Victims of Nimbo (12 page)

The hunt, however, was fruitless. In spite of Chief Maroni’s skill, they could not stir up anything.

But when they were on their way home, a large deer suddenly appeared, and Maroni said, “What a beauty! But he is too far away.”

Sarah measured the distance with her eye. Without a word, she slipped an arrow from her quiver and notched it.

“You could never hit him at this distance!” Chief Maroni protested.

Sarah did not say anything. She lifted the bow, judged the distance again, and drew back the string to a full draw. Holding her breath for a moment, she let it go. The arrow hissed through the air and struck the deer behind the shoulder.

“You’ve got him!” Jere shouted. “What a shot!”

“What a shot, indeed!” Maroni said, gaping at her. “I have never seen anything like that! None of our people could have done it. I myself could not have done it.”

Sarah said quietly, “Perhaps it is because my bow is better. Would you like to look at it, Chief?”

Chief Maroni took the bow and examined it. It was a beautiful piece of work. And she had obviously discovered how to get maximum power from the wood. Maroni was impressed.

“It’s a beautiful bow.”

“I’d be glad to make you one just like it, Chief.” Sarah had become an expert not only at using a bow but in making them.

“Would you, indeed? You can make bows? That would be a treasure!” the chief exclaimed.

Jere and the chief made a sling and carried the huge deer home.

There was much excitement in the village over their successful hunt, and that night Jere told, in poetic form, how Sarah had slain the deer.

     It was another good evening until afterward. Nomus came to the chief and growled, “Things are not good, Chief Maroni.”

“What are you talking about, Nomus?”

“Nimbo must be appeased. He needs a victim. He has not had one in a long time.”

“But things are going well. None of our people are sick, the crops are good. I think we will not have another sacrifice.”

Nomus’ face grew evil, and he said shrilly, “You will see! A terrible thing will come upon our people if Nimbo has no sacrifice!”

But for the first time in years, Chief Maroni refused to listen to the high priest’s demand. “No!” he said firmly. “We are not going to kill anybody else!”

Nomus glared. “You will be sorry!” he said. “You will find out that Nimbo is strong.”

Lomeen and Sarah had heard all this, and as
Nomus stalked off, Lomeen whispered, “Good for you, Father.”

“I think you did wisely, Chief,” Sarah said. “Perhaps now we can begin to make peace between your tribe and the Cloud People.”

     Nomus, grunting crossly, went to his hut. It was a filthy place. He rummaged through his collection of herbs and spices and finally found one he knew to be deadly. He held it up before his eyes, pinched it, and ran a spoon through it, looking at the dark crystals. “This will change your mind, Maroni.”

His plan was simple. He would see that some of this was put in the chief’s food. It would make him sick. “Not enough to kill him,” he murmured. “Just enough to show him how strong Nimbo’s power is.” He laughed aloud. “Now we will see who dies.”

I
can’t understand
, Sarah said to herself late one afternoon,
why I haven’t heard anything from the Cloud People. Surely Josh and the others must have gotten to their village by now.

She was walking along a stream, stopping from time to time to look down into the clear depths. She watched a group of silver-bodied minnows as they darted just below the surface. She wondered how they all knew what to do at the same time. “It’s like they have one brain,” she said. She had also wondered how birds knew how to keep perfect formations in the skies or how flights of blackbirds could all turn at the same time. “I guess the Creator just put it in them to know how to do those things,” she murmured.

She moved along, thinking now of how she had come to admire Chief Maroni. He was a stern man in many ways, as any primitive tribesman would be, and yet he had true affection for all of his people. It was true that women were held in low esteem here. That was something that troubled her, and she remembered that it was the same with the Cloud People. She wondered if things could ever be any different, for habits were deeply ingrained.

The flowers were blooming.
It’s beautiful here in a different way from the village in the clouds. Though that is beautiful, too.
Her thoughts went back to the village in the trees, and she wondered what Abbey was doing.

All morning she wandered by herself. Suddenly Sarah was lonely and somewhat afraid.
What if Josh and the others never find us? Sooner or later something’s going to have to happen.

When she got back to the village, she found Lomeen in front of the chief’s house. “Hello, Lomeen,” she said.

“Oh, Sarah, it’s Father! He’s very sick.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. It was after supper last night. The servants called me. He was crying out with pain.”

“Oh my!” Sarah said. “That’s terrible!”

“He
looks
terrible. Come and see him. Can you help?”

The chief did indeed look terrible. Standing beside his cot, she saw that his face was absolutely devoid of color. His lips were pale, and he moaned constantly, clutching his stomach.

“Do you know anything to do for him, Sarah?”

“I’m not a doctor,” Sarah said. “Obviously something is wrong with his stomach. What did he eat last night?”

“The same as always. Some deer stew that I prepared for him myself.”

“Did anyone else get sick?”

“No. No one.” She thought for a moment, then said, “Nomus was here. He ate the same thing as my father.”

“We’d better go find out if he’s sick.”

They did not have to go far. As soon as they stepped outside, Sarah saw Nomus himself standing there, an evil expression on his face. “I hear your father is sick,” he said to Lomeen.

“He has a stomachache.”

Sarah thought it quite clear that Lomeen did not like the high priest at all.

“I’ll have to see him.” Nomus brushed by the girl and glared at Sarah. He said nothing to her, however, but went in to stand over the chief, who opened his eyes but could only groan.

“Well, Chief, I am sorry to see you like this,” Nomus said. His face turned grim. “But it is as I told you. Nimbo is angry.”

“No. It’s not that. I’ll be all right.”

“You will get worse, and you will die if Nimbo is not appeased.”

Sarah cast a glance at Lomeen. It was not difficult to see where the high priest was going. He was going to demand a sacrifice. She thought she knew who the sacrifice would be—Jere or herself.

