Chapter Nineteen: A Leap of Faith!

That night, as Fantah lay awake, waiting for her father to retire to his hut, her mind was filled with all kinds of thoughts about how difficult it would be to leave the house without being heard. It would be easy to sneak out of her mother's room because her mother slept deeply, and even if she was caught, she could lie and say she was going to the bathroom. But her father was always alert at night. He might hear her sneaking out and mistake her for an intruder, and that wouldn't be funny. She might end up as the recipient of his poisonous arrows! With the way things were between them now, she was sure he wouldn't even mourn her. Then, there was also the issue of wild animals in the forest. Would she make it to Balda alive? She remembered her terrible experience with the lion and how Hayah, like a knight in shining armor, shot the beast and saved her life, and her heart was stirred with love for him all over again. Well, this time she would be alone to cross the forest by herself in the dead of the night.

She thought about Hayah and what she might find out. Why hasn't he come? Has he changed his mind? Did he decide to stay and work things out with his wife? Will he even welcome her if she gets there? Most importantly, is he alive and well? Another wave of fear engulfed her.

At that moment, she heard her father closing the main entrance. He then went to their hut to check up on them and bid them good night. Her mother was already fast asleep but opened her eyes and groggily said good night to her husband, then went back to sleep. A few moments later, she heard the door of his hut close. She waited for a while to make sure he had gone to sleep, then got up and picked up her little bundle that she had hidden behind the bed. With her shoes in her hand, she quietly opened the door. At that moment, her mother moved. She held her breath and froze where she was standing, but to her relief, her mother did not wake up. So, she slid out and closed the door quietly behind her. There was no sound coming from her father's hut, indicating that he was fast asleep.

"Thank God," she whispered as she tiptoed toward the bathroom area, and then to the wall with the large opening that drains out water during the rainy season, to prevent the house from being flooded. She threw the bundle over the wall, then bent down and crawled through the drainage opening. It was dry because it hadn't rained for days; her slender body easily went through it. "Thank God," she whispered again. As soon as she was successfully outside the house, she picked up her little bundle and ran fast to the stream where Murtala was waiting for her.

"Are you sure you still want to do this?" he asked her.

"I want to… I need to," she replied.

He escorted her deep into the forest, and when it was beginning to get bright, he bid her farewell and headed back home. There was no turning back now. She turned and faced east and kept on walking towards the city of Balda.

Hayah was in his wife's room playing with his young son who was about two and a half years old. His happy little voice filled the room with laughter as his father swirled him around. Talatu was already pregnant with another child. He was happy, happier than he had been in a long time. Granted, he was having some political problems, but on the domestic front, he was as happy as can be.

He also didn't seem to think of Fantah anymore. In fact, he seemed to have forgotten about her. It was almost as if she never existed, and that was what Talatu had always wanted. Maybe it was the child and the pregnancy that did it. Maybe it was the charms she had been sprinkling on their bed before they slept and the one her uncle prepared from the scoop of sand she got from his footprints, or maybe it was the long silence between him and Fantah because all his messages were being intercepted. But whatever it was, it worked in her favor. He was paying more attention to her now and looked happy doing it. Life couldn't be sweeter if you poured honey on it.

At that moment, a servant walked into the room to inform him that Fantah had arrived. He immediately put down his son and walked, almost running, out of the room to where she was. Talatu's little happy world suddenly came crashing down before her.

At the door, Fantah looked tired and dirty. She appeared to have been crying, but as soon as their eyes met, she knelt to greet him. He went to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, then lifted her up to him.

"I have missed you, my love," he said, almost in tears himself, and she bent her head down shyly, tears running freely from her eyes. He led her to the garden, away from prying ears.

"I missed you so much."

"I miss you too, my stranger."

"I am sorry I couldn't come all those years; I have been under severe pressure from the new Lamdo. But I did send a lot of messages to you which you never replied to. I feared you must have married someone else."

"I never got any of your messages."

"What? I have sent over fifty messages. I thought you were angry with me and married someone else." She went ahead to tell him all that had transpired back at home.

"And no, I am not married, yet," she said.

"Fantah..."

"Stranger, I came here because I want to be with you. I couldn't bear the thought of living without you. My father plans to marry me off to someone, but I ran away."

"But your father will never give us his blessing."

"Then let me be your concubine."

"What?"

"Yes, my stranger. My father will never give us his blessing. I can't be with you without being married, and I refuse to marry someone else. So, that is the only solution."

"You are a freeborn, Fantah; you know what that means."

"I know. But I would rather lose my freedom to you than to anybody else." She knelt. "Allah rene."

[End of Chapter Nineteen]