Tupac feels it is time for all us to go back to the East side of the mountains and get a better evaluation of what is occurring there. A few times in the recent past, we have split up to cover more territory. He and Dreng have gone to the other side while Herve and I have roamed to the South investigating any movements there. When we reached the Western entrance to the tunnel, we tied the horses at the mouth of the tunnel, which would take us to the other side of the mountain. Once on the other side, the men were surprised by what they saw in a clearing of the forest below. At the far edge of the clearing were five female slaves gathering kindling and piling it. Standing to the side was a single guard, a single horse tied nearby. I feel their eyes on me and when I turn to look at them, they sit back against the rocks near the mouth of the tight opening to the tunnel.
“What?”
“You’re the girl we met with your father on this side several years ago, aren’t you? Your father was Rayner.”
“You know that.” I get defensive; I knew what my father did before he changed. Before he took my mother for his wife and created a family after I was born. I also knew that he took as his penance to leave my mother and me to the safety and protection of the village and to try to help other slaves escape, and to lead slavers away from searching along the mountains by creating a route for runaways to the East beyond the river. “Yes, and I am proud that he is my father. So, what?”
“No offense, Maia, I am just piecing it all together. Your abilities in the wild, hunting and tracking skills. But you need to know some things before we go further.” Tupac tells of the stories they have heard about slaves escaping to the East. The escapes are more and more daring, as if they are receiving assistance from others to make their way from the plantations and then seemingly disappear. There is open talk among people that it is a non-slave who has rallied a group of escaped slaves to accomplish this. There is also speculation that this non-slave is Rayner, my father. They have periodically watched from this very location and have encountered virtually no slaves in this section trying to escape. If they are running, they must be going to the East. The last group that was brought through the tunnel talked about a small battle between the closest plantation and a small band of others. In the chaos, slaves scattered in all directions. The group that was brought to the village happened to wander out of the forest, apparently being separated from the others, and becoming confused and lost. I felt a sense of pride and relief. Pride that my father was able to accomplish his promise to divert running slaves away from us. And, relief that my father appeared to still be alive.
They were quiet as I reflected on those two emotions. Staring down at the slaves below as I did. Coming from my reverie, I wondered what else they had for me. I didn’t have long to ponder that.
“Maia, you should also know that the closest plantation, where those slaves are likely to be from, would be the same plantation your mother would have been from.” I am surprised by the strong emotions that rose within me. I fall back against a boulder and stared straight ahead, not truly focused on anything. I am surprised at the anger, even rage, welling up inside me. I wanted to do something, to strike out at that plantation and the owner. Dreng, sometimes very perceptive in his quiet, offered in support, “We could take the five slaves, and kill the guard in the process.”
Tupac and Herve are calmer, more thoughtful about the ramifications. “Yes, that would be something. But, to strike and endanger the others in the village would be pointless.”
Herve adds, “If the guard is found dead when the group does not return, it will raise suspicion about this region, again. And, that may lead to a more thorough search. Maia, your father has sacrificed much and endured much to create a zone of safety for you and the village. Tupac is right; it could lead to endangering the village.”
Dreng, however, is still watching me. He wants to find a solution that will also provide me some satisfaction. “What if the guard’s body disappears?”
At first, I sense that Tupac isn’t amused by Dreng continuing along this line of encouragement. But, one of the strengths of the group is the ability to discuss options until a decision has to be made and then everyone falls in-line with one common focus. But, he allows the discussion to take place. How would that be accomplished? Bury it? That could be opened by animals or the disturbed ground of the grave discovered. I look at Dreng. There has to be an answer and be a win-win for all considerations. We can free more females for the village. I can have some measure of revenge against the owner of the plantation, even if he doesn’t understand the significance of the events. Am I proud of my reaction? Yes and no. I am proud that I have the courage and strength to avenge my mother. On the other hand, I didn’t know I was capable of such reactions. The solution, though, lies in the area of land where father built our cabin. Specifically, the canyon.
