Thokozani S.B. Maseko - Like a Lily on a Mountain, Love Grows on Rocky Terrains

“Damn!” the man yelled out, trying to aim the baby away from him, wetting her still uncovered leg in the process, dampening her satisfaction only slightly. “Ah! Little brat what are you …”

Hannah felt the shaking before she could recognise its origin. The horse flounced nervously beneath them, and the baby stopped the squirming he had begun.

Dear God, if he touches a hair on that child, I’ll rip his putrid eyes out of their sockets and shove them down his rugged throat! And then she heard it, quiet at first and becoming louder till it echoed all around them. He was actually laughing, a belly laugh that shook against her, nudging her sore side against the saddle edge.

“Well, I’ve dug a goddamn water fountain, haven’t I? Feel no remorse, baby. Same thing happens to your dad when the cold air hits his privates, too. Interesting to know we’ve got something in common already.”

Then Hannah felt the baby resting on her back, and she frowned. Nice of him to think of her as a table. So, she was to provide both the napkins and the changing table, apparently.

“Okay son. I admit I have no idea how to put this on you properly, so I guess this will have to do. Try to sleep again, and I’ll wake you up when there’s something for you to eat.”

Miraculously, the baby complied, and they rode on for a while in silence, Hannah tried to think despite the overwhelming nausea that being carried in this position produced. What she wouldn’t give to sit upright for even five minutes!

“Sweet Hannah? You asleep?” the voice was almost tender. She remained quiet in the hope that he would stop talking, but he shook her gently, instead. “Miss? I think I can let you go as soon as we reach that crop of trees. We’re far away from the river, and I can move faster without your extra weight. If you start going back now, you can reach the river before dark. I figure whichever one of the Dlaminis you’re attached to will be out looking for you, and you won’t have to walk all that far. I really am very sorry to drag you along like this, but I can’t see as how you leave me much choice.”

He planned to leave them here? What was the point in that? Unless he meant just leaving her and taking the child. Well, if that was what he meant, he’d have to think again, wouldn’t he? She wasn’t about to let go of her baby; not little Pat.

“Now, you can make this hard or easy,” he told her as they neared the bushes. “I’m going to put you down and untie your hands. I imagine you can do the rest.”

He lowered her off the horse and tried to set her on her feet, all without getting out of the saddle. She fell in a heap like a rag doll, the dust of the road rising around her in a puff. She scrambled about trying to right herself, aware of how close the horse’s hooves stood ready to stomp her beneath them.

“Damn,” Welcome sulked, getting down awkwardly from his mount. “Sorry, I should have figured you couldn’t stand like that.”

He rolled her onto her stomach and loosened the ropes on her wrists. Before he could even step out of her way, she’d pulled the gag out of her mouth, and after spitting several hours’ worth of road dust and wiping her lips quickly with the dirty handkerchief, she began to sputter at him.

“Of all the stupid, idiotic things to do. What the hell did you think you could accomplish by …”

At her shouts the baby began to cry. Welcome looked at him, mildly surprised, and then he turned to Hannah.

“Now look what your yelling’s done. Didn’t you learn anything from the last time you shouted at me?”

“And did it ever occur to you that he might be crying because you’ve stolen him, detached him from his family, stuck him on a goddamn stallion, and haven’t fed him the whole day? It’s not my yelling, it’s hunger, you idiot! Haven’t you got a canteen of water?”

“Of course, I have a canteen,” he bellowed back, but he made no move to fetch it.

“Give me the baby and get it,” she instructed and laughed at his hesitation. Pointing at her still bound feet, she asked him, “And do I look like I can run?”

He leaned over clumsily until a good portion of his weight was balanced on his hands and he pushed himself up onto his good leg. He seemed embarrassed by his efforts.

“What’s the matter with your leg?”

“Shot,” he said briefly.

There was a strained silence, which Hannah finally broke.

“And we’ll need another piece of my underskirt. Unless you brought a bottle and a nipple for the baby?” she stared at him, and he shrugged slightly.

“Your underskirt?”

“Yes, my underskirt. Did you use all you ripped off?”

“Oh, you mean your petticoat. ’Fraid he used it all, and then some,” he said, pointing towards the baby and the big wet stain on his shirt.

“Well, we’ll have to rip a little bit more.” Her hands were fully occupied with the baby, so she waited for him to do it.

When he brought her the canteen, she juggled the baby so that she could reach the petticoat herself. Then she waited for him to settle himself down, noting again the ignominy he showed with regard to his leg. She made no mention of it but simply handed him the edge of Thandi’s frilly slip and allowed him to rip it.

“Make sure this part is clean,” she warned him. “I need a long thin piece.”

He looked at her oddly, but he did what he was told. Then she soaked the rag with the water and let the baby suck on it, which quieted him immediately. While the baby drank, the man unbound her feet.

“You want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Hannah demanded. Untied, on solid ground, with the baby in her arms, she felt less frightened of the man, who couldn’t pry his gaze from the child she held. “If I’m not mistaken about them, I think this baby’s uncles are murderers, and they aren’t going to take too kindly to what you just did. We have to go to the police and tell them what I heard. I’m sure they’ll give you some kind of protection, and I can get the baby to Child Welfare and they’ll find a good home …”

He interrupted her. “Nobody’s finding a home for what’s mine.”

“You really are his father? They said that his father was dead,” Hannah said. She held the baby tighter to her, flexing her feet to get the circulation back.

“Why else would I have taken him, you little fool? I’m his pa, and he’s staying with me. Let the Dlaminis try to take him away. I’ll be ready.”

She noticed that he had brought the rifle with him to where they sat, and that he had another gun strapped to his hip.

“This is ridiculous,” she argued, placing the rag against the baby’s lips to remind him why it was there, and wrapping her skirts around him to keep him warm. “If the baby is yours, why didn’t you just sue for custody? You could have gotten a court order, now that Thandi is …” she stopped midsentence. Did he know about Thandi? Did he know that his wife was dead?

“… Dead? So who’s going to say whether I’m the daddy or not? Just my word. Besides, we’re talking about the Dlaminis. The law doesn’t mean anything to them.”

Hannah’s shoulders sagged. Her side ached and so did her head. She was bone tired and confused. “Look, we’ve got Mashwa. Let’s just find an inn, wash up, get some food and some sleep, and we’ll go to the police in the morning.”

“Mashwa? They named him Mashwa? Just shows they don’t have a loving bone in their bodies. His name is Musa, after my father’s name.”

Musa? Could wires have gotten crossed somehow? Had she been chasing some other child named Musa?

“Musa?” she said, blinking quickly as though that would make things clearer. “This is Musa? You mean to tell me that I’ve been chasing the wrong child?”