The Ear, the Eye and the Arm (13 page)

"You idiot! You ball of hyena dung! How could you leave that knife behind!"

"He attacked Granny," began Knife.

"The best thing that could happen is for you to lose Granny! She's a poisonous old hag!" the She Elephant shouted. "Now Matsika knows we have his brats!"

"Don't you insult my granny!" Knife shouted back.

"Shut up!
Matsika will roast everyone in the Cow's Guts until he gets what he wants. Then he'll come down here with a hundred
bulldozers!"

Fist jumped into the argument. "We can clear out. We've done it before. And the
vlei
people are as hard to spot as chameleons."

"We're going to get rid of those brats before it's too late," snarled the She Elephant.

"What do you mean?" Knife said.

"I mean,
sell
them as we meant to do all along. To the Masks."

"Oh, no. I don't like that," said Fist in a shocked voice.

"Why not? They need recruits."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Listen," the She Elephant said. "Nothing would give the head of the Masks more pleasure than to take Matsika's son and turn him into a criminal. To tell the truth, it would cheer me up, too."

"That takes care of Tendai. What about the others?" said Fist.

"The man has four wives and no children. He'd be willing to pay fifty thousand dollars for Kuda."

"And Rita?" Knife said.

"Who cares about her? She'll grow up like Granny — you can hear it in her nasty little voice. I understand the slave trade is doing well in Gondwanna."

"I don't like it!" cried Knife.

"You should have thought of that before you threw the knife. Now pour me a drink. I'll drug the little squealers tonight. No! Not another word!"

Tendai heard the sound of pouring liquid. The
tsotsis
and the She Elephant settled down for some serious drinking, interrupted only when the jug gurgled or someone belched. He leaned against the wall and tried to sort out his jumbled thoughts.

Everybody knew about the Masks, even inside the walled garden in Mazoe. They moved like smoke through the subways, springing out to terrorize a train. They tore necklaces from women's necks and cut off their fingers to get the rings. Father paid informers to hunt them. The informers disappeared, and others refused to take their places.

One reason the Masks were so difficult to trace was because their motives were unclear: they weren't interested in drugs, and they stole for sport rather than greed. They might kill a dozen men and leave their wallets piled insultingly on top. When they did steal, none of the loot ever showed up on the black market. It simply vanished.

Father said they wanted power, and the easiest way to feel you had power over someone was to terrify him. Father hated them and they hated him. It was perfectly believable that the Masks would want to turn their enemy's son to evil.

"But I won't give in," Tendai said to himself. Kuda, now, was too young to resist in spite of his tough spirit. And what of Rita? How could he protect her?

Tendai went back to the dark pool and sat there. He didn't know what to do. He stared at the well opening over the water. Even if he swam out there, he could never raise his hands high enough to reach it. He thought of a dozen desperate plans. He could burst into the
shebeen
and knock out all three adults with the bucket. He could creep along the ceiling like a fly and reach the well opening. Nothing would work.

Finally, all he could think of was to retrieve the
ndoro
from the mud.

The cool shell rested in his palms and grew warm from his body's heat. "Help me," said Tendai to the unknown ancestor who had owned it. "I am your child. I'm alone in a dark place, and I don't know what to do. Please, please help me."

He held the ancient
ndoro
and prayed. And gradually, he became aware that the light was strengthening. The hair stood up on his neck, but still he held the
ndoro
and prayed. The light crept down the well shaft until it flooded straight into the dark water. It was the sun! Perhaps once a year, the sun passed over the well in exactly the right way and shone into this deep chamber. The brilliant light fell into the water, and
under
the water —

— was a flat stone. Tendai gasped in wonder. He would never have guessed it was there! Only the sunlight, falling down the well on this single day of the year, marked it out. Then the radiance moved on, fading, retreating, but Tendai knew what he had to do.

"Thank you," he whispered to the unknown ancestor. He tore off a strip of shirt and tied the
ndoro
around his neck. Then he stepped into the water and swam confidently to the rock. Standing on it, he reached into the shaft. His hands felt a metal rung.

When Tendai first came to Dead Man's Vlei, he wouldn't have had the strength to pull himself up, but hard labor had toughened him. Tendai raised himself into the well until his head knocked against another rung. He let go with one hand and grasped the second rung before he fell out of the shaft. His back knocked against the rough stones, bringing tears to his eyes.

He wedged his foot against the side of the well. He edged himself farther up, feeling the cloth of his shirt tear. The stones scraped his skin. Finally, he was able to place both feet on the first rung and grasp the second one with his hands. He rested with his back pressed against the opposite wall. He was almost sobbing for breath.

When his heart had settled back to normal, he inched farther up. Rungs existed at regular intervals, but some of them had broken, and one even broke under his foot, sending him slamming against the wall. He had to move on with his back pressed to one side and his feet and hands on the other. It was terribly tiring. He thought that if more than one rung was broken in a row, he might never make it to the top.

Finally, the light became brighter, and the scent of the She Elephant's camp fire reached him. The next rung was missing — and the next! Tendai looked up at the blue sky and despaired. He couldn't do it.

