His Island Girl

Chapter Seventeen

Dave looked at him and back at the men. They were about ten or more in number and the youngest of them could be older than him. Though not all of them carried farm implements, some were dressed as hunters or fishermen.

"I beg your pardon?" Dave said still in shock.

"These are your subjects and they have come to you for a favour" the man replied.

"My subjects? How and when did they become my subjects?" Dave was more than confused at that moment.

"Sir, we are the inhabitants of this island and each of us here has a home and family we've been taking care of for all our lives. We have lived here on this island for years and we consider it our home. But lately, we have seen and heard that this island is about to be taken away and if that happens then we all will have no more source of livelihoods. So we have all come to plead, please help us and don't let them have it" one of the elderly men explained.

Dave only stared in total bewilderment. He wondered what all of that was all about.

"Yes sir, you are the only one that can help us. We all are ready to do whatever you wish from of us Sir" another one pleaded.

"Wait wait wait! Hold on. How on earth do all of these concern me? I was only a tourist here now and I have already cancelled the contract already" he countered.

"But they are not backing down and you know it. They are trying other means to have access to this island" Noella's father, the strange man spoke again.

"I still do not see how and why I'm involved in this. Shouldn't it concern those people who are trying to get the land by all means? Hold on, did you by chance plan this gathering? Did you bribe them to say this to me just for your selfish reasons?" Dave retorted as he turned to face the man. As much as he wanted to control his temper, he was beginning to loose it at the thought of them trying to use him for their selfish gains. If that was the case, then he would not tolerate such.

"You have the right to your opinions Mr Orman but this is reality. These people are depending on you wholeheartedly and if you truly are who you made me believe in, then it is time to prove it-"

"Why do I need to prove anything to you when I'm yet to fully trust in you? I'm not even sure of what all of these is about because you've been beating around the bush all the while" Dave said in anger.

"Sir, you have the right to trust us or not but we are telling you the truth. We have no other option or help-" the first man spoke again but Dave was not buying into that because the whole act could be a form of deceit.

"Why on earth should I believe in you when you sent a letter to my company threatening fire and brimstone over this same issue? And now you are saying the opposite of everything" he gritted, he was really enraged as he thought about all the trouble he went through in the past just for the sake of this same issue.

"We are your subjects and we owe allegiance to you. Everything we said in that letter was to protect you and nothing else" Noella's father explained.

"Wow! Just wow. That's all I can say to you all" he replied before turning his back to indicate that he was done with them.

They all went silent as they were apparently hopeless and helpless Somehow, he regretted his outburst but he tried not to show it. He was not going to do anything or trust anyone blindly again. Not anymore after what had happened with the Jenkins.

"Sir you can take your leave now, at least we all have tried for one day. I will speak with him and make him understand believe me he will come around soon" the father to Noella spoke to the elderly man assuringly.

"It's okay Sir, we will be on our way now. Mr Orman please forgive us if we hurt you in any way, tamper justice with mercy. We brought this basket for you on our way just to honour you and we won't take it back. Please accept it in good faith Sir as everything in it came from each of us. It came from the depth of our hearts and we don't have the hearts to poison you because we owe total allegiance to you. Please have a rethink Sir, we depend and trust in you" the old man uttered heartily and Dave felt a pang of guilt as he listened silently with his back still turned.

They all turned and left the same way they came after the elderly man finished speaking. Everywhere became silent again and he was left alone with Noella'a father whom he still didn't know what to call him since he was yet to know his name.

"So this is why we came all the way here?" Dave said silently without looking at him.

"Dave, believe it or not this is nothing but the truth. You are the only hope they have and the sooner you realized, the better" he heard the older man said behind him.

He had gathered those people to come and meet Dave while he seemed not to be with them as Dave wondered. He appeared to be with them yet seemed independent of anyone. Some things were not so clear to Dave. He thought that perhaps the man must have sent the letter which was addressed to him privately while the letter addressed to the company must have come from those people.

"You seem to be with them yet also seem to be on your own. Did you send that letter to me privately?" Dave said calmly.

"I thought the biggest task would be making you trust in me but I was wrong. The biggest thing to do is showing you the bright side and making you understand that the lives of innocent people depends on you" he replied.

"Answer the damn question. Did you or did you not?" Dave roared in anger.

"Yes I did. I did that because I thought you were wise enough to realise that there are hidden mysteries in this issue. If you were wise enough, you would have understood that there are more hidden secrets than the ownership of this land" the man confessed humbly.

"What do you mean?" Dave asked getting more confused.

"I mean to tell you that everything written in that letter addressed to your company was to keep you from burning your finger by yourself. There are people in your company who secretly work for your enemies because it seems your enemies are not backing down. That letter was a disguise. If they knew what was on ground I assure you you wouldn't be here by now. You need to sit up and take responsibility of what solely belongs to you. These people are your subjects and you are like their king, you will be responsible if anything should happen to any of them. Dave you need to save these people" he said. The atmosphere around them became more calm after the revelation.

"But why? Why me? What mandate do I have?" His tone was calm this time.

"Because...because you're very rich and influential and this is your land also. You are their liberator, you need to secure and take sole ownership of this whole place before some idiots will do that first" the old man breathed. He looked like he was forced to say it all.

