When she carried Dube over to Sisiwe’s hut, he complained sleepily at being disturbed.
“It is going to be hard for me to leave you, little Dube,” Nomusa said to him.
She fastened a cord to an outer post of Sisiwe’s hut and attached the other end around Dube’s neck. Then she gave him a bowl of amasi, which he dearly loved. Soon he began eating; the curds were too good to ignore.
While Dube ate, Nomusa looked in the direction of her father’s hut to see if any of the hunters had yet arrived. She saw two glistening hunters entering through the kraal gate, their spears and large shields held close to their bodies. Nomusa left Dube abruptly and ran back to her hut. She had forgotten to get a handful of fat to rub on her body to make it glisten like the bodies of the other hunters. She had heard that fat made one active and supple.
Rubbing and polishing herself did not take long. Nomusa had done her work well, and she was ready to leave the hut. With a final glance to see that all was prepared for her mother when she awoke, she decided that she could now leave. She had just got outside without awakening any of her family when she heard an insistent call. “Nomusa, wait!”
Startled, she turned round and saw Mdingi with a bow and arrows in his hand. Her heart leaped. Had he determined to go and make her stay behind?
“What is it?” asked Nomusa.
“Here. Take these with you. You will need a good weapon,” and he offered her the bow and arrows.
“They are your best bow and arrows!” exclaimed Nomusa, too surprised even to touch them.
“Ay, but I want you to have them. I am disappointed that I have to stay at home, but I am not angry with you.”