The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

59.

‘Have you divided your groups accordingly?’

The question was met with a silence that threatened to go on forever.

‘Have you outlined the routes which the search will follow?’ Tamuka asked again.

This time there was a head scratch or two from the group of guards in front of him that looked more confused about the situation than he was. Earlier that morning he had encountered Revai and Hombarume during their escape and his obvious instinct was to catch up with Revai and infer about what was taking place.

There was clearly something wrong but in the heat of the moment he did not think about how approaching these two men while alone and unarmed was a grave mistake.

He wrestle with the wood fashioned gate that the two had completely ignored, skipping the barrier. The homestead belonged to a hunter who was fortunately still at home though shocked to be woken up by the tavern owner. Tamuka was a man who naturally oozed confidence, hence he stood his ground and took charge of the situation.

‘My apologies for this extremely inappropriate awakening, but you have to help me with a developing situation.’

His tone made it sound like an order and the still disoriented hunter did not think to protest. He had obviously indulged himself in a gourd or two the previous night and he was still trying to ward off the remnants of the merriment, but surprisingly, he wasted little time and followed Tamuka like a sheep does a shepherd.

‘Is that Hombarume?’ he asked.

‘Indeed it is,’ Tamuka replied.

‘A-and the head of the guard, that arrogant fellow?’

Tamuka did not dignify this with an answer although he strongly wanted to.

‘There’s no time to waste, we have to follow them,’ he said, eyeing the compound for cover.

‘Forget that, they have already seen us, look.’

Before Tamuka could take a couple of glances, his counterpart was already sprinting off toward the field and he followed not too far behind. The men they were pursuing were not amateurs at all, Hombarume for one, was a good hunter, swift on his feet when he needed to be, not easy to catch and Revai himself had not become the head of the guard by slacking around.

In his mind, he was trying to piece together what was taking place here, just a day ago, Hombarume had been involved in a public slaying that left children fatherless and a woman widowed. Why then was Revai helping that same murderer instead of apprehending him like the law of the land required him to. He had gone on many an adventure with Revai as the Chief’s guard always involved despite him not having guard status.

The chase led them to a small field concealed in tall grass. A few moments earlier, Tamuka had heard his counterpart, the hunter, whimpering when they crossed the thorny barrier of his field. He had been unlucky for sure and in that wavering moment while they stopped to assess the wound, Revai disappeared onto the other end of the tall grass and Hombarume followed not too far behind, leaving Tamuka with only a quick glance that was filled with pure darkness. He knew instantly that catching up with them was now a dream, especially without stopping to take a breath or strategize. The hunter would not make it anywhere without help.

The only thing left to do was stumble on to where the team would convene and if he was right, which  he always was, he knew exactly where that would be.
When Tamuka finally arrived at Ushe’s household, he imagined that the men would have already moved on without him because of how much the hunter had slowed him down. They would have moved on with whatever plan they had agreed to, but they were there and in the middle of discourse with the men from Makura village who had arrived a few days earlier. The search party was looking to borrow their horses for the search but they were uninterested in interfering.

One of them, Hamandishe, seemingly agreed to help, seeing no fault in the matter, but quickly changed his mind and altered his response even when Tamuka promised to help them in a search of their own for their missing master. The other fellow was adamant, really hard-headed, so they decided to withdraw, seeing as it was proving to be futile. This reluctance was something that Tamuka would not soon forget.

Now he was asking the team of men in front of him why they had taken so long to leave and after the head scratching, two familiar faces arrived with a smaller group of men at the threshold of the large compound.

‘I have been trying to find out what the way forward is, but these men have given me absolutely nothing,’ he said.

‘That is because we have been instructed to take orders from you as the new head of the Chief’s guard,’ Kushinga said.