Nyira and the Invisible Boy

by K. M. Harrell

  The people in the square noticed this right away.

  Some had started a chant of: “Burn, witch! Burn, witch! Burn…”

  They couldn’t get through the last pronouncement because the witch was not burning. This gave Claude and Nolwazie a momentary reprieve. The mounted police were as confused as the people in the square.

  *

  “She is not a witch!” cried a child in the crowd to its mother. “If she doesn’t burn, how can she be a witch?” The mother shushed the child and pulled her away, as the archdeacon scanned the throng with murder in his eyes, seeking the one who had uttered such a thing. The mother moved herself back further from the fray, out of the priest’s line of sight. The Father soon realized that this was not going as planned, for even the girl’s clothes were not burning. But he had a thought and another option. He looked up at the bell tower and saw that it was there that the girl appeared to be getting her power, her inspiration.

  “Hang the conspirators!” he called to the tower. “Hang them now!” This order roused the mounted police. They pushed Claude and Esmerelda to the edge of the tower, looped the nooses around their necks and shoved them over.

  71

  It went very fast to the naked eye, but to Nyira it was like a dream, a nightmare in slow motion. She was not sure how she did what she did. She just found herself in flight, like a cannonball, or a blazing comet. As Claude and Nolwazie dropped, she met them in mid-air. What was even more astounding, she was still ablaze. When she caught them, she had morphed into some type of enormous firebird. She caught Claude by the arm with one giant talon, and the other Nolwazie had the presence of mind to reach out and grasp on to. The ropes burned away like paper, as Nyira took flight over the square. The people in the square were dumbstruck…

  The archdeacon, on the other hand, was furious. He screamed at the brigade stationed near the pyre.

  “What are you doing? Don’t let it get away! Shoot! Shoot it down!”

  The firebird flew in close range of the soldier’s rifles. The captain commanded: “Ready!” The troopers raised their rifles.

  This was what Enriquillo had been waiting for. The warriors were stationed among the priests, lined up right behind the brigade. But Enriquillo had to act quicker. So he buzzed quickly toward the brigade, and in mid-air transformed into a massive African elephant. Just like in the dream. He dropped out of the sky and crushed the middle contingent of the guard. Then he rose up and let out a trumpeting roar, and leveled the remainder with a sweep of his huge trunk. Soldiers and weapons went everywhere. Then the fourteen warriors dressed in priests’ cowls rushed in armed with macana war clubs and made it difficult for the unit to regroup. The war clubs were easier to conceal beneath the disguise than a bow or a rifle. It was pandemonium. The soldiers didn’t know who they were fighting, or who to shoot. This gave the firebird enough time to fly out of range. Before the troopers were able to regroup, the warriors made for the horses tied up near the stables behind the cabildo. As they mounted and raced off, one lone rifleman took aim at the last warrior and fired. Bayamo was hit. Camaguey grabbed him and held him up as they raced toward the jungle.

  *

  Nyira flew Claude and Nolwazie into a valley just east of the mother cave. She put them down in the orchard of Jaceux’s lower camp. Claude was a bit confused when his feet touched the ground, but Nolwazie had a lot of questions.

  “Where are we to go, Nyira?” Nolwazie asked.

  Nyira had transformed from the firebird and walked toward a copse of fruit trees.

  “I will need to rest for a while. The bird has made me very weak.”

  She looked very much like a small child as she laid herself in the grass under the trees.

  “Enriquillo will come to get us soon. We should be safe here for a while.”

  “Where are we to live, child? How are we to survive?” asked Claude, who had finally come out of his daze.

  “You will live where and how I live. But you must remain hidden. The mounted police will not give up their search for you. Neither will the archdeacon.”

  Once they were settled and felt safe, Nolwazie started to look at the orchard Nyira had brought them to. The trees around them were full of the various fruit she had been buying from the market for years, like star fruit, chironja (half orange and half grapefruit), coco plum and guava. Just to name a few. There were even some banana and orange trees along the ridge of the valley.

  “We will at least not be hungry,” Nolwazie said as she began to wade through the grass and flowers in the area. She did not have a basket, so she collected fruit and piled it in her skirt. “Claude, come and help me gather us something to eat while we wait for the boy.”

