"Not long after your disappearance, I went out to check my traps as usual. I passed a hut not too far from here. It was about twice the size of this one, with strange decorations around it. There was even a human skull hanging from the doorpost, still bearing what looked like old bloodstains. I assumed it was an abandoned hut that once belonged to a dibia."
"I think I know the hut," Ego interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "There are also two goat skulls at the entrance."
"Yes," Ndubisi replied, looking surprised. "But how do you know about it?"
"Because I went there that night, you saw me. The old woman led me there after convincing me it was a safe place to hide from my accusers. But don't worry about that now. It only makes everything more confusing. Please continue."
Ndubisi nodded.
"All right. I pass that hut almost every day. It is always quiet and deserted. But on this particular evening, something was different."
He paused and glanced toward the surrounding forest.
"As I approached it, I began hearing the cries of babies. There sounded like two or three of them, although I cannot say for certain. The closer I got, the louder they became."
Ego's face tightened.
"At first, I thought someone had abandoned babies there."
"That happens here?"
"More often than you would believe. I have personally seen several babies left in the forest. You hear them crying one day, then return the next and find nothing but the remains after wild animals have gotten to them."
He shook his head.
"After witnessing one particularly horrible incident, I promised myself that if I ever found an abandoned child again, I would do everything within my power to save it."
"So you followed the cries?"
"Yes."
Ndubisi leaned closer.
"They seemed to be coming from inside that hut."
Ego's attention sharpened.
"From inside?"
"Yes. I approached carefully and hid behind some bushes. From there, I could see three old women sitting in front of the hut."
"Three?"
He nodded.
"They were all dressed in white."
Ego felt a chill move down her spine.
"What happened?"
"I looked more carefully."
He paused.
"What I saw was one of the strangest things I have ever witnessed."
Ego leaned forward.
"What did you see?"
"The three old women were one person."
Ego stared at him.
"What do you mean, one person?"
Ndubisi raised three fingers.
"The same old woman was sitting on three different stools."
Ego's mouth fell slightly open.
"The same woman?"
"The same woman."
He slowly lowered his fingers.
"Same face. Same white wrapper. Same grey hair. Same body. Everything was identical."
He swallowed.
"For a moment, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. I blinked several times, but they were still there."
"What did you do?"
"I was terrified."
He gave a nervous laugh.
"My head suddenly felt enormous, as though it were swelling from the inside. I thought it might burst. I turned away immediately and crouched down, holding my head while trying to make sense of what I had just seen."
Ego remained completely still.
"And the babies?" she finally asked.
Ndubisi looked at her.
"That is where things became even stranger."
He lowered his voice.
"I could still hear them crying."
"Where were they?"
"I don't know."
Ego frowned.
"You mean you didn't see them?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"I searched around the hut with my eyes. There was nowhere I could see where three babies could have been hiding. Yet the crying continued."
"Did the women hear them?"
"That was the strange part."
Ndubisi's face became serious.
"They didn't react at all."
Ego stared at him.
"Not even once?"
"Nothing. They sat there as though the cries didn't exist."
He paused.
"Then something happened that made me leave."
"What?"
"One of the three women turned her head."
Ego's breathing became shallow.
"Toward you?"
Ndubisi nodded.
"Straight toward where I was hiding."
He looked at Ego.
"She couldn't have seen me. I was deep inside the bushes, completely concealed."
"But she knew you were there?"
"I don't know."
"What did she do?"
"She smiled."
A cold silence settled between them.
"Then she said something."
"What?"
Ndubisi's eyes remained fixed on Ego.
"She called my name."
Ego's face went pale.
"She called you by your name?"
"Yes."
"Ndubisi?"
"Exactly."
He took a slow breath.
"I didn't wait to find out what she wanted. I ran."
Ego looked toward the hut.
Her mind was racing.
The old woman.
The dog.
The strange hut.
The three identical women.
The babies that could not be seen.
The mysterious fever.
The shallow grave.
The people who accused her of killing Nnanna.
The poison.
The bird.
And now Ndubisi.
For the first time, she wondered whether all these events were separate at all.
Perhaps they were pieces of the same puzzle.
She looked back at Ndubisi.
"Did you ever return to that hut?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"The following morning."
"And what did you find?"
Ndubisi's expression changed.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"No women. No babies. No stools."
He shook his head.
"Not even footprints."
Ego's heart sank.
"Then what was inside?"
"An empty hut."
He paused.
"But there was one thing I found."
"What?"
"A fresh footprint in the ash beside the fireplace."
"Whose?"
Ndubisi slowly shook his head.
"I don't know."
He looked directly into Ego's eyes.
"But it was the footprint of a woman."
A long silence followed.
Then Ego whispered:
"Ndubisi..."
"Yes?"
"That old woman you saw..."
He waited.
"I think she is the same woman I met."