The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

38.

 

Tapfuma was exonerated but he still did not feel whole. He felt like Rujeko village would never ever be what he always dreamed it would be to him, it would never be kind to him. His father died mysteriously, his death was still unsolved but the crown had agreed to bury him as his only present family could not do it. He wanted his first time being out of his father's captive hands to be a day of freedom a day of happiness, but now, he feared no one would accept him.

Ushe, the kind farmer, was the only one who had been on his side through all of it and he would forever be thankful for the support. The farmer did not have to, but he helped him get exonerated and had been visiting him to be sure that he was well. He had been strongly suggesting that he stay with him for the meantime but Tapfuma only said he'd put it into consideration but what he was really considering was leaving the village.

He would start afresh in Makura where no one knew him or would ever care to know his story. He would write a new story, with new people and experiences. Of course to start over in a new village, he would need to sell off his father's belongings and by the looks of it, he could salvage a lot for his new life and still get a lot of cowries from the rest. He needed to do it as discreetly as possible, people knowing that he was planning his exit and selling of his freshly dead father's property already, would become highly suspicious.

He walked around the large compound, evaluating everything that was left behind and what it all would be worth to him if he had to sell it. The granary lay behind his father's quarters and it was still quite full, no surprise there since it only catered for two people and would be refilled every year when the harvest came. No matter how hard the cropping season was, they would still have enough to last them until the next season and some left to spare. At this time of the year it was easy to sell grain since the year was highly spent and most villagers had already depleted their stores.

His father had been making hoes, axes, ploughs and other equipment that he would never need in his entire life. It was always strange to Tapfuma but now that he thought about it, it might have been more of a fixation. The man never talked about his family, his relatives or anything of that sort. He didn't even talk about where he came from either but one thing was for sure, it wasn't from Rujeko, the way he talked and how he generally was compared to other villagers was quite different. The strange part was how he would never slip up, not even once, even if the conversation was heavily skewed in that direction, he would always find away to rescue himself from it. Now that he was dead, the mystery would never be solved, he had managed to take his secrets to the grave and Tapfuma hated him for it because now he was left with no identity, no religion, no culture to identify with because his father renounced it all.

The store was dark but soon enough Tapfuma's eyes got acclimated to it and he could make out the objects in the room. Hoes were neatly arranged against the wall, there were pieces of iron that lay on the ground at the center of the room, possibly the ones that were going to be worked on next, before he knew that death was beyond the corner. The sharper equipment like axes, spears and daggers were arranged on the floor at a far end of the room, almost made easy for him to collect and sell. He was sure the man would not miss them anyway. He probably didn't remember that most of this equipment existed.

Ever since his father's demise, Tapfuma hadn't had the courage to enter his hut. It was still as he had left it the day of the brutal murder, blood everywhere and items scattered all over the place. The blood had dried up and the mess was producing a displeasing smell. Tapfuma went around the room, collecting valuables and moving everything that was in the way, he didn't plan to stay there long. There was too much attached to the room and there was a heavy presence to it that wasn't sitting well with him. In one end of the room there were sheets of cloth that had been folded up in a rather untidy manner unlike everything else that was arranged in the room before the obvious scuffle. He lifted the sheet of cloth; maybe he would get a decent amount of cowries for it.

It was after he finished assessing the cloth that he noticed the necklace fashioned out of porcupine quills and golden beads. It was beautiful and certainly not something that would have belonged to his father. He lifted it and examined it a little more, something like this would fetch him a lot of cowries from market men who pawned off rare items, but there was something about it that just made it seem important, aside the fact that it was hidden, it had an energy that overshadowed the heavy presence in the room, a bright energy.

Nowhe had more questions that had been onhis mind before. This piece of jewelry belonged to someone and it wasup to him to find out who it belonged to. The beads seemed like they were madefrom pure gold and the work on the piece was quite impressive, something he hadnever seen before. He kept the necklace and left the hut with everything thathe had deemed necessary to sell except for the alluring necklace, of course.Now that Tapfuma had found the necklace, he searched the compound and this timeit was no longer for something with resale value, but to find something,anything that might point him in a certain direction. He wanted something thatwould lead him to a familiar place, to his roots.