  “Who is Enriquillo, Esmerelda? And how did our Camille become… oh, this is too much. I want to go home. What are we going to do now?” Esmerelda felt it was finally time to explain it all to Claude.

  “So the child we have had in our home all this time was a sorceress?” He sat down in the grass and said nothing for about ten minutes. “But she is not evil?” he finally said.

  “No Claude. She is the sweet girl that we know and love. She was just born the way she is.”

  “And she has saved us?”

  “She has, yes.” He looked over at Nyira as she slept in the grass.

  “And now we must live… we are free?”

  “We are. There are other parts of the island that we will be led to, that will allow us to live our lives in peace. Is that not a good thing?” He considered this thought for a long moment.

  “It is a good thing, yes. It will take some getting used to, but I don’t mind being free.”

  “Neither do I. We are together. That’s the most important part.”

  “That is,” said Claude. “Now when is it that I will meet this boy who has caused all this?”

  “Soon,” said Esmerelda, as she walked toward the trees and began to gather fruit again. She turned and looked at Claude. “Are you going to help me?”

  Claude rose and stood frowning for a moment; he was not accustomed to engaging in women’s work.

  “If you don’t help, it will be just that much longer before we are able to eat.”

  Claude’s stomach grumbled at that moment as if to confirm the urgency of Nolwazie’s mission. He walked up to a tree and just stood there as if possibly the fruit might tell him what to do. Nolwazie chuckled as she came over to help motivate her truculent husband.

  “You will have to reach for it, my sweet man.” She took one of his large hands and guided it to a star fruit. He grasped the thing and then examined it.

  “I have seen this,” he said, looking as though he was just discovering his own hand.

  “Yes, you have,” replied Nolwazie. “You carry them with you into the fields.”

  “They are good.” He took a bite. “I like them.” He reached for another.

  “Please, Claude, we must pick them first. Do not eat all of the fruit before we can gather enough.”

  “But I am hungry.”

  “We are all hungry—Nyira will be, too. When she awakens. So we need to pick enough for all of us to eat.”

  “Yes… I see.” Once he had grasped the idea of harvesting for more than just himself, Claude worked quickly and diligently. The same attributes that made him a good field hand that had never felt the whip.

  Once they had collected a decent amount of fruit and piled it at the base of one of the trees in the grove, Enriquillo rode down the trail leading into the valley, but he was not alone. There were at least fifty people following along behind the tall, handsome Taíno teenager. Each of them carried a basket filled with various types of meat, fish, and fruit. Nolwazie had obviously seen him before, but he seemed… different somehow. Taller perhaps. But it had only been a few months. He stopped at the grove of trees, and Nolwazie went and wrapped her arms around him

  “We are so happy to see you, Enriquillo! My Nyira is very lucky!” Enriquillo was caught off guard by Nolwazie’s enthusiasm. But
he welcomed her touch.

  “It is I who is lucky, Nolwazie. You have protected my dark princess. And it almost cost you your life. She could have no better mother. My people will need your wisdom and strength if we are to survive.” Nolwazie was suddenly struck by the magnitude of what the boy had revealed to her. These people were now her people.

  “I—I will do my best, my cacique. That is what you are called. Am I correct?”

  “Not quite yet. My mother yet lives. She awaits you in our cave.”

  72

  The archdeacon found himself isolated upon the platform as the crowd surged forward, in fear of the battle with the elephant and the warriors disguised as priests. When an opening presented itself, he placed his foot upon the second step but stopped. Something else was happening. Someone in the crowd screamed:

  “Oh my lord! What is that?” The archdeacon gazed across the crowd and saw a creature he could never even conceive. It looked like something out of a witch’s nightmare, and it suddenly drew a massive sword…

  A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

  A few people were key in the production of this bit of literature. Okay. A little too formal. I wrote this thing in front of my friends at the Fairhope Writers Forum, in Alabama. And by “writing in front of”, I mean I literally wrote the first ten pages and came in that next Saturday and read it to them. I can only imagine they found me a bit odd. Hopefully, you’ll all be famous now. And John, thanks for the question that opened the door to this.

