The Great Quest of "Beautiful Stone"
The whole time she was listening to Great Mathee, she kept thinking, how am I going to do this?
It had been just two weeks ago that she was the most hated in her tribe. So much so, that her family had been driven out by the Kaonde Tribe. She'd never had more than one friend. She had always kept her nose out of things even when she was asked to speak in counsel meetings. But one can't deny their destiny. Two days ago she just starting to get used to living with the Shona Tribe. Getting the hut built, finding something to do around the village and burying her mathee. Loosing her was just the beginning of their problems.
Her baba, Kithengee, tried to raise her accordingly but his daughter needed a woman's influence. The Shona gave Kithengee a wife who was most beautiful. Shadusa had a son Nuru from a previous marriage and Kithengee was all but delighted to take him in. Being just a few years younger than his new sister, Nuru got along just fine with her. But Shadusa did not. She grew jealous of her stepdaughter's beauty and did everything to dwarf it in comparison to her own.
The girl's name was Kijanjwie, meaning beautiful stone. She and Nuru were called in to a meeting with the Great Mathee two days after they arrived in the welcoming arms of the Shona Tribe.
The old medicine woman, Great Mathee, called them in to accept or decline a special and important task.
Kijanjwie and Nuru walked in, sat before her, and waited patiently for her to speak. The woman spoke without a raspy wheezing, unlike what her appearance said out herself. "There is a danger coming, young ones. And on of you has been chosen by the Great Spirit to accomplish it."
Nuru gaped at the wise counsel woman, "Are you sure, Mathee?"
She nodded, "The one who bares the circle is the one to go. For they are strong of body and mind,"
Kijanjwie put her hand over her arm to cover her mark without being noticed by the mathee.
Nuru however, turned to his sister, "You have a circle. Go on, show her the mark."
She glared at her brathee and his naivety but revealed her secret. On her left forearm laid a black circle off centered from the middle with a brown circle.
Great Mathee nodded and smiled, "You must go, Kijanjwie."
The girl stood fearfully, "No! I can't! I'm not...I'm not strong or special, or smart."
"Yes you are," Mathee said lovingly, "The Spirit of the Wind has spoken to me of a hunter with skin like the clouds. He is going to harm many of ours dadas and brathees. You must find him and slay him before he had killed too many."
"No!" she said not sitting down, "I can't kill. Send Nuru." she said.
"No," Mathee said, sadly shaking her head, "He is needed here."
She sat down in despair, "I am a woman. I am still but a child. I can't kill the cloud man. I even feel guilty when the men of our tribe kill the mighty simba in our defense."
Mathee nodded and replied, "It is for that very reason it is you who must go. You have a love for the other world that inhabits these lands."
"How can loving the beasts of the forests and jungles be of help to me?" Kijanjwie asked.
The old shamaness put her hand into a pot of retrieved from it a stone. It was flat,shiny, and black. The stone was a circle with another smaller circle off centered from the middle.
Kijanjwie and Nuru recognized it at once. Tears filled the young girl's eyes as she remembered the almost forgotten name of her grandmother. "Bibi," she whispered.
"Where did you get that?" Nuru asked.
"Your bibi didn't want the people of her tribe to have this," she replied, "So she gave it to me to protect until her son's daughter came in need of it."
"But what does it do?" Nuru asked.
"When united with the mark barer the gift returns," she explained.
"What gift?" Nuru asked once again letting his endless question flow.
"The gift of tongues and healing," Great Mathee held out a thin cord to Kijanjwie, "You may wear it round your neck to keep it safe."
Kijanjwie stood, took the stone, and cord and fashioned it around her neck.
"How am I supposed to kill someone?" she asked helplessly.
"You must do it. For if the white man comes to the other world he will destroy the balance there. He will find our tribes and wipe us off the face of the land." Great Mathee replied gravely, "You people beg of you Kijanjwie."
"Why me, Mathee?" she asked despairingly, "I am but a child. A woman. How is it that I must do it?"
"Your gift will help you. Our people will be able to make a treaty with between the other world," Mathee explained.
"What's this other world you keep mentioning?" Nuru asked.
"The world not of men. They don't know how to speak but they understand our words," she said, "The elephant will be a guide, the fast gazelle your informer, and the mighty lion your escort."
Kijanjwie's mouth mouth fell open, "Animals? I will be able to talk to animals?" she shook her head, "I can't do it!"
"If you deny it," Great Mathee cautioned, "you doom your people to destruction."
"I don't kill!" she retorted, "It's against everything I've been taught."
The old woman sighed but replied, "It is far better for one man to die than two nations dwindle and perish."
Kijanjwie had no reply for this and slowly nodded her head, "What must I do?" she asked.
Great Mathee pointed to her left, "Follow the jungle path till you come to the fork in the road. Take the left less traveled path. It will start you in the right direction. Do not want for weapons. You will be given a bow, a quiver, and a knife."
Kijanjwie nodded. She was very skilled with a bow and arrow. Before Nuru was born, she and her father would go hunting in the forest. She didn't help at first for she was still very young. But she soon grew and learned to master the weapon.
"Be careful who you speak to," Mathee cautioned, "Some of the other world will be intelligent and kind but others may be ruthless and dim. The first animal you must seek as a companion will be caught in a trap. They will help you the rest of your journey."
"When must I leave?" Kijanjwie asked.
"Tomorrow morning but early," Mathee said, "That escort of your will be gone if you are late."
Kijanjwie heaved a sigh, nodded her head to the counsel woman, and left the hut. Nuru held her hand as they walked back home.
"Kiji?" Nuru asked tentatively seeing her frightened features.
She didn't reply.
"Kiji. Just turn to your mathee for strength," he said smiling warmly.
Her face softened and she looked to her brathee, "Thank you Nuru. You truly are a light in my life."
"Glad to be of assistance." he laughed.
The next morning Kijanjwie was surprisingly well rested, but, as expected, nervousness ate at her brain. Her baba had been confused and scared for her safety when they told him of her mission. The only people who went to see her off was Great Mathee, her brathee, and baba. With a bad under her arm next to her bow, and quiver over her shoulder, she hugged her family goodbye. Turning back to the forest she tucked her water pouch into her bag and started off into the shade of the forest.
Kijanjwie had been to the these woods many times before, playing with her monkey and some of the other children. What then had been a wonderful place full of life and color, was now a daunting, dark and frightening njia changanya or labyrinth. As she steadied her heaving chest, memories of past adventures she had in her mind as a child now played in her mind's eye to lessen the scary jungle. She still felt like a child, even at sixteen. She wanted to grow up but she had seen so much sadness and heartache in the world already and couldn't bear to have that kind of pain and disappointment for the rest of her life. She was very scared at what she needed to do. But she had to do it.
Once again, she took a deep breath and continued into the jungle. Soon the mist would clear and reveal the fork in the path. For now she plodded along humming softly to herself. The trees and foliage started to look less menacing as she continued. After some time the most of the mist had disappeared and the fork became visible. The road to the left looked well trodden and bright. But on the right it looked dense and forebodingly dark. Plucking up as much courage as she could she took the right path and disappeared into the mist.
