know, Nadia, it could be that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Charlotte said, flinging her wet braid over her shoulder. “Bantu said the Guardian Souls don’t hurt you if they don’t think you’re dangerous, and it didn’t do anything.”
“But what if that was just the beginning? What if he’s following us now? Didn’t you hear that scream on the river? Don’t you realize those crocodiles weren’t normal?”
“Remember, you were the only one who saw the Guardian Soul,” Charlotte said, looking at me doubtfully.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Bantu believes I saw one,” I said, dropping my canteen on the ground.
"Well, are you sure you weren't dreaming? I just find it hard to believe that the Guardian Soul, or whatever it is, was right outside the tent and no one heard it but you."
I couldn’t believe that Charlotte didn’t believe me. My fists clenched in anger. Everyone knew I wasn’t the one who made things up. If Teddy had come up with that story, I could understand why it would be hard to believe. I was the person people trusted. It was hurtful that Charlotte thought I was making the whole thing up, especially given her swim with the crocodiles. Without another word, I took my cooler and canteen and walked ahead of Charlotte before I had the chance to say something mean.
Once I got to the small brook that stemmed from the river, I saw what looked like a small net floating in the water. Stuck in the dirt near the brook was a small knife with a wooden handle. According to our map, there weren't supposed to be any people in the area, and I couldn't see anyone nearby. As I looked around, a cool breeze blew the smell of mint and garlic towards me. Suddenly I heard footsteps. Startled, I crouched down by the small bush next to me and looked around, waiting for whoever or whatever was out there to make an appearance. I tried to make myself as small as I could, hoping it wasn't a Guardian Soul waiting to stab me with its ruby sword.
As the footsteps came closer, I closed my eyes and threw my canteen towards whatever it was, hoping that I would at least buy myself some time to make a getaway.
“Ouch!” Charlotte’s voice said. “What’s your problem, Nadia? Why are you throwing things at me? Don’t tell me you’re so immature that you can’t handle when someone disagrees with you?”
“Shhhh,” I said, reaching up for her arm and pulling her to the ground. “Someone’s out here. Don’t you smell that? Mint and garlic?”
She put her nose in the air, like she so often did, and sniffed the air. “Haha. Very funny,” Charlotte said, pulling her arm away from me. “I know you’re mad, but it’s pretty childish to try to scare me into believing you.”
“I’m serious, Charlotte, look,” I said, pointing to the knife in the ground.
“Anyone could have left that there,” she said, shrugging. Walking away, Charlotte called over her shoulder, “Scaring me isn’t going to work.”
I couldn’t believe that Charlotte thought it was some kind of joke. I followed behind, hoping to talk some sense into her. “Charlotte!” I called out. As I caught up with her, I saw that she had stopped in the middle of the path. “What are you doing?” I said.
"Look. Smoke," she said.
I turned to where Charlotte was pointing. There were gray puffs of smoke floating through the air from a distance.
"Do you think something's on fire?" she said.
“I’m not sure—”
"Let's see where it's coming from. Let's get closer," she said. "You're right. It does smell good. Like minty bubblegum."
“No, we can’t. We don’t even know who’s over there, or what they’re doing. For all we know, they could be performing some kind of sacred ritual.”
“Then let’s go find out,” Charlotte said, standing up.
I wasn’t sure what had gotten into her. I wondered if she was still in shock from the crocodiles. “I don’t think we should go looking for whoever this is, especially not alone. What if they’re dangerous?”
“You’re right,” she said. “We shouldn’t go down there alone. I’ll go get Bantu.”
Before I could stop her, Charlotte was running in the direction of camp. Within ten minutes, Charlotte came charging back through the trail with Teddy and Chris at her heels, and Bantu and our parents a good way behind them.
“Great,” I mumbled. “The whole gang is here.”
The smells of garlic and mint still swirled around me, making my mouth water. Stopping to appreciate it, Chris closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Glancing around us, he paused.
