The Bride Price: An African Romance (Chitundu Chronicles) by Suzanne Popp Page B

wall to the side of the doorway, with the bells suspended from the door itself. From then on, the door made a pleasant ringing sound when it was opened. Both of them would learn to open the door silently, once the baby arrived.
    There were many families in Copperfine. Myrna came to know the majority of them through her visits, and by inviting them to have tea at her house.  She knew how to make chamomile tea, and red bush tea, as well as cinnamon.  It was a pleasant break for women to come over and see what project she was working on, or how her duiker was doing. ! (Click) was a novelty in the village, as few people had a pet, and no one had thought of keeping a wild animal as one.  Just before the baby was born, the chameleon had hatched out half a dozen young ones.  Word spread through the village and soon Winnie came to claim one. She spotted the lizard and immediately asked for it.
    “I asked you before for the chameleon. I know you would not want to stand in the way of someone’s healing,” Winnie said.
    “What cure does the lizard provide?”
    “I am not the healer. I do not delve into my husband’s work.”
    “Nor do I. But it seems there is no urgent need at this time for chameleon cures. Keep in mind that the lizard is producing more of her kind. Should you need one for a definite healing, we can provide one.”
    “You said you were going to ask Festal’s opinion. Has he made a decision?”
    “I have. My decision is No. I did ask him about it and we are in agreement.   Have you seen the new pattern that I am working on?  I hope to make a cradle cover to protect infants from mosquitoes while they are sleeping,” Myrna said. Winnie glanced at the sketch.
    “I will have to send my girls over. Neither of them has learned to sew and perhaps you would be able to teach them.”
    “I am limited in what I can do, but what I know, I am happy to pass on.”
    With that, the two women parted and Myrna cleaned out the cups. Festal would soon be home and she had a meal to fix. She put away the patterns and watched Winnie pass through the yard, watching the chameleon on its perch above the melons.
    Myrna made a meal of cabbage relish, tomatoes and peppers over rice.  She added a pinch of cinnamon to the mugs of tea and had a small bowl of roasted groundnuts.  When Festal was done, she brought up the topic of the lizard.
    “Festal, Winnie, the fetish priest’s wife came over today. She wants us to give her the chameleon for her husband’s practice. I asked her what cure it provided and she couldn’t say. I told her we could be approached if there was a definite cure that the lizard could provide, otherwise, the chameleon continues to have life.”
    “You would do better to stay away from her. She is a power in this community and I have always avoided her as I thought she wanted something from me.”
    “She is sending her daughters here to learn to sew.”
    “I don’t want them in the house. Teach them somewhere else.”
    Myrna did not have the problem of telling the girls not to come, because neither of them was inclined to want to sew. They did not come and Myrna saw very little of their mother in the year to come.
    Myrna did cultivate friendships among the other women.
    Mrs. Mulengo watched the new wife walking down to the riverside where the women did their laundry.  Most of them had been scrubbing away for the past two hours and had their clothes rolled up in the basket ready to take home and dry.  They had been talking about the case of the missing child at the cattle station and what should be done to safeguard against further disappearances. Everyone had an opinion. The child was albino and some thought this was the reason for its going missing. One of the fetish sellers had probably seized the child, as they were considered powerful medicine. Mrs. Mulengo hissed a signal and everyone stopped talking. They were silent as Myrna approached and then spoke of more pleasant things. 
    Myrna had met