Burn My Heart by Beverley Naidoo Read Free Book Online Page B

heard anyone talk like this, using such stirring words in openly accusing the wazungu. He could never imagine this man saying ‘Yes, bwana’ and ‘No, bwana’ to Bwana Grayson! But the oath administrator had not finished.
    ‘You are now joined with that “Mau Mau” that the government has banned. Never reveal this secret to any non-member! If you do, the government will throw you into their prisons. We will also kill you for breaking your oath. We have our people everywhere.’
    Mugo felt the quivers enter him. What would be the punishment for a spy? He had to get away! But the administrator’s assistant had begun to teach some old Kikuyu greetings and a special handshake by which members could recognize each other. If anyone was sent on a mission to someone they didn’t know, these signs could be used, he said. Once again, Mugo was mesmerized.
    It was only when he saw the administrator lookingat his watch, that he pulled himself away from the peephole and hurriedly crept along the wall the way he had come. But when he reached the corner, to his horror, he saw a figure at the gate. Wamai! How was he going to get out? Could he crawl under the fence? The strands of barbed wire would surely be too close to the ground. He remembered Mathew scrambling under the other broken fence a few hours ago. He had been cross at the foolishness of the mzungu boy. But was he not even more foolish? He could hear Baba saying that only a fool pokes his head into the fire to discover what makes it burn.
    He wondered if he should risk trying to slip in with the others when they came out of the shed. Someone would surely notice and take him to the captain! He had just decided to go back into hiding behind the shed until everyone had gone, when the figure at the gate turned and saw him. Mugo froze.
    ‘Eh! What are you doing?’ Wamai fiercely signalled Mugo to come to him.
    Mugo approached the dairyman, inhaling deeply to steel himself against trembling. He held out his hand and greeted the old man with the handshake he had just seen demonstrated through the peephole. Wamai returned the greeting.
    ‘So it’s you, Mugo! Why are you outside when everyone is inside?’ Mugo felt the dairyman’s watery eyes trying to penetrate him.
    ‘I am on a mission, Mzee Wamai,’ Mugo whispered. ‘The others will follow.’
    ‘I see,’ said Wamai. ‘You had better hurry, then.’
    ‘Goodnight, Mzee,’ said Mugo. He ran off as if the wind were chasing him. He had tricked the old dairyman into believing that he was a new ‘member’. It was the only way out. Mugo didn’t stop running until he reached the slope beneath the pepper trees. He glanced up towards Kirinyaga. The clouds were clearing and a few stars sparkled above. As he scrambled up the muddy slope towards his grandfather’s grove, he heard the first cocks crowing.

THIRTEEN MONTHS LATER, DECEMBER 1952
8

A Game of Mau Mau
    ‘I’m the oldest, so I’ll be the general. Mathew can be my adjutant.’
    Lance Smithers surveyed the cluster of children on the freshly mown lawn outside the lounge at the club. Mathew pushed his hands deeper in his pockets and pulled back his shoulders. He had already discovered that Lance, who was only a few months older, always liked to be in charge.
    Lance’s family had been occasional visitors to the club while his grandfather, Major Smithers, was alive. When the major had recently died of a heart attack, Lance’s father, Frank, had been worried about his elderly mother living on her own. Mau Mau attacks on isolated farms were becoming more frequent. Yet, according to Mathew’s mother, the major’s widow had refused to leave the farm, point-blank. She insisted her servants were loyal and that she could still handle her .22. In the end, Frank Smithers had left his office job in Nairobiand brought his family up to the highlands to manage the farm himself. They had arrived at the end of October, on the weekend after the governor had declared a State of