“Do you guys hear that?” he asked.
“Hear what?” Charlotte said, looking behind us.
“It sounds like drums.”
We all stood still, straining to hear what Chris heard. As the wind blew around us, kicking up sand, it was hard to catch the faint thump thump bump of a drum, but it was there.
“Where do you think it’s coming from?” I asked.
“That way,” Chris said, motioning towards the cliffs near the river.
"Maybe we should turn around," I said, heading towards our parents a few yards behind us.
"Don't be ridiculous," Charlotte said, grabbing my hand, "Let's go see who's playing the music."
Before I could protest, Teddy and Chris had already started walking towards the cliffs. Shaking loose Charlotte’s grip on my hand, I followed them reluctantly. “This is probably a bad idea,” I mumbled. As we kept walking up the rough path, my foot caught a root sticking out of the ground, causing me to stumble and knock Charlotte over.
“Jeez, Nadia, even on flat ground you’re like a train wreck,” Charlotte said dusting herself off.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see that stick," I said, knowing how pathetic it sounded. Rolling her eyes, Charlotte skipped ahead to catch up with the boys. I hung back and made sure to pick up my feet as I walked so that I didn't knock anyone else over. When we got a split in the path, we stopped and looked at each other.
“Which way should we go?” Teddy asked, looking at Charlotte. Glancing back at our parents and looking at Chris she said, “It sounds like the drums are coming from this way.”
“Shouldn’t we wait and see what the map says?” I asked.
Shrugging their shoulders, Chris and Charlotte started walking down the right fork of the path, leaving Teddy and me standing there not knowing what to do.
As our parents caught up to us, Mrs. Haynes asked, “Where are Charlotte and Chris?” Mr. Haynes stood beside her looking at his map. He didn’t even seem to notice that his kids had gone missing. So much for saving his brain for the important things.
“What are we talking about? Who’s gone somewhere?” he said.
“They went that way,” Teddy pointed. “Chris said he heard some drums, and they wanted to go listen.”
“Drums?” Bantu asked. “Are you sure?”
Nodding, Teddy answered, “We all heard it.”
“We need to find them right away,” Bantu said, starting quickly down the path.
“Why? Is something wrong?” Mrs. Haynes said.
“I’m not sure who is in the cliffs,” Bantu said, breaking into a jog.
Following behind him, we all hurried down the path, hoping that we wouldn't find Chris and Charlotte cursed by a group of warriors or stabbed by a Guardian Soul. When we caught up with them, they were standing in front of a woman and three tall strong-looking men. Each man had a spear in his hand and a bow on his back, with a quiver at his side. The closer we got to where Charlotte and Chris were, the better I could see the men's faces. Each one had three stripes of white paint over their heart and white and yellow spearhead painted on the other side of their chest. Too far away to see what was painted on their faces, I concentrated on their body language. From the way they were standing, they were not excited to see us.
None of the men were talking. They stood silently as the woman belted out angry-sounding words, gesturing wildly at them.
Seeing this, Bantu Stopped in his tracks and knelt down and bowed his head. Glancing
over at him, the other adults did the same. Looking back and forth from Bantu and the angry woman I wasn't sure if I should kneel down like the adults or take my chances running. Remembering the battle I had lost with the twig on the path, I took my chances kneeling hoping I wasn't out of custom. Bringing his hands together over his right shoulder Bantu waited for one of the others to speak. The angry woman walking toward him spoke first.
"It's good to see that you still know your place among your elders."
Nodding his head, Bantu remained silent.
Turning back towards the three other men with her the woman spoke a few words in her native tongue, and they turned to leave. She cleared her throat and waited for Bantu to explain himself. Then Bantu began speaking in his native language. His voice sounded surprised and worried. When we walked up to them, the woman glared at us. Speaking the same language back to Bantu, the woman pointed towards the caves that ran alongside the cliffs.
