Part 4 (6)

The landlord Paddy and blue eyes Tinah were now en route to the grocery store and walked through the bushes that were in appearance peaceful and had turned into some sort of opera with the birds chirping wonderful afternoon melodies.

Nevertheless, because Tinah had a big stomach, the pace was slow and Paddy asked her several times whether she preferred that they go back home but she refused, especially on the ground that her grandmother would be very upset they didn't bring meat for the ragout.

So the baron though he wasn't convinced by blue eyes' answer, continued with her the march to the supermarket.

Ultimately their persistence paid off and five hundred meters away, they could see the imposing food market edifice.

The baron Paddy was impressed that a small community such as Mahamba could have a commercial center that huge.

But there was an issue now, the pregnant Tinah confessed that she could not make it to the grocery store so tired she was, and also she complained about the fetus who was kicking her womb.

So the landlord Paddy suggested that they rested under a tree till blue eyes felt that she could continue on foot or he would find a car that would take them to the supermarket and then home.

Tinah thought the second option was better. Hence Paddy told her to wait for him because he was going to look for a vehicle.

The landlord advanced for some meters and perceived a cab but it was a bit far. He shouted, however, the driver couldn't hear him.

Therefore he ran as fast as he could to get to the taxi. It was a miracle that the fifty-seven-year-old landlord didn't collapse but so determined he was to get the mother of his future heir out of the bushes, he caught the car that was about to roll forward.

The driver stopped the motor and hopped out to check the out-of-breath baron. Nonetheless, the latter pretty quickly got his breath back. He then explained to the car owner that he needed him to carry his pregnant friend to the grocery store and then afterward home.

The driver agreed to do the service for a fare twice the normal tariff, to which the landlord Paddy consented.

They got inside the four-wheeler and the driver started the engine and rolled to the position that Paddy indicated to him with his index finger. The landlord showed from a distance the tree under which he left the pregnant Tinah.

Swiftly the driver drove to the place but there was no Tinah. So he queried the landlord Paddy whether he was certain that they were are the right location.

Surprised the baron rubbed his eyes as if his vision was blurred. He looked at the tree where he believed he left Tinah but she wasn't there and it was real.

He got off the car and neared the tree and all he could find was the market bag that blue eyes had taken with them when they were on the way out.

Paddy thought that the sky was falling upon his head for a second time. The woman who bore his future heir in her womb had without explanation disappeared.

Hot tears began to cascade down the baron's cheek. The taxi driver called Paddy to ask what he had to do now because he was in a hurry and had other clients to seek.

However, the landlord who was now sitting on the grass while leaning on the trunk of the tree was crying incessantly and didn't respond to the driver.

Tired to wait for a reply that never came, the latter rolled the cab and abandoned the sorrowful baron alone in the woodland.