Hannah was a lady who specialized in herbal school. Her grandmother sent her to medical school but she fell in love with native medicine so when she graduated she began to learn more about herbs and began to specialize in it. She got married to a fellow doctor but he died two years after their marriage due to an illness. However, she was three months pregnant at the time. She couldn't handle all her problems alone so she moved back to her grandmother's house at the outskirts of Country N. Her grandmother consoled her and helped her throughout her pregnancy. Few weeks to her delivery date, her grandmother fell illl and was hospitalized. She asked Hannah to come to the hospital whenever she was due. Exactly on the day she was told she'd deliver, she felt a strong kick in her stomach and she felt serious pain. She shouted out to the locals and they took her to the hospital in earnest. On getting there, she was immediately wheeled in and few hours later, the cries of a new born baby was heard. When Hannah carried her baby, she saw herself in her baby. She was sad and happy at the same time because her baby didn't resemble her father. It seemed God didn't want her to be in much pain. She told the doctors she wanted to visit her mother in her ward. They put her on a wheelchair and wheeled her chair. When her grandmother saw her and her little baby, she smiled so happily. When she saw the baby's face, she called out to the little one "Layla"
Hannah was surprised because Layla was her grandmother's name but she smiled since it was her grandmother who gave her the name. Hannah and her grandmother were at the hospital for a week before they were both discharged.
Although Hannah and her grandmother were not rich, they did their best to cater for baby Layla. Sadly, two years after Hannah gave birth to Layla, her grandmother passed on. Hannah was devastated because her grandmother was the last person she had but she comforted herself because she knew she had to take care of Layla.
Five years later...
Hannah had already learnt a lot about herbal medicine and was providing services to the people of the village she resided in. Her seven year old daughter, Layla was already attending a nearby school she was enrolled into by her mother few months after her grandmother died. Layla was a very friendly girl. She was shy but her curly afro hair and her bright eyes made everyone gather around her. She wasn't the prettiest but she had features that made her stand out among her peers.
One evening, Layla came home with a letter in her hand. She said it was from her class teacher. Hannah couldn't think of what it could be. She hadn't missed any school meetings and she had been paying Layla's school fees quite on time. She opened the newsletter and read the content
"Phewww" she heaved a sigh of relief. It was the school telling them about an excursion planned for the kids. They were taking them to the city to explore museums and participate in a nationwide contest organized for schools. Hannah looked at her daughter, smiled then said
"We're you told about it in school?"
Layla who was munching her biscuit she had forgotten to take to school, nodded her head and said with her mouth full " Yes, my aunty told me about it and she told me to give this to my parent"
"It's alright, now chew slowly" Hannah said as she patted Layla's head
She had always wanted to go out and search for herbs but she always didn't want to leave Layla at home alone so she never went and made do with the ones she could find nearby, so she thought this was a perfect opportunity while her daughter was away on a three day trip. She went out and bought few snacks and some other necessities into a small bag which Layla would take along with her.
Two days later, it was the excursion day. Hannah woke up very early and made good food for her daughter. She also prepped her up and when it was time, she sent her to school and bade her farewell. She smiled as she saw her seven year old daughter look so excited. She was happy for her.
She went home after branching the local market to get some things she'd be needing for her search.
The next evening, Hannah set off happily into the woods . She quickly saw some plants she needed so she didn't get too far into the forest. After gathering quite a lot of herbs, she went back home since it was already getting dark. On her way home, she saw pretty flowers up a hill. She wanted to get some but she postponed it since it was already late. She promised to come back to get them. She got home and made dinner. She suddenly remembered Layla. Layla would have made a fuss if she got home late and hadn't made dinner. She was sure her daughter was having so much fun with her friends at the moment. So before she ate, she prayed for her daughter and herself.
The next day, Hannah began to work on the herbs she brought back the previous day "This is a lot" she said as she examined the plants. By the time she was done, it was already evening, so she took her basket and set off once again.
This time, she followed the path she used the previous day in order to get to the flowers. She began to pluck her favorite ones. She saw some at the top of the hill and decided to go for it. On climbing the hill, she came across a small hut which looked like it hadn't been lived in for some time. However, she kept getting pulled to the house as if someone was inside.
