New to the story? Start at the beginning.
Previous Chronicle: Zag is in Mr. Nko's house, still handcuffed and having memories of Mama. Waiting to find out what will happen to him.
Zag was sitting on a bed in an upstairs room. There was a picture of Mr Nko with his family on a low table in front of him. Mr. Nko was standing with his wife and two boys - both a few years older than Zag. They were dressed in clothes that Zag had only ever seen when there was a festival in the village and important people came to give speeches. He didn’t know that boys too could wear suits and ties.
Do they make them in small sizes too? He thought.
Zag had never had a picture of him taken. A photographer came to Namanga sometimes, but his parents never had enough money to pay for family photos to be taken. His friend Kosho, who lived next door has a picture of his family inside their house. Zag’s father always said they would get photos when they had a better house. Otherwise the photos wouldn’t look good and they would just be wasting money.
Mr Nko’s house looked much better than their house for sure. It was big and spacious, with ceilings that were so high, they might as well have been in the sky. Zag looked around the room: There was a tall bookshelf full of books in the far left corner. Some books were in a small pile on the floor. He made a mental note to go and have a look later - if they released him from the handcuffs. Right now he just wanted to make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. He could smell a familiar smell - of beans cooking slowly. At home, Mama cooked beans on the charcoal stove outside. It was a comforting smell. There was a something slightly different with the beans cooking here, though. Either they were different beans, or they had some spices he had never smelt before. They smelt expensive.
I hope I get to taste them, he thought.
The bed he was sitting on was soft and had a colorful cover with orange, yellow and black patchwork, that made a picture of a lion. It was the first bed that Zag had ever sat on. He felt a strong urge to try out what it felt like to sleep on a bed that was not a piece of cloth on the floor.
I don’t want to get in trouble, he thought, which only increased his curiosity.
But maybe I could just lie down for a little bit and get up quickly. If Mr. Nko comes back I’ll hear him.
He listened carefully for any signs of movement outside the room. He could hear nothing, except the regular tick-tocking of a clock. He looked up above the door and noticed the clock for the first time. There was one very thin hand that moved around and made the tick-tocking sound. There were two other hands that seemed to both be pointing downwards.
It was getting slightly darker in the room now and Zag felt the fatigue of a long journey wash over him. He decided to try the bed.
Only for a few seconds, he thought.
The next thing he knew was that he was floating above a field of flowers. As he rose he felt his body blow up like a balloon. The bigger the balloon became, the higher he could rise. He couldn’t fall no matter how much he thought about it. The flowers below him were different shades of turquoise and orange and some of them grew quickly to meet him in the sky. But as soon as they got close enough for him to touch them, they shrank just as quickly back to the ground and looked like normal flowers again.
Among the moving flowers, Zag saw something flying toward him. It was a bird. A black bird. It flew left to right across his face and almost knocked him off-balance. He bounced into a new flight path and the bird returned, faster this time and flew right past his nose so he could smell it. It smelled of burning beans. For several minutes he kept motioning the bird away and each time it came back, causing his balloon to deflate and fall towards the ground. Just before he hit the ground his balloon inflated once more and he rose again, floating above the turquoise and orange flowers. Some of the orange flowers were turning black and then back to orange. They seemed to be responding to the birds movements.
He heard a voice he recognized from somewhere.
Zag, it’s me.
He looked to his right. The bird was now flying alongside him.
It’s me, Koah Koah. I can teach you to fly better, but you’re pretty good!
Zag smiled and kept flying.
I have three things to tell you and I have to be fast because, well, because you’re not good at paying attention.
I remember you. Zag said. I saw you when we were on the truck.
Yessir! said the bird. You catch on fast! It’s me the one and only Koah Koah! You can call me Koah for short! And he laughed.
Zag noticed for the first time that he no longer had handcuffs on him. He laughed too.
Ok listen up meister. We have to make this fast.
Numero Uno! My name is Koah Koah. He coughed and continued. The Great. Don’t believe anything else anyone tells you! I am actually great. I am the greatest of them all. Did you get all that? Do you need me to repeat that?
No. I understand. Your name is Koah Koah and I can call you Koah.
Seems like you’re not understanding meister. Koah Koah, the Great. Great Lord of the Skies. Owner of the Clouds and Maker of the Stars. If you like music it’s because I made it. All of it. If you don’t like music it’s because I didn’t make the music you listened to. It’s simple, I’m the greatest. Koah Koah the Greatest, but yes, Koah for short! You got all that?
Yes!
Good, then we can continue! Numero dos. Listen carefully meister, this is very important. Muy importante. You are in danger, and there is only one person you can trust here. You haven’t met this person yet. You will know who this person is because they will give you a bracelet. Umm a bracelet is one of those things you can put on your wrist. A wrist is that thing next to your hand, part of your tibia and fibula. No wait, that’s the leg. Part of your,… what are the bones in your arm called? Radius and …?
I don’t know but I know what a bracelet is.
Good! That helps me. The bracelet will be made of sisal rope. Until this person arrives tell everyone as little as you can get away with. Understand? Definitely don’t tell them about me. Dig? Any questions?
Yes. Do you mean sisal rope like Mama has on her yam bags?
Yessir, you’re acting smarter than you look today.
What kind of danger? Fun danger, like when we’re playing, or real danger, like when there are locusts?
Now that would be telling wouldn’t it, meister? Listen we need to get to number three before the sun sets.
Zag noticed the sun for the first time. It was blazing deep red as it set beyond the horizon of the field of flowers, turning everything dark red.
Flying was becoming difficult now - it felt like his balloon was made of lead and he had to exert energy to keep it afloat. As he dropped lower, the smell of burning beans became stronger and filled his nostrils.
He opened his eyes. It was almost dark in the room now and Zag could feel the cold of the handcuffs on his wrists. Mr. Nko was standing quietly in front of him with a belt in his hand and the smell of burning beans on his body.
Come with me, Mr. Nko said.