Bendi seemed to shrink from answering, but said, “No. We chop him!”
“Oh, Katie,” Barney said as she came out of the hut, “this is Bendi, son of Chief Batoni. Bendi, this is Katie. She comes from far over the big water. She is a servant of Jesus, of the God who made everything.”
Bendi fixed his eyes boldly on Katie. His eyes revealed nothing as he spoke. “Soon you get food.”
“Pretty hard nut, Bendi is,” Barney said as he watched the boy stride away. “But he’s heard the gospel. I’m sure of it.”
“We’ll have to work on that, but right now I wish I could see Bestman,” Katie responded.
“Better not try it. Remember what Awful said last night?”
“Yes. He has a wonderful gift of bringing the Scriptures to life, doesn’t he?” She thought about it, then said, “It’s like he said, Barney. I’d like to get busy and do something! But it might be God’s plan to let Bestman stay a prisoner for a while—just like Jesus let Lazarus actually die so that He could show the glory of His—”
“Barney!” Del rushed out. “Awful just collapsed!”
They dashed inside and over to Gardner’s limp form. He was lying on a bamboo bed, his face ashen and his breathing labored.
“No fever,” Barney said, touching the man’s forehead. He leaned forward and called, “Awful! Awful! Are you all right?”
Fear rippled through Katie—not fear of bodily harm, but the presence of evil. “It’s not a natural sickness,” she whispered. “This is evil. You can feel the powers of darkness!”
Barney and Del both agreed, for it was obvious that Gardner had been stricken down, not by malaria or sleeping sickness, but by a sinister force hovering over them.
Barney peered outside. “They’re all gathered outside,” he said quietly.
“Like a bunch of vultures!” Del muttered, as he, too, checked the situation. “I feel sick myself,” he said, showing his trembling hands to Katie and Barney. “I didn’t think anything could do that to me!” he exclaimed, shocked.
Even Katie was affected—a filthy fear that crept into her mind, so obscene that it shamed her in an inexplicable way beyond her conception. Like Del, she began to tremble, her legs grew weak, her mouth became parched.
Barney watched his friends, his senses reeling in confusion as he found himself unable to combat a force that threatened to destroy him. In the ring he’d learned to face physical destruction, to control all fear. But this fear was foreign to anything he’d encountered. It was much stronger and seemed to settle on his mind like a heavy fog, making him want to flee for his life. Get out of here! the voice screamed at him. You can’t help him—save yourself!
Suddenly from deep within him rose a supernatural strength and he cried out in a hoarse voice, “I rebuke you, spirits of darkness! Satan—you were defeated at the cross of Jesus! By His blood and in the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave this place, you foul spirits . . . !”
As Barney continued to call on the name of the Lord, Katie could sense an awesome battle in the unseen world. It was as if two armies met in a tremendous clash of arms. She had been caught once in a violent thunderstorm, and the lightning bolts had filled the skies like huge tracks of silver fire as they reached down to smash the earth. She had been rocked with the violence of sound and fire that broke over her. She recalled the battle against the witch doctor and the power of the name of Jesus as the chief was delivered from the death clutch on his life. Now she fell to her knees and cried out the name of Jesus Christ over and over.
As Barney, Del and Katie battled, they felt the darksome power begin to wane. Slowly it left the room like a sullen wave withdrawing from the beach to find its place in the depths of a deadly abode. Katie sat motionless, her lips moving silently, tears coursing down her face.
“Thank you, Jesus!”
Katie’s head jerked up as she recognized the voice. Awful! He was sitting up, his eyes clear, and a victory smile on his face. “Bless the Lord! We gave the devil a lickin’ that time, didn’t we?” he exclaimed.
Katie scrambled to her feet and almost fell before Barney caught her. His own face was drained and pale, but he cried with joy, “Yes, Awful, I think the Lord Jesus won that one!”
Del moved from where he had been leaning against the wall, his face tense and drawn. “That was terrible!” he said hoarsely. “I couldn’t do a thing except call out to God!”
“Ah, well,” Gardner nodded, “that’s all we’re told to do, isn’t it, now? ‘In my name you’ll cast out demons.’ Remember?”
