The private lunch between His Majesty Batang V and the new Governor Babida ended and it was now time for the two most powerful men of the empire to part ways.
"Thank you, your Majesty, for your trust. You shall be assured that your humble servant right here shall always defend the land to the ultimate sacrifice." The lumberjack heartily said to the Emperor.
"I know, Governor. I know. You may return safely to Okunde. I have ordered that they set two horses and a carriage for you." replied His Majesty.
"You may also take this purse. It contains thrice the prize for killing the newborn Monster of the forbidden mountain, though this time you didn't bring to me its head on a silver platter because the beast was instead swallowed by the stomach of Okunde's river." The Ruler added.
"Thank you, your Majesty!" Babida took the gift and left the Emperor's private eating space.
Two imperial sentinels escorted him to his room where his henchman was waiting for him so they could go back to Okunde.
Babida arrived at the chamber and was pleased to find that his aide-de-camp had already packed all their belongings and they could leave the palace right away.
"My Commander...Sorry, His Highness, we may go now." said the youngster Baba to the new Governor.
"Yes, then let's depart!" Babida responded.
"However we may first stop by the young maiden Suzie's house." He then revealed to his aide-de-camp.
Baba carried the luggage and followed the Governor who had taken the lead.
They arrived downstairs and found a coach with two white horses in the best shape ever seen.
They hopped in and the henchman Baba took the commands. He smacked the horses' rears and they began to move forward.
The lumberjack guided him to the address of the young miss Suzie who lived in the north of the city.
As they were rolling on the streets of Ekule, villagers bid the new Governor farewell and wished him success in his function.
They implored the ancestors to accompany the lumberjack and guide him to the path of victory against the future enemies of the land.
Babida was flattered and in return, he pledged to the crowd that he would never let the empire down and would rather give his life.
The henchman Baba continued to follow the itinerary to the young maiden Suzie's place that His Highness Babida was giving to him till they finally reached a street with two identical chalets and stopped between the two houses.
They were getting down the coach when they heard someone shouting the name of the lumberjack.
"Babidaaaa!" The voice yelled.
The new Governor and his henchman Baba looked in front of them and saw the young maiden Suzie who was coming up to them while running as fast as she could.
The young maiden Suzie finally reached the position of the new Governor Babida accompanied by his aide-de-camp Baba.
She halted before the lumberjack. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were red, for she was sobbing.
The young maiden wasn't in her usual glamourous shape. Her beauty was lessened by the abundant tears that wetted her face.
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Babida held her by the shoulders and they fixed their gaze on each other.
The crying miss tried to say something to her companion but her tongue was heavy and words were choked in her mouth.
"Gra...Gra..." She was saying.
"Gra...what?" asked Babida but the young maiden Suzie was still incapable to articulate.
"Let's go to the house!" The newly nominated Governor Babida told her then grabbed her by the right hand and they began to walk to the chalet, trailed by the young henchman Baba.
As they stepped onto the property, Polo, the late Governor Kola 2's aide-de-camp came out of the chalet.
"Greetings, Your Highness!" He uttered to the woodsman.
"It's good that you came by, for we are in a terrible situation. The god of ruin has struck twice the heart of the young miss." He revealed to the logger who looked surprised and confused.
"What do you mean by that? Could you be clearer?" Babida asked the late Governor's henchman Polo.
"Well, Your Highness, when we came to the house with the corpse of Commander Bibi for his burial, we found that the matriarch, namely his mom or the young maiden's grandmom, was lying dead on the floor in the parlor." He disclosed the sad news to Babida who was in shock.
The lumberjack looked at the interim henchman Baba who was standing behind him and the young miss and the latter was neither grasping how the misfortune happened.
Governor Babida after the bombshell held tighter Suzie into his arms as she intensified the cries.
"Come, let's go inside!" The woodsman then told his crush.
The late Governor's aide-de-camp Polo let Babida and Suzie pass in front as he looked at the youngster behind them whom he recognized.
"Oh, it's you comrade Baba. You came with the superior Commander." Polo declared to the youngster.
"Yes, My Commander, in your absence the then Commander of the imperial forces and now Governor of Okunde, Babida, asked me to replace you until you come back to the administrative headquarters," Baba responded to him.
"Oh? Well, congratulations! Hopefully, you will be confirmed for the post because I am going to take a sabbatical year. I have been working with no rest all these past years. My health has thus deteriorated." Polo said to him.
