Are we finding the boy or killing him?
I said to the Leopard.
Hes seven days ahead.
Credit: Jeffrey Skemp
Two nights later his trail was still ahead of us.
Why didnt he go north, back to the village?
I stopped and the Leopard walked past me, turned south, and stopped after ten paces.
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He stooped down to sniff the grass.
Who said he was from your village?
He did not go south, if youre trying to pick up the boy.
Hes your charge, not mine, Tracker.
I was sniffing out dinner.
Before I said more, he was on all paws and gone into the thicket.
This was a dry area, trees skinny as stalks, as if starving for rain.
The ground red and tough with cracked mud.
Near enough that I heard the splash, the snarl, and a hundred hooves stampeding away.
That night he watched in disgust as I cooked my portion.
I wanted to enjoy flesh the way he enjoyed flesh.
My burned and black leg disgusted me as well.
He had no nose for spices and I had none to put on the meat.
I would never like it.
His face was lost in that leg.
The trees are different, I said.
Different kind of forest.
The trees are selfish here.
They will not live together, so unless rain comes they will die together.
His scent is north.
It grows neither strong nor weak.
But if he stays, we find him tomorrow.
Sooner than I thought.
This could be your life if you wish it.
You wish to go on when we find him?
He threw down the bone and looked at me.
What else did Asani tell you before he tried to drown you?
You will send me back with the boy, but will not return.
I said I might not return, not will not.
That depends on what I find.
Or what finds me.
What is it to you?
Nothing, nothing at all.
Leopard grinned, stood up, and came over beside me.
The fire threw harsh lines on his face and lit up his eyes.
Why do you go back to the village?
My family is there, I said.
You have no one there.
Asani told me all that awaits you is a vendetta.
That is still something, is it not?
He looked to the fire.
His mouth goes sick from the sight of cooking, but he made the fire.
From the gourd I pulled the piece of cloth carrying the boys scent.
These were not trees he could sleep in, even if he preferred to sleep off the ground.
Come with me, Leopard said.
I mean come with me after this.
After we find the boy.
She has no interest in him; she wants her foul bladder to place in her foul hair.
We find him, scare him, send him back.
Kava wants
Is Asani lord over anyone here?
Something came to pass between you two.
Nothing came to pass.
That is the stick between us.
He passes you in years, but in every other way he is the man younger.
Gambles with lives and kills for sport.
The disgusting features of your form.
I knew he was looking at me.
I was staring into the flames but could feel him turn his head.
The night wind was sending a fragrance I did not know.
Ripeness from fruit, maybe, but nothing was fruitful in this bush.
This made me remember something.
What happened to them who were following us?
The night we came to the Sangoma.
The little woman said somebody was following us.
She is always fearing something or someone is after her.
You believed it too.
I dont believe in fear, but I believe in her belief.
Besides, there are at least ten and six enchantments to throw off hunters and wanderers.
No, those are always real, he said with a wicked smile.
He reached over and grabbed my shoulder.
Go be with pleasant dreams.
Tomorrow we find the boy.
From BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF by Marlon James.
Published by arrangement with Riverhead Books, a member of Penguin Random House LLC.
Copyright 2019 by Marlon James.
