Prologue five

The journey went on without trouble. The canoe captain was nice to him. The river's waves were docile all the way. Crocodiles observed courtesy. And the guardians of the empire's doors were very helpful.

The lumberjack entered Okunde through its north gate as he had schemed. He checked the pocket of his white men's gown to grasp the magical empty white paper. He brought it near to his face, and to his great astonishment, the image of the young maiden reappeared. And like the first time, it became clearer and clearer.

This time she had on her the popular traditional wax-made women's gown, the Kaba. She was wandering across the streets. She walked past Mobu street, Madi street, Kada street, and Sanka street to the grand statue of the reigning Batang Emperor, his Majesty Batang V, the fifth ruler of the Batang dynasty.

Babida had not recognized the streets the young maiden was passing by but his attention was caught when the miss went past the Emperor's statue. It was one of the most famous monuments in the whole empire and it was situated nowhere else but in the center of Ekule village.

"What? So she lives in Ekule." Babida exclaimed, stunned, referring to the young maiden.

"I must go to Ekule right away." He told himself while hasting.

He walked in the direction of Okunde's west gate. From there he stepped inside Ekule through its east door. As he moved forward he glared at a wooden house. It was a chalet. It seemed to him colloquial. He felt like he had seen it already but could not remember where. And then…

"Oh, wait a minute! The magical blank white paper!" He shouted as he was recovering his memory.

"Yes, that's the house I saw in the image. That's the young maiden's hideout." The lumberjack uttered undoubtedly.

He started to stretch his neck, then his feet in an attempt to peep inside the house but it was hermetically locked. There was no opening. He paused for a moment to think about his next move. While doing so, he placed his hands on each of his waists, lowered his head slightly, and glazed the sand on the floor.

Then, for no specific reason, he turned to look in his back and could not believe his eyes. Another house but entirely identical to the previous one. A twin house. The only difference was that the window was open and he could spot from a distance the moving shadows inside.

Like a frog, the woodsman leaped over the tiny fence in front of him, and like a snail, he crawled quietly to the opened window. Yet, he was not tall enough to spy through comfortably. So he took a brick that was laid on the floor and placed it against the house plank wall, then climbed on top of it.

Unfortunately, his weight was too overwhelming for the poor brick which failed to resist and dislocated.

BAMM!!! The sound of the noise he made when he landed hard on his back.

And then an angry voice was heard.

"You again? The stalking lumberjack!" The young maiden with the Kaba growled, standing on top of the logger who was lying on the ground.

"Suzie, what's going on over there?" A voice from inside the house asked.

"Big momma, it's the lumberjack who terrified me, last time in the forest, when I went to fetch mushrooms for dinner soup." She described loudly to the old lady.

"What? Did he come onto our property? No way! I'm getting outside to whoop his bottom." Grandma said in fury and fire. Then she rose off the rattan chair and met her granddaughter and the lumberjack outdoors.

At the same time, a man rushed out from the other twin house where Babida had first tried to sneak in.

"Suzie, what is the matter darling?" He enquired while running toward her.

"Uncle Bibi, look at the man over here. He is a lumberjack. He has been tracking me down. The first time I caught him red-handed in his dirty activities, was in the forest. And today he came onto our property. He was peeping through the window using the now broken brick." She explained to her late mother's senior brother.

"Wait a minute! I must be dreaming. Someone wake me up, please!" Uncle Bibi, his glasses off, reacted to the discovery he was about to reveal.

"This is Babida, the Lumberjack Killer of the Monster of the forbidden mountain. He was awarded the medal of the highest honor and merit by the reigning Emperor's deceased father, the Great Batang IV, for his bravery and heroic actions during the attack of the empire about fifteen years ago by the Terror of the cursed hill." Suzie's maternal uncle disclosed the past to her.

"Oh my goodness! That's him Bibi." Grandmother confirmed, her eyes wide open in amazement.

"Yes, mom! There is no doubt about it." Uncle Bibi stated.

It didn't take long before neighbors grasped the news and hurried to raise Babida and hug him while hailing his name.

"Babida the lumberjack, the savior of the Batang's people, the slayer of the Monster of the forbidden mountain." They chanted.

Surprised by the revelation her uncle just made to her, Suzie was piqued by curiosity and amid the crowd which had surrounded the lumberjack in admiration, she began, confused, a set of questions to her late's mother's sibling.

"But uncle Bibi, I don't understand. Where is the forbidden mountain? I have never heard of it, though I have been in this land for eighteen years." She interrogated her uncle who was all ears.

She went on: "You said the Monster's aggression took place fifteen years ago, meaning I was a three-year-old toddler back then. So I must have witnessed the sad event but as I am speaking now, there is no souvenir emerging from my mind. Why is it that?"

Her uncle was still mouth shut as she elaborated, even more, her observations: "Why is it that I had no idea who this man, Babida the lumberjack, was? Are the empire's heroes forbidden to show up in public? Which of course makes no sense if that was the case."

Done with her litany. Suzie's uncle cleared his throat and replied: "Well, listen to me very carefully my little darling!"

And suddenly, a powerful storm erupted. It was all over dark. Drops of rain began to fall. The crowd that orbited the lumberjack was dispersed. He was left standing straight in the middle of the yard. Big momma went back inside the house, inviting Suzie and uncle Bibi to do the same. But they ignored her. The rain got stronger.

Then Uncle Bibi had a flash memory.