Lungelo was frightened by the unexpected visit. He moved slowly toward the door and asked with an aggressive tone of voice who was behind.
A man with a familiar vocal timbre responded. It was Mr. Paddy. Excited, Lungelo opened the door to his Master and was struck by his new appearance.
The fifty-one-year-old landlord was no more wearing his usual gray three-piece suit. His hair was no longer black and clean-cut.
His feet were inexplicably not covered with his preferred black and white Oxford shoes. The baron had turned into a neglected peasant.
Mr. Paddy was now dressed in rags. The shirt and trousers were uglily torn and smelled putridly. He had an enormous tuft of hair that extended to the forehead and its color was dark gray.
Wrinkles crushed the once freshness of his face. His nails were dirty and abnormally long. His feet were bare and the toes were in a pitiful state.
Lungelo was disturbed by what his eyes were seeing and began to cry. He wept so loud that the infant was awakened and in his turn burst into tears.
Mr. Paddy hastened to the bed and rocked the baby with the British royal anthem 'God save the Queen'.
The night was endless for the three. Lungelo sat on the sofa and looked baffled at his Master who was carrying the toddler. The latter had still not eaten but miraculously he was calm and healthy.
Finally, the sun rose and they departed from the log cabin. They trekked at a slow pace to where the Jaguar E-type was parked.
They had no fuel and Mr. Paddy was wondering how it could drive off again. But as they were approaching the car's location, its black color was changing to a shameful rusty brown. Mr. Paddy almost fainted when he glimpsed at his once cherished automobile.
The vehicle being unusable, Mr. Paddy, his heir, and his driver had no choice but to return to Mankayane on foot.
Lungelo asked his Master to hand over the infant to him, which he did. They pursued the journey and were very hungry.
Meanwhile, the newborn mysteriously kept his cool.
The weather was hot-wet, so the three adventurers didn't dehydrate much. After quite a long walk, they reached the home address but instead of a manor house, there was a hut with a skinny sheep tied to a picket nearby.
The cornfield had volatilized and there was no maid, no farmer, no clerk, nobody except an old lady who looked like Mrs. Pola, the landlord's spouse.
Mr. Paddy almost sustained a heart attack. He turned to glare at Lungelo but the aide had vanished away and the baby was lying in the grass.
The baron carried the newborn while shouting his employee's name but the latter wasn't answering.
Paddy advanced toward the hut where an old woman was standing peeping at him. He was struck by her resemblance to his wife.
And as he was stepping inside, the old woman queried him where he had been since last night. She added then, she had been expecting him to come back earlier.
He understood she was Pola, his lovely wife. So he apologized and gave her the baby.
The infant commenced whining. His mom unbuttoned her blouse and breastfed him. Like a starved lion, he gripped her outfit and sucked the udder.
After a few shots, the baby was full and sleepy. His mother took him to the rattan basket she had arranged for him. It was a warm and perfumed nest. She laid the infant and he dozed instantly.
Paddy was sitting on a stool and was lost in his thoughts. Pola came up to him and asked for the child's name. At first, he didn't notice her presence or hear her question.
So she repeated with a sharper tone of voice. He was shaken and recovered his senses. Then he said: "Churchill Junior".
Paddy named his heir after his late father.
Churchill Junior was a Metis. He inherited the genes of the Anglo-Saxons above the North Sea, and the Bantu Ancestors in the forests of southern Africa.
He was twenty inches long and weighed five pounds, eight ounces. His hair was curly and his face was shining.
He was a handsome and bouncing toddler, however, had the spell of deafness and dumbness been cast away?
TO BE CONTINUED…