“What do you see?” Jacob shouted, forgetting his pain and running to join him. To the north, a giant snake appeared to be slithering across the sand, moving constantly, clouds of dust rising up on either side of it. They called for Matthew and Louise to come and look.
“What is it?” Louise asked, holding on to her grandfather’s free hand. As they stood watching, the snake grew legs, hundreds of legs, like a giant centipede.
They sat down to wait as the sun moved across the sky, and the centipede crawled closer. “It’s people!” Monyroor exclaimed. As they watched, it became apparent he was right.
“They do not look like the bad men, the ghost men,” Jacob said.
“No, they do not appear to have much clothing at all,” Matthew said.
The sun crept across the blue sky as they waited, all of them wondering who the walkers might be.
“They must be from a very big village—there are so many of them!” Louise said.
Finally, “They’re boys, all boys!” Jacob cried, jumping to his feet. Forgetting about his aching legs and feet, he ran toward them. The others followed, more cautiously. Jacob slowed down and looked back; his smile became more hesitant as he got closer to the line.
“But why are they all boys?” Louise asked. “Where are the girls?”
No one had an answer for her, but it was true—every single walker was a young boy. The four travelers stood several feet back, watching the line shuffle past. A few of the boys smiled faintly, but most kept their brown eyes fixed on the ground. A few more skinny, hungry people were not of interest to them. “Can you count them all?” Monyroor asked, grinning. There were more boys than it was possible to count. None of them looked familiar, although Jacob looked at each face carefully, hoping to see someone he knew.
“Should we ask where they are going?” Louise said. “Are they Dinka?”
Just then, a small boy broke away from the line. “Jacob? Jacob the Hare!” he called, limping quickly toward them. “Is it you?”
“Oscar? Is it really you?” Jacob asked. “Oscar?” The raspy kite-hawk voice was Oscar’s, and the big monkey ears, but the broken, dusty body did not look like Oscar’s. One of his scrawny arms hung loosely by his side. Jacob’s stomach heaved at the sight of the large open wound, partially wrapped in a filthy rag, but he grinned anyway. “I’m so happy to see you! But who are all these boys? And where are you going?”
“I don’t know where they all came from.” Oscar shrugged. “After the bad men came, I just started walking in the forest, all by myself. Majok found me one day, and we walked together. Even he didn’t know which way to go. Then we met some of these boys and went with them. Each day there are more and more boys. We haven’t eaten in a very long time.” He looked at Matthew and Monyroor hopefully. Monyroor offered him a small sip of the water they had left.
“Where is Majok?” Jacob asked.
Oscar waved his hand at the boys behind him. He stuck his tongue between his teeth. “Sss ... Sss ... somewhere back there—he prefers the company of ‘educated’ boys!”
“Of course he does,” Jacob said. “I hope they like hissing snakes!”
Jacob, Monyroor, Matthew, and Louise fell into line with the others. Already, most of the boys looked very thin; their skin-covered bones made Jacob think of dead cattle he’d seen. Many of them wore only shorts and carried nothing in their hands. Some carried skins or blankets on their heads. Several of them stared longingly at the jug of water Monyroor carried. Most walked stiffly without looking around, their eyes focused on the dusty feet plodding along in front of them.
“We have found nothing to drink or eat,” Oscar said. “We don’t know where we’re going. It’s like a giant game of Follow the Leader, only not so much running and skipping. We’re all just following the boys at the front of the line. They say they are going to Ethiopia, following the rising sun to safety.”
“Does anybody know how far it is to Ethiopia?” Monyroor looked around. “Ah, Majok. The school boy who knows everything. Surely you can help us.”
“I am sure it’s not far,” Majok answered. “We will be there before the next full moon, or earlier,” he said. “There will be more food than you can imagine, and schools and fine houses full of chairs and tables. I learned about it in school.”
“Of course you did,” Jacob said.
“Do you know where all the girls are?” Louise asked.
“All kidnapped, taken away by the soldiers to the north. They will become slaves,” Majok said. “Or worse ...” He did not look especially unhappy about his news.
“Oh ...” Louise poked her tongue through the space between her front teeth and reached for her grandfather’s hand.
Jacob and Oscar turned their backs on Majok. “It must be my lucky day!” Jacob squeezed his friend’s good arm. “I can’t believe I found you!”
“Actually, I think it was me that found you,” Oscar corrected him.
“Of course it was,” Jacob said, laughing.
“Today, we are walking under the sun. We will also walk under the moon, then rest tomorrow,” Oscar explained. “It is too hot for us to always walk during the day, so we take turns. Walking at night is scarier, but so much cooler!”
The days and nights of walking all began to blend together in Jacob’s mind. The land soon changed from dry grasslands to sandy, windswept desert. When the sun was at its hottest one day, they reached the remains of a small village. Several boys broke away from the line and ran toward a large pond just beyond the village. It had become a burial ground of sorts, and the sickening smell of rotting meat hung in the air. Jacob licked his dry lips but felt his stomach turn at the same time. The water was brownish red; oily circles floated on top. It did not look safe to drink. A few of the youngest boys splashed into the pond, searching for clear water. Older boys pulled them back. “Silly boys. Do you want to get sick?” they asked. “You are already hungry as well as thirsty—if you get sick, your bodies will be as empty as hollow gourds!” The boys and Louise dipped their swollen feet quickly to cool them.
