Ezinma's voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving further and further
into the distance.
"Why do you stand there as though she had been kidnapped?" asked Okonkwo
as he went back to his hut.
"She will bring her back soon," Nwoye's mother said.
But Ekwefi did not hear these consolations. She stood for a while, and then, all
of a sudden, made up her mind. She hurried through Okonkwo's hut and went outside.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I am following Chielo," she replied and disappeared in the darkness. Okonkwo
cleared his throat, and brought out his snuff-bottle from the goatskin bag by his side.
The priestess' voice was already growing faint in the distance. Ekwefi hurried to
the main footpath and turned left in the direction of the voice. Her eyes were useless to
her in the darkness. But she picked her way easily on the sandy footpath hedged on
either side by branches and damp leaves. She began to run, holding her breasts with her
hands to stop them flapping noisily against her body. She hit her left foot against an
outcropped root, and terror seized her. It was an ill omen. She ran faster. But Chielo's
voice was still a long way away. Had she been running too? How could she go so fast
with Ezinma on her back? Although the night was cool, Ekwefi was beginning to feel
hot from her running. She continually ran into the luxuriant weeds and creepers that
walled in the path. Once she tripped up and fell. Only then did she realise, with a start,
that Chielo had stopped her chanting. Her heart beat violently and she stood still. Then
Chielo's renewed outburst came from only a few paces ahead. But Ekwefi could not see
her. She shut her eyes for a while and opened them again in an effort to see. But it was
useless. She could not see beyond her nose.
There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud. Fireflies went
about with their tiny green lamps, which only made the darkness more profound.
Between Chielo's outbursts the night was alive with the shrill tremor of forest insects
woven into the darkness.