Chapter Seven.
Emarr
Emarr sat alone on the warm sand, and watched the other children having fun diving under the waves that crashed onto the shore. He sat there silently knowing that he could never be that carefree; he was different.
His father, when he was younger, told him that he belonged to the Sitio - the serf class. His family was not allowed to own land or coconut trees, and often worked for the Ramaoide class. He had once asked why his family belonged to the Sitio class, and why they did not belong to the two upper classes.
His father had replied sadly: “It is the way of our people. In the past if we could prove our bravery, we would be given land, or coconut trees of our own, and then could become part of the Ramaoide class. But the times of valour and heroism have ended, and we must accept our place within the tribe.”
Emarr was always conscious of this distinction between himself and other members of the village. There were others of the Sitio class, but he shunned away from everyone, not making friends with any of the boys his own age. At times the boys from the other two classes made fun of him. When he was younger he felt hurt at their cruelty, but as he grew older he ignored their sneers.
He was an only child. His small brothers and sister died when they were very young. He could still remember his little sister. He had often carried her on his back and played with her. He knew that his parents would rely on him in the future, but he did not mind. He felt angry and hated being made to feel inferior to those children now playing in the water. Emarr had one dream he kept to himself; he wanted to leave this island and take his parents to a better place, where they would be equal to the other villagers.
He often watched three friends play and knew their names. The small girl that seemed to be the leader was Ekewane, the great head chief’s granddaughter. Her mother was also the most powerful sorceress in the village. The two young boys were Amweb and Emarr like himself, and they too belonged to the Ramaoide class.
He often thought that if his little sister was still alive she would be like the young slim girl, running free and having fun, not caring about classes and possessions.
The other girls her age living in the village never seemed to run around like her. Once they had finished their chores they would sit by their huts, combing and threading flowers in each other’s hair, or weaving wreaths to wear on their heads. He had often heard them snigger as Ekewane walked past. But she did not seem to notice and lived in a world of adventure and fantasy, as she played with her friends.
He had already gone through puberty and his initiation ceremony. “I am now fourteen, and a man, and I will change things for my family!” he had thought.
At the time a special hut had been built for him and other boys that went through their initiation. Whilst he was living in this hut he was treated the same as the others. They stayed in this special hut for four weeks, ate special food that was prepared for them, and each day an elder member of the tribe would come and teach them wrestling, boxing and other sports. They were also taught many things about life, marriage and responsibilities. At the end of the four weeks there was a great ceremony. He was aware that his parents could not provide the same elaborate celebration as some of the other boys, but he did not care, in his eyes and the eyes of the villagers he had become a man, and his parents were very proud of him.
“I will change my future!” he promised himself as he watched the slim girl walk towards him. She was about eleven; her long black hair wet from the seawater, and her bright brown eyes sparkled with mischief. She glanced at him sitting there, but did not give any sign of recognition and started running along the beach.
Emarr was tall and muscular. Because he was taller than the other boys of his age, he looked older and he felt proud of this fact. His black hair reached his shoulders like the other men of the village, but he never let it loose like the others -it annoyed him, so he tied it behind his head.
He had heard that some of the villagers would leave the island and wanted to be part of this group. However, he knew his father had no say in the matter and he had no power to speak. One morning when he left his hut that he shared with other boys of his age, he went to see his parents.
“Emarr, we too shall leave this island with the other families,” his father had said.
Emarr could not believe it! He thought he must have misunderstood, and slowly looked at his mother and she nodded. He felt and exhilarating current of joy sweep through him and wanted to scream out; they would finally leave this island his dream had come true.
The following months he was part of the teams of men preparing the canoes. He felt wonderful being part of this adventure. “Anywhere will be better than here!” he kept thinking to himself.
The journey across the sea had been difficult. It took a long time and there was barely enough food or water to survive - but they did.
The canoes in the great sea separated, and they could no longer see any of the villagers that had left with them. Emarr knew that Ekewane and her family had also left the island; he did not know why but was happy that she would be there in their new home.
When the storms came the others thought that they would all drown: he knew they would survive. From time to time he wondered what had become of chief Erangue and hoped they too had survived; it saddened him to think that the little courageous girl would be lost at sea.
And then the day came when they saw the island. The families in the canoe were happy, land at last! Yet they were afraid of what they would find on the island, but again he knew they would survive.
When they were closer to the island they could see people running and waving their arms happy to see them. The people ran out to greet them and when they were close to the reef, helped them pull their canoe ashore. Once on shore they were offered food and water.
He had sat down on the sand exhausted and only looked up when two small hands put a coconut under his nose. He lifted his eyes only to look into two large brown mischievous eyes. He blinked and felt stunned, “Ekewane?” he asked, the girl looked at him, smiled, and then skipped away.
