Way of The Wand

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jira exclaimed as she was forced to get up from her bed for the second time in the same night.

“Who is it now?” She grudged, flailing out of her room to the tiny corridor that led up to the living room.

She opened the door and Timi was standing in her porch, a frown creasing his cheeks.

“I’m here to fetch Tomi.”

Jira jerked back, befuddled by the words coming out of Timi’s mouth.

“Timi, Tomi left my house over an hour ago. You mean to tell me she’s not at home?”

Timi’s frown morphed into concern. He’d suspected something was wrong when Tomi went out and didn’t return for almost two hours. But despite the sick sensation in his belly, he’d convinced himself Jira would never allow any harm come to his sister.

When he couldn’t wait any longer, he decided to come and pick her up himself, only to be told now that she’d already left.

“She hasn’t shown up at home,” Timi said, lowering his tone to hide the anxiety roiling inside him.

“Jira, do you think something could have happened? Do you think she panicked and ran away?”

He regretted those words the moment they rolled off his tongue. “No, no way. Tomi’s not the type to chicken out. Gods, what’s happened to my sister?”

His hard exterior peeled off layer by layer, and all that remained was the husk of a worried boy concerned something unspeakable may have happened to his sister.

“I’ve got to report to my parents that she isn’t here.”

“I’ll come with you. Wherever Tomi is, she can’t be far. I promise you, we’ll find her.”

Jira rushed back to her room to fetch a coat. She threw the sleeveless black coat over her night gown and closed the door behind her.

When Timi returned home with Jira and not with Tomi whom he’d gone to bring, Mr and Mrs Afolabi knew something was wrong.

They didn’t respond to the news that Tomi was missing well, with Wura Afolabi believing Tomi had cracked under pressure and had run away to avoid facing Daila in the following day’s match.

“What did you say to her, ehn Jira? What did you tell my daughter when she came to visit you? You scared her, you scared her off.”

“Mum I’m sure that’s not what happened,” Timi insisted. “Tomi would never back down from this match, and if she was going to run away, she would have told me.”

“Timi’s right,” Yomi Afolabi chimed in. “Laying the blame of Tomi’s disappearance on Jira won’t magically make her appear. It gets us nowhere.”

“So, where’s my daughter then?”

“It’s possible she was taken,” Jira said, feeling sour for not walking Tomi home. When Tomi turned her down, she ought to have insisted on accompanying the young lady home. She failed to do that, and now Tomi had disappeared.

“Taken by whom? Who would want to kidnap my daughter?” Wura Afolabi was getting more hysterical by the moment.

The obvious answer struck Yomi Afolabi. “Wizards. Maybe Kalinda Rakha had wizards kidnap our daughter.”

All eyes fell on Jira and she shrank.

Could it be indeed, that her mother had kidnapped Tomi? What would Kalinda gain from that?

Even as she tried not to think about it, the reason ate at her mind−Kalinda had Tomi kidnapped because she was afraid Daila would lose to Tomi.

Jira struggled to accept this line of thinking, not because she trusted her mother would never resort to something so dark, but because she knew her well enough to be sure that Kalinda didn’t consider witches a threat, much less a young and inexperienced one like Tomi.

And as for Daila herself, she would never stand for it. Daila wouldn’t let Kalinda kidnap Tomi and ruin a fight she was looking forward to, unless, Daila wasn’t aware of any of this. If she was left out of the loop, she would have no idea why Tomi didn’t show up and would probably just assume, like everyone else, that the little witch chickened out.

Maybe that was the plan, to make it seem like Tomi forfeited the match out of fear.

Jira raised her head to Yomi Afolabi. “Can I use your connector calabash please?”

Yomi Afolabi hurried to the wooden cabinet hidden behind the old curtains and retrieved the house’s connector calabash and spirit salt, placing both on the centre table.

Jira sat on an armchair, rolled up her sleeves and drew the calabash to herself. She sprayed in a dose of spirit salt and mentioned her mother’s name- Kalinda Rakha.

The silence was killing her, and for every second that passed without an answer, a bead of sweat formed on her face.

The water bubbled up for a stretch of time but didn’t form into her mother’s face. Jira took this to mean her Mum was already asleep and unable to answer the call.

If her Mum was asleep, did that exonerate her? No, Kalinda didn’t have to be awake herself to have an operation like this carried out.

Jira looked to the faces of the Afolabis surrounding her. The frightened and anxious eyes glared back at her, hoping to the gods that Kalinda would answer.

Their prayer was answered.

The water in the connector calabash took on form and shaped into Kalinda’s face.

“Jira,” Kalinda’s sleepy voice spoke through the water-formed face, “if it was anyone else waking me up this late in the night, I’d be angry, but since it’s you, I’m actually delighted.”

“Let’s skip the pleasantries Mum; where is my pupil? What have you done with Tomi?”

The eyes of the water-formed head blinked. “What on earth are you going on about Jira?”

Jira’s veins crawled up her neck. She didn’t have time to play this game of cat and mouse with her Mum. “Mum, swear to me, swear to me that you weren’t the one who had Tomi kidnapped.”

Kalinda gasped. “You really think I’m capable of doing something like this? Your own mother.”

“You’re telling me you would never resort to kidnapping to achieve your goals?”

Kalinda lolled her head to the side. “Kidnapping? Maybe, but kidnapping children? Never.”

Jira sneered. “Oh, so that’s where you draw the line. Good to know.”

Kalinda dipped her head then raised it. “Look Jira, you asked me if I had Tomi kidnapped, the answer is no. And I swear on Oya and the gods that I am not guilty of what you’re asking me.”

Timi Afolabi stepped forward. “If you didn’t have my sister kidnapped, who did?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that young man,” Kalinda replied. “But if I may, ask yourselves, who has the most to gain by making sure Tomi doesn’t show up to the match at dawn?”

“You,” Jira answered. “If Tomi fails to show up, it would look like she got scared and forfeited the match. Daila would win by default and wizards get even more glory.”

Kalinda laughed. “That’s a fine conspiracy theory you’ve got there but think again. If Tomi fails to show up, you sure as hell would tell everyone she was kidnapped, and who do you think the citizens are going to blame? I’ll give you a hint, the same person you think is responsible.”

A different look set into Jira’s eyes. She was starting to realize where her mother was going with this.

“That’s right,” Kalinda continued. “Tomi would have lost, but only because I, afraid of letting Daila lose to a witch, had her kidnapped. The witches save face and might even earn a note of sympathy. Now who do you think wants that?

“Good night mother,” Jira said abruptly.

“You’re not even going to thank me for my help.” Kalinda rushed out the words before Jira was able to cut the call.

The water collapsed back into the calabash and Jira turned to the Afolabis armed with resolve.

“Arron Tartian, it’s him.”