Under The Full Moon

As she stood up to leave, her basket got knocked over and she bent down to gather up her supplies. On getting up, her heart jumped into her mouth at the sight of the old woman standing directly in her path. The shock she felt made her yelp in surprise. Fortunately, the searchers didn't hear her. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers, to ascertain she's seeing clearly, but the old lady was still standing in front of her. Ego quickly hastened to her whispering loudly,

"Nne you scared the living daylight out of me; why did you leave without me? Some people have been looking for you at the hut and they are likely to come this way. They seemed pretty furious".

The woman shushed her saying, "ssshhh! Keep your voice down, I left to find a safe place where we can all hide; by the way and who said I'm the one they are looking for?"

Ego was now surprised even more than when she first saw the old lady. But she manages to say

"They said they are looking for the widow that killed their brother"

"Did I tell you that I'm a widow?" the old lady asked.

Slowly, it dawned on her that she was the one those people were looking for. The cold suddenly intensified and so did her fear

"Who are they looking for then?" She asked warily as her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"That doesn't matter my dear, come with me, they are closing in on us and would be here any moment". The old lady said almost dragging Ego by the hand urging her to move quickly.

"So I really am the one they are hunting like a wild animal?" She mused sorrowfully as she began crying in earnest.

"As I said before, keep your voice down, they will not find you if you follow me now"

"Go where with you?"

"I have another hut in this forest though it's a bit far from here. Just come with me, we will all be safe there. I promise they won't find you there" said the old lady.

Ego had no other option than to go with her to escape those hunting her. She just couldn't wrap her head around the whole issue. That's not what is important now though; she needs to find a place that is well hidden from these people.

Alongside Ogologo, they hurried off deeper into the forest as noiselessly as they could. When they arrived the new hut, it looked more lived-in than the old lady's hut; lighted torches were mounted around the hut, casting long shadows around. The hut was very big – twice bigger than the other one. The place was looking like a Dibia's hut. The red cloth was tied around the hut; a human skull was hanging on the door post and two blood-stained goat skulls were on both sides of the door.

How is it possible that this old lady owns a place like this, she wondered, so she asked: "is this the place?"

"Yes, it is, now hurry in before they notice we entered here". The old lady responded pushing Ego gently from behind.

"I thought you said you own the place", Ego asked again.

The old lady replied impatiently, "If I had told you a different thing, would you have followed me?"

"No, I wouldn't have followed you, but I still need to know who owns the place I'm about to seek refuge from? It looks like a dibia's hut; who owns it?" Ego asked standing her ground that she isn't entering till she gets more information about the strange hut.

"It belongs to an old friend of mine. He lives here with his family; he is a Dibia of a sort. He takes the things of the gods way too seriously, but is not harmful in any way". The old lady assured her.

Ego thought of her options; seeing how limited it was, she chose to go with the old woman. As it was, she either stays or she goes back into the forest; which is not definitely a good idea. Slowly, she entered the hut, the old lady asked Ogologo to remain outside and watch the hut for any approaching danger. Ogologo obeyed and sat down beside the animal skull.

Immediately she was fully inside, the door was shut behind her! There had been a very muscular man hiding behind the door and as soon as they entered he blocked the exit with his huge body. Two men just as muscular quickly cornered and overpowered her much to her chagrin. Ego's struggles were wasted on them as her strength was inconsequential to theirs; she screamed, throwing her legs and hands around in other to hit and scratch them, biting random skin and shouting for help as loud as she could. She also tried using her teeth on any flesh that came across it. She wasn't going down without a fight. But unfortunately for her, there is no way on earth she could overpower these men. One of them simply held her down while the other one bound her hands and feet with a rope; and to prevent her from shouting any further for help, he tied her mouth with a piece of cloth. Ego was totally helpless; hot tears ran down her cheeks. She was made to sit on the floor beside the altar, by the left side of the hut with both men standing guard.

The hut was very spacious with torches pinned to the ground at every corner of the room. The interior of the hut was lined with human skulls; interspersed with the heads of sheep, goats, and dogs. At every corner, there was a small pot containing earth with feathers stuck it. On the altar was a carved wood sculpture that looks like a standing short man with a broad smile. He is the chi worshipped at the shrine.

It was wearing a large white bead necklace. Cow horns covered in blood also stood on both sides of the chi. The wall behind the altar was decorated with red clothes and fresh omu and hanging on them were empty kegs. Carved images of different sizes vying with each other in rudeness were also on it. There was a small calabash in front of the chi where food offered to it is kept.