Chapter 31 30

Peku exclaimed.He desperately climbed to a higher place in the locust tree, regardless of the sharp thorns that cut his hands.The twigs had begun to creak menacingly under his weight.As soon as that branch snapped off, it was over for him. The hyena leaped into the air again and slid through the branches with its mouth open.Peku could smell the stench from the beast's mouth as it sprang high.Peku just had time to draw back his feet.The hyena's jaws, which were hard enough to crush the bison's upper limbs, snapped shut, and its body fell back to the ground with a bang.The hyena gave his prey another ugly grin.Peku knew that they were laughing at him, instead of letting the hyenas bite him as they swore to God, they hid cowardly in the trees.

He has been wandering among the ruins of the village in a daze, praying until dusk.No one heeded his plea.None of the villagers came back.In the end, he could only obey the will of God, step into the wilderness, dedicate himself, but panicked again when he heard the howling of the hyena.He ran as hard as he could, until he reached this tree.Now, he no longer has the courage to jump down and resigns himself to fate. At this moment, how he wished to be able to communicate with the hyena's soul like Kunu.At least he could ask forgiveness for his cowardice.But in this case, God will not hear what he said, and God will punish his relatives for his cowardice.He was in despair, and only God was with him, the God of Germany.At least he had learned how to talk to God.our father lord, weeping, our father in heaven

The hyena below is ready to leap again. hallowed be your name and your kingdom come The hyena leaped high.Peku closed his eyes.At this moment, there was a loud noise, and the hyena roared. Shocked, Peiku almost fell from the tree.He opened his eyes and was even more dumbfounded when he saw two white figures rushing towards him shouting. The hyena snarled and turned to face the two figures.One of the two raised his arm high, a flash of light flowed from his hand, and the deafening sound rang out again.No matter how ferocious the hyena was, it was still frightened by the loud noise.They growled and retreated slowly.One, apparently limping, was licking its left flank as it walked.

Peku stared blankly at the shouting figure under the tree.It must be ghosts and gods sent by the underworld, or maybe the gods sent them to take him to the netherworld.Peku knew that if he disobeyed the will of God, the end would be miserable.But he still couldn't decide to climb down, and plunged into the arms of ghosts and gods shining pale in the moonlight. Why doesn't he come down?Raphael asked. He was terrified.Mary said he was seven or eight at the most. Where are his parents?Why are you out there alone? Mary couldn't answer.She tried to speak to the little boy in English.Don't be afraid, she said aloud, we won't hurt you.come down!

The little boy said something.At first, Mary thought she had heard wrong.She looked at Rafael in surprise.The little boy repeated it again.Praise the Lord Jesus! He speaks German!Mary was overjoyed.come down!She shouted in German, we will not hurt you! Hesitantly, hesitantly, the little boy jumped down from the hiding place, walked towards Mary, and hugged her tightly, resting his head on her belly, and burst into tears.Mary hugged him too, holding him tight in her arms, with mixed feelings, pride, pity, and sorrow. After a while, the boy stopped crying, his body was still shaking violently.Mary could not understand what he said.It's fine.She comforted the boy, don't be afraid.We will take you to your parents.

They soon discovered that the little boy could only speak a few broken Germans, the Lord's Prayer and a few Christian hymns.They were able to communicate with each other by comparing and drawing, and adding a few broken English words from the little boy.At least, Mary and the others knew what the little boy's name was, and they also knew that he might come from a nearby village, the village where Mary found the smoke column in the morning.The boy became emotional when he heard that he was being taken back.He cried for a while, speaking quickly in his own language, pointing to the sky, to himself, and finally to what must be the village.But Mary didn't understand him at all.

After a while, they gave up communicating altogether and just kept going toward the distant hills without stopping.There must be a village behind the hill.Peku followed them without a word. It was starting to light up, and they had gone a long way.It will probably take a while to get to the hills, though.Shall we take the risk of walking during the day? I am not sure.Raphael said it didn't look too far away.However, the sun will overwhelm us, and we've run out of water.And, to be honest, I'm exhausted. Thinking of having water and food as soon as she arrived in the village, Mary cheered up, but she also knew very well how vulnerable this power was.She could only reluctantly agree and find a bush as a hiding place.

