Still sitting on the bamboo bed, Ego felt cold, bitter, and completely lost.
She pulled her wrapper tightly around herself and stared into the darkness beyond the open doorway.
What have I done?
The question came again and again.
Was this the right decision? What am I going to do now? Where will I go tomorrow? How will I rebuild my hut?
Her mind raced through the possibilities.
Perhaps she should have simply allowed Nnadozie to have his way. At least then she would have remained under his roof until he rebuilt her home.
But another thought immediately followed.
Would he ever have rebuilt it?
She remembered the two occasions when she had approached him about the burnt hut. Each time, he had promised to contact the builders. Each time, she had believed him.
Yet thirteen days had passed, and not a single builder had appeared.
Now that she thought about it, his excuses seemed less innocent.
Ego lowered her head.
What if everything had been calculated from the beginning?
A man who claimed to be madly in love with her—so much so that he was willing to force himself upon her while she slept—could certainly go to great lengths to get what he wanted.
Then another detail struck her.
Nnadozie had told her that he was the first person to arrive when her hut caught fire.
Why was he there so quickly?
He had said the fire was strange. He had even suggested that the gods might have caused it.
But what if that was another lie?
Ego's eyes widened.
The pieces began falling into place.
He had known she had nowhere else to go. He had offered her shelter. He had allowed her to become comfortable in his compound. He had showered her with kindness and gradually tried to win her affection.
And all the while, her own hut remained unrepaired.
He wanted me dependent on him.
The realization sent a chill through her.
Nnadozie was not the upright man she had believed him to be.
He was a wolf hiding beneath the skin of a sheep.
And suddenly, Ego found herself entertaining a terrifying possibility.
Could Nnadozie have been the one who set my hut on fire?
She remembered the timing. The strange fire. His claim that he had arrived first. His repeated promises to rebuild it, followed by thirteen days of doing absolutely nothing.
It made sense.
Perhaps the gods had not destroyed her home after all.
Perhaps the destruction had come from a man's hands.
Ego's thoughts then turned to the mysterious bird.
For days, she had blamed herself for bringing what she believed was a force of darkness into her life. She had even hidden the bird beneath the sacred gmelina tree, convinced that it had brought destruction upon her.
But if Nnadozie had burned her hut, then the bird was innocent.
A faint sense of relief passed through her.
At least one burden had been lifted from her mind.
But another remained.
She had no home.
And before the first crow, she would have to leave the only place where she currently had shelter.
*
"My fathers!" Ego exclaimed, suddenly overwhelmed by the realization. "What have I done? I was too quick to conclude that the bird was evil."
She stood and began pacing restlessly around the hut.
Perhaps she had judged the bird too quickly.
Perhaps the gods had not cursed her after all.
Her eyes drifted toward the open doorway. The full moon was high in the sky, bathing the village in its pale silver light. It was exactly as the old woman had described—the right time to bring Nwanza out and make her request.
And what did she have to lose now?
Her house was gone. Nnadozie had just driven her out. She had nowhere to go and no means of rebuilding her home.
If the bird truly possessed the power the old woman had promised, then tonight might be her only chance.
She made up her mind.
She would retrieve Nwanza.
And she would make her request.
Without wasting another moment, Ego stormed out of the hut and hurried toward the ancient gmelina tree.
As she moved through the silver-lit village, doubt gnawed at her.
What if the bird is no longer there?
What if someone had discovered it?
What if they had taken it?
What if it had escaped?
Or worse...
What if it had died?
"Please, my ancestors," she whispered, breaking the very rule she had been instructed to follow because the mission was already over. "Do not look at my mistakes. Let Nwanza still be there. Let it be alive and healthy."
She increased her pace.
In less than twenty minutes, she arrived at the ancient tree.
From a distance, she could see the mortar exactly where she had left it.
Her heart leapt.
But something was wrong.
The pestle was gone.
"Ha!"
She stopped abruptly.
"I am finished!"
Panic seized her.
"Someone has tampered with the bird."
She cautiously approached the mortar. Her heart hammered against her chest as she crouched beside it.
Slowly, she slid her fingers underneath the rim and lifted it.
A foul stench immediately struck her.
The smell of decay.
Her heart sank.
Ego quickly lowered the mortar.
"Nwanza..."
She sat heavily on the bare earth.
"It is dead."
Her voice cracked.
"Why was I so foolish? What was I thinking, leaving it here?"
