Wake Up, Old Man
“Wake up, old man!” SWAT! The voice was as hard and sharp as the jagged edge of broken flint.
Salahuddin gasped for breath, squawked, and said, “I am not snoring woman,” then he rolled onto his side, and continued to snore.
“I said, wake up, old man. ' SWAT!
Salahuddin sat up. He had been sleeping soundly until then. “What do you want of me, woman? I was sleeping and harming no one.”
“I want to know what you thought you were doing when you changed Zalika.”
“That was an accident. Kaddy! I was trying to bring you back. I miss you so much.” Even as he said this, he thought it strange that he did not think it strange to be talking to his wife five years after her death.
“Why should I come back here? I am with my first husband now. The one your people killed. He is almost as stupid as you and almost as good a lover. Perhaps when I have you both, you can teach each other how to properly take care of me. What did you do to Zalika? She is chased all over the Serengeti, and she is terribly lonely.”
“I was trying to bring you back, but Zalika got caught up in the spell and changed.”
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“What spell were you using, old man?”
“Over the years, I tried many. I think they may have all gone off together. I tried but could not read the magic to attempt to reverse it.”
“What are you going to do about this old man?”
“What can I do? Allah has taken our child and left a demon in her place.”
“Go find our child and tell her that you love her. Bless her and the boy she is with. Keep them from harm and find a way to make this right. You both have much to learn.” Kaddy’s voice had softened completely by this point. She leaned in and kissed Salahuddin. “You crazy old man, my life was never boring with you. Take care of our child.” With that, she was gone.
Salahuddin awoke with a gasp in the half-light of predawn. He dressed himself, then collected the pistol, a flask of powder it used, a handful of balls, and a spare flint. He collected his bow, a dozen arrows, and three days’ food. His water skin he finished filling at the well just before sunrise, so that as the sun cleared the horizon, Salahuddin was just leaving the village on his horse.
This was not just following his heart and the echo of a song he had not heard. The zebra woman Zalika had become very well known. Reports about her were abundant, confused, contradictory, and fantastic. They had almost nothing in common except stripes and being north of here. So off he set to find what had become of his child.
So long as he stayed away from the herds and out in the open, the Maasai would ignore him. Other than the Maasai, most people treated him like a pilgrim. They told him what they knew and put him up for the night. In the mornings, he would leave at first light. When he left, their medicine-men and the priests would purify the village. Just in case the witch doctor who had called up the demigod left behind a curse. He seems sincere enough, but you never know.
Almost three months after he dreamed of Kaddy, Salahuddin found the village Zalika had blessed. When he asked about his child and told them what he intended to do, they took him in, fed him, and told him about the day a nature spirit visited the village. They indicated what direction she was traveling when she left. These people had shunned her. Despite this, she had blessed them, and for that, they were ashamed.
Salahuddin knew that if she returned, they would be just as afraid of her. They were nearly as afraid of him for having called her up, but he kept this to himself. In the morning, he would follow her, but tonight he would bless them for what they had given his child. Regardless of why they did it or what he knew they would do when next they saw her.