Drums resounded through the fields.
"Reverend! Reverend!"
The boy was young. He was an unlikely child to find himself in trouble, in that he spent more time watching his younger sisters play with the dogs, than acting his age.
The priests that lived at the mission liked to keep the grass short. They kept five goats for that purpose. They were but half a day's walkremoved from Samburu, and they were on good terms with the Kikuyu that lived nearby.
The boy ran up the house. He was too slow. The drums were getting closer. But his legs had been infected by a stillwater parasite, and the thick bandages round his shins and feet hindered him greatly.
An old German man, who walked with deeply bent shoulders, and who's bald head showed the blue veins and the red of his sunburn, came to the veranda. The boy started gesturing wildly.
"No stay dey here, Reverend. You gots to run, sharp sharp!"
"Nyemah? What is the matter, child?"
"Malkia an' Gini dey with di goats, dem deysafe! Nyundo is coming! Nyundo is coming! De have Father Paul, oh! He no come back, you see? Dem dey here. You hear? You hear dem drums? You gots to run!"
"Not all drums are war drums, child."
"No—no, I no fit read dat book wey you love, but I read beat of di drums! You go now., run, run!"
In that same moment, a shout was heard from behind the house. A crouching warrior rushed past, taking a shot as he went: Nyemah shrieked.
The warrior shouted: "Moto! Fire! Fire! Weka moto kwake! Ili wasiwafanye watotowetu kusahau miungu ya babu zetu!" He took another shot. "So that no more they make our children forget the gods of our ancestors!"
The old man froze, now fully erect, as the bullet pierced his throat. The young boy raced to catch the man as a second warrior threw a grenade into the house. Nyemah sank to the ground. As flames enveloped the mission, he put the old man's head in his lap. He threw back his head and let out an anguished cry of grief.
A second warrior ran up to the boy and lifted him under his arms. Nyemah cried bitterly as he was carried away to safety.