Chapter 10~ The Angels of Cape Town
A sudden, harsh banging on the door made us both jump up. Dr. Zagaeski looked at me, fear and confusion in his golden eyes.
“You were right,” I confessed, “I am being chased—by bad men, very bad men. You can’t just let them take me. If you do, I may die. Please, you have to help me, Dr. Zagaeski.”
For a few seconds, the Doctor seemed unsure whether to trust me. But my heart was pounding out of my chest and the banging was growing louder and louder. Then, the Doctor blew out all the candles and snatched my arm.
“Upstairs. Quickly. I said quickly!” I didn’t need to hear it again. I bolted through the back door into a hallway with a wooden staircase running up. Dr. Zagaeski wasn’t far behind, locking the front and back door and yelling for me to keep going. Up the stairs was a bedroom as kookily decorated as the downstairs room. On the far left was another door that led out into the street again.
“Run!” 446Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqU42cgVd7
I pushed open the door, and we both ran out onto the dirt path. He stopped suddenly and pointed to an underground cellar outside the shack. “‘urry, child!” He threw open the wood door and waved me inside the dark, dank tunnel. Even from the outside, you could hear Tew’s pirates rummaging through the Doctor’s hovel. Just as the noise grew closer, Dr. Zagaeski leaped inside with me, slammed the door shut, and locked it hurriedly. Then, it was only us and the darkness. The walls muffled the thump of footsteps up above, so the only thing you could hear was our breaths. 446Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxHzWZtYDS
Then, light!
Dr. Zagaeski had struck a match and lit a dusty, nearby candle. I pressed a hand to my heart and tried to slow its pace.
“Thank you so much.”
“Who is chasing you?”
“The pirate crew of Captain Tew. They’ve been holding me hostage and torturing me for months now in an attempt to learn of my father’s whereabouts.”
“Who da hell is your fadah?”
“Captain Henry Every of the Fancy.” The Doctor chuckled to himself and tossed the used match into the dirt. “You certainly are a troubled soul. Escaping in Cape Town is not da wisest move eidah.”
“Well, when would’ve been a more convenient time?” I snarked back. 446Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegqCQgF3ic
He crossed around me to the back of the tunnel. But, in fact, it was not a cellar; it was a pathway. Before us was a trail into the blackness. Little oxygen existed. I learned that quickly.
“I ‘ave lived in dis town for only a year, yet I know more den some will ever know living deir ‘ole lives ‘ere. I spent my entire life as a traveling seer for da welldee. And when da money became scarce, I put up a shop here in Cape Town. No man could ever tell meh I was a sin and drow meh out when his fortoone was bleak. I could be my own man.” He turned to me. “I do not know you, child. Yet, I will ‘elp you as much as I can.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what it is like to ‘ave unshakable demons on your back. I know what it is like to feel da wrath of da gods wit an innocent ‘eart,” he reflected, something deep inside him making its way to the surface. Dr. Zagaeski began the journey down into the damp darkness of the tunnel. Naturally, I followed. The ground beneath my toes was soft and muddy in patches.
“Where are we going?” I asked. My voice echoed back for a couple of seconds.
“Da uda side of town. From dare, I can ‘elp you no more. You will be entering Khoikhoi territory.”
And so we traveled further and further towards my only hope, however I couldn’t help but feel suspicious of this man, even if he did save my life. If Tew’s crew was to find out he helped me, they would certainly murder him and drag him through the unforgiving streets of this town. But, who would miss him? This man was all alone, it seemed.
“You have no family? No friends?” I said, trying to make the silence a little less disagreeable.
“My family lives as slaves to your people—shipped off and stolen while I made my work ‘ere. And friends are rare to find for most like meh.”
“I understand.”
“‘ow could you undahstand?!” he spat back.446Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeqMbc5QLn
I could sense I’d touched a sore spot for him. “I had no friends in England. I wasn’t like the girls—wearing dresses and playing dolls. I spent my time with my father—when he was there, of course. And when Mother died, I was all alone.” He watched me out of the corner of his eye, his anger disappearing again.
“Yes, well, I get by just fine. And when I find my family again, you shall nevah see meh in dis godforsaken place again.”
“You’re right. If you surround yourself with the bad memories, you’ll never be able to live a free life with loved ones.” 446Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEInn2zWIm9
The Doctor broke the intensity suddenly with a loud guffaw deep within his chest. “I see my prediction is starting to take effect already. What is your name?”
“Constantine Every. And you?”
