This
is a background story for characters in my novel, The Devoted of Imshalel. (Galeta—gal-eh-tah, emphasis on the first
syllable.)
Galeta
Galeta possessed wisdom, a certain grace,
and too many years for their purpose. The tiny dark woman’s creased face spoke
of trials, endurance, and battles won through sheer perseverance. Ian had nearly
two feet on her and a permanent crick in his back from bending to hear the
dried and crackling voice that reminded him of fall leaves, except she lived on
the Central African Republic’s savannahs. Flat grassland ran from horizon to
horizon.
Ian considered this mission time well
spent rather than another dead end in their worldwide search for Imshalel. Lee,
one of his three teammates and taller and more massive than his commander,
spent the most time with the little lady, fascinated by her Christian sermons
mixed with local animistic beliefs.
“Listen to the wind shushing through the
grass, big one,” she said to Lee through their interpreter. She spoke a mix of
the native Sango and the country’s official French. “Listen to the pitch of its
voice. Angels speak of ill or well tidings through it if you have the ears to
hear.”
The neighbors evidently believed she did.
The seven families of Galeta’s village gathered in her small thatched-roof home
for services on Sunday rather than travel the many miles to the nearest town of
Bambari.
Lee worried for the fragile lady. “Witchcraft
is a legal offense in your country. Has no one taken offense at your teachings
and threatened to bring in the authorities?” he bluntly asked her.
She laughed with a rustling sound. “I have
been here teaching my people for generations.” She winked. “What would they do
without my advice on love, children, and cassava crops?”
Liu, their healer on this mission, decreed
Galeta healthy and anything but fragile. A mischievous glint in his dark eyes,
he said, “The lady could no doubt teach even Master Kai a thing or two about
leadership. I recommend we commission a recruiter to speak to her.”
Wednesday—Galeta’s
plea for help.
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