She wasn't a fan of superstitions but she decided to check it just for the sake of it. When she opened the door, she was shocked at what she saw. There was a boy tied to a pillar in the hut. He had multiple cuts and bruises on his body and seemed to have lost a lot of blood. She wanted to examine him but she heard the rustling of leaves so she left the hut and went back home.
She couldn't help but think about the boy.
"What happened to him?" "Who put him there?" "How did he get all those bruises?" A lot of questions were going through her mind about the boy so she decided to go back there the following day. She didn't know anything about what happened up the hill so she decided to ask the locals who knew about it. She knew asking about the hut in particular could be dangerous so she just asked generally.
The following morning, after doing her chores in the house. She left the house and strolled to the place she knew she'd meet a lot of local women.
"Football brings men together but gossip brings women together" she said and laughed
When she got there, she greeted everyone of them
"Good morning, my people" she said
"Morning, Hannah" they replied
As she sat down on an empty chair, a woman then said "Hannah, thank you for the herbs you made for my daughter. She is already feeling better and was even able to go to school today"
Hannah smiled then replied "It's nothing, as long as she is fine" she knew that her opportunity has opened for her to bring her curiosity up. She then started
" The herbs I got for you, I got them in the woods when they were still fresh. But I noticed something there" By that time, she had already drawn the attention of quite a lot of the women.
One woman asked " What did you notice?"
"I came across a hill while I was getting the plants and on top of the hill was a small hut. I was just surprised because I never knew people lived up there"
The same woman who spoke before, spoke up again but quieter "No one lives there, but my husband told me that I should never get close to the hut because it belonged to city thugs"
"Thugs?" Hannah asked in surprise
"Yes, thugs. From what I heard, they come here to hide whenever something goes wrong"
Hannah had gotten what she needed so she said "Let's not talk about it again. It's creepy"
The women laughed and changed to another topic. Hannah spent another hour with them before she went home. While at home, she couldn't focus on anything because her mind kept going back to what the woman said.
She kept thinking "Thugs. What did that boy do to get into thugs hands?" After much deliberation, she decided to go and take the boy. She was scared as she had never done anything like that before but she had to do something to save the boy.
That evening, she wore light clothes and went out to the woods where she saw the hut. It was cold but she couldn't take any chances of getting caught. When she arrived at the hut, she listened for a while to see if there was someone or people around. When she saw that everywhere was clear, she opened the door and entered. The boy was still tied to the pillar the same way he was when she came in the day before, she realized that nobody had attended to the boy and she figured out that that's how he had probably been since he got there. She went closer to the boy and tried to loosen the rope that was used to tie him to the pillar but the knot was too tight so she decided to look for something she could use to loosen the rope. She looked around and saw a big drawer lying in one corner of the room so she went to check it if she could find something she could use.
She found a screwdriver and used it to loosen the rope. She was about to remove the rope completely when she heard footsteps at the door. She quickly tied the rope in a way which looked like a knot but was easy to loose, she then looked for a blind spot and hid. She was sure no one stayed in the hut but she was surprised seeing how someone came there.
When the person opened the door, she held her breath and released it slowly. The person drawed out a chair and sat down directly in front of the boy.
"I don't know why you were left here but your parents must have done something bad, huh?" He said nonchalantly "However, I can't watch over you. I have to make a livelihood as well. You're on your own" he said and stood up. He put the chair back in its place, dragging it on the floor so that it made noise. He then slammed the door as he left.
Hannah came out of her hiding place and quickly loosened the rope. She went to check the door. She was relieved the man didn't lock the door. She carried the already frail boy on her back as she quietly left the hotel. When she got to the edge of the hill, she thought of how she could get done the hill with the boy on her back
"Arrgghh" she couldn't believe the idea that came to her head. She was running out of time so decided to go along with it. It was impossible for her to climb down the hill with the boy on her back so she decided to push him down. She knew he wouldn't die but he would be injured but she had no choice. She held the boy, wrapped him in her jacket and said "Forgive me". After breathing in deeply, she pushed him down the hill and watched as he slid down the hill. He stopped when he got to a heap of grass. She sighed and she went down as well. She got to where the boy was and checked his body for bruises. She was relieved as there were none aside from the ones which he had before. As she carried him and was on her way to her house, a torch was suddenly pointed in their direction.