CHAPTER 10: SACRIFICE
The horses had arrived. All the people rushed towards them.
Adana got down sadly and went inside her tent without uttering a word. So did the people as they scattered away at the sight of the last horse bringing John's dead body.
Regina rushed to the horse and wailed into sorrows and cries. Her heart felt empty as it poured out tears, full of life.
Ada arrived at the scene and so did the Vince family. The sound of moans and sniffs echoed in the area as people came and left, leaving behind life energy for John to nurture upon. Unfortunately, he could not. The silence was thunderously deafening on that night.
Was it truly possible for people to leave like this? Could they not wait a bit longer? The only person that had believed in her dreams like Simon was John, thought Regina.
Like Simon, he too left behind the beautiful future for her alone so that she would wander places and feed her hollow inside. What would she do of such a world now, even if it grows perfect now. What good is a future where one has left behind his friends, love and family and you are made to exist.
All of it for what. Was life a punishment to suffer. Why were all events like a meandering river that hid underneath hard rocks that would only serve to smash the diver's bones and parts. At the end of the river, he does come out in a new shape. It is a ghastly shape that can no more stay in the river. It has to be discarded into the sea. Regina was losing.
Later on, back in the tent, Ada procrastinated about John. After losing Hamidi, she had a hard time coming on the front. Now watching a close friend go away had her restless.
She just wished for things to back to however they were before the earthquake. It had been like a crack in her treasured soul and she waited anxiously for another person insider her to take hold of the present. But it was out of physical boundaries. What would the village think now as an important person in the making had gone. What if even more go away, the thought shivered her mind.
She began to think as her Dad and searched for a solution. They needed hope to believe. So much had happened and it was a probably a written heavenly order of events where she could not interfere. She could interfere in the future though. There was no way she would let the struggle scatter away and let her people fall into despair. She had to implant hope. She had to be compassionate.
This was no ordinary incident. It was a continuation of the chain that had begun with Mr. Gosling. The material ones had to appear soon and find their ways into banishment.
Ada shifted her side on her sleeping rug. Her eyes fell on Adana. She was going through a lot too. John was one of the few people she had accepted as one of hers. She just felt weak as the security breaches due to her busy schedule made her look like a useless guide.
Ada focused on herself now. What was a feminine person like her, who was never fond of the orders of the clan and thinking about the survival interest, doing in a position where she had been offered a high authority just because it ran in the family.
It did not have to. What if it didn't, thought Ada. What if a ruler came and was capable of thinking of the all around tactics and was selected for the masses and selected by them too. She would have loved the enthusiasm as it would have brought to the front, willing and capable people. The only problem would be how to discern the good from the bad.
The next morning arrived. And so did the next. And the next. They continued to find people gathering at the Vince's cottage. Both the sides had a single response of pity and pride. They were amazed for the story of John, the brave. The martyr. He had sacrificed himself so that an animal could live. That animal being nothing more than the tribe's prize for their promised lifestyle of nature. He was more than a human. The family was moving on slowly as Grandpa held them together in this turmoil.
Days went by as Ada helped the people on both sides come out of the grief and continue hope for a future.
Andrew entered Adana's tent, only to find Ada there too. She had been feeling alone and sad so Ada had to help. She took herself responsible for John's death as she counted him one of their own.
Sometimes, Andrew would catch a glimpse of Adana in a very strange future. This used to startle him. He would then come to tell her that they will be leaving Naraba for a better tomorrow.
"Why are you always saying that? We are going nowhere".
"Yes, we will be".
"But, where to? These are our people. How can we leave them". Andrew would sigh to see the future saying, "They will always stay their people but when necessary, they must leave them behind".
On one evening, Ada went with Regina to Grandpa Vince's place. "Hello, how is everyone doing?". To their surprise, everyone was moving on with the trauma and treated them quiet well. Regina looked at Grandpa because Ada had something new on her mind.
"You what?", Grandpa felt Ada was joking. But had he said yes, Ada would have certainly agreed to it. "I am perfectly serious about it. Adana has the ability to lead. I have it not much. We are still the same daughters of Hamidi who were still moving on with his death".
"You don't have to overthink so much. It will be hard".
"But the people will not prosper under my command. They need their own representatives. I will be bringing along volunteers who would work for the betterment of our people. Before coming down, I would permanently settle the pay as minimal so that no greedy person can join in for any riches. With the leadership divided among the public’s chosen council, there will be more heads to look for the solutions of our problems. The usual eye will not stare down at us for snatching it just because it ran in the family. It should run in the tribe. The leadership should have been for the people".
"Okay, I shall look into the matter and will discuss the concept with the viziers and elders tomorrow", said Grandpa lovingly.
The help that Regina had demanded from the government had arrived within the next days. Alex had become the government's direct spokesperson, taking out intermediaries like Mr. Gosling.
The village had suffered from the loss of John. The peace lovers community thoroughly joined hands with Regina as she saw colours of both ethnicity beginning to work together. The new Naraba now had a small bazaar too. Ranging from little odds to average daily use, the people had come up with their own minimal system of growing the economy.
Regina installed laser guided radars in all the outskirts of the forest and surrounded the grasslands of the rhinos in it too. Now, whenever an intruder or wild animal would enter the territory, all guards will be known of the presence.
The education system continued to flourish as Grandpa soon made great friends with the Elders and began to wear a kente kemis in solidarity to the Naraba they had rebuilt together.
On the other hand, Regina felt worried as tensions grew between Adana and Andrew as well as Ada. Adana was becoming less trustful of Andrew and began to think of replacing Ada as the chief of the tribe.
"I am beginning to think that you too have become embezzled by their advancements".
"What? How can you say that?".
"First of all, you gave up our land. Now you want to step down from the leading front too? What would have Dad thought if he was here today. That his daughters are failures", said Adana.
"I am not doing this for the outsiders. It is because our people needed this. They have felt left out in the times when Dad would label some of them a burden on the tribe and nature's course of survival. With the current advancements, our kinship has seen a population growth. No weak is being left behind and according to the Ubuntu, our socialist claims are finding a purpose to thrive".
However, Adana did end up with some rock hard conservatives who still found it hard to adjust to the situations. The decision was going to be announced soon on the leadership procedure for the affairs of Naraba.

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