Disclaimer: I do not own the original Lemon Orchard by Alex La Guma
Stopping suddenly, the lantern bearer peered into the darkness out in front of him and said, "Is this the place Oom?" he questioned their leader softly as if the silence shouldn't be broken by his voice.
After walking past the wide gap in the trees that they had found, the men had found a clearing that was much easier to stand and do their business if the man they were waiting for actually came that is. Andries who held the coloured man pulled him roughly forward making him over balance and fall over into the soft wet mud. Not caring if he hurt the coloured man, Andries pulled him up.
" get up" he snapped, "we can't afford to be late just because of you hotnot"
The coloured man did nothing but think about how he was going to get out of the situation he was currently in, however, he saw no solution to situation at hand and was completely helpless. He then started to think about who the man was, who was he? What did he want? Why was he coming? All these questions were running through his head and only brought more fear to the coloured man as he thought about the possible bad answers.
"leave him there" Oom commanded,\ referring to the coloured man, "he won't go anywhere if he knows I'll shoot him if he does try to escape"
The other 4 men nodded and left the bound man to sit by himself on the only bit of ground that was dry enough to sit on without sinking into soft sloppy mud. Once or twice the thought of escaping crossed his mind, but he shook those thoughts away and told himself it was a stupid idea and he did want to stay alive for as long as he could. The coloured man shifted slightly, and this made the leaves on the lemon tree rustle, this caused the lantern bearer to look round suspiciously at him, after making sure he was trying to escape he turned back round to talk to the other men. Looking up, the bound man found a lemon hanging in front of his face and the citrus smell was even stronger as it was right in front of his nose. Reaching up as best as he could, he pulled the Lemon off the branch and held it in his hands. He sank his teeth into the skin of the fruit to peel it off so he could easily eat the lemon. The coloured man shuddered as the bitterly sour taste of the juice entered his mouth.
Oom growled in annoyance, his patience was wearing thin, minute by minute he waited. The other men backed off slightly as they knew how bad Oom's temper could get.
"where is that idiot, he was supposed to be here an hour ago" he snapped. Andries spoke up once he was sure that Oom's temper had calmed down.
" I'm sure that he will show " he said, the lantern bearer nodding in agreement.
Unknown P.O.V.
"I hate the dark " the stranger mumbled to himself. "and why does it have to be so cold?"
He opened the gate to the orchard as quietly as he could, but had no success, as the gates hinges squeaked loudly. This annoyed the stranger further, as he already had trouble getting to the orchard. When the stranger was further into the orchard, he accidentally stepped into some of the soft, sloppy mud. He made a disgusted face and tried to move forward, but fell over in the process.
' This isn't my day ' he thought sarcastically.
Normal P.O.V.
In his frustration, Oom snatched a lemon off a tree and was crushing it so hard that the juice of the fruit ran down his hands. His temper was increasing, and sensing danger the lantern bearer said, "I will go and see if he's here yet". He wandered off into the darkness with the lamp chasing away darkness from him as if it was acting like a shield between him and the dark.
Half an hour later
The coloured man turned his head to see the light of the lantern coming closer and closer. When the light was on the group of men again, the coloured man had to strain and cover his eyes from the light, making it slightly impossible for him to see the stranger. When his eyes had adjusted to the light, he saw another white man with brilliant blue eyes and scruffy black hair with bits of leaves and dirt in it.
" Where have you been?!" Oom snapped viciously. "we've waited at least 3 hours for you"
"I did have a bit of trouble you know " the person said keeping his tone cool and calm, even though he was annoyed with his own clumsiness coming into the orchard. Oom's eyes narrowed dangerously.
" Its still not an excuse " he said angrily. If he didn't have to stay quiet in the current situation ,he would have been shouting by now. The stranger thought of saying ' I wasn't making excuses' but said instead " where's this person you wanted me to deal with? " his voice remained cool as if nothing was happening.
"He's there " the lantern bearer said lifting up the light and shining it to where the coloured man was sitting. Instant fear shot though his mind at what was going to happen.
"come on then" he said, helping him up. Walking away with the stranger, the coloured man heard a "good riddance to bad rubbish " from the men.