It is mid-October. The everyday down pour of rain which normally characterizes the delta areas of the country during the rainy season was now gradually giving way to sunshine. People now come out for more outdoor activities. Business now moves more rapidly as people responds to the change in the weather.
Life around Highson’s estate was not left out. Most of the inhabitants came out for the first time since the rains started, to look at their vegetable gardens and see what could be done now that the dry season is approaching. For the fishermen living opposite the estate across the road the change in weather was most welcome. For them it marks the beginning of another busy season of fishing activities. A closer look at the fishing village from the estate reveals fishermen mending their nets and spreading them out in the sun.
For Dawson however, the change of weather did not bring any relief to his state of mind. His mother made things even more difficult for him when she saw that Dawson had lost Justina for good. Apart from her changed attitude towards Dawson, she had also forbidden Candida from coming to their flat. Dawson had quarreled with his mother over this, but she would not withdraw her words. Consequently, he spends most of his time in town and only return at night. Occasionally, when his spirits were so low, he would call on Daniel and together they would go to the Loners Club to drown his sorrows. He was yet to get a job despite the series of interviews he had attended. ‘Jobs don’t grow on trees,' he told himself, ‘but surely one day there would be a way’.
Amid all of these, there was no day he did not think of Candida. Although he had not seen her for quite sometime, his body had not failed to burn whenever he thought of her. He told himself that this cannot continue for a long time. He must see her one day and tell her how he felt about her. He would tell her point-blank that he had been in love with her right from the beginning and would ask her to marry him. He had seen the love in her eyes the last time they met. If she refuse because of his mother, then to hell with his mother.
It was a Saturday. Because Dawson knew his mother would attend a party in town, he chose this particular evening to see Candida. In the afternoon, he sent Hendrick down to the Oyibo’s cottage with a note asking Candida to meet him at the beach in the evening. In the note he said that it was more important than everything else in the world that they should meet.
Candida was lolling around the veranda when Hendrick handed her the note. She had not seen any of the Corridon’s family for some time. She thanked him and then watch the child as he ran away following the path that led to their cottage. As she open the note, she wondered what was it that Dawson wanted to tell her. Quickly she read the note, her heart pounding fast out of curiosity. What was it that was so important that he would want to see her about. She would go up and see him anyway, she concluded. It was still afternoon. She would have to start cooking the evening food now so as to meet the appointment. Leaving the veranda, she went into the house and proceeded to the kitchen. She was washing the dishes when her mother returned from town.
‘What are you doing in the kitchen this afternoon?’ she asked. ‘I am trying to prepare dinner so that we can put it in the oven until evening’. Candida replied.
‘But why, we could leave that till the evening.’
‘Dawson has asked me to see him in the evening. So I decided to prepare the food now so as not to have a late supper’.
‘Dawson! , her mother exclaimed. 'What does he want to see you for?'
‘I don’t know?’ He didn’t say why he wants to see me’.
Mrs. Oyibo stared at her daughter for some time, turned, opened and started rummaging in one of the drawers at end of the kitchen. She knew Candida was fond of Dawson, but saw no reason why Candida should continue to see Dawson after his mother had stopped her from visiting their flat. She was a mother with discernment and would not want to question her daughter incessantly about her action, but she felt a responsibility to warn her daughter of possible dangers of such meeting.
‘I know, you can look after yourself but you have to be careful when you go there. I do not want anything that would bring quarrels between Mrs. Corridon and myself’.
‘I understand, I would not go if he had asked me to come to their flat, but he has asked me to meet him at the beach’, replied Candida.
‘Okay! Leave the food for me I will prepare it later. You can go and rest.’
Candida finish washing the last dish, thanked her mother and went to her room.
