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Chapter 9: Liberty
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2021-09-25 19:57:25Thunder roared across the vale, a crackling burst that birthed great forks of lightning. The sleek white shards tumbled to the indebted earth, and the shattered heavens flew asunder in feral delight. Deep in their burrows the little creatures cowered, and waited for the rains to subside. And low the storm came, its shadowy wing beckoning over the window where Liziwe sat with hands folded, peering through the thick panes of glass. She smiled, and shifted to a new position, pressing her nose to the window in childish enchantment. There was something so awfully thrilling in the nature of the storm; the unadulterated power coursing through the heavens, and through her fingertips she felt it. It was as if some essence could be harvested from the very air around her, tingling with jagged, electric energy.
When she was young, she had often sneaked out from the house, bursting forth at the slightest bloom of thunder and prancing barefoot among the knee-deep brush, howli
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She stood, tall and proud, and pale as a ghost. Her arms stretched outwards, reaching, as her mother worked the lacings to her corset, tugging at the strings fiercely. Bursts of air escaped Liziwe’s grim-set lips with every pull, as her waist was slowly drawn in, and in, displacing flesh and bone. Her Mother spoke not a word, pulling the white gown down and over Liziwe’s torso, helping her arms through the long, stiff sleeves, to settle on her hips. She could feel her mother’s hands tremble as she began to button the myriads of tiny, untenable buttons, and still no words were passed; no expressions of comfort, or fear, or the simple gentle solace of a clasped hand. Disquiet ran rampant, thick and poisonous as hemlock. She regarded her reflection passively in the ancient, tarnished mirror; a relic of better times for the Matiwane family. Her hair was artfully plaited and pinned round the crown of her head, a style soft yet severe, dignified yet girlish
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The incessant thrum of her heart, pumping life through her body, was as inevitable as the changing of the seasons.Andile was seated across from her in the eternally jolting carriage, quietly flipping the pages of his book. Liziwe’s attention shifted gradually from the outer world to his person. Like a cat she watched him, eyeing his every movement; but he paid her no heed. Indeed, even if there had not been another soul with him in that cabin, he could have not have acted more as if he were entirely alone. He might have been a handsome man, she thought, if his disposition had not been so frighteningly unpredictable, his smiles so alarming. As he read, she watched his dark eyes flick across the page, absorbing the words as if they could be swallowed. And all the while he did not move, save for the careful turning of a page, and the measured movement of his eyes. No flash of pearly whites appeared between his
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She sipped delicately at her tea, her back straight, her hair immaculate, her winning and courteous smile false. But still, there was nothing quite as lovely as a hot cup of tea in the morning.Little joys kept Liziwe sane, and this was one such pleasure. She kept them, and counted them, and bitterly guarded them: a spoonful of honey, snuck from the scullery in the dead of night. The hot lapping tongues of water that caressed her skin as she laundered the lies clean. The secret vengeance she wreaked upon her husband in her mind, slow and convoluted, as she lay in her narrow cot of a bed. And, of course,tea.Good, brown tea, that she enjoyed with a simpering smile to disguise the fact that inside, she was screaming. In short, Liziwe Matiwane was going mad.‘‘I do hope you will excuse me, my dear; I will be out late tonight. Don’t wait up,’’ Andile beamed at her genially from across the long table, his eyes twinkling
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"Liziwe!You there, hold her!Five shillings to the wretch that catches that ungrateful hag!""What did he say?""Eh?""'Over there, the man at the window! Hesaid five shillings to the lucky bastard that catches her!"Little pattering feet pounded in a frenzy of sudden surprised movement. The sounds of four became six, six became eight, and the tykes passed the intoxicating message from one shrieking maw to the next; a dangling fish, rapidly torn to enthusiastic scraps."Five shillings! Five, he says!She ran as though her very life depended on it- which was, the thought flitted through her mind, not entirely far from the truth. Her boots slapped at the pavement and muck, an abhorrentsquelchringing in her ears with every knoll of filth she plunged through. But there was no time to stop, no time to think: her lungs burned with an abominable inferno that worked its aching way from the inside out, squee
