Part 2 (1)
The young Miss Suzie and Uncle Bibi were unable to find Babida the lumberjack anywhere around the compound. He had mysteriously disappeared from their sight. So they gave up on their investigation, at least for the moment, and finally rejoined Big Momma inside the house.
The matriarch was as usual relaxing on the rattan chair while sipping a cup of hot Chai, a beverage composed of boiled water, black tea, cow's milk, ginger, and black powder pepper.
"Big momma, I see you have made Chai already," the young maiden Suzie spoke to her grandmother and the latter nodded.
"Well, that's great! I will serve a cup of this marvel to Uncle Bibi too," she added while holding the jar of hot Chai in her right hand. She poured some of the liquid into a cup and handed it over to her uncle.
"Thank you, darling!" He said to his caring niece, then tasted the delicious flavored water.
He quenched his thirst with a few drops without pronouncing a word and after a moment, he broke his silence and uttered to the two women in the parlor: "Now I am returning to the other twin chalet to take a nap."
"We had a very agitated afternoon," he explained. And in one shot, he swallowed the rest of his Chai, then retreated.
Big Momma and her granddaughter Suzie were now just the two of them in the house. They had their eyes locked on each other. And as if they were communicating by telepathy, they declared with emphasis and in perfect harmony: "We have to find that lumberjack."
This was a powerful statement to ascertain their determination to get to the bottom of the unfinished business.
Babida the lumberjack who by chance discovered the hideout of his crush Suzie in the north of Ekule was now running away from her and also from the crowd that was glorifying him. His true identity was unconcealed and he could no longer pretend to be a common woodsman like the others. He was Babida the lumberjack, the killer of the Monster of the Forbidden Mountain.
From that moment, he was fully conscious that his life in Ekule and even beyond, would no longer be as quiet as it was since his coming back to the empire a year ago.
He walked back to his home in the south of the imperial city, his kufi hat lowered to the level of his eyebrows so that people would not recognize him. He knew news in the region spread like wildfire.
The woodsman arrived in his humble two-piece wooden cabin. He removed his leather sandals and kept them on the shoe rack on the left side of the door, then went to the center of the room and lay on the perfumed wool carpet.
He stared intensely at the ceiling above his head till he lost himself in deep thoughts. A moving light showed up and formed a circle in the middle. An image of the young maiden in a pink dress, the beautiful Suzie resurfaced. She was smiling radiantly, blinking stars, and blowing tiny bubble kisses in the shape of a heart with her right hand.
The enamored lumberjack dove even more into the depth of his dream until Burrrrrr…
A sudden astounding vibration shook the earth. The incredible strength of the phenomenon made the deer painting canvas on the wall of the logger's cabin crashed against the floor. The petrol lamp, as well as the dishes, and the cup on the table situated on the left side of the room all trembled.
The woodsman's beloved ceramic vase of roses did not withstand the wrath of the earth either. It fell off the wooden stool at the left corner of his bed and made a deafening noise that baffled his small ears.
Like a leopard, Babida the lumberjack stood off the ground and sprung toward the door, which he opened to have a glimpse of the outside.
The night was at its fullest. The sky was gloomy and the moon was grey, not a good omen according to the Batang empire astrology.
Trees had lost a few branches. Old roofs had succumbed to the earth strike and were torn. Even the kennel of the neighbor's dog was damaged. The puppy was barking and running across the lawn frantically.
People in the affected area went outside their homes to witness the extent of the destruction. They plunged into deeper sorrow when they caught sight of the bad forecast in the heavens.
While they were interpreting the meaning of the ominous sign, a strident howl emerged from the north and seemed to be far beyond the limits of Ekule. Its intensity hinted it was above the cliff adjoining the neighboring village, Okunde. And the cliff was nothing else but the forbidden mountain.
"Something has happened in that cursed hill again," Babida the lumberjack whimpered to himself.
"I must absolutely go find out tomorrow morning what it is," he concluded. He then went back inside his house and took a rest.
As for the young maiden Suzie, she was with her grandmother in their chalet at the moment of the earthquake and once it was passed, she began meticulously to assess its sequels on their shelter.
Fortunately but strangely not even a glass was destroyed. Just dust had aroused a little bit and was causing grandma to sneeze.
"What, what...was...was that Suzie?" The old lady laboriously asked her grandchild while trying to contain the sternutation.
"Especially the mysterious scream which originated from that doomed mountain?" She wondered.
The granddaughter Suzie was busy searching for any havoc in the house, so she did not react to her grandmother's queries. She kept on with her detective mode. She knocked lightly on the walls to test their post-earthquake solidity till an angry voice interrupted her.
"Suzieee, do you hear me?" Grandma roared vehemently at her granddaughter who was ignoring her.
Shocked by the sharpness of the tone, the young Miss Suzie blenched and almost lost her balance as she stepped over the wooden statue of a lying Katanga lion that was placed on the ground.
"Sorry big momma!" She apologized while she had her two hands on the upper part of her Kaba.
"Well, uncle Bibi certainly has answers to it." She replied to her grandmother's interrogations.
Toc, toc!!! Toc, toc!!! Toc, toc!!!