The library wall clock struck four as Dawson was preparing to leave his room. He took along with him the novel, ‘The Dream Merchants’, by Harold Robins, one of his favorite authors. The sun was still shinning strongly as he walked along the garden path that led to the beach, although it was beginning to produce long shadows. Typical of the season, everywhere was bright and the air dry and fresh. He sat on the stone by the river and tried to read, but he could not concentrate so he dropped the novel. He got up and walked up and down the beach. He packed a handful of stones which he started throwing into the river. This was a habit he had form since Justina walked out of his life. When he was exhausted, he sat down again but this time admiring the natural scenerio around him. Far across the river came the sound of engines at the Mcdermot Steel Company and other oil servicing companies around that axis.
As he sat there admiring nature, he became oblivious of his surroundings and did not notice Candida as she walked down the path towards him.
‘It is quite some scene’, a voice said from behind him. Surprised he turned round to see the owner of the voice. It was Candida. She was wearing that green skirt and white blouse which she wore on the first day they met on the beach. The sudden appearance coupled with her outfit evoked so many memories. Instead of greeting her, his mind was carried away to that first day and how beautiful she had looked then. Looking at her now, he thought she looked more beautiful in this same dress.
‘I’m glad you came’, he said at last. ‘How are your parents?’.
‘They are fine’ she replied.
‘Candida, am happy to see you again after all this time. Do sit down. There are certain things I would like to discuss with you.' When she had sat down he continued.
'I couldn’t wait any longer to let you know how I am feeling’.
‘Candida, he continued, ‘my life has never been the same since I first met you here last July. You don’t know how much I have longed to tell you so, but everything seems to be going wrong. I am crazy about you. You are the first girl I have met who has ever meant everything to me. You must have guessed it by now. Will you marry me? I want you more than anything else in the world. Tell me you love me too. Candida. Do I mean anything to you?'
There was silence. She sat so still looking at the river that Dawson wondered if she heard what he said. The silence was so thick that the sound of the distant engines became so prominent. Finally she said, ‘Dawson….’. She was crying. He quickly got up and went to her side. Putting his arms around her he said, 'Please darling, don’t cry. What is it?’.
‘Oh, Dawson’, she said still sobbing, ‘I adore you more than anything else in the world, but how can we be together and be happy. Somehow I feel our love will never become a reality’.
‘But why? What we are feeling is so true and nothing will deprive us of our happiness. I just know we could be happy together.’
Finally, she stopped crying.
‘That’s okay’, he said. ‘Nothing can jeopardize our marriage’, he continued. '
'It’s just not possible, you know , your mother….’ She was speaking again but could not finish it. He was not even listening. His mind had been carried away to God-knows-the-place. But the word 'your mother’ clicked in his ear. ‘My mother!’, he said mentally. But why? He knew the answer. His mother could be a potential obstacle. He shook his head. No, nothing can stop him now.
At that moment his mind seems to be drifting. He remembered everything they have done together; seating in the library and all the stories she had told him, especially the last one. ‘The Gold and the Eagle’. Yes, that story, he remembered it. How its vividness and resembrance to reality had baffled him. Right now he could see her as she sat opposite him on that day and everything in the story as she was relating it. And just as if to complete the scene, a large eagle flew past them making a noise as it went to its destination-a sharp squawk sound that brought Dawson to his senses. He raised his face just in time to see the bird as it flew into oblivion.
He was physically exhausted.
‘Candida, stay with me’, he drawled.
‘I couldn’t live without you. How can I live and survive all these years ahead of me without you in my life. No! I would never be the same again’. He was about to continue, but broke off.
Your mother’, she had said.
But there must be a way, he thought.
He would talk to his mother and make her reason with him. He was sure she would reconsider things in a different light.
‘Candida, don’t worry about my mother. She never really had anything against you. I’ll talk to her about you and our plan to get married.' 'After that I will come and see you.
Common darling, it’s getting late, let’s go home before they start looking for us’.
He took her right hand to his lips, kissed it passionately and lifted her up. With his left arm around her waist, they walked side by side to the estate.