stop them. As she stood gazing at the circular darkness which had swallowed them,
tears gushed from her eyes, and she swore within her that if she heard Ezinma cry she
would rush into the cave to defend her against all the gods in the world. She would die
with her.
Having sworn that oath, she sat down on a stony ledge and waited. Her fear had
vanished. She could hear the priestess' voice, all its metal taken out of it by the vast
emptiness of the cave. She buried her face in her lap and waited.
She did not know how long she waited. It must have been a very long time. Her
back was turned on the footpath that led out of the hills. She must have heard a noise
behind her and turned round sharply. A man stood there with a machete in his hand.
Ekwefi uttered a scream and sprang to her feet.
"Don't be foolish," said Okonkwo's voice. "1 thought you were going into the
shrine with Chielo," he mocked.
Ekwefi did not answer. Tears of gratitude filled her eyes. She knew her daughter
was safe.
"Go home and sleep," said Okonkwo. "1 shall wait here."
"I shall wait too. It is almost dawn. The first cock has crowed."
As they stood there together, Ekwefi's mind went back to the days when they
were young. She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry.
Two years after her marriage to Anene she could bear it no longer and she ran away to
Okonkwo. It had been early in the morning. The moon was shining. She was going to
the stream to fetch water. Okonkwo's house was on the way to the stream. She went in
and knocked at his door and he came out. Even in those days he was not a man of many
words. He just carried her into his bed and in the darkness began to feel around her
waist for the loose end of her cloth.