“Grandpa thumps his fist again!” Tonderai slaps his hands on to the bench where he sits. “Crash!” he shouts. “The Table wobbles and Grandpa’s gold, his cars and his mansions fall to the floor. The Favourites scrabble to hold on, but they too are falling. Knowledge and Hope cannot believe what they see, for all they have known is shadow.”

Rain thunders over the roof again, leaving the room frustrated and fidgeting. Rudd thinks he hears Jacobus snoring. He looks towards the door but cannot see him. There is no firelight now, just the dull orange of the single remaining torch beam. Should be dawn soon, Rudd thinks.

When the rain clears eventually Tonderai begins again.

“Girl sees that Uncle’s carving makes each leg of the Table weaker and shorter. She knows now that, together, they may bring it down, and she hopes that soon there will be no more Snake, and no more Wife of Snake, and no more Favourites stealing, stealing. She dreams that all gold bars will be melted down to buy hospitals, and schools, and books, and teachers for the People.

She is happy dreaming, and then suddenly she remembers the Bones, and she is frightened. They jump in her head, shaking, shaking. Shaking so much that they shake in a new idea. A brave idea. And with it another, and another. Now Girl is not frightened. These ideas come from the Bones. It is they who talk to her now. It is the Bones who know their time has come. It is their time to be laid to rest, and they will not be silent until it is done. It is they who will bring down Grandpa’s Table, and it is the People who will help them.

How does Girl know these things?” asks Tonderai. “I know and bus-stop Gogo knows, for she told us that Girl knows these things for she has Ancestors of Fire in her blood – Ancestors who will not let her be pushed this way and that by those who think they are mighty, for this reason or for that. No. Those who came before Girl, have given her the power to see what is right and what is wrong. And now Girl knows that the Bones have Ancestors too.”

Tonderai stands and crosses over to the billiard table. He rubs his hands together and turns to face the youngsters who are half-lying, half-sitting, half-awake on the bench along the wall. “So,” he says to them, “this is how this story ends.” Then he turns towards Bernard and Simi. “Girl, who does not know if she matters at all, and Uncle who is not strong, have done what they have done, and soon it will be done. Grandpa and the Favourites will be gone. That is what Girl believes.”

Tonderai lowers his head and stands, hands behind his back, and his eyes on his gumboots. He says nothing.

 “Is that the end?” Marybelle asks.

 “Yes. That is the end,” he replies, lifting his head. “That is the end.”

“Oh … thanks,” says Marybelle, and starts to clap, applause rippling around the room with her.

“Good. Very good,” says Bernard.

“I like those Ancestors,” says Simi. Tonderai smiles.

“Must be nearly mor …” Marybelle never finishes. A thudding roar from outside, shocks over them. Rudd is on his feet before he can think.

“Yassus …”

“What’s that?”

 “Squash court …”

“I bet …”

Voices shout out as they jumble towards the door. Rudd joins Jacobus and others heaving at the stove. In seconds the door flings open, and they sweep out into the dawn like seagulls in a storm.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023