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He glanced at her, snuffing at the cold air through his corpulent red nose. "I did," he replied matter-of-factly, fluttering the paper over his head. "What's it to you, my dear? Got a mystery that needs solving? Lost your lover, perhaps?" He leered down at her, then cupped his hand around his mouth, shouting, "Papers! Paaaapers! Get your papers here!"She tugged at his sleeve again, in a panic that throbbed desperately through her veins. "Sir,please! If you would- where can I find Mr Edward Skweyiya?"He dropped his arm then and looked directly at her, his face breaking into an incredulous smirk. Bending down to have a better look at her, he chortled; a short, breathy thing that was rank of garlic and goat meat. Barely containing her disgust, she raised her voice, asking once more, "Mr Edward Skweyiya!Where can I findMr. Edward Skweyiya!"He straightened, and guffawed down at her, wiping a frayed coat sleeve cursorily across his n
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In the end, she was deposited in a small, windowless room. Save for the addition of a scuffed wooden table with two stools tucked fastidiously beneath, it was not so different from her own despised quarters. She stood a pace into the room and shivered, looking back anxiously at the sergeant. He hovered by the door, and offered a hesitant, sympathetic smile. "Stay here, Miss; the inspector'll be in shortly to speak with you.""The- the inspector!" she exclaimed, her voice faltering. "Surely a... a stolennewspapercould not merit such rigor! Why would the inspector care to speak tome?"A small, niggling doubt lodged itself in her mind then, an uneasiness which could not be entertained for any longer than a moment. It must have spoken plainly on her face, for the sergeant grimaced, and his kind eyes looked away before closing the door heavily behind him. The oil lamps flickered in their stands, casting odd shadows from corner
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She could not help it; her brow furrowed, her lips parted in a chortle as she exclaimed, "Come now, Inspector, ascoundrel?I grant you, he is an arrogant man, and undoubtedly an egotist to boot, but scoundrel is hardly the word I would choose!"The inspector stood abruptly, his eyes flashing furiously down at her. "Madam, he said stiffly, the coarse hairs of his beard bristling, "I did not present myself to discuss matters that arebeneath me.I came to have a look at the lady who has caused us so much anxiety this afternoon. I was led to believe that you were some lovely young thing, but I find the same could be said of any harlot that spends an evening within these walls. Now, if you would,Miss Matiwane," and he extended his hand, white and hefty and possessive of all the subtleties of a meat cleaver, "I will have the two pounds and six pence."Liziwe stared at him incredulously, impati
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"You must excuse my wife, Inspector; I fear she is given to fits of increasingly fanciful eccentricity.""Come now, Mr Xakatha; whose wife is not?""It is a curse, I think, that their sex must bear. The shock of moving has frayed her nerves immensely!""Ah, I would imagine so- a large move is hard on the strongest of minds."They talked over her as if she were a dog; a little pet that trots submissively alongside its master, dumb and mute. And Liziwe stood with her head bowed in her husband's shadow, quietly seething, allowing the words to fuel a future vengeance shewouldtake."Thank you, again, for notifying me so promptly! I must admit, when she disappeared I feared the worst- she is not, as they say, the sharpest tack in the box. And indeed, if you had not found her I am quite sure we would have found her frozen corpse in the morning. The weather is getting on, you know! Did she have no coin on her as well? Ah,
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"Sonjica here- " and Edward flapped his hand at the distracted man- "was just informing me that these birds are town bred. Well! I've put a penny on it, for they're country bred, through and through!""You've lost your money, then" replied the merchant, Mr Casbane, "for they're town bred.""They are most certainly not!""Take it or leave it, Mister! They're town bred, and I have the ledger here to prove it."Sonjica stared at the woman. The woman stared back at him. Her eyes were wide, and dark, and fretful. They flickered to Edward and back again."Edward- look, do you see her? Just there?""Notnow, Sonjica, he's just fetching the ledger- the thief's name will be there, I'm sure of it- ""Edward, do you see that woman? Look, look now- there!" And he spun his fellow profiler round, jerking him by the sleeve of his greatcoat. Together they scanned the crowd, but where before she had stood, there was now a group of y
