The Ear, the Eye and the Arm (40 page)

"The Big-Head Mask is the most ancient and powerful of our fetishes," Obambo Chivari said in a deep voice. "It has passed from man to man for a thousand years. It has been called up by the other Masks and by countless sacrifices. Only it has the power to rouse the Gondwannan gods from their long sleep."

"They're not asleep. They're bone-idle,"
remarked the
mhondoro.
Tendai grimaced. He wished he felt as cheerful as the
mhondoro.

"You, Child of Zimbabwe, will be the messenger of our will. Look upon the mask and know terror."

"I'm not carrying any of your messages," said Tendai.

"That's telling him — ow!" cried Rita as the Porcupine Mask pulled her hair.

"Good, good," Obambo Chivari said pleasantly. "Be defiant. It will make your eventual surrender that much more powerful."

Tendai glared at him with hate, but his heart was beating very fast. Now it was going to be real. Now it would hurt.

The Masks formed a ring around the chair. Obambo Chivari wasn't able to join it because he had lost the Warthog Spirit. The Gondwannans began to chant. It was like nothing Tendai had ever heard. It started low, a mutter of angry bees in an underground hive. It rose to the surface, coming nearer. Tendai knew the men were making it, but it seemed to hang in the air without direction or source. It was exactly — he broke out in a sweat — the kind of sound ghosts would make as they gathered in a dark forest.

Stop that! You're too old for ghost stories,
said the
mhondoro.

Sorry,
Tendai said.

But the noise was unnerving all the same. Gradually, one after the other, the spirits that attended the Masks took up residence. The men jerked as they were possessed. The sound grew louder. Barks, yowls, grunts and hyena laughter filled the air. It was the animals trapped as messengers. They circled the chair, calling for their Master, who fed only on humans. The Presence that had lurked in the shadows began to awaken in the Big-Head Mask. Its shape became clearer. But just as it seemed to come into focus, something would fade.

It's because you destroyed the Warthog Mask,
said the
mhondoro. The animals' voices are weakened. That was a good trick, Tendai. What made you think of it?

I don’t know. I just didn’t want them to have
it all their own way,
Tendai replied.

Obambo Chivari wrung his hands as he watched the Big-Head Mask struggle to take shape. The animal messengers went faster and faster; their panting filled the air. The spirit-ridden men writhed as though stricken with disease. The Big-Head Mask suddenly leaped into sharp definition. It came alive, more terrible than any nightmare. The eyes opened.

Tendai cried out.

You again,
said the Presence.
Fine warrior
you've got this time. The last one was delicious,
by the way.

It's not over till it's over,
said the
mhondoro.

Brave words! If the only soldiers you can come up with are freaks and children, Zimbabwe deserves to be eaten.

Obambo Chivari selected one of the knives and approached Tendai. He raised it to make the first cut. The eyes of the Big-Head Mask followed the blade greedily.

Snap!

For one horrified instant, everyone in the room seemed turned to stone. Everyone, that is, except the She Elephant. She tossed the two halves of the Big-Head Mask to the floor and dusted off her knee.

Women can be warriors, too,
the
mhondoro
said with satisfaction.

Then everything went berserk. The Masks whirled in panic as their spirits abandoned them. The animal messengers fled with cries of woe. Rita tried to grab the Nirvana gun, but Obambo Chivari knocked her away. In revenge, she yanked a rug out from under the Baboon Mask, who tumbled to the floor. Even Kuda ran around aiming punches with his little fists. The She Elephant gathered an armful of statues and was using them with great skill as missiles.

The She Elephant couldn't destroy the Big-Head Mask until it was entirely in the real world,
explained the
mhondoro. That's what I was waiting for. You communicated with her very well, by the way.

I did?
Tendai said. The Mask appeared demoralized by the destruction of their most powerful fetish. They crouched on the floor with their hands on their heads. Obambo Chivari tried to shoot at the She Elephant with the Nirvana gun, but so far all he had managed was to dodge heavy gold statues.

When you smiled at her, you reminded her of
something she forgot a long time ago. It's her land, too, and her people.

The Gondwannan Ambassador struck the She Elephant with a blast, but she shook it off like a gnat bite. She roared and barreled straight for him. "We need help!" yelled the Porcupine, rousing himself from his paralysis. He ran to the door and flung it open. Instantly, he tried to shut it, but it was too late.

In poured a crowd of excited waiters, cooks and dishwashers brandishing mallets, cooking forks and other unpleasant weapons.

"Dirty child killers!" shouted the chief cook.

"Murderers!" yelled the salad master.

"Stingy tippers!" screamed the waiters.

The Masks ran around frantically. "Ambassador Chivari, please wake up," they implored. But Obambo Chivari lay on the floor with his head at a funny angle. The She Elephant calmly stuffed her pockets with jewels as the battle raged around her. A pair of elegantly dressed women knelt by the strange man who had come in from the landing dock.

I'm going to leave you now,
said the
mhondoro
to Tendai.
You ought to think about becoming a spirit medium. You have a real talent.

I'll miss you,
Tendai said.

I'll always be around, young lion, for as long
as the land of Zimbabwe exists.
And then it was gone.

