May issue - Magazine - Page 27
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COMMUNITY
A Story That Came On The Wind
Deirdre Dunn from Castle Bytham tells a story from her time living in Africa
In Zambia the working day started with the rising sun and as I
made my way across the horses’ paddock to the stables a
cockerel in the workers’ compound heralded the dawn with all
the urgency of an angel blowing the last trumpet.
Horses, like all animals, take delight in the dawn and relish
the cool morning breeze as it plays over their coats and tickles
their noses. It was the first few hours after dawn that the horses
loved best of the African day. Thus, as the sun was peeping over
the acacia trees, I made my way to the horses’ stable.
My pet vervet monkey, called Montgomery, who was loping
along beside me searching for crickets, suddenly ran up the
nearest acacia tree. It was then I heard the encroaching drone of
a helicopter. As it drew nearer it dropped height and this set
Monty off, who let out a high-pitched warning call. Now all my
senses were on high alert as I saw that this was no ordinary
helicopter but a big, pot-bellied military one which seemed
intent on landing. When it was just above the level of the trees it
hovered.
Suddenly I was overcome by dread and stood rooted to the
spot. Then, to my amazement, I saw a friendly black face with a
watermelon smile give me a big wave. I then noticed the
markings. Ah, I said to myself, the Rhodesians are here again
and must be on their way to give a wake-up call to the freedom
camp, which was near the farm.
Chicken theft was a big problem on the farm, and despite all
the conventional security measures we continued to lose
chickens. Playing on the Zambians’ extraordinary fear of horses,
we built lean-tos around the chicken shed and made the area
into loose boxes for the horses. They were very happy as they
had a view and freedom of movement, and the poultry loss
became negligible.
I continued on my way and as I approached the stables I
saw all was not well. The horses were restless, especially the
mare with the foal. I assumed that the noise of the low-flying
helicopter had caused their agitation, but when I opened the gate
to the stable I saw that this was not the cause of their unrest.
I do not have sufficient words to adequately express my
shock when I walked across to the loose boxes. This was the
scene that awaited me as I opened the stable gate. There were
squawking chickens fluttering around. Chickens in the feeding
troughs, chickens on the rafters and horses with rolling eyes and
stamping hooves kicking up their bedding.
Te first thought that came into my
head was that somehow the door to the
chicken shed had been left open, but
this was not the case. This was the
scene that next greeted me - a very
frightened mare, two sacks full of
squeaking chickens... and a dead body.
When faced with such a dilemma
as this, there were decisions to be made.
Do I panic and open the sacks and
cause the chickens to take on a life of
their own as they struggle for air and
liberation - thus further upsetting the
mare, Blue Moon, who had a foal at
foot. Her eyes were still rolling with
fear and she was not at all happy about
these strange creatures sharing her stable.
Do I try and remove the sacks with the fluttering chickens
still inside, or do I try to walk the mare and foal and the other
ponies through the door, thus adding panic to fear? This could
add panic to fear and maybe I’d suffer the same fate as the
unwelcome visitor in the night, now lying on the floor.
Discretion being the best part of valour, I followed neither
plan. I backed the horses out through the open door and in the
twinkling of an eye they were running across the veldt into the
deepening sunlight, their fear subsiding with each galloping
stride.
There is a very British saying: “Do what you want, but do
not disturb the horses.” How true I found this to be. As the thief
was passing the mare and foal the chickens, who thought it was
not quite cricket to be confined in sacks, must have set up a
shrill cackling and the mare must have lashed out, knocking the
thief against the wall and leaving a hoof mark firmly indented
on the side of the dead man’s skull. The mark was a clearly
outlined horseshoe shape.
Gathering myself together, I returned to the house and
contacted the police by radio to notify them about the dead
body and the attempted chicken theft. Now, here was another
dilemma. Which way would the police jump? Would they insist
that the horse was a dangerous animal and must be shot
forthwith, or would they treat the incident as an awful accident?
These were the thoughts that went round and round in my head
as I waited for the arrival of the police.
The sun had long taken possession of the sky when a police
landrover with a sergeant and young constable arrived. I
commented on their delay and the officer in charge replied:
“There was no rush as the thief was already dead.” The officer
greeted me with that wonderful display of good manners which
is still part of African culture, with enquiries as to the health of
my family and expressions of regret that I should have
awakened to such an upsetting start to my day.
After examining the scene and the dead body, the officer
duly made his way back to the house where I awaited him, full
of anxiety as to the outcome of his deliberation, because what
had started as a theft had turned into a possible murder
investigation. I said to him: “Where do we go from here officer?
What is your verdict?”
Imagine my intense relief when he said: “Suicide, madam.
We will take the body with us and drop it off at the mortuary on
our way back to the station.” I had to pinch myself. Was I
hearing the man correctly? The report
would say suicide, not accidental
death. Intrigued, I asked the sergeant:
“Why suicide, officer?” The policeman
replied: “Madam, anybody who, in the
still of the night, walks through a
stable with loose horses with live
chicken in a sack over his shoulder
wants to commit suicide.”
African logic, illustrating that a
problem only becomes a dilemma
when looked at without understanding
. I realised that the thought process that
goes into reaching a verdict or solution
plays an important part in decision
making, and this thought process
should be taken into account when dealing with people from a
different cultural background, who think differently to yourself.
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