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It was clear that this was by no means Simon's greatest wish, for his demeanour was grudging and ill-tempered as she slowly descended the stairs. But he held the door open for her all the same, and she stepped over the threshold, into the brisk air of early winter. Hesitantly she took the steps one at a time, clutching to the railing. Her cheek ached dreadfully, even in the mere minute it had been exposed to the weather. The street bustled; horses trotted by, and the citizens of Sterling found their dogged way from this place to another. She took it all in, in deep, bewildering breaths; into her mind, into her lungs, into her heart.Lifefound her, once again, in a heady rush of sound, and noise; a caterwaul after the silence of her prison.And it was too much. Energy, brimming and running over, teemed in every direction, flowing through her like great waves crashing against the surf. Her knuckles grew white against the railing, and she found her body
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Her eyes snapped into focus, alarm and fear mingling into an entirely different beast, whose hackles rose, whose lips pulled back into a guarded snarl. Her feet slid away from under her, her body propelled backwards on the energy of pure revulsion. But he seized her face between his warm hands, and drew her up towards him. A shriek tore from her lips; high and incoherent- but was silenced with his kiss. His mouth against hers was hard and demanding: it was an assault, an invasion of her person. Twisting her neck, she pulled away,awayfrom the searing contact of flesh against flesh- but his grip was made fast, coiling once more deep into her hair. His tongue darted into her mouth like a serpent; out and away, too quick, too shocking for her to seize it between her own teeth andripfor all her life was worth. He released her suddenly, and she tumbled backwards, catching herself precariously on the bedpost. Her stomach heav
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He scrutinised her, taking in every curve of her form; every line, every crease, every movement. Through a dim fog of disbelief she waited, her awareness wavering on a knife's edge. He seemed to be before her, and yet, he did not seem real; a threatening mirage, a reminder that reality was only the counting of physical hurts. Did she live, did she breathe? His eyes were burning coals; bright, burning circles, burrowing into her, consuming her…"Liziwe, my dear," he said finally, as if she were a little child who had done something very naughty. "You have cost me a pretty penny, did you know? The keeping of a woman is not cheap… nor was this littlejauntof yours today, this… little adventure. Did you not think I would find you? You aremine, Liziwe; you are mywife. The sooner you understand that, the better it will be for you." His words lapped at the edge of her reason, and still she stared, h
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She could not help it; her brow furrowed, her lips parted in a chortle as she exclaimed, "Come now, Inspector, ascoundrel?I grant you, he is an arrogant man, and undoubtedly an egotist to boot, but scoundrel is hardly the word I would choose!"The inspector stood abruptly, his eyes flashing furiously down at her. "Madam, he said stiffly, the coarse hairs of his beard bristling, "I did not present myself to discuss matters that arebeneath me.I came to have a look at the lady who has caused us so much anxiety this afternoon. I was led to believe that you were some lovely young thing, but I find the same could be said of any harlot that spends an evening within these walls. Now, if you would,Miss Matiwane," and he extended his hand, white and hefty and possessive of all the subtleties of a meat cleaver, "I will have the two pounds and six pence."Liziwe stared at him incredulously, impati
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In the end, she was deposited in a small, windowless room. Save for the addition of a scuffed wooden table with two stools tucked fastidiously beneath, it was not so different from her own despised quarters. She stood a pace into the room and shivered, looking back anxiously at the sergeant. He hovered by the door, and offered a hesitant, sympathetic smile. "Stay here, Miss; the inspector'll be in shortly to speak with you.""The- the inspector!" she exclaimed, her voice faltering. "Surely a... a stolennewspapercould not merit such rigor! Why would the inspector care to speak tome?"A small, niggling doubt lodged itself in her mind then, an uneasiness which could not be entertained for any longer than a moment. It must have spoken plainly on her face, for the sergeant grimaced, and his kind eyes looked away before closing the door heavily behind him. The oil lamps flickered in their stands, casting odd shadows from corner