Tendai felt so lonely he could hardly stand it. The
ndoro
grew cold. It was only a lump of seashell. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Now's a stupid time to cry," said Rita, busily using a sacrificial knife to cut through the ropes that bound her brother. "Everything's turned out fine."

Forty

Mother could hardly believe her good fortune when the door opened. She already had her makeshift troops ready. They swarmed inside, hitting right and left. Mother brought down a few Masks herself. Then she saw what she had been waiting for all those long months. Rita was cutting Tendai free from a chair. Kuda was trying to help with a wicked-looking steak knife. Tendai struggled to stand, but his knees sagged.

Mother was there in a flash. She caught him before he fell and was surprised by his weight. He seemed to have grown several inches, too. She lowered him to the floor, from where he watched her with a dazed expression.

"Mother! Mother!" shrieked Rita, hugging her.

"Mother?" Kuda said. And this was the bitterest moment of all: her younger son didn't even recognize her.

"Of course, you booboo head," Rita snapped. "I suppose you think Trashman's your
father.
"

“I knew who it was all along."
 
Kuda hugged Mother cautiously.

Presently, Tendai's wits returned; he tried to rise. "It's all right," Mother said. "You don't have to get up." But Tendai insisted. Behind them, a frying pan clanged as the last Mask slid to the floor. A large woman moved toward the door. Mother stiffened and raised her gun.

"No!" cried Rita, hanging on to her arm. The shot went wild, and the She Elephant bolted.

Knocking waiters and dinner guests from her path, the big woman threw herself at the elevator. It opened — and out streamed a squad of policemen! The elevator was working at last. They pounced on the She Elephant, and when the dust had settled, she was tied up as neatly as a bale of cotton. A pile of necklaces, bracelets and rings from her pockets was heaped at the side. Mother walked around and admired the knots.

The elevator opened with a second load of passengers — paramedics this time, with Amadeus glowering at the rear. Mother almost laughed out loud at his amazement when he saw the corridor.

Waiters were dragging groaning Gondwannans to a heap in front of the Starlight Room. Their costumes had been torn off, and they were merely a group of foolish-looking men. The waiters stood guard over them with cooking pots. The walls were scored by the Soul Stealer. Eye and Ear were being fed snacks by an elegant woman in a diamond-studded robe. Another woman clapped her hands and cried, "Isn't this exciting? I haven't had so much fun in years." The maître d' went around with a tray of mango juice to celebrate the victory.

"What in
Mwari’s
name is going on?" said Father.

"You mean you didn't get a message?" Mother asked.

"What message? When you stormed out of the house, I thought it was a good idea to follow, to be sure you stayed out of mischief."

"And those policemen and paramedics?"

"Oh." Father looked sheepish. "I thought they might double-check the security and health systems of the Starlight Room."

"Daddy!" yelled Rita. "Come
on,
you loon." She yanked Kuda after her as they ran from the Gondwannan Embassy. Mother thought Amadeus in full battle dress with weapons bristling from his belt and strapped to his arms and legs looked like the last person anyone would call Daddy. But Rita and Kuda didn't care. They threw themselves at him, and he knelt and gathered them into his arms. The policemen hid their smiles.

"You won't
believe
where we've been," Rita said. "We met a blue monkey
 
and were slaves in a plastic mine. Tendai and I were accused of witchcraft. Oh! And we had
chicken pox.
"

"I used a man's shovel by myself and ate termites and jumped up and down on a Mask!" Kuda pointed at the group of sorry-faced men guarded by waiters.

"Wait, little lions. I have to greet my other child, too." Father rose. Tendai stood in the doorway of the embassy. They stared gravely at each other. Mother's heart gave a hitch. Her son had gone away a boy and returned a man.

"Father, someone tried to help us a few minutes ago. I think he's dying," Tendai said.

How exactly like his father, thought Mother, to put aside a joyful reunion for duty.

The two went to a couch where paramedics were busy. It's Arm, Mother thought sadly. His eyes were open and staring. Father closed them gently.

"I can't find a pulse," said a paramedic.

Tendai removed the
ndoro
from his neck — it was the first time Mother noticed it — and laid it on Arm's chest. He put his hands over it and closed his eyes.

A chill went through Mother. Exactly what had been going on in this room? Now that the battle was over, she had time to observe it. She saw the loathsome masks stacked in a heap against a wall. On the floor was a — was a
thing.
It lay in halves, but the two parts seemed to be crawling toward each other. Of course it was a trick of the candlelight.

What horrible candles! They gave off a sweet rotting smell as they burned. The gap between the two halves was smaller — or had she forgotten? Whatever the halves were intended to be, they were made of things she couldn't bring herself to name. The candles were making her drowsy. If you fit the two parts together, she thought, wouldn't you get —

"Hah!" shouted Father, kicking the almost-joined face.

The halves flew in opposite directions. At once they began to disintegrate. The sewn-together parts broke up; the bits feathered into dust. All the other masks began to crumble.

Father threw open the door to the landing dock. The wind howled through the Gondwannan Embassy. It swirled the dust in a gray tide across the floor. Mother jumped back to keep from being touched by it.