Oliver Benjamin
instinct that mistook the bulging, snorting, horned black car for an
enemy male, Tex found it impossible to dodge the enraged bulls. He
braked hard, but the animals attacked, smashing headfirst into the
steel frame. Two of them fell back and dropped onto the road,
twitching in unnatural agony. The other three stood by baying and
stamping on the tarmac. All the while the woman screamed along
with them.
After driving a few hundred clunking yards to safety, she
demanded that they stop, and when they did she jumped out of the
car.
“I’m sorry,” she said tearfully, “It’s my fault. Death follows me.”
Roy tried to convince her to stay but she ran off down the road.
He started to get out of the car but Tex insisted he let her go. He stood
clicking his tongue, examining the dented fender and hood.
“What was all that about?” Roy said, baffled.
“Animals. It is their way.”
“No,” Roy said, “I mean the woman.”
“Ah, Kemukus,” he said, and told Roy what he knew.
At the end of the explanation Tex offered his interpretation.
“Kemukus is where desperate people go. A graveyard. They have sex
with stranger. She give her body to the spirit. It is like trade. The
spirit get the physical pleasure. She get the spirit power.” He held his
chubby fingers up for Roy to see and interlinked them. “Two world.
Like this. Coming together.”
“Boom,” Roy said.
“Ha ha,” Tex chuckled, “Boom boom.” But that was not what Roy
meant.
2. Ethiopian Fingerprints
There was an urgent message waiting for him at his hotel: he was
instructed to cancel all further trips and come home at once. His
return flight had been already been booked. Oddly and
anachronistically, the message came in the form of a telegram, yet
Roy was reachable by telephone at practically all times. He thought it
might be a ploy on the part of Ellie to make him come home earlier,
and tried to contact her but she didn’t answer her phone. Roy tried
calling Morris, but he was also unreachable. Finally, he called one of
the other workers in the office, who informed him that Bidden had
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