Tangled Passion by Stanley Ejingiri Page B

do so. There was no doubt that it would be a slow and long process but all he needed was to start and that was what he planned—as soon as it was dawn, he intended to go with Edwards to her hut and under the tree that was in front of her hut, she would receive her ‘Elementary English Crash Course.’

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Chapter Nineteen
    T hey ran through the open expanse of dry cane field like kids jumping and dancing, as if they had reached their destination. The realization that they had actually survived the tunnel, triggered such intense happiness that Ashana and Jonah could not help but scream at the top of their voices. Looking up into the seemingly unending sea of dry cane trees, Jonah saw a tall tree with branches that extended in different directions and leaves whose abundant green contrasted sharply with those of the brown cane trees. “Over there, Ashana,” he shouted, excitedly pointing in the direction of the tree.
    “What? Where?” she asked, her eyes sweeping the field from left to right.
    “Over there, straight ahead,” Jonah said, positioning himself behind Ashana, holding her head in his palms and guiding it in the direction of the tree.
    “Can you see the tree?” he whispered into her right ear.
    “Yes! Yes! Yes!” she said, jumping excitedly, then turning around to hug him.
    The two ran through the cane field as fast as they could, speeding wildly towards the mango tree. As they sat in the shade provided by the tree, Ashana’s head on Jonah’s lap, with her eyes looking right up into his, she asked, “What do you think happened to that big snake that glided over us in the tunnel?”
    “Honestly, Ash, I really don’t know and don’t really care to know. Whatever happened to it to keep it occupied and away from us was a good thing, at least for us,” Jonah replied, caressing her face and admiring her voluptuous lips. He ran his index finger along the lines of her perfectly symmetrical jaws. “You are beautiful,” he added.
    “You are brave,” she said adoringly.
    “I don’t know what would have happened to us if you didn’t believe in me, even when it seemed like I didn’t know what I was doing; truly it was your trust and belief in me that gave me all the push that I needed.”
    She smiled shyly and looked into his eyes while tears of joy travelled down the sides of her cheeks. “Please don’t do that Jonah; you know you are the strong one, the courageous and brave man that I love, my life couldn’t have been complete without you and there is no way we could have made it here if it was not for your determination and strength,” she said, returning the praise to Jonah.
    For a while she was quiet then she slowly sat up and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug that was rooted in great admiration and respect for him. As she pressed her body strongly against his, he hugged her back without hesitation and they both fell to the ground and rolled down a slight hill until they lay on their backs a few inches from each other, staring into the web of branches that the leaves of the mango tree stuck into. He reached out his right hand and she gave him her left hand; their fingers touched and then interlocked.
    At the Fort there was nothing unusual about that specific morning; the slaves had folded the mats that lay between their bodies and the hard mud floor the night before and went about their Fort morning duties as usual. They had swept the yard, watered the plants and had their usual meagre breakfast before heading to the line-up spot close to the Fort’s exit.
    The assistant slave master, Anthony was already there, standing with his legs spread apart and his hands behind his back like a military captain inspecting his troops. It was something he did every morning, a part of his morning routine; he would wait for the slaves to arrive and line up facing him. Then he’d give them a few minutes to quiet down as they adjusted the human line that