"Come, let's go inside!." He then concluded the chat with the youngster.
The late Governor's aide-de-camp Polo entered the chalet with the youngster Baba and they met the lumberjack and the young miss Suzie who were sitting next to each other on the rattan divan in the parlor.
Babida kept on consoling his crush, though she couldn't help crying.
The loss of her two last relatives was unbearable. Uncle Bibi and big Momma were her greatest support since the passing of her Mother Anna when she was a five-year-old toddler.
Younger, the trauma of her mom's death often caused her to scream in the middle of the night.
She constantly had nightmares till she turned twelve and uncle Bibi and grandmother had finally found the secret to make her move on and forget about her mother's death.
One day, uncle Bibi, Big Momma, and twelve-year-old Suzie went to the market to buy a turkey for the "Ngondo", the Batang empire's yearly celebration to thank the divinities for their kindness over the past year, and beg them for protection for the next year.
As they were strolling around the market on the lookout for the biggest and most good-looking turkey, an old and strange woman who was standing on the sidewalk drew the attention of little Suzie and with her right index finger told her to come closer.
The teenager Suzie obeyed under the influence of the hypnotic power of the old lady.
Uncle Bibi and big Momma were unaware that their little darling had left them until when grandmother wanted to pay the merchant for the turkey and she asked her grandchild to pass on to her the three Batangi coins she had given her to hold when they were about to go out to the market.
"Suzie, give me the money!" Grandma said but the kid was not around.
Uncle Bibi turned to look behind and saw the little girl from a distance talking with an unknown old lady dressed in an all-black robe.
"Suzie !" He shouted before hastening to go up to her since she couldn't hear.
"Suzie!" He said again as he was now near to her.
Little Suzie turned to look at him and uttered: "Uncle Bibi, behold, this old lady right here knew my mom Anna. She was her Makossa teacher. She even told me to come to meet her here every three days so she would tell me more stories about my mom."
Uncle Bibi was taken aback. He was Suzie's mother big brother and had never seen the old lady before. Moreover, Anna never learned Makossa to become either a singer or a dancer.
However, the story seemed to make the little girl Suzie happy and uncle Bibi didn't want to spoil the moment. It was the first time since her mother's passing that something about the latter made the teenager smile.
So uncle Bibi pretented he knew the old lady and she was telling truth.
He therefore answered: "Yes, Indeed your mom was the most gifted Makossa singer in the empire and she was also a very good dancer."
And as he was done with his pretense, grandmother came from behind and shouted: "Suzie, give me the money!".
But her son, uncle Bibi, pinched her and she understood something was going on. She hence let it go.
"Mom, here is Anna's Makossa teacher. She is very nice and was telling nice stories about Anna to Suzie. She even told her to come over here every three days and she would tell even more tales about my sister." Uncle Bibi described to big Momma while pinching her.
"Oh yes, I remember like it was just yesterday. Well, that would be kind of her. I see already the glow on Suzie's face. Anna was indeed everything to her. Well, we shall then come back in the next three days with the little girl so she would hear stories about her mom. Thank you very much!" said Grandmother, pretending as well to know the old lady.
"Well now, we have a turkey to buy for the Ngondo. Thank you once again!" She said as she held Suzie's hand and together with uncle Bibi, they left.
They purchased the turkey, went back home, and celebrated the Ngondo with the well-grilled meat of the bird. Then they went to bed.
The next morning they woke up and surprisingly the teenager Suzie had had for the first time no nightmare about her mom and it was the same thing on the following day.
Uncle Bibi and Grandmother were thus convinced that the unexpected meeting with the old lady was the source of the positive change.
On the third day morning, Suzie had had also no nightmare in the past night. Uncle Bibi and Grandmother were even more convinced that the old lady was behind all this.
So they decided to take Suzie to her as they had promised, though at first they weren't serious and just wanted to be kind.
They took Suzie to the market and the old lady was at the same location she was standing last time. And as she had pledged, she recounted a new story to Suzie about her mom Anna and the little girl was even more contented than the first time.
The family went back home and in the night the teenager Suzie still had had no nightmare. Uncle Bibi and Grandmom realized that the meeting with the old lady had a positive effect on the kid.
So finally they decided that they will continue to take her to the old lady every three days as part of a therapy.
They did so till Suzie turned thirteen and at the next meeting with the old lady, the latter didn't show up and she never did again. But ultimately Suzie stopped once and for all to have nightmares.