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

He had kept his eyes on the surroundings for a while now. He couldn’t afford the risk of not watching the direction from which the Dlamini boys would come. How else could he find a lair that a considerable part of the law society in the adjacent town, and the constabulary hadn’t discovered yet?

When a sudden shout shattered the quiet afternoon, it was like a real wallop from an empty sphere. Nobody had approached from either side of the river, but unexpectedly, here was someone floating like a plug on the surface, spluttering and heaving in great breaths. And the splash that preceded it; huge as if he’d leaped from the ridge of the riverbank; or dropped. He had no idea whether the youngster, apparently a boy, had intended to leap into the river, but apparently, from the way he scraped at the boulders, he was resentful about being there. Welcome thought of helping but considered it against his dysfunctional leg, the gradient of the mountain, and the minutes it would take to reach there; not to mention the danger of being exposed before he was ready to take a step. He decided not to move.

The colossal stallion he had bound to a solitary tree shook its head, crackling the leaves. It sounded like a breeze, and Welcome was certain that nobody would mind the wind, particularly with the boy screaming as he dropped into the river. Welcome remained where he was and observed. He had no intention of showing-up until it was really too late for the Dlaminis to react to his appearance. The boy, whose lengthy fluffy hair stuck out from his skull, had successfully dragged himself onto a smooth rock just by the river. The guy had his boots on, suggesting that he had been either thinking of risking the ‘great jump’ or had simply slipped and slid down and was fortunate to be alive. His boots were apparently causing him discomfort now, and Welcome observed with detached amusement as the youngster jumped around and twisted, attempting to balance on the rock while he shook the wet boots off his feet.

Even from afar, it was apparent to Welcome that he shivered, rubbing his arms up and down, squeezing his shirt fringes, and returning to the job of taking off his boots. It called for great self-control for Welcome not to let out a hoot when the youngster finally managed to get one boot off and toss it towards the riverbank. The youngster used his free foot to assist himself to remove the second boot with less effort, and it accompanied the first one on the bank.

Taking a break to rest one hand on the bank, the baby then eased himself to the safety of the concrete bank. Welcome bowed his head swiftly when the boy shaded his eyes and gazed up at the cliffs.

“Is anyone out there?” a feminine voice shouted.

Welcome was aware of the tears in the voice, and he wondered just how young the guest was. Suddenly, Welcome was pleased to see that the baby had managed to reach the safety of the bank. The voice trembled with cold, and Welcome wanted to tell him to remove his wet clothes, but he didn’t dare reveal his hiding place.

Fortunately, the baby was clever enough to consider undressing on his own. Satisfied he was alone, he started to undo his shirt. His back facing Welcome, he pulled the soaked shirt off his head. Welcome saw a strap running across the boy’s back. Wondering just why the boy had worn the strapping, Welcome elevated his head a bit, to make sure that his kaki hat blended in with the brownish rocks, as did all he had chosen to wear, ride, and carry. The boy began to peel off his navy denim trousers, most likely store-bought Welcome guessed, which was apparent from the way the sun’s rays sparkled off the fasteners. Under the slacks, instead of the customary long johns, was some delicate kind of fabric that hardly concealed the boy’s ass.

Once more, the boy yelled, asking if anybody was out there. Satisfied, he removed the strapping that ran around his back and shoulders. He stretched each of the clothes out on the rocks to dry, and then eased himself down onto the rock. Touching the heap of fluffy hair, he removed some fasteners and allowed the curls to float free.

An inquisitive feeling began to well-up in Welcome’s belly, and he unhurriedly turned to ascertain that no one approached from behind. A hunch suggested that something was amiss. He couldn’t tell what it was until the baby stretched out on the bank to dry. Welcome gazed down and noticed two smooth bosoms with dark nipples, attached to what he had taken to be a boy’s chest.

***

She stretched her hair out around her head on the rock, and excluding the smallest triangle of fabric, which seemed to be bound to a ribbon and only concealed her most private of places she remained naked. She relaxed in the sun, just like the day she had emerged from her mother. She was there for the remainder of the afternoon, slumbering on and off, standing up and patting her clothing now and again, constantly gazing around, and not covering up until almost dusk. Welcome was aware of just how long she had remained there, simply nude, as he kept his eyes on her the entire afternoon. Certainly, his mind was on the Dlamini boys, regardless of where his eyes happened to loiter.

Chapter 2

She slid back into the wet garments as if that would resolve everything. Well, anyway, she wasn’t dead. After surviving the great fall, that was not to be taken for granted. As to where the well had emerged from was anybody’s guess. She was certain that there had only been big boulders and pebbles there when she’d gazed down from the stone-bridge. What should she do now? Her car was tens of metres above, and her pencil sketch-map was in the car. She was lost in a no-man’s land, and darkness was falling.

Her boots stroked her feet through her awfully damp socks, and she was sure that she would develop blisters quite early before finding a bed to slip her boots underneath. Her soggy jeans excoriated her inner thighs and were cold and clammy as the sun’s rays played hide-and-seek with the shrubs that lined the cliff above her. The sketch-map had shown two ways that forked, and the address she searched for was somewhere along the right folk. She couldn’t see anything that looked like a path now that she was deep in the river canyon. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was an adult, and had she not trained herself to be courageous and capable and burly, she would have surrendered to the tears that threatened to block her sight. Instead, she snuffled stridently and wiped her nose on her shirt.

Literally almost immobilised with pain and devastation but refusing to surrender, she raised her head and took off in what she hoped was the right direction. Before long, the stars would decorate the sky, and she could benefit from their guidance. How had the temperatures dropped so quickly when it had been so hot just a few hours ago? It was just the way everyone described the desert; as almost immediately after the sun goes down; all the heat vanishes. She remembered how sweaty she was when she had disembarked from the car, but now shivering overtook her.

***

The earth had never appeared as silent as it was now as she paced to nowhere in the gloom. Only her footing, resonating from the rocks, walked with her. Every time she halted, only the wind was audible; with not even the sound of a moving car. She was at the opposite end of civilization. If the stillness was scary, the darkness was terrorizing. Darkness fell over the river, and it didn’t happen gradually. One instant she was engulfed by the loveliness of the mountains against the yellows and reds of the twilight sky, and the next moment, nothing was visible in front of her, and her overwhelming dread was that at any second, there could be nothing below her foot. The notion of dropping off the earth twice in a few hours halted her in her tracks.

Well, she considered, trying not to surrender to her worries; Musa would still be there at daybreak, and she could still make it then. The best thing to do was just to settle down and wait until sunrise. Relying more on her sense of touch than her sight, she found a small stone and sat on it. As she sat her wet jeans hacked into her inner legs and calves.