When they returned to the village Zahra received the great surprise that Kitwana was waiting for her. The shaman was very old but still moved with agility and ran the savannah offering his services to his regular clients. Their mutual excitement was immense and the girl warmly embraced the old man to the surprise of the whole village, whose members were unaccustomed to such public effusions of affection. Finally Zahra noticed that Federico was present and releasing Kitwana took the boy's hand and proceeded to introduce them.
"I introduce you to Kitwana, the man who picked me up when I was wandering alone through the jungle and brought me to this village that is my now home." The woman's tone showed that she was shaken. "I told you the story and you know what I am talking about.” Then she turned to the shaman and said.
“Kitwana, let me I introduce you to Federico, my boyfriend.”
At the insistence of the grateful young woman the shaman stayed with her and her boyfriend in the mission. Both Zahra and Kitwana wanted to tell each other everything that had happened in the twenty years since their separation when the young girl left the village of her foster father. Federico left them alone so that they could speak privately using the tribal dialect or the Swahili in alternative form.
After a prolonged exposition by the woman and a much shorter one by the shaman, they both went to an interior garden of the building where the old man lit a small fire. As Zahra knew what would come she sat on a small bench in front of Kitwana and remained silent. The sorcerer extracted a handful of ground and dried herbs from his pack and threw them over the fire, producing an acrid, thick smoke. The girl felt a slight dizziness and then a state of well-being that were well known to her and brought back memories of her distant stay with Kitwana. The shaman rolled his eyes and began to swing back and forth over the stone on which he was sitting while humming an ancient melody in a forgotten language. The process lasted an eternity, and every so often the sorcerer threw a new handful of herbs into the fire that immediately burnt crackling . Kitwana suddenly opened his eyes and said.
"He's totally in love with you."
"Who?" Zahra's question was utterly unnecessary, and only allowed her to gradually assimilate the pleasure caused by the phrase.
“Your boyfriend. He would follow you to the end of the world and you can do with him whatever you want ... in fact you are already doing it.”
“ What do you mean?” New rhetorical question.
"What you do to him gives you a new kind of pleasure ..." The old man ignored Zahra´s question and continued with his vision. "... something that was unknown to you and now you want to keep at all costs. It is something that should bring you remorse and even embarrass you, because you are abusing him but you have become addicted to this feeling ... and so does he.”
The old man looked at Zahra in the eyes for the first time since his peroration began while the woman defiantly looked at him.
“Then follow with your instincts but you will have to restrain yourself because you can harm him and he will never complain ... because he is your slave.. your voluntary slave.”
Kitwana, who looked tired from the effort of sustained concentration paused and loosened his stance while Zahra, who had been drinking with relish the old man's words, remained silent. The man recovered himself, extracted a new handful of the hallucinogen from his bag and continued.
"But I see a shadow ... a shadow that comes from the past." The woman jumped on her bench paying full attention.
"It is a woman ... surely the former owner of your slave ... who is still in love with him and who is about to give birth a son of him and will not rest until recovering him... or kill him and kill you too.”
Under great agitation Zahra stood up but shortly after regained control of her and sat down again. For the first time, she opened his mouth.
"What will this woman do to get him back? She does not know where we are....”
Kitwana frowned and began to hammer and hum again. Finally he continued talking.
"Do not rely too much on your safety ... there's one ... no, two ... three black men behind your lead. It's a matter of time before they get to you and your boyfriend.”
At that moment Federico, who had left them alone a couple of hours before, appeared in the door without speaking a word. Zahra jumped again.
"Do not say any of this to Federico," She pleaded.
“I will not. But I will talk to your father to prevent him. He will know how to take care of you.”
––––––––
When the line phone rang Shantaya immediately rose. She had already received a text message announcing the call.
"Hi ... yes Narcisse, all right, I listen to you.”
The interlocutor kept speaking for a while narrating his investigations.
"... I finally determined that they both flew to Nairobi from Toronto. They must have crossed to Canada by car.”
"It makes sense, because I know that this Zahra woman is Kenyan, the same as Adhiambo. What is the next step?”
"Go to Kenya and try to find a clue in Nairobi."
“ Then fly right now and start searching.”
"I must bring two of my men, both Africans, to move in that continent which is unknown to me.”
“Well, just do it.”
“There will be expenses.”
"Pay no attention to expenses. Bring me what I asked for.”