d and said, "Mat when the tribe is And Tungata nod de sorely in need, the spirit of the old king will come forth to give them succour." "The spirit of Lobengula will come forth as a fire," the old man corrected him.
"Yes," Tungata agreed. Tobengula's fire."
"And there is more, much more do you know the rest of it, son of Kumalo?"
ell it to me, old father."
"The prophecy goes on thus: The leopard cub will first his chains.
The leopard cub uill first break an oath, then break fly like an eagle, then suim likea fish. When these things have come to pass, the fire of Lobengula uill be freed from the dark places and come forth to SUCCOUr and save his People They were all silent, considering this conundrum.
"The leopard skin is the prerogative of the house of Kumajo," Vusamanzi reminded them. "Thus the leopard cub of the prophecy would be a descendant of the royal house." Tungata grunted noncommittally.
"I do not know that you have broken an oath," the old man went on, 'but you have broken the chains with which the Shana bound you."
"Ehheh!" Tungata nodded his face closed and impassive. A.
"You escaped from)#Tuti in an indeki, flying like an eagle indeed," the old "Man pointed out, and again Tungata nodded, but in English he murmured to Craig, "The beauty of these ancient prophecies is that they can be moulded to fit nearly any circumstances They gain a little or lose a little with each repetition, depending on the mood and the motives of the seer at the time Then he reverted smoothly to Sindebele. "You are wise, old man, and well t tell us what of the swimming of the versed in magic, bu fish? I must warn you that I am not able to swim, and that the only one thing I truly fear is death by drowning. You must seek another fish." Vusamanzi wiped the grease off his chin and looked smug.
"There is something else I must tell you,"Tungata went on. "I have entered Lobengula's tomb. It is empty. The body of Lobengula has gone. The prophecy has been voided long, long ago." The old magician showed no distress at Tungata's words.
Instead he sat back on his heels and unscrewed the stopper of the snuff horn that hung around his neck.
"If you have entered the king's tomb, then you have broken your oath to defend it intact," he pointed out with a wicked twinkle of his eyes. "The oath-breaking of the prophecy could that be it?" He did not wait for a reply but poured red snuff into the palm of his hand and drew it up each nostril. He sneezed ecstatically with tears running down his withered old cheeks.
"If you broke your oath, Nkosi, it was beyond your powers to prevent it. The spirits of your ancestors drove you to it and you are without blame. But, now let me explain the empty tomb." He paused and then seemed to take off at a tangent "Have either of you heard of a man who lived long ago, a man they called Taka-Taka?" They both nodded.
"On the maternal side Taka' Taka was the great-grand, father of Pupho here. "Tungata nodded at Craig. Taka' Taka was a famous white soldier in the old days of Lobengula.
He fought against the king's imp is Taka-Taka is the sound that his machine-guns made when the warriors of the Matabele went against him."
"Old Sir Ralph Ballantyne," Craig agreed. "One of Rhodes" right hand men, and the first prime minister of Rhodesia." He changed back into Sindebele. "Taka-Taka lies buried in the Matopos Hills close by the grave of Lodzi, Of Cecil Rhodes himself."
"That is the one." Vusamanzi wiped the snuff from his upper lip, and the tears from his cheeks with his thumb.
"Taka-Taka, the soldier and the robber of the sacred places of the tribe. It was he who stole the stone birds from the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe. It was he also that came into these very hills to desecrate the tomb of Lobengula, and to steal the fire, stones that hold the spirit of the king." Now both Craig and Tungata leaned forward attentively. "I have read the book that Taka' Taka wrote describing his life-" old Sir Ralph's handwritten diaries were part of Craig's personal treasure that he had left at King's Lynn when Peter Fungabera had driven him out. "I have read the very words of Taka' Taka and he does not tell of reaching Lobengula's tomb. And what are these fire-stones you speak of?" The old man held up a restraining hand. "You go too swiftly, Pupho," he admonished Craig. "Let the son of Kumalo explain these mysteries to us. Have you heard of the fire-stones, Tungata Zebiwe, Who was once Samson Kumalo?"
"I have heard something of them," Tungata agreed cautiously. "I have heard that there was a huge treasure in diamonds, diamonds collected by Lobengula's aniadoda from the white man Lodzi's mines in the south-" Craig started to interrupt, but Tungata silenced him. "I will explain later," he prorriied, and turned back to the old magician.
"What you heard is the truth," Vusamanzi assured him.
"There are five beer, pots filled with the fire-stones."
"And they were stolen by Sir Ralph, by Taka' Taka Craig anticipated.
Vusamanzi looked severe. "You should go to the women's fire, Pupho, for you chatter like one of them." Craig smothered his smile, and sat back suitably chastened while Vusamanzi rearranged his skin cloak before going on.
"When Lobengula was put to earth and his tomb sealed by his half-brother and loyal induna, a man named Gandang'\YIho was my great-great-grandfather," Tungata murmured.
"VA-Lo was your great-great, grandfather the old man agreed. "Gandang placed all the king's treasures with him in the tomb, and then led the vanquished tribe of Matabele back. He went back to treat with Lodzi and this man Taka Taka and the tribe went in to the white man's bondage.
But one man stayed in these hills, he was a famous magician named Insutsha, the arrow. He stayed to guard the king's tomb, and he built a village near the tomb, and took wives and bred sons. Insutsha, the arrow, was my grandfather-2 they made small movements of surprise, and Vusamanzi looked complacent. "Yes, do you see how the spirits work? It is all planned and predestined the three of us are bound by our history and our bloodlines, Gandang and Taka -Taka and Insutsha. The spirits have brought us, their descendants, together in their marvellom fashion."
"Sally-Anne is right it's bloody spooky," said Crail-I and Vusamanzi frowned at his gauche use of a foreign language This TakaJaka as I have hinted already, was a famous rogue, with a nose likea hyena and an appetite likea vulture." Vusamanzi gave this summation with relish and glanced significantly at Craig.
"Got it! Craig smiled inwardly, but kept a solemn expression.
"He learned the legend of the five pots of fire-stones, and he went amongst the survivors of Gandang's impi, the men who had been present at the time of the king's death, and he spoke sweet and gentle words and offered gifts of cattle and gold coins and he found a traitor, a dog of a dog who was not fit to be called Matabele. I will not speak the name of this piece of offal, but I spit on his unmarked and dishonoured grave." Vusamanzi's spittle hit the embers of the fire with a spluttering hiss.
"This dog agreed to lead Taka-Taka to the king's burial place. But before he could do so, there was a great war between the white men, and Taka' Taka went north and fought against the German induna called Hamba-Hamba, "the one-who-marcheshere,and,there,and,is-never caught "Von Lettow'Vorbeck," Craig translated, "the German commander in East Africa during the 1914-1918 war." And Tungata nodded agreement. "When the war was over Taka-Taka returned and he called the Matabele traitor, and they came into these hills with the dog of a dog leading them four white men with Taka' Taka as their chief and they searched for the tomb. They searched for twenty-eight days, for the traitor did not remember the exact location and the tomb was cunningly concealed.