The chief listened as Nomus continued to tell him that the only way that he could live was to sacrifice a person to Nimbo.

Sarah was sure that ordinarily Chief Maroni would have agreed. But things seemed to have changed for him. Perhaps he had become fond of Jere in the few days the young man had been there. Perhaps he had seen in Sarah something he admired. In any case, he continued to shake his head, saying, “No. No sacrifice. I’ll be all right.”

Nomus glowered at him. “I will do the best I can for you, but I must be completely in charge of your case.”

Both girls were put out of the chief’s bedroom, and the rest of the day the high priest stayed with him. He finally came out to say, “Your father is going to die.”

“No!” Lomeen cried. “He can’t die!”

Sarah was fearing appendicitis and knew there
would be no cure for the chief in this society, for no one could perform that kind of operation. “I still hope that Goél will come, Lomeen. I’ve seen him do marvelous things for sick people.”

“Goél,” Nomus sneered. “He will not come.”

It was indeed a faint hope, but it was all Sarah had to cling to.

Nomus was with the chief all night, but the next morning Lomeen’s father was so feeble that he could barely speak. He seemed close to death.

Nomus announced, “You will die this day if there is not a sacrifice.”

Sarah doubted that Maroni knew what the priest was saying. But he may have nodded, for Nomus cried out triumphantly, “Then I will attend to it!”

Sarah watched as Nomus left. “What’s he going to do?”

Lomeen could barely answer. She was trying to hold back the tears. “He will choose a victim, and the victim will die.”

     By noon the whole village knew that there was going to be a sacrifice. People began gathering in the village square.

Nomus stood before them and said loudly, “The chief is very sick. He is about to die. It is because we have not sacrificed to Nimbo. The god is angry, but when he has his sacrifice, the chief will get well. I promise you.”

Sarah looked around and saw fear on every face. “What will happen now, Lomeen?”

“Now Nomus will choose the victim.”

Sarah could not imagine how even an evil man such as Nomus could simply select a victim to sacrifice.
He did not look at her, but somehow Sarah sensed that she was in great danger.

The high priest said, “We will have the Test!”

“What’s the Test?” Sarah whispered.

“Everyone must pass before Nomus and endure the Test by Water.”

“What’s that?”

“You will see. He does not often choose a victim this way.”

Nomus ordered Chan to bring a huge stone basin and set it before him. He filled it with water. “The water is clear, as you see. If your heart is clear, you have nothing to be afraid of. The Test will now begin. You first, Lomeen, as the daughter of the chief.”

Lomeen reluctantly went forward. She stood before Nomus and did not move.

“Put your hand in the water,” he said.

Slowly Lomeen reached out and immersed her hand.

Nomus then seized her wrist. He held her hand high. “You see! Her hand is clean! She is not chosen by Nimbo!”

Sarah watched as one by one the villagers went through the same ceremony. Every person plunged his right hand into the water. Nomus took each one by the wrist and held up the hand, saying, “You have passed the Test by Water! Your heart is clean!”

Finally all the villagers had been tested, and Nomus pointed suddenly with a long, skinny finger. “Now, bring the Cloud person here.”

Jere glanced at Sarah. He held his head high and went forward. Without waiting, he plunged his hand into the water. He looked straight at Nomus and said, “Do your worst, old man. I’m not afraid of you.”

Nomus glared, but he pulled Jere’s hand free and held it high. “You have passed the Test, Cloud Dweller.” He then turned to Lomeen and said, “Bring the girl, the Sleeper.”

Sarah went forward, somehow knowing what would happen.

She stood before Nomus and held his gaze. If she had ever seen pure evil in the eyes of a human being, it was in the eyes of the high priest.

“Now, Sleeper, we shall see if you have what you are.”

“I’m not afraid of you, Nomus,” Sarah said quietly.

The entire area had fallen quiet, for all seemed to know that the Test with Sarah was important.

“Put your hand in the water!”

Sarah put her hand in the water, and she saw Nomus reach forward. Something happened very quickly. The water turned red. The priest grasped her wrist and brought out her hand. It was stained as red as if plunged in blood. Sarah knew that Nomus had staged this.
He put something in the water!
she thought. But she had no time to protest.

“Her hand is red! She failed the Test of Water. Her heart is wrong. She is the victim for Nimbo.”

“No!” Jere cried out.

Chan reached out and held the young man easily with his massive strength.

“Put her in hold. Nimbo now has a victim.”

Sarah was dragged away and not allowed to speak. She caught a glimpse of Lomeen and saw the fear in the young girl’s eyes.

She had no time to see more, however, because she was thrown into a rude hut. It was semidark inside. On the floor was a mat. There was no furniture at all,
and she paced back and forth trying to conquer the panic that washed over her.

For a long time she walked, and then she took a deep breath.
I’ve been in worse places than this
, she thought.
Goél will not fail me.

It was late that night when she heard a scratching at the door. She went to the hut entrance and heard a whispered voice.

“Sarah, are you awake?” It was Lomeen.

“Yes, I am, Lomeen.”

“Jere is with me. Tell us what we can do.”

“Can you get me out of here?”

“No. The guard has gone just for a minute. We can stay for only a few moments. Tell us what to do.”

Sarah thought quickly. “You must go back to your village, Jere. My fellow Sleepers must be there by now. Go to Josh. Tell him what has happened.”

“We will go at once,” Jere said.

“Then we must go quickly,” Lomeen whispered. “I fear the sacrifice will take place very soon.”

Jere said, his voice harsh, “I’ll bring my people. We’ll save you, Sarah.”

     “Would you really bring your people to overthrow Nomus?” Lomeen asked as they turned away from the hut.

“It would be almost useless. My people are not trained as Chan has trained his men. But we will see. We must save Sarah.”