Nirvana Effect

69



Where is Bri? Nockwe first looked for his wife when he reached the encampment. He feared for his family’s safety first and foremost. She was in a crowd - the whole village was gathered in an oval. He watched them by the dawn light.

He was alone. The car had broken down, so he had finished his trip by foot. He had run the whole way. The others were far behind him.

He pushed through the mass of villagers and touched her elbow. “Where are the children?” he asked.

“They are with their grandmother, farther from the coast,” she answered. Near the jungle. That was wise. There is great safety in the jungle.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

“Go to the front, quickly. Manassa fights the white man.”

The man who saved my life. Nockwe plunged through the crowd. His wife followed in his wake. He didn’t want her to, but there would be no stopping her. They reached the front of the circle.

He couldn’t help but think about his duel with Dook, and Edward’s intervention. He pushed thoughts of honor aside. If he were to save his village from this tyrant, he would need to wait for his opportunity. It would not be now, with village burned and his people homeless, and all of the tribe’s resources under Mahanta’s thumb.

Nockwe watched the rhythms of the duel. Mahanta was winning. The Onge god landed a heavy blow to Edward’s face. It looked like he broke the white man’s nose. Mahanta seized the initiative, striking furiously and recovering his knife.

Bri grabbed Nockwe’s arm. “Nockwe,” she shouted over the din of the crowd.

He looked back at her. She sounded disturbed.

“Look at her,” she said, pointing to a young white woman held hostage by two warriors. “That is the savior of our child. That is her. And this is surely her death.”