Bantu turned to us. "We are interrupting a very important ceremony, and we have angered Uru."
“Do you know this woman?” my mom asked curiously.
“Yes. I haven’t seen her since I was a little boy in Nairobi.”
“What kind of ceremony did we interrupt?” Mrs. Haynes asked. “Maybe we can get some footage of it.”
“No,” Bantu said quickly. “You must not bring out any of your technology. You must not disrespect their customs.”
Mrs. Haynes put away her camera.
“It is a coming of age ceremony for young girls in their tribe,” Bantu said.
“Cool!” Teddy said.
Turning towards Bantu, Uru motioned for us to follow her. We walked up a steep hill where elaborate pictures were etched into the sides of the cave. Some of the pictures were of animals, some were plants and water, and others were harder to make out. Getting closer to one of the drawings, I ran my fingers along the sides of an animal that looked like a cross between a pig and a human.
Stepping over to me, Bantu whispered, “This is a sacred place. You must not upset the spirits by damaging anything.”
Slowly I took my hand down, but I kept looking at the picture. I had seen something like that before—if only I could remember where.
Lost in thought, I watched Uru get the attention of twelve girls in jeweled dresses who were standing in front of a small crowd of people. Urging the young girls to stand up, they began to sway to the beat of the drums. Their flower petal skirts swished back and forth as if they were floating on a summer's breeze. As the pulse of the drum quickened, they began to tap their feet. Then the tinkling sound of wind chimes began to pour out of an instrument that looked like a tiny xylophone as an older woman blew through it. The girls continued to sway and twirl with the music as if they were imitating the wind. In awe I watched their graceful steps, weaving their legs around one another but never touching.
Just as quickly as the music began, it was over, and each girl floated to the ground as if she were a wilted flower in the middle of winter. Looking over at my mom, I saw her dab her eyes.
We watched the ceremony quietly, not completely understanding what was going on. At times the girls spoke, and at other times music played. Every once in a while, Bantu would whisper a brief explanation of what was happening. Each time he did, we received a death glare from Uru. She was not trying to hide the fact that she didn't want us there, and that made the tension almost unbearable for me, but no one else seemed bothered. Once the ceremony was over, many of the people who had been watching the girls were now watching us and pointing. None of them came to say hello. They seemed more content watching us like we were animals in a cage.
So this is what it feels like to be in a zoo, I thought to myself.
Charlotte whispered, “What’s everyone staring at? Is it me? Do I have something on my face?”
"They're staring at all of us. We're outsiders, remember? We interrupted something important, and they're probably really mad at us."
Shrugging, Charlotte returned their stare, probably hoping they would get embarrassed and turn away. Interrupting Charlotte’s staring contest, Bantu hurried us outside of the cave and back onto the path. Following him somewhat reluctantly was Uru.
“Please, sit down,” Bantu said to all of us. “Friends, meet my Aunt Uru. She is my father’s sister and a member of the Zolani tribe.”
Chapter Eight
I stared at Uru and Bantu in disbelief. His gift of where was definitely real.
"Uru, this is Nadia, Chris, Teddy, and Charlotte," Bantu said, pointing at us. Then the adults introduced themselves to Uru. We all stared at this imposing woman. Her skin was the color of cinnamon, and her eyes were the same shade. Her hair was black sprinkled with white, braided so tightly to her scalp it looked like tattoos. She wore a simple dress in the most beautiful shade of turquoise I had ever seen. She was beautiful. When she spoke, she looked directly at Bantu, speaking angrily in their native tongue. Charlotte looked confused. She turned to her mom, who just shrugged her shoulders. Mr. Haynes was frantically flipping through a Swahili translation dictionary. Bantu switched to English, and Uru followed suit, but she didn't sound happy about it.
“Is she really related to you, Bantu?” Teddy said.
“Yes, she is my father’s sister. She was also my mother’s best friend.”
