After a lot of trouble and a moving of the bed, along with the moving of the heavy wooden chest of drawers which they discovered covered a large hole in the hotel room floor, the trio managed to get a signal by standing at the window where the bed had been.
‘Hey Daddy! How are you? How’s Cora?’ Maddie grinned at the blurred image of Marvin on the laptop screen.
‘I’m fine. We all are honey. She’s gone to the mall with your mom. They’ve gone to get some stuff to make a house for that caterpillar of hers, though I’d say a coffin would be more fitting.’
Maddie grinned. ‘Daddy, I’ve got a couple of questions for you. Oh, but say hey first to Rosedale.’
Rosedale looked at the monitor. Tipped his hat said, ‘Hey Mr. Menga.’
‘Call me, Marvin, Rosedale… I hope you’re looking after my daughter.’
‘I think it’s actually her who’s looking after us, Marvin.’
‘And say hello to Tom, Daddy.’ Marvin sat motionless in his chair. ‘Damn, I think it’s frozen… Daddy?’
‘Oh no baby, there’s nothing wrong with the picture, well not this one anyway… Why don’t you ask me what you wanted to?’
‘Okay, well did you get my email with the photograph?’
Marvin’s face turned serious. Real serious. ‘I did, but Maddie I think you should be careful. Are you sure this is wise? I think you should be careful baby and you know what I mean.’
Conscious of Cooper staring at her, Maddie felt herself blush. ‘That hasn’t got anything to do with this, and it certainly isn’t the time to talk about it… Please.’
‘Okay, but I’m not happy.’
‘I know… So that photograph I sent you was of the charcoal and the berries we found outside the house which they tried to burn down. I was hoping you’d know exactly what it meant, or what you think it might mean.’
Marvin took a moment to find his words. ‘You see how the charcoal was built up in a high pyramid? Well I think that’s supposed to depict a person. Sometimes it can be leaves or grass, a piece of stone, but it’s never some random object. Everything has a meaning. And if I’m right, the charcoal means someone thinks the person in this house was bad. Or, if you like, had bad spirits within them. In a way it’s more about the color. Charcoal and the circle of berries around it are a representation. And when used together it becomes more powerful. So the color black, along with charcoal and the berries, symbolizes that someone thinks the person was possessed by Kindoki… Are you okay, Maddison?’
‘I’m fine. Just carry on, Daddy.’
‘Well, as you know, Kindoki is like witchcraft, and the berry and charcoal are a sign the person has a black liver.’
‘Liver?’
‘Yes, that’s where it’s believed the evil lives. The whole world is filled with signs and symbols, this is just another kind of one. Signs are relative to the people, the culture, and there’s an understanding and an acceptance to them. When was the last time you questioned the symbol of a red heart with a pierced arrow through it on a Valentine’s card?’
Maddie pulled a face. ‘You mean the ones which were never sent me…? Never, I guess.’
Cooper ignored Maddie’s slight, and Rosedale’s grin – focused instead on the conversation. Not that it hadn’t irritated the hell out of him.
‘Exactly,’ continued Marvin. ‘You just accepted it when really the physiology of a heart in actuality has nothing to do with love, but like some Congolese believe evil lives in the liver, here in the States they believe love lives in the heart.’
‘So what exactly do the berries mean, Daddy?’
‘The berries were in a circle around the charcoal, which I’m sure represents a person who’s been so overtaken and possessed by the sorcery or witchcraft they’ve now become a danger to the community. Capable of killing someone. Therefore, it’s down to the neighborhood or village to get rid of them before he or she gets their bad spirit to do harm.’
‘How?’
‘It could be as extreme as killing them. Nobody wants to live next to a witch who’s going to do harm. And that’s how the charcoal and berries come about. There’re placed outside the house to warn others as well as acting as a frightener, you know, to scare the people who’ve been accused of witchcraft away. Then its job is done. The people pack up and go off on their own accord, and no-one has to get hurt.’
‘So you think it’s what happened here? They thought those two old people were possessed?’
‘Perhaps… Honey, I don’t know all the answers. But I do know the belief system of Kindoki is real, as you know only too well, whether you agree with it or not, or whether you think it’s right or wrong. That is part of the culture there, for better or worse, which means nobody wants outsiders coming in to judge or mess with it. So my advice to all of you is to come home, and come home now.’