She stared at the mortar as tears began gathering in her eyes.
"Cold... hunger... perhaps loneliness. Maybe they killed you."
The thought devastated her.
She had risked her life for that bird.
She had walked through darkness, encountered ghosts, confronted the dead and nearly been killed by a snake. She had endured pain and humiliation just to bring it home.
And now it was dead.
What would she do?
For several moments, she sat there crying.
Then a terrible thought entered her mind.
Perhaps I should go back to Nnadozie.
Maybe she had been too harsh.
Maybe if she apologized, he would forgive her.
Perhaps she could accept his proposal.
Perhaps she could swallow her pride and return to his compound.
At least she would have somewhere to live.
She wiped her tears and slowly stood.
There was nothing left to do except return.
But before leaving, she pushed the mortar aside.
It toppled over.
Ego froze.
Something lay beneath it.
Decayed flesh and feathers were scattered across the earth, along with what appeared to be a freshly dead rabbit.
But standing over the carcass was Nwanza.
Alive.
Ego's eyes widened.
The bird was covered in dried blood.
For a moment, she could only stare.
Then she noticed it.
The shining thread wrapped around its leg.
"The bird!"
Her face transformed.
"Nwanza!"
Joy flooded through her so suddenly that she almost laughed.
She had never been happier to be wrong.
She slowly crouched beside the bird, extending a cautious hand.
"Come here, my friend."
Nwanza did not attack.
It did not struggle.
It simply watched her.
Ego gently picked it up.
Again, the bird offered no resistance.
It was almost as though it had been waiting for her.
Ego's heart raced.
She had another chance.
She stepped away from the tree and into the full moonlight. Holding Nwanza above her head like a victorious warrior displaying the prize of battle, she raised her voice.
"Nwanza, I need money!"
She paused briefly.
"I need money so I can rebuild my hut that was destroyed by my brother-in-law!"
The moment the words left her mouth, the atmosphere changed.
A violent wind tore through the trees.
It came from somewhere deep within the forest, bending grasses and whipping branches as it raced toward her.
Then—
WHOOSH!
The wind swept past Ego, violently tossing her hair but disturbing nothing else.
She staggered.
Before she could recover, thunder exploded across the heavens.
BOOOOM!
Another followed.
Then another.
A brilliant flash of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating the entire forest for a split second.
The thunder seemed to awaken every bird in the surrounding wilderness.
Suddenly, the darkness erupted with sound.
Birds screeched from the trees.
Others cried from somewhere beyond the forest.
Somewhere above, wings began beating furiously.
The cacophony was unbearable—a chaotic orchestra of every imaginable bird call playing simultaneously.
Ego looked upward.
A vast flock was circling above her.
Round and round they went.
With every circle, they descended lower.
Their speed increased.
The thunder intensified.
Yet Nwanza remained strangely calm in her hands.
Ego, however, was beginning to lose control.
The noise was becoming unbearable.
Her head pounded.
Her vision blurred.
Her ears throbbed as though they might burst.
Even her arms felt unbearably heavy, as though she were carrying the mortar instead of a small bird.
She endured it.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Still nothing happened.
No money appeared.
No miracle occurred.
Not even a single cowry fell at her feet.
"What is happening?"
She lowered the bird.
Instantly, the birds disappeared into the darkness.
The thunder stopped.
The lightning ceased.
Silence returned.
Ego stared at Nwanza.
"What did I do wrong?"
Perhaps she had said the words incorrectly.
Perhaps the gods were angry because she had doubted their gift.
Perhaps the request had to be made inside her hut.
She was still trying to understand what had gone wrong when another sound reached her ears.
At first, it sounded like distant rain.
Then it grew louder.
A deep, rapid fluttering.
Like thousands of wings beating against the night.
Ego turned toward the sound.
A dark swarm was approaching through the trees.
Bats.
Hundreds of them.
Then thousands.
They poured through the branches like a living cloud, swooping between the trees and bushes at terrifying speed.
The air around Ego began to churn from the force of their wings.
Their screeches reverberated through the forest, growing louder with every passing second.
Above her, the sky seemed to darken further as the swarm gathered.
Ego stared for one heartbeat.
That was enough.
She knew danger when she saw it.
Without waiting to discover what the bats wanted, she clutched Nwanza tightly against her chest and ran.
She ran blindly into the darkness.
This time, she was not running toward a blessing.
She was running for her life.