ESCAPE!

CHAPTER 6

                            

     One day Enorhor sent Bubuye to get a certain herb which she had seen growing by the inland pool by the shore. Bubuye took off at a fast pace and got to the pool a little breathless. As he bent to pluck the herbs he saw two feet sticking out of the brush at the far end of the pool. With his heart thumping within his chest he tip-toed closer. He could see the feet sticking out of a dark pair of trousers. He plucked up courage to look up to the waist before fear gripped him and he turned back and galloped tent-wards as fast as his legs could carry him.

      He got to the tent panting heavily. Enorhor and Boboye were greatly alarmed. They had never seen him so agitated. In a halting and trembling voice he told them what he had seen. It was now the turn of Enorhor and Boboye to be alarmed. They got a stick, for their defence or offence as the case may be, and followed Bubuye to the spot. When they got there they could see the feet all right. They approached carefully, Enorhor holding the stick high. It was not as if she could do much with the stick if the need arose, considering how weak and spiritless she was. They could see a bearded man passed out in the brush. The chest was rising and falling slowly. This was the very first time the children would be seeing anyone apart from each other and Enorhor.

      They were at a loss at what to do. Should they rouse him or should they leave him where he was. Was he a good or a bad person? Since it was inevitable they would be sharing the island with him they decided it made sense to help the bearded man. Enorhor got water from the pool and splashed it on his face. He slowly roused and presently opened his eyes. On seeing the little party around him, he startled and scrambled to sit up. The man looked strangely familiar to Enorhor. He looked like many people Enorhor had seen when she was living in her village. The man was hirsute and thickset and was about thirty years old. His shoulders were broad like a barn yard door. He was of average height and generally projected brute strength. The man's clothes were made of stuff that Enorhor had never seen before. "Do," Enorhor offered in greeting. The man's face lit up perceptively. His countenance was illuminated and he was visibly surprised to hear her speak his language. "Do mama," he blurted out. It was Enorhor's turn to be surprised. She had greeted the man in her language. Out of curiosity, not expecting any reply. "What is your name?" "Who are you?" "How did you get here?" Enorhor asked in torrents. "My name is Ebipade and I am from Omodi village." Enorhor recognized the village as about a day's journey from Bani. She went there with her mother when she was little to buy some herbs which wasn't available around her village.

     Ebipade went on to briefly tell how he went on a fishing expedition and was captured along his three colleagues by the slave raiders. This happened about fifteen years ago. He stopped his tale momentarily. He was very weak. At that juncture, Enorhor signaled to the twins to help Ebipade get unto his feet. He got up groggily. With the support of the twins Ebipade was brought to the shelter. He was given food and thereafter some fruits. After resting awhile he took up the story from where he left off. He was taken aboard a slave-ship, the Guineaman, with other suffering mass of people across the great Atlantic to Portugal. His eyes glazed over as he remembered the suffering, pains and anguish the slaves went through during the passage. A lot died in their chains and their bodies thrown over to be fed on by the fish of the ocean. How he made it across the ocean was anyone's guess. He later found favour with the ship's captain who acquired him as his slave. Ebipade worked in his master's timber business. After ten years he was allowed to work for his freedom. The next five years was spent working assiduously to liberate himself from slavery. All the while he learnt and became fluent in Portuguese. He ultimately got his freedom and started work as an interpreter on a trade ship to the Bight of guinea. The ship dealt in ivory, cowrie shells, peppers, gum Arabic, coral beads, tools, weapons, palm oil, manila (brass bronze bracelets), etc.