فصل 02

Chapter two

The Book of Baron Samedi

While she was away, Conway looked at the open book on her seat. There was a picture on the page which showed a black man with open eyes and bright white teeth. He was laughing, but he looked frightening and dangerous. Conway read the words below the picture:

‘Baron Samedi, the strongest and most dangerous of all the voodoo houngans. No one knows who Baron Samedi is, but they believe he is both dead and alive. He lives in two different worlds. Many people are so frightened of him that they are afraid to say his name.’

Conway looked at the picture. ‘Baron Samedi!’ he laughed. ‘How can these people be so stupid? Still, it will be easy to make money if they think like children.’

A few minutes later, Karen came back. She picked up the book and put it in her bag. As she was sitting down, the lights in the aeroplane came on.

‘We are going to arrive at Port au Prince airport in a few minutes. Please stay in your seats and put out your cigarettes. The time in Haiti is 3.15. It is a warm day and it is 30C. We hope you have enjoyed flying with Air Haiti, and we hope that you will fly with us again. Thank you.’

Down below them, in the village of Bussy, not far from Port au Prince, Kee was in his small wooden house among the trees. Outside, a few brown chickens were trying to find something to eat in the garden. There was not much rain in the summer and the ground was dry and dusty.

The old man Kee was sitting by the window in the front room. Suddenly he felt that something was wrong.

In the garden the wind blew harder, and the dust from the dry ground flew into the air. He stood up, went to the window and looked out.

‘I can feel danger,’ he thought. ‘Someone bad is coming.’ He looked out into the trees, but he couldn’t see anything. Then he looked up at the sky, and saw the plane just before it went behind a cloud on its way to Port au Prince airport.