The man just stood like a statue, watching Ed. Craig, the photographer started to move, but Ed saw him.
“Gillian, if that bastard moves again, please shoot him!” he growled, and Craig went white. I pointed the shotgun at him, so he went even whiter!
Ed took a chocolate bar from his pocket, ate a mouthful, and then he crossed the circle and placed the rest of the bar on the small pile of offerings. He then returned to his original position and squatted by the chair, with his palms open.
After several minutes the man approached, laying down his weapons and showing Ed his palms. He grinned at Ed. Ed grinned back.
The man came to the circle and looked at the offering. He squatted down opposite Ed and stared at him. Ed pointed to the offering and then to the man. He repeated this several times.
The man looked in the pot and picked out the half eaten chocolate bar He sniffed at it, never taking his eyes off Ed. He tentatively tasted a tiny piece and then a little more. Then he smiled and finished the bar. Ed smiled back, not moving.
Ed pointed to the offering and then to the trees, as if to say, take it to your village. The man nodded, picked up the pot, turned and walked into the jungle.
Russell was about to rush forward, but Ed said, “Everyone, please stay exactly where you are, he is still there and watching us!”
Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, the man appeared, carrying some fruits. He approached the circle and placed the items into the centre, and then retreated out, squatting by the empty chair.
“Gillian, can you come here, slowly and without the shotgun? Bring your tape recorder!” Ed said.
I handed Russell the shotgun and walked towards the circle. I squatted just behind Ed, activating my tape recorder.
Ed pointed to his chest, and said, “Ed!”
The man pointed to himself and said, “Gorran!”
Ed placed a hand into the soil and picked some up, letting some run through his fingers.
“Earth!” he said.
And so it went on.
Ed pointed to the fruit, and the man said, “Cumm Ba!” Ed nodded.
“Gillian, go get the fruit, please!” Ed asked.
I stood and walked into the circle, picked up the fruit, and carried it back to Ed, who took it from me. He ripped open the fruit and tasted it, and then he passed some to me. It tasted a little like mango.
The man pointed to me and said, “Mala!” Followed by making female curves with his hands.
Ed said “Woman! Mala! This mala is Gillian. Ed, Gillian!” he said, pointing to himself and then to me.
This went on for a long time, and I was fascinated by Ed’s imagination and patience. As it became dark, Gorran stood, grinned, and left us, picking up his weapons as he left.
Ed stared at the jungle for a moment and smiled.
“They still don’t trust us. There are two watchers out there!” he said.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Because I can sense them!” he said. “Well doc, have you got enough to make a start?”
“Yes, I think I have. But you must be exhausted. You have been out here for twelve hours!” I said.
“So have you. Let’s have something to eat!” he said, so we returned to the tents.
I was excited, as several roots of languages were immediately recognisable. But the actual words themselves appeared to be new. The ‘la’ suffix came from a West African dialect, which related to any feminine noun. And the word ‘ba’ denoted fruit, from another separate dialect.
I shared this with Russell, as he was eager to find out what he could about their religion or belief systems. But, he realised that without a means of communicating, we were stuck.
“I was very impressed with your Marine. There is a lot more to him than I first thought,” Russell said, I smiled at the ‘your Marine’ bit.
I went to my tent and dug out my laptop, plugging it into the generator. I immediately got to work, so didn’t hear Ed come in. He placed a plate of food on my bed and handed me a beer.
“Time to take a break, my sweet!” he said, gently.
I looked at him, and he could tell that I was excited.
“Hey, we are here for six weeks, don’t bust a gut on the first day, it’s nearly midnight!” he said.
I had no idea that it was so late. So I saved what I had done, and ate the food.
“I think I have identified at least six different language roots from what we have done so far. This means that the original slaves came from at least six distinct tribes, so when they landed here, they had to learn to communicate together, so the language is an amalgamation of all six!” I said, between mouthfuls.
“Do you know the original languages?” he asked.
“A little of each, so it should be easy enough to construct their composite language on the computer,” I said, grinning. “Four are from the Senegambia region, so Mandinka, Hausa and a couple of related tribes. I think the others come from further east, as elements of Twee and Ga are present. They come from modern-day Ghana.”
“Good, then I am going to sleep,” he said, laying on his bed.
“Are we keeping watch tonight?” I asked.
“Not tonight, we are past the danger. Unless that silly sod Craig gets in the way,” he said, but next minute he was snoring.
I was very conscious that I was tired too, so I lay down, and was asleep in moments.
I awoke suddenly in the middle of the night. It was pitch black, and I was conscious of movement.
“Shhh!” Ed said, and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Young Craig is up to silly tricks!” he said.
He slipped quietly out of the tent, and I heard a dull thud and a crash of branches.
I peeked out of the tent, to see Ed carrying a large bundle over his shoulder. He dumped it unceremoniously onto the ground, and shone his flashlight down.
The bundle was Craig, complete with telephoto lens on his camera. He had been sneaking off to take some pictures of the village, before any of us got there first.
He was unconscious, and would have a large bump on his head when he woke up. Ed looked at him with contempt on his face, and dragged him by his collar over to a tree. He tied one wrist to the other, and around the back of the tree, so he was seated, hugging the tree.
Craig moaned and came to, but started squealing and swearing. I saw Ed put his mouth close to Craig’s ear and say something. Craig went very quiet and still. Ed came back to the tent and took me by the arm.
“He’ll be fine now,” he said, grinning.
“What did you say to him?” I asked.
“Nothing much, only that the natives were cannibals, so that if he was a bad boy, I would sell him to them!” he said, and went and lay down again.
“Why are you so good at what you do?” I asked.
“Experience,” he said, with his eyes closed. “What’s your excuse?”
I smiled, and lay down next to him. His arm wrapped itself around me, so I fell asleep, feeling safe.
Ed was already up when I awoke, so when I dressed and left the tent, he was already sitting by the circle, with a fresh offering inside the circle.
I grabbed some coffee and a piece of fruit, and went and squatted next to him. I had my tape recorder ready.
“Hi, babe, you okay?” he drawled.
“Mmm, fine. You should’ve woken me,” I said.
“Nah, you were crashed, you needed the sleep.”
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“Couple of hours, I guess.”
I looked at my watch, but noticed that it was only seven am now.
“Don’t you ever sleep?” I asked.
He smiled, but then tensed slightly. I could see nothing.
“Gigi, just shift your butt back a foot or so, just so you are slightly behind me,” he said.
I shifted, just as Gorran stepped out of the bush. I wondered how the hell Ed knew he was there.
The black man approached, this time he carried no weapons. But he held a crude wicker basket.