“Do you think it’ll happen again?” Katie asked.
“Maybe. But we’ve got the name of Jesus, lass,” Gardner said. “Let’s check on Batoni. He and his friends expect me to be dead.” He got to his feet and walked to the door and peered out. “Come along. Let’s go out and let them see what the Lord Jesus can do for His servants!”
He walked out the door, the others right behind. Batoni, his headmen, and the two witch doctors had their backs to the missionaries. “Hello, Chief Batoni!” Gardner cried out.
A muted cry rose from the crowd as they whirled in unbelief, eyes like saucers.
“I see you’re all meetin’,” Gardner went on. “Shall I tell you about Jesus? How He is stronger than all your gods?”
Batoni’s haughty expression did not change. Instead, he wheeled away, his entourage at his heels.
“That got to him!” Gardner said gleefully. “The blighter didn’t show it, but he lost this time. He expected me to be dead.”
They stayed close to the hut assigned to them, reveling in the joyous presence of the Lord, the wonder of His name, the assurance that His Word was as true that day as when Jesus walked on earth—and they could trust Him to be all He said He would be.
Two hours later the chief’s son brought some palm nuts and rice. As he set the food before them, Bendi kept glancing sideways at Gardner, a mixture of unbelief, fear, and awe in his eyes. The older man was not dead!
Barney noted Bendi’s expression. He winked at Awful and nodded slightly toward Bendi. “How do you feel, Reverend Gardner?”
Awful responded by throwing his arms out and crying, “Good! I feel wonderful! The Lord Jesus makes it a good place!”
Bendi stood stock-still, watching the drama before him.
Katie perceived the men’s intent and said brightly, “Yes! The old gods are weak. They cannot stand against the great God!”
None of them spoke directly to the boy, but declared to one another the goodness of God, thanking Him over and over. Bendi moved slowly toward the door, delaying his going, then slipped out.
“Well,” Barney smiled, “he was a congregation of one, but he got a good gospel sermon.”
“Batoni is very proud of his son,” Awful nodded. “And the lad is smart. He don’t let on, but he wuz the best student in the school Brother Milum had here when the lad wuz just a boy. Milum stuck it out till he wuz near eighty, Beecham told me. Had a good church, but when he died, the witch doctors moved in, and they got their hooks into Batoni.”
The day passed slowly, with no word from Batoni. That night they slept fitfully, awaking once when it seemed that Gardner was having the same symptoms again. Immediately they took authority over the forces of darkness, and soon Awful was resting peacefully.
As dawn broke over the village, the visitors emerged from their lodging. People were moving around, the women cooking and the men gathering in small groups, talking.
Bendi approached the missionaries with some more rice and a portion of meat. “Goat meat, very good!”
“Will you join us, Bendi?” Barney asked on impulse. “We have something you might like to try.”
Bendi shook his head, but Awful urged, “Come now, just have a bite!”
The boy looked hard at the item Barney had pulled from his pocket, then took it cautiously. “It’s candy,” Barney explained. “See if you like it. We will eat the food you’ve brought.”
They pretended not to n
otice Bendi as they ate and talked with one another instead of directly to the boy. Katie watched him put the candy in his mouth, taste it, and his eyes light up with surprise. It was hard candy and he ate the entire stick as he listened to their conversation.
“What?” Barney said in surprise. “All gone? I think I might have a bit more here somewhere.” He found another stick and gave it to him.
This time the boy stuck it in his mouth without hesitation, his face blissful.
Awful wasn’t hungry, so he pulled his old black Bible out, saying, “Well, let’s have a little Bible for breakfast, eh?” He read the story of David and Goliath, turning it into a rousing adventure that riveted the boy’s attention.
“So this giant, who wuz about as big as an elephant, and had a spear the size of a tree, come at David and said, ‘I’m goin’ to kill you and feed you to the vultures!’ But David, who wuzn’t much older, I guess, than—oh, than Bendi here—he said, ‘Goliath, my God is stronger than your gods. I’ve only got a little slingshot, but today God has given you into my hand!’ ”
Then Gardner acted out the fight. “And David ran right at that giant, and he took his sling and threw the rock—and it hit that old giant Goliath right between the eyes! Bam! Down he went, dead—and David took the giant’s own sword and cut off his head!”