“Was,” Uru said bitterly. Turning to my father, Uru asked, “Why have you come here? What is it that you want?”
When my dad hesitated, my mom spoke for him. “We would like to show the world your people,” she said.
“Show the world? Why would we want to be seen by the people of your world?”
“We want to show everyone that there are alternative ways of life that still exist, and certain powers the modern world hasn’t been able to harness. We want to learn from you, and also teach you the ways of the modern world.”
Uru shook her head. “The ways of the modern world? Why would we want to learn anything from the modern world, with its pollution and laziness?”
Shocked, Mrs. Haynes just stared at Uru.
Pointing at Bantu, Uru turned her anger on him. “How are you going to teach someone about a people whom you no longer know? Listen to your accent! This is not your culture. We haven’t seen your since you were a child.”
“That is not my fault,” he said, head bowed.
“I know your gift,” Uru said. “You could have found us anytime.”
“Yes, but I needed to stay near my mother. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to look for you…and it is because of their research foundation.”
"Research foundation? I see," Uru said bitterly. "You work with this foundation out of self-interest?"
"No. I long to know more about the culture I came from, as well as those around me. Please, Uru," he said. "Aside from my mother, you are the only other elder I have that would know the history- the truth?"
At the sound of Bantu's words, something in Uru's face changed and then hardened. "All of these years and you have never known, you couldn't have known, you were only six years old. Your brother left because of…"
“I know why my brother left,” Bantu said.
Shaking her head, Uru continued, "No, you don't. Your brother left for many reasons. The main reason was your father. I'm sure you've been told that, but another reason was your mother."
“My mother? What does she have to do with this? She has done nothing wrong.”
"Your mother knew what your father was doing with Aku. Your father gave him a menacing gift. According to your brother, it was a curse. He could manipulate the minds of others. Your father planned to use him to take over other kingdoms. But Aku was a kind soul. He would have been destroyed by the tasks your father began to demand. He was a prisoner of that village."
“How do you know all of this?” Bantu said.
“Your mother was my best friend. She would tell me about the things that Kwame was doing. And he was my brother. Some things he would tell me simply to brag. What infuriated me the m
ost was that your mother knew what he was doing to her son, and she did nothing to stop it.”
“Well, if you knew, what did you do to stop it?” Chris said.
Uru looked at Chris like she was seeing him for the first time. "I helped him escape. Once I got word that a revolt was about to take place, I told your brother to meet me in the village center, and when the revolters ran, we would run."
"Why have I never heard this before? Are you the reason my brother was taken from me? I was only allowed six years with him, but that wasn't nearly enough. Now there's no way to change any of that."
The pain in Bantu's voice made my breath catch in my throat. I could only imagine what he was feeling right now. I tried to put myself in his shoes, imagining that my own brother had been taken from me, and my heart felt like it was breaking.
"There is time for that to change," Uru said, eyeing Bantu. "Your brother remains among the living."
Shock spread across all of our faces. Bantu stepped forward.
“So where is he now?” Bantu said looking hopeful.
“He is with the mermaids,” Uru said.
Bantu looked as confused as any of us.
“What do you mean?” I said. “Does he live in the ocean?”
Uru laughed for the first time. "No, we are only called mermaids because our lifestyle is based completely on the bahari: what we eat, how we travel. The water cleanses our souls. It provides healing and emotional well-being."
“We?” Mrs. Haynes said. “The Zolani are these…mermaids you mentioned?”
“There is no Zolani tribe,” Uru said.
We all looked around at each other again. I was pretty sure our brains were going to overheat if Uru said another word.
“Hang on,” my dad said. “You’re saying the Zolani isn’t the tribe we’re looking for, either?”
“That is true,” said Uru. “The Zolani was simply the name the revolters gave themselves all those years ago, and the way the old Kamju tribe referred to us. Once we settled into our new tribe, we called ourselves the Maji, which means water.”
Nadia Knox and the Eye of Zinnia Page 6