Victims of Nimbo Read online

  The chief found the young stranger Jere quite interesting. One day the two of them went hunting, at which Jere said he was not the best in the world. He finally said, “I don’t wonder that your father is displeased with you, Jere.” He had heard much of this from the young man himself. “A man has to go out and bring in game.”

  “That’s true, Chief,” Jere said. “I feel ashamed of myself sometimes, but it gets so boring doing nothing but hunting—and taking care of things.”

  “But would you let things take care of themselves?” Maroni asked sternly. He really liked Jere, but he thought he saw a character fault here. He had talked to the young man more than once about the need for men to take charge and do things and accomplish important feats. He himself was a mighty hunter and noted among his people. Yes, the young man needed to do something important.

  One evening the whole village came together for a feast. The women cooked all day, roasting pigs over glowing coals. Sarah helped by turning a spit, though she shuddered a little when she saw that the head had been left on.

  The men did little but sit about and tell stories while the women hurried about doing all the cooking. They grilled fish over the coals and roasted a young deer, too, and it was quite a marvelous feast.

  Jere sat beside the chief, while across from them sat Chan and the high priest. Sarah, standing with the women, noticed that Chan and Nomus were glowering.

  More than once, Chan and Nomus glanced across the table and whispered to each other.

  “What does she see in that puppy, Nomus?” Chan once grumbled.

  The priest grinned evilly. “More than she sees in you, I think.”

  He knew that Chan was determined to have Lomeen for one of his wives. For some reason she seemed equally determined to have nothing to do with him.

  “Let me catch him out alone sometime,” Chan said. “We’ll see what he can do.”

  Nomus turned sour. He did not like the way things were going, either. Somehow Chief Maroni had softened and mellowed under the influence of the young man and the Sleeper they called Sarah. He felt that his power over the chief was slipping away from him. But he would regain it. His mind worked constantly, trying to think of a way.

  When most of the eating was over, and the men sat around drinking a brew that bit at Sarah’s throat so that she would not try it again, Chief Maroni said, “Now we will have entertainment.”

  Jere turned to Lomeen, who was standing behind him. “Come and sit down, Lomeen. Let us watch the fun.”

  Lomeen looked nervously toward her father. “Our women do not sit in the presence of men.”

  Jere said. “It’s the same with us, but I don’t see why. I think that is rather silly.”

  “Good for you, Jere,” Sarah whispered.

  The chief had taken all this in. As the entertainment began, he questioned Jere about the customs of the Cloud People. He listened for a time, then said, “It is too bad that our tribes don’t get along better.”

  “It is indeed a shame, Chief,” Sarah said quickly from behind him, seeing her opportunity. “The two tribes could share so many things. The Cloud People could learn from you how to hunt better.”

  “Especially if we were allowed to get on the ground without getting killed,” Jere said.

  The chief blinked thoughtfully, but he said, “It is the way things are.”

  “It’s the way things are, but it is not the way things have to be,” Jere said. “See how well we’re getting along here.”

  From across the table, Nomus gave the young stranger a hard glance. Then the high priest muttered to Chan, “I’ll have to do something about this.”

  “Let me take care of him. I’ll take him for a walk, and he’ll never come back.”

  “No. That won’t do.” His eyes fell on the girl Sarah then, and an idea came to him. He said nothing more, but he stroked his cheek and let himself smile an evil smile.

  Sarah enjoyed the simple entertainment—it was graceful folk dancing.

  Jere too watched with a smile. When it was finished, he applauded, saying, “Wonderful! I wish I could dance like that!”

  “What can you do to entertain us, Prince Jere?” Chief Maroni asked.

  “Not much. I can tell a story perhaps.”

  “Good. We love stories here.”

  What followed next was very interesting to Sarah, watching from the cooking fire.

  Jere came to his feet and soon proved to have the natural gift of a storyteller. His words were smooth and flowing, and especially since he was talking to people who could not read—whose only entertainment was oral stories—he was well received. Everyone grew quiet as he told of a great hunt in which a noble chief slew a mighty monster.