Gardner saw the boy’s eyes widen in surprise. “David had a big God, didn’t he, Bendi?” Awful said.
Bendi stared in wonder. “This god of David, he is strong. What is he called?”
“He’s got many names, Bendi,” Gardner replied. “But the name I like best is Jesus. It means ‘one who saves.’ ”
The lad studied the old man carefully, thinking hard. Then he said, “I go now!”
Gardner watched the boy as he dashed away. “He’s thinkin’ it over, he is. It’s hard for these folks to give up their old gods.”
“It would be hard for Bendi if he became a Christian, wouldn’t it?” Katie said thoughtfully.
“Hard! I expect that father of his would feed him to the wolves!”
Time dragged on and after the third night, Awful said, “He’s tryin’ to wear us down!”
“Well, he’s doing a pretty good job!” Del complained. “We haven’t gotten even a glimpse of Bestman—and we can’t stay in this hole forever!”
However, just after midday the next day, the missionaries got their call. But it was not what they expected. They were sitting outside the hut when Chief Batoni strode through the village toward them, with Bendi at his side and a long spear in his hand. He marched straight up to them. “You come!”
Startled, Gardner asked, “Is it a meetin’ of the elders, Chief Batoni?”
The proud features of the chief did not change, but Katie thought she saw a sardonic light in his deep-set black eyes.
“Not meeting,” he said. Then he smiled slightly. “You come hunt lion with Batoni.”
The four missionaries could not have been more shocked if he had announced they were going to play chess!
“I tell about David and how he kill giant,” Bendi said.
Batoni nodded. “Bad lion, kill many my peoples. You come. We let you show us how strong your god is.” He stood there, amused at their confusion, then demanded, “You come? Kill lion?”
Barney got to his feet. “We come, Chief Batoni.”
The chief fixed his gaze on Barney. “Pahn people no use rifle gun for lion. Use this.” He handed Barney the spear. “Come. You show Pahn people how strong is Jesus God.”
Surprise flickered in the chief’s eyes as Barney took up the challenge. “Let’s go find the bad lion. My God will slay him.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Good-Night, Dear Boy!”
The long line of Pahn tribesmen marched through the forest. Barney had been fascinated by the initiation rites of the tribes, and none was more dramatic than the killing of a lion with just a spear. He knew that among the Masai tribes, only men who had performed this feat were permitted to wear the headdress made of the lion’s skin.
The lion was usually found in the plains, Barney knew, but part of the Pahn territory was dense jungle, and he had once seen a pride of them at a distance. What would he do at such a disadvantage? It was one thing to face a mighty foe with a rifle or a shotgun, as he had done successfully many times, but to fight a lion with a spear—that was different! Sometimes a full-grown lion weighed up to five hundred pounds, to say nothing of the razor-sharp claws and massive jaws that could crush the bones of a zebra as if they were dust. Barney envisioned those deadly weapons sinking into human flesh—his flesh!
He glanced down at the eight-foot spear in his hand. He understood that it was thrust into the chest as the beast charged, never thrown at him.
And he was supposed to kill it with a single thrust? Barney had heard that these tribesmen spent years developing the skill and strength just for the opportunity of killing a lion. He had practically no chance—in the natural, at least.
Batoni and his warriors kept a close watch on him, he saw. Expect me to run like a rabbit, he thought. He smiled grimly. Which is exactly what I’d like to do!
By noon the country flattened out, the tall trees of the rain forest giving way to scrub brush.
“Halt!” Batoni called. He searched the horizon, then divided the men into small parties and waved them off, leaving the chief, his son, and Barney.
“Lion, him there!” Batoni stated, waving his spear toward a low-lying hill with a flattened top. “You go with us?”
Barney nodded. “I go.”
Batoni scrutinized the white man, amazed that the missionary would come this far. “You never use spear?” he asked.
“No. Only rifle, Chief.”