I look up at them and I am smiling. They stop their discussion when they see it. My voice is quiet, but my commitment to the idea I have comes through in it, “The body would never be found, if it is dropped into the canyon.”
Tupac is watching me, and then looks off into the horizon in the direction of where the canyon would be, in the direction of the cabin he visited only once. “The canyon … that was just beyond where your cabin was.”
“Yes. Okay, forget my revenge reaction, that isn’t honorable. But the reaction was real and honest. Consider instead the village from a different perspective. The village needs more females, Tupac. The village will become whole only after more families are created. There are many men; they need more women. And, be honest, if it was you, can you say you wouldn’t have reacted the same way?”
He considers me and my words, and then shakes his head. “I would have reacted with even more rage and need for retaliation. You are also correct about the village. But, we don’t gain anything if one of us is hurt in the process.”
I am used as bait. The other three work their way around the small group with the dogs. If the guard hears something, the dogs can be used as a diversion. When they are in place, I wander, stumbling, like I am completely confused and disoriented, from the trees in front of the clearing. I am naked and dirty to give the added impression of having been in the wild for some time. When I am sure, I have been seen by the guard, I fall backward into the edge of forest, where I get up and fall, again. I stay down and wait for the guard. I have my bow and quiver of arrows ready at the location I fall. I wait for the guard as he yells a warning to the women, then turns to approach me. I have never done anything like this. I have killed numerous animals with little emotional response; they were food for our survival. But, this will be different. This was a man, perhaps with a family of his own. I know nothing about him, if he was even a bad man by nature or merely by whom he decided to be employed by.
I do kill him, however. Just like that. I waited and watched him, unafraid if he saw me watching him. I was nothing to him, just a lost slave to be taken control of, again. When he was separated from the women, his line to me away from the women, I stood up steady and determined with the bow and an arrow strung. That alone seemed to confuse him, certainly not what he was expecting. Before he could bring his rifle from his back, I had pulled the arrow, completed my firing routine, and released it. I was surprised how easy and unemotional I was about taking his life from him. I stood over him to make sure he was dead. I have ended the life of many animals with the sharp blade of my knife across the throat. I now was sure this would have been just as simple. But, it was unnecessary.
Tupac brought the horse, loaded the guard onto its back, and tied him with rope found already on the horse. Tupac insists on coming with me to canyon. I initially refused, but he continued, as do I in my objection. I insist that Wolf and I would be fine. Besides, I plan to spend a little time at the cabin after I am done disposing of the guard. I point to a spot to the North in the mountains.
“Father and I always felt that the pass there could be a way over the mountains. Mother got much worse before we could investigate it. The height of summer is the only possible time to try and that is now.”
“Why try? Use the tunnel.”
I laugh, “I want the horse, and you don’t know of another way over.”
“You’re nuts. But, we won’t change your mind, will we?”
“No.”
“Then, at least let me join you. Herve and Dreng will take the women through the tunnel and watch for us on the other side.” He calls them together and sets the plan. “When we get over the top, we’ll build a fire so you can see where we are coming from so you can meet us. It may take us several days.” He turned to me, “Are you sure it is worth it?”
“It will be when it’s done.”
The women are led up to the tunnel hidden behind the rockslide. Tupac and I lead the horse carrying the dead guard to the North along the mountain slope, through the forest and to the edge of the canyon. I don’t even ask for or wait for assistance from Tupac, but rather unceremoniously untie the ropes holding the body and letting him drop to the ground. I pull him by his foot to the edge of the drop and push it over the edge. I watch the body drop twenty feet to the steep slope below, then tumble and slide down the slope before getting hung up on the trunk of a tree.
It seems almost anticlimactic to me as I stand on the edge of the cliff looking down at the body. Tupac joins me quietly, taking a position alongside me but not intruding on my thoughts or mood, simply there and available. When I turn to him and put my face into his chest, his arms are immediately and tenderly around me, supporting me and comforting me as sobs come from deep inside me and finally wash out through me.
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