Peku watched suspiciously as the two angels took off their clothes and built a hiding place with them.At first, he heard the two talking in the same German as the fat governess, and he knew at once that the two of them were not sent by the African gods.Obviously, they were sent by Jesus.Jesus heard his prayer!The Fat Mistress was right: Christ Jesus was far more powerful than the gods of Africa.He could even send two angels all at once to take on the hyenas. But the more Peku observed them, the more suspicious he became, not sure if they were really angels, because they looked more like humans, even if they were very strange ones.They have flesh and blood, just like the fat female teachers.In addition, their lives are reversed, sleeping during the day and awake at night.In Germany, people probably live like this!Anyway, that would explain why they were all so white.

On the other hand, they appeared at the most critical moment, when he prayed aloud and desperately to the German God.It can't be a coincidence.Perhaps this Jesus did not convey his will through ghosts or animals, but through people.Perhaps, because of this, He is so powerful. As far as Peku was concerned, he was in no rush to return to the village.It was all ruined there anyway.But it was clear that the two wanted to go there.His mouth was parched.He looked around while the two benefactors took refuge in the sheltered cave.Fortunately, there was a baobab tree a few hundred meters away.Cut the bark with a sharp stone.It wasn't long before he knocked off a piece of bark, exposing the wet, shiny trunk.He scraped off a few pieces of fiber from the trunk with a stone and chewed it in his mouth.

When he suddenly realized that he was no longer alone, he looked back in surprise.Two angels were standing beside him, watching his movements.They don't agree with him harming Africa's tree of life?Did Christ Jesus punish him not to eat or drink because of his fault?He stopped scraping the trunk, threw the stone, and raised his hand in apology. But the two Germans looked at each other and said something in German.Afterwards, the man picked up the stone, and according to Peku's movement, he also scraped up the tree trunk.He put the cut fibers in his mouth, twisted his face, but kept chewing.

