Chapter One: October 1, 1880
Updated: Aug 11
The sun had almost gone down and he had caught no game. It wasn’t a very good day for hunting, Hayah thought. He had been lying in wait all day long, hoping to kill something but still no luck.
“Those Bororo again!” He cursed under his breath. “They must have driven the animals further away.” He had noticed their temporary settlements the previous day and instantly knew they were going to be trouble. It was the beginning of the dry season and the open savannah grassland of Adamawa region was a well-known haven for cattle grazing. The Bororo nomads usually went there once in every two or three years to graze in the area and each time they do, they did upset the natural balance and order of the wildlife found there.
The dry season was not only favourable for pasturing in that part of the savannah, it was also a very good time for game hunting, a sport, which he loved very much. Hayah was a soldier in his early forties and still very much physically fit with the relentless enthusiasm of an adolescent. During the brief periods of calm experienced in the conflict between the Fulani and the indigenous Musgum people, he liked to go inland into the lush grassland for some solitude and game hunting. It gave him the peace and quiet he needed; to rest, to reflect, and recuperate.
As he moved silently through the grass, he heard a sound which he mistook for a wild animal, so he crouched and crept cautiously toward the sound with caution. But as he approached the area, he saw a cow, and then another. He parted the tall grass he was hiding behind and saw more cows grazing peacefully in an open area. Annoyed, he thought of going to confront the Cattle herder to give him a piece of his mind. But just as he was about to do that, he noticed a figure not among the cows but under a tree, away from the animals. It was a typical Bororo girl. She was tall and slim, with had a light but brownish complexion common to the Fulbe tribe. Her face was turned away from him, toward the cows. She wore a wrapper that was tied very low around her waist, held together in place by many beads known as Jigida. Her blouse was tiny - barely covering her upper torso - decorated with beads of different colours with small colourful pieces of cloth sewn onto it. Her hair was braided into cornrows of different sizes, decorated with beads of various colours.
When she turned her face towards him, he held his breath. She had the most beautiful face he had ever seen. It was oval-shaped, with big eyes and a cute, pointed nose. Her lips were tattooed black and her eyes were also lined with dark kohl. Three white dots were marked on each of her cheeks, and large round earrings hung from her ears. He estimated her age at around fourteen or fifteen.
She was so beautiful that for a moment he doubted she was human- perhaps a jinn.
Suddenly, there was an uneasy but familiar calm around the place. With the eye of an expert hunter, he quickly scanned through the long, dry savannah grass swaying slowly in the wind. And there it was, almost unnoticeable and blended into the brown grass, a lion stalking its way towards the herd of cattle, moving slowly and stealthily unnoticed by the anyone. The girl was obviously unaware of what was about to happen. She was so engrossed with her surveillance duty, that from a distance her face radiated a calm and peaceful demeanour. He almost felt sorry for her as she was about to be terrified beyond her wildest imagination.
Silently but quickly, he drew out his bow and arrow and aimed at the beast. To his horror, he noticed the lion wasn’t going towards the animals, but towards the girl.
“A man-eater!” he thought as he quickly dipped his arrow in poison and primed it on the bow, and aimed. “How could this be? There are only a few people living in this area except for the Bororo who must have arrived in the past few days.” But there was no time to ruminate; he had to act fast, or else the girl would be dead.
Suddenly, from its squatting position, the beast sprang towards the girl, just as he released an arrow towards it. On sighting the lion, the cows scattered in different directions, the girl turned, saw the beast, and let out a piercing scream. Everything happened so fast, and at the end of it all, the beast lay dead at her feet. He emerged from the grasses and ran towards her. She was frozen stiff with fear.
“Are you alright?” he asked gasping for air. But she didn’t answer. She was still frozen with fear, and her eyes were fixed on the carcass. “It’s alright It’s dead now,” he added as she lifted her eyes to meet his, terror still on her face. It then dawned on him that she couldn’t understand him, as he was speaking Hausa to her, so he switched to the Fulfulde and asked her again if she was alright, while trying to calm her down.
She must have come back to her senses because she immediately untied the veil around her waist, covered her head, and turned her back shyly, away from him.
“It’s ok.” he said again. The Bororo, especially their women, were known to be very coy, and he didn’t want to upset her. “You shouldn’t be coming out here alone with the cows to graze, you know! These parts are swarming with wild animals. Perhaps you should have come in a group, or better yet, let the men do it.” She still didn’t say anything. So, he continued. “This is a man-eater, which makes it even more dangerous to be out here alone. I haven’t seen one in a long time, you know.” He kept talking for about two minutes without her saying anything in reply. Then, just as he was about to stop talking, he noticed from the corner of his eye, that she stole a glance at him before running away. “Great!” he exclaimed. “She ran away and left her cows. Well, she will have to come back for them.” So, he sat down under the tree to wait for her to return.
Later that day, a young Bororo girl dressed in a typical Fulani outfit was walking down a path, with a stylishly decorated calabash filled with milk, balanced firmly on her head. She walked gracefully without upsetting the calabash’s balance or its content.
“Hey pullo, waddu kosam!” She heard a familiar girl’s voice call out to her and she turned towards the sound to see who it was.
“Fantah! What are you doing here?” she asked, walking towards her and placing the calabash on the ground. “Where did you leave the cows? It is your turn to watch over them.”
“Oh, they are fine,” Fantah replied, nonchalantly.
“You abandoned them again? Baba will be angry.”
“Don’t worry about them.” She opened the calabash, fetched some of its content, and started drinking. “Wow, you didn’t make any sales today!”
“Fantah! Stop drinking the milk. Dada will know.” She snatched the ladle from her and used the woven raffia to cover the calabash. Where did you leave the cows? What if something happens to them?”
“Come on Diddi, you know those cows are smarter than most of the boys in this village… Believe me, they are!”
“What’s wrong, Fantah?” she asked, knowing her sister was hiding something.
“I met a man.”
“You did?” Diddi gasped. They got up and started walking towards the village.
“Yes. Oh, he was so wonderful.”
“I thought you said all boys were stupid?”
“Oh yes. But he is not a boy. He is a man.” she said with a dreamy look on her face.
“Oh, wow!” her sister said in surprise, and Fantah told her about the handsome stranger who saved her life.
[End of Chapter-One]
✦ Thank you for reading. Kindly comment your thoughts on this chapter below.
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