  Maroni leaned forward, his face solemn and filled with interest as he listened. When Jere ended, he applauded wildly. “That was a fine story! Do you know any more?”

  “Oh, I could go on forever,” Jere said with a laugh. Then he told a funny story, which had all the villagers in an uproar.

  Sarah went back to stand beside Lomeen. She saw that the girl’s eyes were fixed on the young man. “He’s a wonderful storyteller,” Sarah said.

  “Yes, and my father loves stories. So do I.”

  When the hour grew late, the chief dismissed everyone. As he prepared to go back to his house, he said to Lomeen, “Walk with me, daughter. That was a fine feast.”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “That young man. Jere. If he had any ambition, he’d be a great leader. Anyone who can tell stories like that can get people to do things. I’ve noticed that before. He has quite an imagination.”

  “Yes, he has.”

  Maroni looked down at her and smiled. “I notice you watched him quite a bit.”

  “He was very interesting.”

  “Nice looking, isn’t he?”

  “I hardly noticed.”

  Maroni laughed and patted his daughter on the shoulder. “I saw how you didn’t notice. You didn’t take your eyes off him.”

  “I wish,” Lomeen said suddenly, “that we didn’t have to slay any more of the Cloud People, Father. If they are all like Jere, to do so is a shame.”

  Maroni was thoughtful as they continued their walk over the bridges. “I remember when your mother was alive. She knew some of the Cloud People. She liked them very much. Those I met, I liked, too. In fact, I knew King Celevorn when we both were young. He’s a good man.”

  “Then why do we have to keep on killing them?”

  Maroni had no answer. Actually he was troubled every time a sacrifice took place. Finally he said, “Nomus says that Nimbo demands sacrifice. And you wouldn’t have us sacrifice our own people, would you?”

  “I wouldn’t have us sacrifice anybody!”

  “You are not afraid of Nimbo? Not afraid that we will offend the god?”

  “I don’t think there is any Nimbo.”

  The chief was absolutely shocked. He stopped walking and turned to his daughter. “What are you saying, Lomeen?”

  “I think the high priest uses that story about Nimbo just to get what he wants from us. Suppose there were no Nimbo. Would you honor Nomus the way you do?”

  He supposed she saw the answer in his face.

  “No, you wouldn’t. You’ve never liked him, Father. But you’re afraid of him.”

  Maroni did not like his daughter to think that he was afraid of anyone. “I am just afraid that bad things will happen to our people. That’s why I listen to him.”

  “Another thing, Father,” she said. “I don’t want you to give me to Chan. He’s a brutal man. I hate him.”

  “He wants you for his wife. He’s the strongest man in the tribe.”

  “But he’s awful!”

  Maroni was even more troubled. Chan had been asking him for some time for his daughter. Knowing Lomeen’s feelings, he had refused so far. Now he saw the distress on her smooth face. He loved this daughter as he had loved her mother. He said, “Chan may change.”

  The day after t
he feast, the chief went on a hunt. He asked Jere and Sarah to go with him.

  The three of them went far into the forest, and Sarah was amazed at the knowledge of Chief Maroni. He not only was an expert woodsman, but it seemed he knew every plant and every tree. He was also a very pleasant companion, something she had not imagined when she had first met him.

  The hunt, however, was fruitless. In spite of Chief Maroni’s skill, they could not stir up anything.

  But when they were on their way home, a large deer suddenly appeared, and Maroni said, “What a beauty! But he is too far away.”

  Sarah measured the distance with her eye. Without a word, she slipped an arrow from her quiver and notched it.

  “You could never hit him at this distance!” Chief Maroni protested.

  Sarah did not say anything. She lifted the bow, judged the distance again, and drew back the string to a full draw. Holding her breath for a moment, she let it go. The arrow hissed through the air and struck the deer behind the shoulder.

