Chapter 7

“All the men of Boma village, the chief request that you assemble at the shrine of Rorche” the town crier said clanging on his gong as he traversed the four corners of Boma village.

It was already time to wake up as the cockerel had crowed twice already. At the end of the meeting the previous day it had already been agreed that the sacrifice would be done this morning to appease the God of land and protection. At the third crow of the cockerel all the men of Boma village were gathered at the shrine of the Gods for the “sacrifice of appeasement”. Tikayo appeared, walking with the agility of a leopard made his way into the shrine to have a chat with the chief priest before commencing with the sacrifice.

On the other hand the men armed with the bowls they were to use in collecting blood were trying to make themselves comfortable when the chief priest appeared from the shrine of Rorche. Flanked by Tikayo and his assistant a fellow known as Ageri, the chief

priest walked to his usual position and paused. Tikayo maintained a distance. He had dominated proceedings at the meeting; today it was the turn of the chief priest to take charge of proceedings.

Beside his title as chief priest, his real name was Roku. In the Boma dialect, Roku means fire. Roku was the fourth son of Boma village to be made chief priest in the village. His family was reputed for their fame and knowledge in spiritual matters. Three generations of his family had served as chief priest of Rorche and they had served well. Now it was the turn of Roku to continue and also uphold family tradition while at the same time attempt an appeasement with Rorche the God of Boma village so that the evil spirit that was in the land will be expelled into the forest from where it came from.

“Great and powerful Rorche the God of my ancestors I greet you…” There was silence from all the men gathered at the shrine. “Mighty and powerful Rorche the God of my Forefathers, the God of my kinsmen I greet you…” This round of

greeting was followed by another moment of silence. “Great Rorche, the God of Boma village, the God that saved our forefathers from their enemies – I greet you”. He then turned to face the men. “Only a mad man will go to sleep with his house on fire ehn I say only a foolish child will laugh at an old woman whereas the child will grow old one day. A child that refuses to let her mother sleep will also not sleep. Men of Boma village you‟ve all been careless and neglected your God. That is why this evil has come upon Boma village”.

The chief priest paused to let his audience absorb all that he had said so far. The silence was total such that even if a pin dropped the noise of the fallen pin would have been heard by all the people gathered at the shrine.

“Great and powerful Rorche-the God of our Forefathers…” The chief began yet another fresh round of chanting… “The God that saved our fathers from the tricks of their enemies hear us today and deliver our land from the evil that has befallen us.” The chief priest went on and on with the various stages

of invocation all in the bid to soften the ground before the actual killing of the cows and sprinkling of blood could commence. While it lasted, Tikayo and all the men of Boma village watched the proceedings in absolute silence. Then the chief priest entered the shrine and after a while came out as usual accompanied by his assistant.

“Men of Boma village hear me. The God of our land must be appeased, and this morning we shall slaughter these bulls,” he said, pointing at the two male cows tied some couple of yards away from the shrine. Then the priest called for volunteers and ten men stepped forward without delay.

“Good,” the priest said. “Five men to one cow and when you cut its throat do not allow the blood to spill on the ground, rather it should be collected in a big calabash…” Immediately the men went to work, the two cows were tied up and as their throats were being slit each cow let out a loud sound before being silenced forever. The blood was collected into two calabashes and brought before the chief priest.

“Oh Rorche….” the chief priest resumed his invocation. “Your people have brought their sacrifice of appeasement receive this token from your people and deliver Boma village from the evil that, has befallen the people”

“Asheee,” the men chorused. The chief priest then dipped fresh broom into the bowl of blood before him and sprinkled round the shrine. At his invitation Tikayo stopped forward and the priest dabbed his forehead with blood.”

“May the Gods of Boma village protect you and your household from the evil that is ravaging Boma village,” the chief priest prayed.

“Ashey,” Tikayo responded and moved away with his bowl containing cow blood. All the men took turns to be touched by the chief priest.

“You can now share out the meat,” the chief priest ordered. The meat was shared out to all the men gathered at the shrine of Rorche that morning, with all the men prayed for the chief priest ended the proceedings.

As far as Tikayo was concerned the so-called sacrifice made to the Gods was an exercise in futility. If Rorche was truly powerful let it tell the people it was him-Tikayo the chief of Boma village that was behind the killing and mysterious disappearance of the children in Boma village. That was their headache right now he was in need of a delicious piece of human flesh known as liver. It had been almost two weeks since he tasted this delicious piece of flesh but now sacrifices had been made and the people are alert so he decided to lie low.

“Yes,” he said to himself. “I shall hold on for sometime and let the people believe that the sacrifice was working before striking again”.

Exactly three weeks after the sacrifice was made to Rorche the God of land and protection. Tragedy struck again as Tikayo killed his next victim. It had not been difficult for him because he had attacked with the speed of a lion. His victim had fallen easily because she was not alert thus was careless about her safety. Moreover every inhabitant

of Boma village except Tikayo believed the evil spirit had been expelled from Boma village and thus they could all walk about freely without let or hindrance.

How wrong they were in their assumptions, for Tikayo had only lied low for just three weeks to give them the impression that the sacrifice was successful and Rorche had finally chased away the evil spirit.

A day later Tikayo struck again, this time Tikayo made no effort to conceal the body of the woman. Why engage the people in a search in which the body might not be found? He wondered. With that in mind he carefully wrapped the liver and the heart, which he had cut from the woman‟s body and departed for his house. “I‟m going to have a good meal once again after such a long time” he remarked to himself.