“Azubuike Zagaeski. It means ‘da past is your strength’. But dis is not true. Da past is weakness. It is sometin’ to hide away and change.”
“No,” I replied, sourly, “The past is set in stone. No one can change that. All you can do is accept it and learn from it. But, you are not defined by your past. No one is.”
There was much I did not know about Zagaeski, but just speaking calmed my nerves tremendously. This man reminded me so much of him—my father. But, at the same time, they were very different people. My father wasn’t a friend of compassion; he was distant, cold at times, and pushed away those he loved. Zagaeski just radiated odd waves of chilling occult that could draw a person in like a moth to a flame.
The end of the tunnel was a hard wall and a ladder up to a trap door. I braced myself to climb, but Zagaeski didn’t approach anymore. I stopped and faced him.
“Are you coming?” I asked.
“When you leave dis tunnel, you’ll find yourself in a cave at de edge of town. Behind you will be a forest. From ‘ere, you must follow de coastline until you find a small hut in a nearby cave. Inside should be provisions and a raft. I was saving it for emergencies. But now, I must leave you, child.”
I protested quickly for a reason I couldn’t fully understand. I’d made a connection with this African magician, and leaving meant being weak once again, being alone. He slipped a large hand into his coat and retrieved a slip of paper. He pressed it into my hand and held it there for a few more moments.
“I have only known you for a short time, Miss Every. But I think I have, in fact, made a friend. I have met a young girl, wise beyond her years, who can see things about the world that not even a seer could have the mind to understand. You have opened meh to truths I should’ve accepted years ago. All I hope is that you take my advice to heart and know that even when the world seems bleak and when it feels like the sun may never again shine upon your face, you shall have a friend here as long as I am upon this wretched earth.” I stared into his golden eyes and watched the magician depart quietly, like the sweeping, shadowy goodbye of a rainstorm. The glow from the candle bounced in the blackness for a while until, finally, there was no more of Dr. Zagaeski and his wonders. I looked into the palm of my hand at the folded paper and unraveled it. In the palm of my hand was the charcoal drawing of my mother.
Cape Town’s sunlight danced through the shade of its palm trees and glistened upon my cheeks. This was a moment only meant for the angels. I crawled to my feet, free from the lifeless tunnel below. All around were green ferns and tall bushes. And nearby was a small patch of apple trees. Almost insanely, I ran to the tree and shook until plump green apples rained down from above. They were sweet and perfectly ripe. The juice dribbled down my chin messily, but I didn’t care a bit. This was the first bit of nutrition I’d had in so long. In minutes, I’d finished the apple and started wolfing down more until my appetite was satisfied. I’d forgotten the feeling. The coastline was ahead of me. Waves crashed along the shore and not a single person was in sight. In the distance, fluffy white clouds sat on top of a tall flat mountain like some sort of an angelic crown. Several miles away from me was a peculiar rocky mountain peak separating the small city. I peered at its curious shape.
“Huh,” I said, tilting my head to the side and squinting. “Kinda looks like a lion.”
I wasted no more precious time sitting on the hill, observing nature. I threw the hood of my cloak over me again and began my descent down the hill to the beach. Tew’s ship remained in port, and the town didn’t look so far away anymore.
But what was even more curious was an Indian ship about the size of Tew’s ported miles back around the side of the shore. I knew instantly. The Indian ship Edmund told me about!
The ship was a marigold yellow with bronze-plated reinforcements. The head of the ship was a vicious red dragon. I trekked up the hill to get a better look at the vessel. It didn’t take long before I’d reached the shoreline. The water was clear despite the washed-up seaweed around it. It tickled my toes while washing over them.
From the looks of it, this ship was empty. But there it was—the shack. The raft! Euphoria and hope whirled around me. No devil’s wrath could ever penetrate me again. I was finally a free girl, and I would soon be seeing my father at long last. Even then, I could imagine The Fancy sailing over the horizon--my father at the helm like an angel swooping down from the heavens. And all would be forgiven. We’d be forever happy.
“Namaste, kameene ladakee. Ham aapako bachaane ke lie aae hain.”
Behind me, the thick-accented Indian voice broke the quiet beauty. And I knew if I turned around to face my company, that fleeting moment of sanguineness would disappear, perhaps forever. Nevertheless, I encountered the mystery and found part of me was expecting it—dark-skinned, golden-armored, and proud Indian pirates.
“I am Captain Gazsi, and we have much to discuss. Consider yourself saved at last.”
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