Nomusa was looking at the plain below when something caught her eye. It looked like a black ball and a brown ball moving horizontally across the skyline at great speed, apparently without touching the earth. They became bigger, blacker, and browner as they moved closer.
“Look, Damasi!” she cried. “What can that be?”
Damasi looked in the direction Nomusa pointed to, puzzled for a moment. Then he said: “I know! Ostriches! A male and a female. They must have been frightened by something. They are galloping so fast we cannot see their legs.” Damasi looked at Nomusa, laughing. “We might wish we could run as fast if some wild animal were chasing us.”
The barking of dogs heralded the return of the hunters. They had had good luck, and now everyone fell to cleaning and preparing the birds and animals for cooking. After the meal they slept. It seemed to Nomusa that she had barely lain down when there came urgent calls to get up and march on.
There was no time for an extra stretch or another wink. When her father said, “We go!” he meant it. The hunters had already extinguished the fire.
Toward evening they found themselves on a scrubby plain dotted with old thorn trees. Nomusa admired the reddened sky, flushed by the quick and beautiful sunset. The sunsets never failed to leave her astonished by the vivid coloring that faded swiftly into gray, then almost black. It was a marvel how quickly the sunset was over. Down went the sun into the mysterious horizon like a stone dropped in a pool.
The shadows became heavier and blacker. The hunters grew more watchful. This was the kind of country lions liked to roam.
Nomusa hoped her father would not decide to spend the night on this unpleasant-looking plain. She could not help feeling it was dangerous. But how much farther could they walk in the darkness? The dogs whined uneasily and drew close to their masters.
All at once the hunters who led the way stopped. There was a sudden hush, and the men held their weapons ready.