“Lion—bad! Strong and fast.”
Barney looked at the spear, then at Batoni. “Some of your finest men have been killed hunting lions, is that not so?”
“Plenty men killed. Lion strong!”
“We both know that if your men, who know how to hunt with a spear, have been killed, I don’t have much chance.”
“You go back?” Batoni demanded at once.
“No. I go with you to kill lion.”
Bendi was listening to the conversation closely. He had a spear of his own, and looked at the white man with keen interest.
Barney noted this and asked, “What about your son, Batoni?”
“Is his first hunt.” Batoni felt he had to explain, so he added, “My son watch his father kill lion. Learn how. Like I learn from my father.”
Barney smiled. “I didn’t learn from my father. Will you show me how?”
Batoni blinked his eyes, surprise registering in his face at Barney’s response. Unknown to Winslow, this chief respected little—except courage. He was a warrior, and the code of the hunt was pride. A man who could not hunt was no man in his sight! But he was in a bad position, for his prestige had been damaged by the fact that despite the spells he and the witch doctors had made, the old missionary hadn’t died. And now, this young one was set to prove that his God was able to keep him from the lion’s jaws.
The chief was a savage man of war and led a wicked life, but he couldn’t help admiring the white man he had hated. He nodded. “You watch Batoni kill lion.”
“All right. I will watch the chief.”
Batoni nodded and moved across the ground noiselessly, which Barney could not do, no matter how hard he tried. The country looked flat, but it was very rough. The three had to scramble down into gullies, sometimes six feet deep, then claw their way up the other side. Barney kept up, and he saw that both father and son were surprised at the white man’s agility.
When they reached a long line of bushes, no more than three feet high, bordering the plain, Batoni stopped. A brook flowed beneath the weeds and across the dry plain. Even as they stood there, a herd of antelope lowered their heads to drink, and farther down a pack of wild dogs fought over the remains of a carcass.
“Lion—him hunt here!” Batoni whispered. �
�We wait—be still!”
The sweat collected in Barney’s helmet as the blazing sun beat down upon them. He held the spear tightly at first, but after a while his hand cramped and he was forced to loosen his grip.
The brook was a magnet, drawing all sorts of animals and birds. The sides of it were lined with white bones, no doubt victims of the lions’ jaws. Scanning the distance, Barney thought he saw a movement along the edges of the scrub, perhaps other hunters. He lowered his eyes to the brook again but was arrested by another stirring in the brush.
Batoni slowly raised his arm. “Lion!” he whispered.
At first Barney could see nothing. Then he saw her! The female lion was creeping out of the bush, moving stealthily, freezing from time to time. Barney held his breath as he watched, mesmerized.
Batoni moved forward, his motion pure grace. Holding his spear lightly in his right hand, he crept toward the lioness. At once she turned, then broke into a charge. Over the ground she leapt, fast as a gazelle toward the enemy who lifted his spear with both hands and waited. Barney could see his face—alert, pleased, fearless.
The lioness flew through the air with great leaps, then rose, claws outstretched, straight toward the waiting Batoni! The chief drove his spear into the center of her throat and fell backward himself by the power of the animal’s lunge. Huge spurts of blood gushed from her neck, but she caught Batoni with one ripping motion of her claws even as she dropped to the ground, kicked and lay motionless.
It happened with such lightning speed that Barney had not moved, but a cry behind him made him freeze.
“Lion!” Bendi cried.
A huge lion raced across the plain. Barney could not believe his eyes. Batoni was struggling to his feet, but his leg was torn so badly that it gave way, sending him sprawling—right in the path of the charging beast!
Bendi raced toward the lion just as Barney went into motion. Gripping the spear, he sped toward the boy. I can never make it! screamed in his mind. Batoni shouted as he tried to get to his feet.
Barney lunged forward with strength he didn’t know he had. He saw the lion come to the end of his charge and launch himself at Bendi, who stood with his spear grasped with both hands. He drove the spear into the lion’s chest, but missed the center. The point ripped a gash that only infuriated the beast as he leaped toward the boy again.
The Final Adversary Page 28