Jacob tried to keep track of the sunrises and sunsets. Each morning, he wondered if they would survive to see the next sunset. Each evening, he wondered if they would see the sun rise again. Several times during the day, he repeated the number. Day 19, Day 20 ... I wonder where Uncle Daniel is. Maybe we will see him on our journey ... maybe Mama and the girls are with him ...
Some days, Jacob wondered what would happen if he simply stopped. Jacob had seen only one dead person before, his father, but he had lived to see seventy-nine harvests. How long would it take to die? What would it feel like, waiting for death, alone in the desert? Would Monyroor and Oscar wait with me? A pair of vultures circling overhead squawked, as if they’d heard his thoughts.
Jacob shivered and caught up to the others. He tried to walk in Monyroor’s larger shadow. “The sun can’t find me here!” he said, taking giant steps, trying to keep pace with his nephew’s long strides. Matthew’s shorter leg bothered him more and more each day, and he and Louise began to fall back in the line. Their bobbing heads blended in with all the others until Jacob could no longer pick them out in the crowd. He and Monyroor stopped to wait for them.
“Don’t worry about us,” Matthew called to them. “We’ll be fine.” When they came to a small stand of fig trees, he made a decision. “We will rest here for a time.” He sank to the ground in the shade of a tree. I hope he is not stopping forever, Jacob thought.
Some boys, including Jacob, scrambled up into the fig trees, hoping for some dry, wrinkled fruit to stuff into their pockets. Others followed them until the trees were full of boys. Some, the stronger ones who had been walking for a shorter time, swung from the branches.
“Like monkeys, without tails!” Louise said. “Especially Oscar, with his funny face!” Her brown eyes sparkled as she ran to join them. Her hair was growing scraggly; Matthew had tried to braid it for her. It did not look much like Mama’s neat crown of braids.
“That’s mine!” Majok grabbed a small fig from Jacob, almost pushing him off the branch as he did so.
“I had it first,” Jacob cried, trying to snatch it back.
“Whoops!” Majok shoved Jacob hard with his shoulder. Jacob landed on the ground with a heavy thud. His eyes filled with tears, but he refused to let his enemy see him cry.
“You are like a cobra, Majok—nasty and full of poison.” Jacob got up and walked toward Matthew and Louise, trying not to limp.
After the trees had been picked bare, it was time to move on.
“Majok wouldn’t share,” Oscar complained. “I got nothing.” He held up his empty hands.
“Did you really think he would?” Jacob asked, rubbing his knee. “He pushed me right out of the tree.”
Monyroor offered to rest with their new friends, but Matthew insisted they keep walking. “You are young and strong. Go with the boys. Louise and I will see you in Ethiopia. Wadeng ... Look always to a brighter tomorrow ... Keep safe ...”
To Jacob, he whispered, “Do not be anybody’s slave, Jacob— go to school, like your wise mama wants for you!” He waved his cow’s tail around them several times as they said goodbye. They didn’t have to worry about sharing their jug of water—it had been empty for days.
As they walked, Jacob looked back at his friends, leaning against the rough, cratered bark of the tree. “Will they be all right, Monyroor? Maybe we should stay with them. His legs ... What if she gets taken away?”
“Don’t worry so much, Little Uncle. We will be safer with this growing centipede of boys,” Monyroor answered. His face showed no emotion, like the stern face of a lion. “Let’s go.”
To himself, Jacob thought they had a better chance of finding food and water with a smaller group. How will we ever find enough food for hundreds of boys?
They walked all night, and as the sun rose, they slept once again in an area of tall grasses. By that time, Jacob, Monyroor and Oscar had moved up to the middle of the line of boys. Many of them had found even less to eat and drink than Jacob and Monyroor. The long days and nights were making them move more and more slowly, like old men shuffling along.
Jacob felt protected by the hundreds of boys both in front of and behind them. They did nothing, however, to help his poor blistered feet. “My feet are too sore, Monyroor,” he cried, hobbling along. “For once, I wish my feet were smaller, like the feet of an antelope, not a hare. It is like walking on knives all day.”
“And mine also,” Monyroor replied. “Think how wonderful it would be if we had shoes!” Some of the other boys had started the journey with scraps of fabric tied to their feet, but the cloth had soon been shredded into threads by the sand and rocks and sharp needle grasses.
Jacob squeezed his eyes shut and pictured his mother. He saw her strong hands easing the pain in his feet with a cool cream she had made. Wadeng, Jacob; wadeng ...
One sleeping night, Jacob jerked awake to the terrifying sounds of shrill screaming, “Noooooo! Help me! Please! Mama!” followed by ferocious snarling and roaring, and the snapping of savage teeth crunching. Jacob huddled closer to Monyroor.
“Is it a lion?” he whispered. “If only you had your spear!” When silence returned, all around him boys reached for the hands of those beside them. No one said a word as they shuffled closer to each other in the tightly-packed sleeping circles, trying to hide and waiting for the pitch-black African night to end. The peaceful rustling of the tall grasses did little to calm them. Jacob could see some boys’ lips moving as they prayed silently.
“Blessings on our brother,” Monyroor said finally. Jacob pressed up against his nephew. His hand brushed against Monyroor’s lion tail. Jacob wrapped his fingers around the coarse hair. His other hand found his stone. He rubbed it over his eyes, trying to make them close, wishing for Mama. The sky was beginning to glow pink and gold before Jacob’s limbs softened once again into sleep.