The days that followed were exciting. They travelled north along the shore looking for other members of their village. Although people were still afraid of what the island held, everyone was grateful to be on land.
Emarr always kept Ekewane in his sight. He felt uneasy about what could lay ahead of them, so he always stayed nearby in case of danger. He did not understand why, but felt protective of the young girl and did not want any harm to come to her. He had turned fifteen on the boat coming over, but no one acknowledged this date, as they were overwhelmed with the difficulties and danger that every day brought.
It was one night many weeks after their arrival and they had finally returned to their first camp, that Emarr was as usual sitting not far from where Ekewane and her friend Eiru always sat, when Ekewane called him over. He was shocked but went over and sat down on the ground nearer to them. He felt awkward and embarrassed, so he did not speak. He sat there happy to listen to their chatter. Emarr could hear Ekewane’s excitement when she talked about the mountain; surely he thought she is only dreaming about it.
He would often lay awake at night listening to the horrible screaming coming from the mountain. He knew it was the spirit world, and that Ekewane’s mother had assured them that the spirits would not harm them, but he still felt the hair behind his neck tingle every time he heard that piercing scream; the mountain is warning us not to go there he thought, it is the land of the spirits and we do not belong.
That night listening to Ekewane talking excitedly about the mountain, a strange suspicion came over him; he did not trust her.
He awoke with an uneasy feeling; there had been something in Ekewane’s behaviour the night before that made him suspicious. It was still morning when he noticed her creeping away into the undergrowth and decided to follow at a distance.
“I will only come out if she needs me. Perhaps she is only going to fetch w
ater.
He had been hiding, when he heard Eiru running after her. He stopped and watched the girls arguing, and then they both continued walking.
“She will not go far, because of her young friend. I’ll wait near the ponds until they return.”
He sat down near the water deep in his thoughts. The peaceful water and the heat of the day made him drowsy and fell asleep. He woke up startled, the screaming from the mountain had awoken him, and it sounded much louder and terrifying.
“The spirit of the mountain is angry!”
“Ekewane, Eiru?” he whispered.
He did not think they had returned because he would have heard them talking and laughing as they usually did when they were together. He quickly got up and looked at the track where the girls had gone and felt undecided.
“Maybe I am being foolish and overprotective . . . but I will follow their path for a little way ahead.”
At one point he thought he heard screams, but was not sure, they were a long way away and could have been the spirits from the mountain. It was becoming dark he could feel the undergrowth become cooler as the sun was setting.
Emarr knew that it was useless trying to follow the girls in the dark. “I am foolish as the girls are probably back at camp, they may have returned another way.”
He was unsure what to do, but finally decided that he would sleep there for the night. He looked at the surrounding trees and saw that there were tall coconut trees nearby, so climbed up and cut some coconuts down.
He did not sleep well that night; afraid for himself and the uncertainty of the two girls. As soon as the first rays of light filtered through the trees, he looked around again to see if he could see any of the branches cut or broken by the girls.
He sighed seeing their track. He wanted to return to the village so he could go fishing, so he hurried. He thought that if the girls had returned, their track would soon go back down towards the sea. But instead it kept climbing up the side of the mountain.
“They did not return they must be still on the mountain. If I hurry the girls may be still asleep somewhere not too far ahead,” he reasoned out aloud.
And then he heard it, not the piercing screams of the spirits.
“EKEWANE!” he yelled.
He did not breathe and remained rooted to the forest floor, too shocked to move.
Then he heard more screams! They were panic-stricken. He could tell that the girl screaming had lost all control and given way to fear.
So he ran, and ran, slipping on the branches that lay hidden across his path.
He felt the sting of deep scratches on his arms and legs as he ran as fast as he could. The screams were getting louder and louder. “Just a little way ahead!” he told himself, and he prayed silently to his ancestors.
He came to a small clearing, and saw Eiru standing over what seemed a large crevice in the ground, she had her hands stretched out in front of her and was screaming hysterically.
“NO!” he yelled, and ran up to Eiru.
He put his hands on her shoulders, but she was oblivious to him and would not stop screaming, so gently placed his hand over her mouth to make her stop, but as soon as his hand felt her warm breath, she collapsed.
He looked at Eiru only for a moment and then down at where she had been gazing. Ekewane was lying at the bottom of a deep hole. The hole was steep, and at the bottom it was the size of two large huts.
“EKEWANE! EKEWANE!” he shouted. And then relief flowed through him, and he felt the air flow out of his lungs; he had not breathed since he heard those awful screams. Ekewane turned her head and looked at him bewildered.
“Ekewane!” Emarr called out again.
“I’m - all - right . . . but . . . the hole is too steep . . . I cannot climb up.”
He could barely make out what she had said, her voice was rasping, as if she was in pain.