The days flew by in such a dreamlike blur that they lost track of time. Like two children, they wandered hand in hand through the enchanted forests of Lonsonyo Mountain. With each small delight they came across – a tiny sunbird of brilliant plumage or a monstrous horned beetle whose armoured carapace clicked as it marched – the worries of the outside world receded further from their minds. When first Leon had met her she had hidden her true nature behind a mask of solemnity. She had seldom smiled and almost never laughed. But now that they were alone and safe on the mountain she doffed the mask and allowed her real self to shine through. For Leon the laughter and smiles enhanced her beauty a hundredfold. They spent every moment they could together. Even the briefest separation was painful to them both. Eva’s first waking thought each morning was, Otto is dead and nobody knows where we are hiding. We are safe and nobody can come between us.
Even when Ishmael’s carefully hoarded store of coffee was exhausted, they laughed when he told them the tragic news. ‘It is no fault of yours, O Beloved of the Prophet. It is a sin that shall not be written against your name in the golden book,’ Leon comforted him, but Ishmael went away muttering dolefully.
The people of the village watched them fondly, smiling when they passed, bringing Eva small presents, sticks of sugarcane, bouquets of wild orchid blooms, fans of pretty feathers or bead bracelets they had woven. Lusima revelled in their love almost as much as they did. She spent hours with them each day, sharing her wisdom and understanding of life.
The ‘little rains’ began and they lay in each other’s arms at night, listening to the drumming on the roof of their hut, whispering and laughing, warm and safe in their love. Then the rains ceased and Leon realized that almost two months had passed since they had climbed the pathway beside the waterfall to the summit. When he pointed this out to her she smiled comfortably. ‘Why do you bother to tell me, Badger? Time means nothing, just as long as we are together. What are we going to do today?’
‘Loikot knows where there is an eagles’ breeding site in the cliffs on the far side of the mountain not far from Sheba’s Falls. Generation after generation of the great birds have nested there since as far back as men can remember. At this season there will be chicks in the nest. Would you like to visit it and see the young ones?’
‘Oh, yes, please, Badger!’ She clapped her hands, as excited as a child at the promise of a birthday party. ‘Then on our way back we can go to the falls and swim once again in those enchanted waters.’
‘That will make it a long trek. We’ll be away for several days.’
‘We have all the time in the world.’
It took them three days of easy travel to cross the mountain at its widest point, for the gorges were deep and rugged, the forest was dense and there were delightful distractions at every turn of the path. But at last they sat on the brink of the precipice and watched a pair of eagles sailing in elegant flight far below them, circling their eyrie calling to each other and their young ones in the nest, bringing in the carcasses of their prey to feed them, hyrax and hares, monkeys and game birds dangling from their talons.
However, the eyrie was hidden by the overhang of the rocky buttress on which they sat. Eva was disappointed. ‘I wanted to see the chicks. Surely Loikot knows of a vantage-point from which we can see down into the nest. Won’t you ask him, Badger?’ She sat impatiently listening to the long discussion in Maa of which she understood not a single word.
At last Leon turned back to her with a shake of the head. ‘He says there is a way down the cliff, but it is hard and dangerous.’
‘Ask him to show it to us. He brought us all this way with a promise that we would see the chicks, and I’m going to hold him to his word.’ Loikot led them along the edge of the cliff to a crack in the rock. He laid aside his
In semi-darkness they descended an almost vertical natural shaft lit by only a feeble reflection of light from the surface, just enough for them to make out the hand and footholds. Then, gradually, light began to filter up from below, and at last they crawled through a narrow gap on to an open ledge. The shaft had brought them out below the overhang of the buttress. However, there was still no sight of the eyrie, but the eagles had seen them appear on the ledge above their nest and screeched with anger and alarm, flying in closer to glare at them with fierce yellow eyes.