A shadow passed over the mouth of the well as a
vlei
person walked past. It startled Tendai so much, he almost let go, but the fright charged him with enough energy to try again. He wedged himself in the shaft and crept upward. His shirt tore away, the stones cut his skin. He gritted his teeth and kept going.

At last his fingers found the rim. He pulled himself the rest of the way out. He lay on the ground in a half-faint, panting and unable to move for several minutes.

Thirteen

The
vlei
people moved around him as they went about their dreary work. They paid him not the slightest attention — and perhaps they didn't see him. Tendai had noticed that both Kuda and Rita blended into the background now. Probably he did, too.

But he couldn't rest long. Sooner or later, the She Elephant would remember to look for him. He got up and fell. His legs were still shaking. Grimly, he tried again. Once he began walking, his strength came back.

He found Rita and Kuda in a vegetable patch, sitting next to Granny's chair. What rotten luck, Tendai thought.

"You should have seen them," said Granny. "One had big ears like an elephant; one had bulging eyes like a frog. The third was like a wall spider. Oh! I almost died of fright! Wouldn't you know my grandson would pick a place full of monsters?
I
wanted to go to an art gallery."

Tendai beckoned to Rita and Kuda. "Come here. I've got something important to tell you."

"She's telling us the most exciting story," said Rita. "Go on, Granny. What did you do when the froggy grabbed Knife?"

"I hit him with my purse — and let me tell you, it wasn't light. I carry nails in it, yes I do. I have to, in the kind of dives my grandson likes."

"Come
on,"
Tendai said, yanking Rita by the hand.

"Let go, you bully!"

"You stupid girl!"

Rita clung to Granny's chair, but the old woman pushed her away. "You listen to him," she said in a low voice. "Don't think I'm senile. That's the mistake everyone makes. They think old Granny's wandering in her wits, but she hears a thing or two. You were going to tell her about the Masks, weren't you?"

Tendai gaped at her, and Granny laughed so hard her rocking chair almost tipped over.

"The — Masks?" said Rita.

"Yes, you silly sausage," cackled Granny. "Why do you think Knife and Fist brought you here? Not to work in the mines — they have
vlei
people for that. They wanted to sell you to the Masks. Now" — Granny leaned forward, and her white hair tumbled over her face — "Knife has done a stupid thing. As usual. He threw
your
knife at the froggy, and he left it behind. What do you think your father's going to make of that?" The old woman sat back and grinned, showing her naked gums.

"They're going to sell us to the
Masks?''''
wailed Rita.

"Keep your voice down," hissed Tendai.

"Who are the Masks?" Kuda said from his seat on the ground.

"Horrible, horrible gangsters! They cut off people's ears and things!" Rita twisted her hair around her finger so hard she almost pulled it out.

"Shut up! You're frightening him," said Tendai.

"He
should
be
frightened. They'll chop us into little bits —"

"I want Mama!" cried Kuda.

"Now look what you've done!" Tendai picked up the little boy, but Kuda flung himself down and screamed at the top of his voice.

"I want Mama!"

"If the She Elephant hears him, we're lost," said Tendai.

"Shut up or I'll really give you something to cry about!" Rita shook Kuda. He only howled louder. Footsteps pounded from around a hill.

"Now he's done it," Tendai groaned. But along a path came not the She Elephant but Trashman. His face was screwed up with worry, and he babbled anxiously.

"I want my mama!" screamed Kuda. Trashman straightened up as though he had been given an order. He scooped up the little boy and ran.

"Wait! Wait!" shouted Rita, but the man and boy were off as though a pride of lions were after them.

"What can I do?" Tendai cried.

"I'd go with them," Granny said calmly. "The She Elephant's going to burst a blood vessel when she finds you gone. Won't that be fun to watch, nasty cow that she is. And she won't ask Granny because poor old Granny's wandering in her wits." The old woman rocked back and forth with malicious glee.

Tendai didn't know whether she would really cover up for them, but it hardly mattered. He grabbed Rita by the hand and pulled her along. She woke up from her surprise and took off like a deer. The
vlei
people gazed at them as they passed, but without the She Elephant's orders, they had no interest in the fleeing children.

On they ran but stopped to rest when the pace became unbearable. They saw Trashman in the distance. He was striding along purposefully with Kuda perched on his shoulders. Tendai and Rita began walking, too. And still, no one had alerted the She Elephant.

"I don't understand it," whispered Tendai as they rested in a hollow. "I thought Granny hated everyone. Why hasn't she given the alarm?" Rita blended in so well, he couldn't see her unless she moved.

"You don't understand," Rita said. "More than anything, she hates criminals. She was raised in a convent, you see. She told awfully interesting stories about her childhood."

Tendai looked over to where he thought his sister lay. This was a side of the old woman he hadn't known, but he hadn't gone near her if he could help it.

"Granny's dearest wish is to reenter a convent and pray for Knife's soul before it's too late. She really loves him."

Tendai stifled a snort of laughter. "You know, I can't see you when you don't move."

"I can't see you either. We're turning into
vlei
people. After a while, we'll start shuffling around and moaning like them, too."