  “You’ve got him!” Jere shouted. “What a shot!”

  “What a shot, indeed!” Maroni said, gaping at her. “I have never seen anything like that! None of our people could have done it. I myself could not have done it.”

  Sarah said quietly, “Perhaps it is because my bow is better. Would you like to look at it, Chief?”

  Chief Maroni took the bow and examined it. It was a beautiful piece of work. And she had obviously discovered how to get maximum power from the wood. Maroni was impressed.

  “It’s a beautiful bow.”

  “I’d be glad to make you one just like it, Chief.” Sarah had become an expert not only at using a bow but in making them.

  “Would you, indeed? You can make bows? That would be a treasure!” the chief exclaimed.

  Jere and the chief made a sling and carried the huge deer home.

  There was much excitement in the village over their successful hunt, and that night Jere told, in poetic form, how Sarah had slain the deer.

  It was another good evening until afterward. Nomus came to the chief and growled, “Things are not good, Chief Maroni.”

  “What are you talking about, Nomus?”

  “Nimbo must be appeased. He needs a victim. He has not had one in a long time.”

  “But things are going well. None of our people are sick, the crops are good. I think we will not have another sacrifice.”

  Nomus’ face grew evil, and he said shrilly, “You will see! A terrible thing will come upon our people if Nimbo has no sacrifice!”

  But for the first time in years, Chief Maroni refused to listen to the high priest’s demand. “No!” he said firmly. “We are not going to kill anybody else!”

  Nomus glared. “You will be sorry!” he said. “You will find out that Nimbo is strong.”

  Lomeen and Sarah had heard all this, and as Nomus stalked off, Lomeen whispered, “Good for you, Father.”

  “I think you did wisely, Chief,” Sarah said. “Perhaps now we can begin to make peace between your tribe and the Cloud People.”

  Nomus, grunting crossly, went to his hut. It was a filthy place. He rummaged through his collection of herbs and spices and finally found one he knew to be deadly. He held it up before his eyes, pinched it, and ran a spoon through it, looking at the dark crystals. “This will change your mind, Maroni.”

  His plan was simple. He would see that some of this was put in the chief’s food. It would make him sick. “Not enough to kill him,” he murmured. “Just enough to show him how strong Nimbo’s power is.” He laughed aloud. “Now we will see who dies.”

  12

  Death to the Female

  I can’t understand, Sarah said to herself late one afternoon, why I haven’t heard anything from the Cloud People. Surely Josh and the others must have gotten to their village by now.

  She was walking along a stream, stopping from time to time to look down into the clear depths. She watched a group of silver-bodied minnows as they darted just below the surface. She wondered how they all knew what to do at the same time. “It’s like they have one brain,” she said. She had also wondered how birds knew how to keep perfect formations in the skies or how flights of blackbirds could all turn at the same time. “I guess the Creator just put it in them to know how to do those things,” she murmured.

  She moved along, thinking now of how she had come to admire Chief Maroni. He was a stern man in many ways, as any primitive tribesman would be, and yet he had true affection for all of his people. It was true that women were held in low esteem here. That was something that troubled her, and she remembered that it was the same with the Cloud People. She wondered if things could ever be any different, for habits were deeply ingrained.

  The flowers were blooming. It’s beautiful here in a different way from the village in the clouds. Though that is beautiful, too. Her thoughts went back to the village in the trees, and she wondered what Abbey was doing.

  All morning she wandered by herself. Suddenly Sarah was lonely and somewhat afraid. What if Josh and the others never find us? Sooner or later something’s going to have to happen.

  When she got back to the village, she found Lomeen in front of the chief’s house. “Hello, Lomeen,” she said.

  “Oh, Sarah, it’s Father! He’s very sick.”

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “I don’t know. It was after supper last night. The servants called me. He was crying out with pain.”

  “Oh my!” Sarah said. “That’s terrible!”

  “He looks terrible. Come and see him. Can you help?”

