WHAT THE NANNY GOAT TOLD HER KIDS (CHAPTER 13)

CHAPTER 13

 

MR RANSOM STOLE OUT OF HIS HOUSE and then slipped down the path to the area of his fish pond where he buried his shotgun. He had taken his shirt off to veil the light of his torch but waited and listened for some minutes, put it on, kept it close to the ground and crawled till he reached where the gun was buried. He put the torch off and dug the earth with his bare hands till he could grab the gun's dismantled parts wrapped with polythene sheets.

He pulled the bundle out, unwrapped it with great care so the polythene sheets did not make any sound, listened awhile, put the torch on and put the pieces back together. Done, he slipped a cartridge into the gun, put the torch off and crawled back to the path; then he stood up and gingerly walked to the fringes of his home.

When that bastard made that rotten statement, Muscle ran around, barking and dodging as they had been trained. At the same time, Bone slipped into the farm and slunk between the stems of corn, creepers of yam, cocoyam stands, leafy vegetables and fruit trees to put the criminals in a circle. Mr Ransom had laid flat behind the ixora hedge demarcating the front path from the farm, his shotgun aimed at his veranda and he had sworn to God that whosoever crossed that point to harm his loved ones inside the house he would kill except the trigger did not move, the cartridge did not dart out and the gunpowder explode expelling the pellets.

The idiots had pointed their torches and bounced on their boots as they marched into the compound. Muscle slunk out, barked and disappeared just as the guns of the robbers exploded and Bone flew from behind and bit fiercely a robber on the arm. The horrifying scream sent the other robbers scattering in different directions but not before Muscle could bounce and grab another on the butt. The criminal screeched.

The bloodcurdling cry rang through the dead hours of the night and the gang just split and ran in different directions.

Then Mr Ransom’s gun exploded, the pellets scattering around his veranda and an uneasy calm returned as all the criminals took to their heels.

Seeing they were victorious, the dogs yapped and barked until the neighbourhood was awake.

People started sneaking out one by one and stealthily gathered in groups to find out what was happening. Those inside, hearing the voices of those outside, peeped through cracks in doors and windows and seeing the light of torches piercing the darkness, gradually gained confidence and slipped outside too. Initially, they were speculating the whole incident looked like armed robbery. Then they started hearing rumours of those that had been robbed and some said it looked like the Ransoms’ home was burgled as there were too many gunshots heard around them. Perempe at his end called to find out. The phone vibrated for a long time and Mrs Ransom was scared picking it up. Then she chatted with the children and wondered what could have happened.

‘Let me go and look,’ the eldest son said.

The mother grabbed him and said, ‘No! Your father had warned none of you should step out of this room. Anything contrary, he’d blame me for it.’

The second son tapped everyone to keep quiet. It looked like he was hearing faintly his father’s voice outside.

‘Ricky! Ricky!’ Mr Ransom called near the window. ‘You guys should come and help me o!’ It was a desperate message for help but they waited and keenly listened to ascertain it was not a robber faking to be their father.

Mr Ransom repeated his call and being certain it was his voice, the two eldest sons cautiously slipped out from the house and were instantly joined by Muscle and Bone and they walked round in the darkness to where they heard the sound to see what went wrong with their father.

When they drew near the Ixora hedge and pointed the torch at Mr Ransom lying on the ground with his gun, he asked them to help move him to the house.

‘What happened?’ Richard asked.

‘Help me to the house first,’ Mr Ransom said with excruciating pain. Bernard took the gun with one hand and with the other supported his father and with his brother, dragged his father back into his room.

His wife helped remove his clothes wet with dew and grime, cleansed his body with a towel and put his wrapper around him. He gently crawled inside his bed, put his back down on it and then said: ‘A robber running blindly from the dogs jumped the hedge at the exact point I was lying and landed on my back.’

The wife and children winced.

But the terrified crook could not separate animate and inanimate objects anymore and with the shotgun accidentally discharged, he thought it was a shot directed at him and tore blindly through the Ransoms’ farm at the front for dear life.

While the children said they were sure he had wounded himself brushing on the prickly yam creepers, Mrs Ransom said it was good for him but only hoped he did not sever the stems and cursed him vehemently for hurting her husband.