"I beg your pardon? I don't remember having anything to do with this land" Dave uttered.

"But your Dad had everything to do with it. He was in the process of securing it all before death laid its icy hands on him" he whispered sadly and then went to sit on a nearby rock. His demeanor changed to a sad one instanly

Dave felt more distressed at the mention of his father because the death of his father had left a deep scar that could not be erased easily. His father had taught him all he needed to know and he had never hidden anything from him. He know about every one of his father's property and legacy but he still couldn't fathom why his father had hidden such a big secret from his family, from his heir.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, he has never hidden anything from me" Dave said as he sat beside the man on a different rock.

"Well son, there are a lot of things which your father had hidden from you just for your safety. He has ordered me to involve you in this only when he is no more and only after he could no longer continue the fight should you take over. That is why I need your cooperation. Alone I can't do it because I'm getting old"

"Things like what? Please tell me, I'm eager to know please" Dave said interestedly.

The man became quiet for some time just staring into empty space. It took a long while before he began to speak.

*****

FLASHBACK...

Leonard Kendal who was better referred to as Leo had a personality that was idolized by a lot of people who had lived their youthful ages more than thirty years ago in a small village called Duke's Valley. The people of Duke's Valley, his birth place were governed by the then evil emperor, lord Nato, who had forced impudent laws on the people and ruled inhumanly. Nato also had notorious group of terrorists who worked for him by doing outrageous things to the people thereby forcing them to obey the evil emperor.

The villagers lived in fear and sheer agony, they were robbed and young women were r***d. It got to a point that no one had the right to speak up or fight for what was right. The persecution and brutality the people went through in the hands of the evil emperor of Duke's Valley prompted Leo to form his own notorious group at the age of just eighteen. He became the leader of 'Black Knights', that was the name of the gang he formed back then and he and his gang decided to take the law into their hands.

They were not in anyway against the people, in fact they faught for the rights of the people and restored to them whatever that had been stolen from them by those who worked for Nato.

Leo was later regarded as a savior by the people and for two years, almost everyone regarded him as a hero. This prompted his adversaries to device every evil means to bring him down. They took away the love of his life Gianna and used her as a bait to get to him. It was unknown to him that they also took his parents and only sister who had been married to one of the emperor's secret advisors.

Leo was so brave and wise at the age of just twenty that his enemies knew that the only way to get him was through his loved ones which were his greatest weakness.

Right from the beginning before the kidnap of his parents, he had thought his sister would be in safe hands and no harm might come her way due to who she was married to and for that reason, didn't take much precautions about her. However, he had taken his parents to a hideout different from where he lived and made sure they were provided with everything they needed. However, Gianna's parents were adamant and didn't want anything to do with the leader of a notorious gang like Leo. Gianna's father was in allegiance to the evil emperor because the emperor wanted her to be married to his heir apparent and for that reason, he was vehemently against the relationship between Leo and Gianna.

But that could not stop the love that Leo and Gianna had for each other and Leo appointed some of his men to secretly watch over Gianna.

But then, disaster struck when two of his men betrayed him, the only two that knew about his parents hideout. Leo felt so devastated and bittered yet refused to succumb to the demands of his enemies. They had used his loved ones who were the source of his strength and weakness to force him to surrender himself to Nato but he didn't give up that easily without a fight. They threaten to kill his loved ones if he refused to surrender but their threats did not get to him because he had planned to get his revenge even after they eventually wiped out his family from the surface of the earth and he had planned to do that before they could carry out any of their threats.

Most of his men were either bought off or betrayed him so he literally became a one man army.

His parents, sister and girlfriend were brutally murdered at the town square eventually because he had refused to show up. Though he wept bitterly, he said to himself that he was not a coward for refusing to surrender because even if he had surrendered it wouldn't have stopped their initial plan and probably, they could have completely wiped out his father's entire lineage by killing him as well.

It was such a painful experience for him watching from a distance how his family were murdered in cold blood and he couldn't do anything about it. Even Gianna whom the emperor wanted his son to marry was killed, his sister whom he had thought was safe had also been murdered. Everything was done just to spite him, that was how evil the then emperor of Duke's Valley was. Leo had cried and wept to the extent that he made up his mind to never cry or let anyone step on him ever again.

After his loved ones were laid to rest, he became more ruthless that he was the most wanted villain of all time. He had secretly gone after everyone who in one way or the other had anything to do with all that had happened to his family and he made them all pay to the last penny. But then again, because he was a one man army with no one to watch his back, he was ambushed and brought before the evil Nato. The evil emperor locked him up for days and he was tortured and inflicted with great pains because the emperor wanted him to die a slow and painful death.

But something unexpected happened one night when the emperor's son Julio who was the heir apparent came to his rescue. Julio secretly helped Leo escape out of Duke's Valley and gave him a lot of money to start a new life. Julio was a good man and was nothing like his father.

The evil emperor Nato was later poisoned by his chief cook in the palace and he died few days after Leo's escape. Julio's reign after his father's became the most peaceful and most enjoyed in the history of Duke's Valley hereafter.