فصل 08

Chapter eight

The Spirit of the Wind and the Rain

For many weeks Kee did not go back to the graveyard. He thought, ‘I’m happy that I went to see Conway. He’s a good man. He’s not going to build shops and houses in the graveyard.

The people in the graveyard are dead, but their spirits are not dead. The spirits will help him. The spirits will give him everything he wants. The spirit of the wind will bring him good luck and the spirit of the rain will make him happy.’

But one afternoon Kee went back to the graveyard again. There were no trees. There were no stones. There were no graves. But there were a lot of men in the graveyard. They were from Conway Construction and they were building the shops and the hotel.

When Kee saw what was happening, he became terribly angry. His face went white and his hands began to shake. Kee ran up to the men and said, ‘What’s happening? Why are you building here in the graveyard?’

The men laughed at him and said, ‘Go away, old man. This isn’t a graveyard any more. We’re building shops for the new town. Go back to your village and be quiet.’

Night came, and the village was very quiet. Kee was alone outside his house. In the garden there was a small fire and the yellow and orange flames danced in the dark, throwing strange black shapes across the ground.

Kee took a stick and drew a circle in the ground. He walked round and round the circle, singing a strange song. A long way away, he could hear the sound of some dogs howling at the night sky.

Kee began to talk very quietly. He said, ‘Spirit of the wind, spirit of the rain, listen to me and help. His name is Conway. I saw him a few weeks ago. He said some things to me, but they were not true. Conway is building the shops and hotels in the graveyard.

When I saw him I said, “I will give you everything you want.” Now I need your help, because the things I say are always true. I do not want to give him everything he wants, but I must. That is the law of the houngan. But something bad must happen to him too. Spirit of the wind, spirit of the rain, help me, help me.’

When Kee finished, a cold wind began to blow. It blew through the village, and then the trees began to move in the wind. There were clouds in the sky, and it began to rain. Soon the wind and the rain came to Port au Prince.

Conway was getting ready to go to bed. Then the wind began to blow and he began to feel cold and afraid. He looked out of the window. It was very dark, and there were a lot of clouds in the sky. He picked up his clock and put it by his bed because he had to wake up at seven o’clock. Then he turned off the light. Just before he went to sleep, he could hear the wind and the rain in the garden, and he thought, for a moment, that he could see the face of an old man at the window.

He did not sleep well that night. All night he had bad dreams, terrible dreams. In his dreams he saw Kee’s grandfather and all the other spirits from the graveyard. He was very frightened of the spirits and they ran after him in his dreams. He saw their white faces and felt their cold hands.

He could hear strange music coming from behind dark trees and could hear people screaming and laughing, and shouting out his name.

RRRRING! It was seven o’clock. Conway looked at his clock and got out of bed. He brushed his teeth. He was very tired after his bad night. But he washed his face with cold water, and he began to feel much better. He soon forgot about his dreams of Kee and the graveyard.

He got dressed, and then had some breakfast and opened his letters. At eight o’clock he got in his car and went to the office. Marie was not there, so he opened the doors and made a cup of coffee.

He went into his office and sat down. He was sitting behind the big desk in his office when the telephone rang.

RRRRRING! Conway woke up. He was in bed. He looked around the room. ‘What’s happening?’ he thought. ‘Where am I?’ He picked up his clock. It was seven o’clock. Conway thought, ‘That was a dream again. In my dream I got up and went to the office. But it was only a dream, and I’m still at home. How strange! I thought I was at the office.’

Conway got dressed and went to the office. When he went in, Marie was sitting at her desk.

‘Good morning, Marie,’ he said.

‘Good morning, Mr Conway,’ she said. How are you?’

‘I’m fine,’ he said. ‘But I had a strange dream last night. In my dream, I woke up and came to the office. Then I woke up and I was at home.’

‘Well,’ she said. ‘You’re here now. This time you’re not dreaming.’

Conway went into his office and started to work. There was a knock on the door.

‘Come in,’ said Conway. An old man came into the office. He looked at Conway and started laughing.

‘Hello, Conway,’ said the old man. ‘Do you know my name?’ Conway looked at the old man and felt afraid. He knew the face. But where was it from? Whose face was it? Was it from the dream?. Or was it from a picture in a book? Was it the face from Karen Jackson’s book?

‘I am Kee’s grandfather!’ the old man said. And then he began to laugh and scream like a man who was mad.

Suddenly the telephone rang.

RRRRRRING! Conway woke up. He looked round the room. He was in bed. He looked at his clock - it was seven o’clock in the morning. He thought, ‘I was dreaming again. But what’s happening now? Am I sleeping or am I awake?’ He was very frightened now.

He got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He looked into the mirror and screamed. In front of him, in the mirror, there was the head of a dead man. There were no eyes, and no nose, just deep black holes. A long thin red snake was moving slowly in and out of the holes. The snake looked at him with its two small cold eyes, and moved through the open mouth and went round and round the neck, and stopped.

Then suddenly the head came alive. It had bright white teeth, there were fires in the eyes, and it began to laugh and scream. Then Conway remembered the face. In front of him was the face of Kee’s grandfather, the face of the terrible voodoo houngan, Baron Samedi, laughing at him.

RRRRRRRING! Conway woke up again. He was in bed. He looked at the clock. It was seven o’clock.

He started screaming.