LARA: THE god OF HEKO

EPISODE SEVEN

EPISODE SEVEN 

It was strange, but it was her world, her reality. She had seen life in the jungle and she had loved it. Lara had seen family among wild animals and she had come to admire the unity and togetherness in the wild. She had watched families stuck together in difficult times. She had watched animals defend their peers against predators. She had watched these animals defend themselves against oppression and they had triumphed. She had watched Lions transport their cobs with their mouths without hurting them. She had watched elephants rescue buffalos from the claws of Lions. She had seen zebras and antelopes in their unstained beauties. She had listened to birds sing and their melodies had been sweet to her ears. She had watched crocodiles ruled the the waters as much as Lions ruled the lands. She had watched nature in its raw form and she had come to love it all. She loved the idyllic lifestyle in this jungle and the peace of mind that came with it. She reckoned that the jungle had provided all she wanted and even more. There was no going away. No losing her peace; no more living the life that was not hers. She would not wait and watch others dictate her fate. She must leave this shack at once.

The drums rose again as Omoewo banged into cowskin. The flute cascaded along. This time, the sounds were nearer than before. Lara acted fast. She took a good amount of gold and silver from the earthen pot and loaded them into one of the bags. Moving some distance away from the shack, she dug the ground and buried the pot and its contents in the earth. She returned to the shack to remove the bow and arrows and the other bag containing knives and machetes. There was a bag Lara had not noticed since she arrived here. It was a small bag. When Lara opened it up, she found gourds of charms and spells. On each of the gourds, there were inscriptions detailing the functions and usage of these charms. Lara closed the bag and took it along. The shack was now reasonably empty. 

Outside the shack, Lara cut fresh leaves from shrubs and dropped them on the path leading to the shack. She took off her blouse and dropped it beside the leaves. These were communication clues Bunu people had used to pass messages across for generations. The approaching hunters would read the clues perfectly. The blouse represented Lara. The leaves would be saying "Lara was here, but she is gone. You could leave too". The leaves carried other messages with them: if they were green and fresh when found, the time had not been long when they were dropped there. If they met the leaves dried, they were dropped there a long time ago. Depending on the texture of the leaves, the hours, days or weeks could be determined. 

With these in place, Lara picked up her ready load and fled deeper into the jungle leaving behind an empty shack and a smouldering log. 

***

Omoewo drummed harder. The hunters chatted war songs. "Whoever kidn*pped our daughter should get ready for war", one of their songs said. "If the kidnapper is in this rickety house, let him come out, else we would skin him alive", they sang on. In no time, they arrived the vicinity of the shack. Asipa was in the frontline. Pointing at Lara's blouse, he screamed 'this is Lara'. Then he picked up the leaves Lara had left behind. The leaves were now beaten soft by the hot sun but it was not dry yet. "She left here about two hours ago. The leaves are still fresh. She would not want to be found. So she had left us these clues that we may know she is alive and well". 

The music had gone silent. The Head Hunter observed the piece of cloth and the leaves accompanying it. He ordered his team to take them along. The king would have to see them. "It is obvious that Lara is alive and in good health. This was the cloth she ware the day she disappeared into the forest. The leaves she left for us are still fresh. It is clear to us now that she wants to be left alone. She will return to us when it pleases her. Asipa, look around for more exhibits from Lara". Asipa searched around the shack. A minute later, he returned with the head of an antelope. "Look what I found", Asipa announced. "Discard it. That is of no use. Now every man to his home the way we had come. We must go see the king to tell him our findings", said the Head Hunter. 

Omoewo put stick to cowskin, the drum boomed. The flute bounced on the tunes and the hunters went wild. They were going home, sweet home. As they went, they killed different kinds of games. But the zebra would not be killed. When they arrived at the spot where she was tied, they untied her. It was Odedele who took the rope and led the forest queen home. After weeks in the jungle, they were about to see their families again.

***

Lara pressed deeper into the forest. The farther she went, the more the hunters' drums faded into the distance until she heard them no more. As she moved a little further, she saw an Iroko tree. Iroko, the African pride, was the ruler of the sky. Germinating from the earth, its stem straightened up to the heavens. And so the people of Bunu had long believed that their God lived in the sky. When they wanted to offer a sacrifice to God, they would go through the tallest tree in the forest, the Iroko tree. They simply prepared the sacrifices in an earthenware and placed them under the trunk of the Iroko. It was believed that Iroko who reached for the sky would take the sacrifices to God. This Iroko tree was huge and extremely tall. It would take six grown up men joining their hands together to cover the trunk. Then it dawned on Lara that she was in the deepest of forests. It was only in the heart of the forest you could find this type of wood, she said to herself. While she was yet admiring this rare tree, she saw an elephant nursing her baby. 

Elephant, the biggest animal in the jungle, was worshipped by Bunu people. This elephant was huge, more than any animal Lara had ever seen in her lifetime. Her eye was a veritable water jar. Her ear, a flapping fan of war. Her leg, a trampling log in battle. And her body was an armada of flesh. Lara dropped her load and moved close to the elephant. Kneeling before her, Lara worshipped the elephant and her majestic size. The elephant waved her tail, flapped her ears and twisted her tusk in acknowledgement. 

Lara picked up her load and continued her journey to nowhere. What she did not know was that after allowing her a comfortable distance, the elephant followed from behind. With that little worship, the elephant had taken up the role of protecting Lara. After a couple of mile journey, Lara found a cave in a white rock. The rock was white and delightful. The elephant watched Lara with keen interest when she entered the cave and settled in.