  Now a note about the research: There are a number of articles and books on Taíno culture and Haiti in general. But sadly, a lot of Taíno data was lacking. Different references seem to repeat the same information. But Jose Barreiro’s wonderful novel: “Taíno” opened a nice window for me to peek through. I’m still peeking. And the Dominican Republic was helpful as well. They still have a thriving nature reserve on that side of the island. I got a sense of the beauty and immensity of a Caribbean jungle.

  And thanks also goes to everyone who helped me clean this up:

  Scott Pack (my first editor!) no-nonsense kind of guy. Really liked that.

  @meandmybigmouth

  Helen Burroughs—my wonderful beta reader

  @HKelleyB

  Sukhy Samani–my generous beta reader

  @sukhysamani

  Courtney M. McMeekin—my insightful beta reader

  R E F E R E N C E S

  Maroon Societies (Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas)

  Richard Price

  The Slave Ship (A Human History) Marcus Rediker

  The River Congo

  Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston

  The Taino: The Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus

  Irving Rouse

  A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

  Bartolome de La Casas

  Cautio Criminalis

  Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld

  Caciques and Cemi Idols: The Web Spun by Taino Rulers Between Hispanola and Puerto Rico

  Jose R. Oliver

  And a thousand other various papers, library documents, dissertations and internet searches…

  GLOSSARY

  Taíno (Tah-ee-no) The aboriginal inhabitants of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and other lessor

  Islands; self-descriptive, meaning “noble” or “good” people.

  Higuamota ( ee-wa-mo-tah) (Cacique—chief of Enriquillo’s tribe. Also his mother)

  Agueybana (ah-way-bah-nah) behike—medicine man/Shaman of Enriquillo’s tribe)

  guaxeri wa-zeh-ree (citizens of the Taíno nation)

  Hutia (who-tee-ah) Rodent of the West Indies. Eaten by early Taíno and present guaxeri.

  Coaybay—(ko as in Colorado)-(a as in Alabama ) (ko-ah-ee-bah-ee) Taíno place of the dead

  behike ( be (like the e in elevator)(be-hee-kay) Medicine man or healer

  bejuco (be (like the e in elevator)-who-(ko—as in colorado) (be-who-ko) various types of vines used as purgatives and as cord rope for construction

  Carib—(cah-rib) Caribbean indian people from the lessor Antilles. A term chosen by the Spanish for people reuputedly canabalistic

  Batey—(bah-tey) A plaza or ceremonial field where areitos and ball games were celebrated.

  Areito—(Ah-ree-toe) traditional dances and recitations among the Taíno behike and cacique.

  Cacique—(Cah-see-kay) chief

  Enriquillo—(n-ree-key-oh)

  Duho—(dew-hoe) a ceremonial seat or stool, low to the ground and fashioned from wood or stone.

  Manati (manna-like manna from heaven) ti-tea (mana-tea)

  Below are terms and theories I made up for the novel.

  Knef—( like nephew) an almost transparent one-eyes entity. About the size of a 9×12 sheet of paper. It hovers and descends when the newly separated soul is weak enough for it to feast. Hunts at the edges of wars and natural disasters.

  Dream walk—an act performed by an experienced behike or shaman. Used to eradicate evil spirits. It is also a bridge between the human world and other realms. Only the behike/shamans know this. It is also where Nyira takes Enriquillo to play and meet some old departed friends.

  Kopai—(ko as in coke) (pai as in pie) guards the realm leading into Coaybay. They take various forms, from blue giants, to Raven-headed griffins and anything in between. Depending on their mood. Once you enter their realm, you have a short time to converse with your recently departed, If you linger too long, they will keep you. Which means you are dead, too.

  About the Author

  K.M. Harrell is the eldest of five siblings. Four girls and himself. They were and are a close-knit southern family. He spent his time playing with, protecting and sometimes totally harassing his charge of sisters. Trust me they have grown much much taller than he is now and have gotten him back (Just kidding! He is totally still the man!) Sorry. Anyway. He has written most of his life and even had a few things published in small magazines. This is his first novel. He can be reached at :

  www.kmharrell.com

  @kmharrell2

  https://www.facebook.com/ken.harrell.71653