The incident destroys the mood of the celebration, and everyone heads for home. Back at her hut Mmeli tells Mbali about what happened and tells her how Manqoba has fled. Mbali is taken aback. “Do you think he will come back?” she asks.

“I don’t know.” Mmeli is pensive. “But I saw determination in Manqoba. He is going to do something.”

“Let’s not talk about him.” Mbali shies away from the topic.

“What should we talk about then?” asks Mmeli.

“How we got engaged. Retell the story,” Mbali insists.

Mmeli smiles. “It was an afternoon. I saw you sitting on a rock. You looked like you were crying, so I approached you. It seemed you didn’t recognise me anymore, so I reintroduced myself. We fell into a long conversation. But this time it wasn’t just me getting to know you, you got to know me too. And by the time we finished we had both fallen in love with each other.”

Mbali was quiet with her thoughts. Then she raised her head and looked straight at Mmeli, asking him solemnly, “Will you love me forever?”

Mmeli is confused by the nature of the question but reassures her. “I will, forever.”

The two hug. As they are hugging, Gogo’s footsteps echo outside and Mmeli takes off, running away from Mbali’s hut.

Forty days and forty nights pass. Mmeli leads Ifalakhe, Sibusiso and Sifiso on an expedition to the mountains.

“Why so far?” asks Sibusiso fearfully. “There are predators everywhere here.”

“Don’t mind his cowardly behaviour, Mmeli,” chuckles Sifiso.

Ifalakhe teases Sibusiso, “Father says that predators hunt, searching and sniffing out cowards!”

Everyone laughs. Mmeli orders them to stop. “We are here,” he announces.

“Why here?” questions Sibusiso.

Mmeli points to a rare species of flower that grows only in the mountains. “I want to give it to Mbali, my flower.”

“Hawu! Then are you going to sing for her and dance like the women. That’s not manly,” teases Sibusiso.

“Don’t mind him, he has no wife,” says Sifiso, and they all laugh.

Mmeli goes up alone and bends to pluck the beautiful flower. As he looks up again, in the distance he sees two bull giraffes fighting over a mate. Mmeli watches the combat. The big one is dominating, but then the younger fights hard until it eventually wins.

Mmeli sees that and he feels inspired. He goes back down to meet the men and return home.

***

Tell us: Are you a person with a great sense of romance, like Mmeli?