  The chief did indeed look terrible. Standing beside his cot, she saw that his face was absolutely devoid of color. His lips were pale, and he moaned constantly, clutching his stomach.

  “Do you know anything to do for him, Sarah?”

  “I’m not a doctor,” Sarah said. “Obviously something is wrong with his stomach. What did he eat last night?”

  “The same as always. Some deer stew that I prepared for him myself.”

  “Did anyone else get sick?”

  “No. No one.” She thought for a moment, then said, “Nomus was here. He ate the same thing as my father.”

  “We’d better go find out if he’s sick.”

  They did not have to go far. As soon as they stepped outside, Sarah saw Nomus himself standing there, an evil expression on his face. “I hear your father is sick,” he said to Lomeen.

  “He has a stomachache.”

  Sarah thought it quite clear that Lomeen did not like the high priest at all.

  “I’ll have to see him.” Nomus brushed by the girl and glared at Sarah. He said nothing to her, however, but went in to stand over the chief, who opened his eyes but could only groan.

  “Well, Chief, I am sorry to see you like this,” Nomus said. His face turned grim. “But it is as I told you. Nimbo is angry.”

  “No. It’s not that. I’ll be all right.”

  “You will get worse, and you will die if Nimbo is not appeased.”

  Sarah cast a glance at Lomeen. It was not difficult to see where the high priest was going. He was going to demand a sacrifice. She thought she knew who the sacrifice would be—Jere or herself.

  The chief listened as Nomus continued to tell him that the only way that he could live was to sacrifice a person to Nimbo.

  Sarah was sure that ordinarily Chief Maroni would have agreed. But things seemed to have changed for him. Perhaps he had become fond of Jere in the few days the young man had been there. Perhaps he had seen in Sarah something he admired. In any case, he continued to shake his head, saying, “No. No sacrifice. I’ll be all right.”

  Nomus glowered at him. “I will do the best I can for you, but I must be completely in charge of your case.”

  Both girls were put out of the chief’s bedroom, and the rest of the day the high priest stayed with him. He finally came out to say, “Your father is going to die.”

  “No!” Lomeen cried. “He can’t die!”

/>   Sarah was fearing appendicitis and knew there would be no cure for the chief in this society, for no one could perform that kind of operation. “I still hope that Goél will come, Lomeen. I’ve seen him do marvelous things for sick people.”

  “Goél,” Nomus sneered. “He will not come.”

  It was indeed a faint hope, but it was all Sarah had to cling to.

  Nomus was with the chief all night, but the next morning Lomeen’s father was so feeble that he could barely speak. He seemed close to death.

  Nomus announced, “You will die this day if there is not a sacrifice.”

  Sarah doubted that Maroni knew what the priest was saying. But he may have nodded, for Nomus cried out triumphantly, “Then I will attend to it!”

  Sarah watched as Nomus left. “What’s he going to do?”

  Lomeen could barely answer. She was trying to hold back the tears. “He will choose a victim, and the victim will die.”

  By noon the whole village knew that there was going to be a sacrifice. People began gathering in the village square.

  Nomus stood before them and said loudly, “The chief is very sick. He is about to die. It is because we have not sacrificed to Nimbo. The god is angry, but when he has his sacrifice, the chief will get well. I promise you.”

  Sarah looked around and saw fear on every face. “What will happen now, Lomeen?”

  “Now Nomus will choose the victim.”

  Sarah could not imagine how even an evil man such as Nomus could simply select a victim to sacrifice. He did not look at her, but somehow Sarah sensed that she was in great danger.

  The high priest said, “We will have the Test!”

  “What’s the Test?” Sarah whispered.

  “Everyone must pass before Nomus and endure the Test by Water.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You will see. He does not often choose a victim this way.”

  Nomus ordered Chan to bring a huge stone basin and set it before him. He filled it with water. “The water is clear, as you see. If your heart is clear, you have nothing to be afraid of. The Test will now begin. You first, Lomeen, as the daughter of the chief.”