Peku taught him how to spit out the fibers without wasting any precious water. Finally, the three dug some more fibers around the trunk.Soon, the intense thirst was satisfied.Peku pointed upwards, signaling to the German to lift him up so he could climb the lowest branches and get the fruit. It took them a while to understand what he meant.Perhaps the Germans never went to school, so they know so little.But, on the other hand, there are many historical stories told by fat white teachers.Anyway, in the end, they managed to lift him up.He picked some bag-shaped fruit that reached to his forearm.He showed these outsiders how to peel these fruits, and told them that not only the fibrous white pulp in the fruit can be eaten, but also the black core. The day passed very slowly.Although the wonderful baobab tree quenched Mary's thirst for a while, and the fruit could satisfy her hunger to a certain extent, the feeling of dry mouth and tongue came back quickly.Mary woke up several times, unable to fully fall asleep.It's really strange, at this moment she is lying here with Rafael and a child, like a family. She recalled how they roared and rushed at the hyena.At that moment, she didn't feel scared at all.Is that courage?No, exactly, more madness.If Rafael hadn't had a pistol, they would have been torn to pieces by the hyenas.But Mary still thought they were doing the right thing. It's unbelievable, my life is all messed up.How could she imagine that one day she would lie dirty and thirsty in the desert dust.However, she has never been more vibrant than she is now.It seemed that in the past few days, she got closer to herself and discovered something that had been lurking in her body for a long time.It was a raw force, far beyond the will of any logical mind. She suddenly realized that they were in an almost primitive land far away from human civilization.It was inhabited long before writing, arable land, airplanes, and computers were invented.In this harsh environment, they are alone and helpless. Only by their own willpower and ability can they decide whether to survive.Her physical strength is at its limit, but her spirit has never been more free. When dusk came, Raphael woke her and the boy up.They dressed quickly and went on their way.Mary's feet ached badly, her lips were chapped, and she was itching all over, but the sight of Peku gave her new strength.They must bring the child back to his parents. Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind: Over the years, as a consultant for business consulting, she has saved or earned millions of euros for so many companies. Not worth mentioning at all.So far, her life is not only meaningless, but even ridiculous.All those years of false enthusiasm, ridiculous charts, and constant attention to the faces of top managers.The people sitting around the top executives' round table are nothing more than slaves to the stock market, exhausted by the constant pursuit of quarterly reports and boardroom agendas.She could not help sympathizing with these people. As dawn began to break in the east, they saw the hills rising before them.Behind it must be the village.They saw no more smoke rising.However, that doesn't mean anything.Strangely, Peku walked more and more slowly, more and more flustered, as if he was afraid of going home.Mary smiled at him and stroked his shoulder tenderly.He leaned against her waist, which made her heart tighten. They walked up a sandy road up the hill.The road was narrow, only two lanes wide, but it still gave them a lot of strength.After walking for a while, Mary noticed that the surrounding area was extremely peaceful, and no sound could be heard.No children shouting, no motors roaring.Perhaps the villagers are still sleeping! They followed the path around the mountain to the outskirts of the village.Mary froze suddenly, as if hitting an invisible wall.Oh God!Rafael yelled. Peku began to sob. The village was a heap of ruins.A fox-like animal was in front of a charred hut, gnawing on the corpse of a woman lying aside.Rafael threw a stone and drove the beast away.Two eagles were lying on the other corpse. Seeing Mary and the others approaching, they jumped a few steps aside. Before they could walk over, they pounced on the prey again.There were thousands of flies buzzing everywhere. They walked through the village with dull faces, unable to utter a word. Peku walked into a surviving thatched hut.After a while, he came out with a jug and a piece of bread that looked like a round bread.Until then, Mary had forgotten about hunger and thirst.She snatched the jug from Peku's hand, raised her head and poured down the warm, precious water that had been stored for a long time until she couldn't drink any more.Then, she handed the jug to Raphael with a little embarrassment. Peku pointed to the hut.Mom and Dad are not here.Oro wasn't there either, he said. At first Mary thought he was grieving the loss of his parents.However, it soon became clear that his parents were not among the dead.They probably fled to the grasslands with the little boy and got separated later.She pointed in the direction she just came with her hand.Is mom over there?Run away too? Peku shook his head, and said something quickly and indistinctly, English and vernacular mixed together.He was obviously telling them how he had escaped from the village, but Mary couldn't understand a word.However, she can still guess the reason based on the tragic scene in front of her.For some reason, the little boy left his parents before disaster struck.He speaks of an angry god.Judging from the look on his face, Mary even felt that the boy believed that he was responsible for this disaster. She took the little boy in her arms and stroked his curly hair.No matter what you think, what happened here is not your fault.It was bad men who did it. Peku looked up at her.Even if he didn't understand, it seemed that Mary's words comforted him. You mean, Auduma did it?Raphael asked. Mary shook her head.Why would he do this?He is against the Westerners, not against the people of this country. Who would have done that?Why do we have to raze this quiet village to the ground? have no idea.I used to switch channels when news of tribal massacres in Africa came on.I thought at the time that somewhere in the world people were killing each other and it didn't matter to me.Tears welled up in her eyes.How can I imagine, how can such a human being do such a thing? Rafael shrugged. What should we do now?Mary asked. Rafael pointed to a blackened jeep on the side of the road. The front windshield was broken and a tire was flat.Maybe, I can start. Mary looked at him in amazement.Do you know how to fix cars? Change the tire, probably. Sure enough, Rafael successfully replaced the tire and installed the spare tire on the rear of the jeep.Now, just start. Peku pointed at the corpse of an old African man who was infested with flies beside the jeep, and said something in the local language. Mary and Raphael looked at each other.Raphael's face turned green.Come on!He said to Mary, I just changed the tire. Mary glanced at him in surprise, finally overpowering her nausea, and bending over the corpse.The stench came to her nostrils, choking her so much that she couldn't breathe.Holding her breath, she rummaged through the dead body's trouser pockets.The flies roared up and surrounded her angrily.Her knees began to give way.Luckily I found the car keys.She stood up with difficulty, walked staggeringly, and squatted down after only a few steps, her internal organs and six lungs seemed to be stirring.Then he vomited heavily, vomiting out all the water he just drank. Raphael rushed over to support her.Thank you and sorry!He said embarrassedly, I really can't do anything. Rafael started the motor.The roar of the machine was especially deafening in the silence.Rafael drove the car onto the road.He was worried that the stunt would fail the second time, and he didn't even dare to turn off the engine.He jumped out of the car.We need gear, especially gasoline. They rummaged through the ruins of the village and found a crank-handled well, which they filled with water in the pitcher Peku had brought and two others.The water has to deal with the road for several days.Peku took out the dried fruit and all the remaining bread at home.They couldn't find gasoline.Fortunately, there was a tank full of spare fuel in the car.should be enough. Where are you going?Raphael asked. Mary bent over Peku.Peku, where should we go?She pointed to the front and back of the path. Peku thought for a while, his face relaxed, and he pointed with his hand.Mary decided it was north.Go to Kamena.Kamuna, he said, was my aunt, a good woman. OK, get in the car.Raphael said.