The Red Clay ©

Here is it, my 1000th post, all 21 parts of it spread over the next 21 days.
I hope you enjoy it.

Walker

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The sand and dust swirled all around as he drove through the Nevada desert on his way to Vegas.
He left Chicago in a hurry after pulling off the biggest burglary of his life.
When he broke into that mansion on Tripp Ave he expected to score but he never thought he would find as much as he did in the safe.
The strange part was that it was easy, so easy any drunken kid could have pulled it off just as he did.

Looking at the satchel sitting next to him on the passenger seat he reached over opening the top then stuck his hand in pulling out a neat stack of hundred dollar bills.
Driving with one hand he stared and admired the neat stack of bills
They even smelled nice when he held them to his nose.

Placing them back into the satchel his hand touched something else and he pulled it out, it was an ugly looking statue that looked like a child made it.
It looked like something he never seen before, moulded out of red clay and looked like a monkey wearing some kind of a head dressing.

Lowering the window he was about to throw it out but he stopped, something stopped him from throwing it out, a feeling.
It was more than an impedance that held his arm but a weight, force.
He just didn’t want to throw it out even though he wanted to.

Fifteen hundred miles away sitting in his leather chair an old man sipped on a glass of brandy.
His butler walked in to see how he was doing.

“Excuse me sir, are you sure you don’t want me to call the police and report the break in” he asked.
“NO, no it’s ok Henry, there wasn’t anything of value stolen so I don’t see why we need to bother the authorities”.
“It was probably some kids being a little mischievous,” he said.
The butler turned and walked out of the study closing the doors behind him.

The old man sat there relaxed in his chair for the first time in fifty years, he felt young again, like a heavy weight had been lifted off his body.
The thief had walked in from the patio doors, which had be left open and made his way to the study where he found the safe with it’s door wide open.

A satchel with five hundred thousand dollars in it had been taken along with a small statue; the money was of no consequence but the statue… now that was another matter.
Taking another sip he put the glass down on the table beside him then sank back into his chair and drifted to times gone by.

Thilivhali ran around the village laughing and playing with the other kids as kids do when the witchdoctor ushered him over to him.
The witch doctor had taken the boy under his wing as his apprentice.
He saw something in the boy that he had not seen in anyone else.
A power of extreme greatness surrounded him.
He was teaching Thilivhali everything he knew so that when the time came he could take his place to help his people fend off the evil that will befall his tribe.
He saw it once in a dream as a child.
It was filled with blue smoke.
Death all round.

At twelve years of age Thilivhali had learned much in the last two years but there was more he needed to learn to match the years of what his mentor knew.
Every day they went into the forest and studied plants, mixed potions and tested them on some of the sick villagers.

Thilivhali learned quickly to the pleasure of his teacher but every now and again he messed up, especially if Ada was close by.
They travelled to the deepest part of the jungle where he learned the secret incantations summoning the gods of nature for their help; he even learned the dark spells summoning the demons from the pit of hell.
By the time Thilivhali reached eighteen years of age, he had learned much from the tutelage of his mentor.

They both tended to the medical needs of the village now and he rarely needed to consult with the witchdoctor on the making of medicines or potions required for the sick.
Thilivhali lived up to his name which means “He who never forgets” by remembering all his lessons well.

During his spare time Thilivhali could be found with Ada working together in the village or taking long walks into the jungle to collect more herbs.
She was first born (as her name suggests) in her family and she was now of age to be married so they were planning the big day and also anticipation of their first night together.
As is custom in their village, they both have to be virgins to marry, so the hunger inside them has been building up for years.

When the day came Thilivhali draped in a lion’s skin with the mane wrapped around his neck walked out of his family’s hut with his father by his side.
The rest of the family followed behind them in a single line.
At the center of the village they met the chief with the witchdoctor, his mentor at his side who was waiting for them to perform the ceremony.

Standing before them, his father standing on his left side they turned to face the direction of the bride’s family’s hut while the rest of his family walked round and took their positions behind them in a half circle, waiting for the brides family to arrive to complete the circle of life.

They didn’t have long to wait before Ada, wrapped in the skin of a lioness walked towards them with her father by her right side and the rest of her family walking in behind them in a single line as Thilivhali’s family had done.
Even from this distance you could see her glowing beauty as her eyes sparkled when the sun hit them.
Reaching Thilivhali’s side they both turned to face the village chief who bowed his head to their fathers first then Ada and lastly Thilivhali.
He asked if the fathers agree to this union to which they both nodded their approval.
Both fathers had been friends since they were small and it was an honor to have their children wed.

The chief then asked both of them if they agreed to this union under their own free will to which they both said yes.
Looking at Thilivhali the chief told him that it was his duty to protect, provide and to keep Ada happy.
To Ada he told her that it was her responsibility to raise Thilivhali’s children to be strong and to make him happy.

The witchdoctor was next with his arms raised to the sky chanting and calling for the gods to bless this union.
When he was done the chief declared them husband and wife.
Both families came together as one to congratulate the newly weds and then the feasting began.
Ada’s father had slaughtered three goats that were now being roasted in the village square for everyone to eat along with the nectar that had been made with fermented berries and honey that they were all drinking.

As the sun came down they built up the fire higher and they danced through the night, smiling, singing and enjoying the festivities.
No one noticed that the newly weds had slipped off to the hut that the village had gotten together to build for them a couple of days earlier.

Moving the blanket aside Ada stepped into her new home, Thilivhali walked in behind her.
They both stood there staring at each other.
To nervous to even speak.
They have been waiting for this moment for a long time and now when the time came they didn’t know how to start.

Ada looked down and could see Thilivhali excitement for her fueling her excitement even more than what it had been.
She walked to him and lightly kissed his lips as his hands wrapped around her slender body.
The kiss intensified as their hands clawed at their bodies, grabbing for parts they had dreamt of grabbing for so long.
Thilivhali picked up Ada and took her to the bed where he gently put her down on the soft skins then lay on top of her as they continued exploring each other for a bit more before Thilivhali’s lust got the better of him and he rolled on top of her pushing his way inside her.
Her fingers dug into his back as the pain shot up from between her legs with his every thrust.
Even though he tried to be gentle the madness inside his head fueled him on, pounding her in to the grass bed.
The festivities that were still going on in the village square drowned her yells as Thilivhali reached a climax and lay down next to her.
They both lay there for hours snuggling and kissing before they finally fell back to sleep.

A series of loud noises woke them up in the morning, noises he had never heard before.
Jumping up he ran outside to see a flurry of people running in every direction.
There were villagers running all around but there were others he didn’t recognize who were chasing the villagers with clubs and long weapons in their hands.

Thilivhali ran out to stop one man from beating his father when another man stepped out from behind a hut.
Thilivhali froze in his tracks, he was a white man; he had never seen a white man before.
The man raised his arm and there was a flash of light and smoke from his hand, then everything went dark…

Walker