No, don’t fight it so, relax. Or it does hurt more. Yes, relax. And make I continue, the story will take your mind off it.
So. Little time after she start up she escapades regular in the New Half-Way Tree settlements, Tan-Tan start to hear back the first anansi stories ’bout sheself. I think you going to like this one, sweetness. Is the only one Tan-Tan would sometimes repeat sheself:
Tan-Tan and the Rolling Calf
O ne time, Tan-Tan was on the run again, oui, barely ahead of the bounty hunters. She did just done kill a man; a pimp who used to specialize in young young girls, and a pusher too besides. Truth to tell, nobody on New Half-Way Tree was sorry he dead, but murder was murder, and Tan-Tan had to pay. So she run. She bind up she locks so nobody could recognise she, and she head for the bush, like always when she in trouble. She hike for hours, until she was far, far from home, and tired. Night was coming on, but Resurrection Town was just over the next mountain. It had a woman there named Pearl who would feed she and hide she for the night. So Tan-Tan head up the mountain path, dragging she feet with tiredness, but keeping she eyes open for trouble.
It had a nice evening breeze blowing soft through the trees beside the path. Is the same song the breeze used to sing in the trees on Toussaint planet, when Tan-Tan was a little gal pickney. Walking along, she almost forget she was a exile on New Half-Way Tree with a curse on she head from the douens-them: every time she take from somebody, she had was to give back twice as much to a next somebody. But she couldn’t really forget the curse, nuh? All like how she just take a life, she was going to have to save two more, just to even up. Tan-Tan could hear the whispering of the douens starting up in she head again:
It ain’t have no magic in do-for-do,
If you take one, you must give back two.
Tan-Tan sigh and keep walking. Up ahead, she spy a form in the dark, someone hurrying to get home; a woman in long skirts. The woman was walking fast-fast, she shoulders all scrunch up together. She looking from side to side into the bush every minute, as though she could see trouble before it reach, oui? A tree frog shout “Breck-eck!” into the night, and the woman jump like jumbie on she tail, and start to make haste even faster. Tan-Tan see a chance to do somebody good, and quiet down some of the whispering in she head. She shout:
“Evening, sister: is home you going?” The woman cry out, “Lawd ha’ mercy!” and whip round to see who coming up behind she.
Tan-Tan say, “Don’t frighten, lady, don’t frighten. I just going over the mountain, past Resurrection Town to Juncanoo. I going to spend some time with my old grannie; she ain’t too strong any more, oui.”
As Tan-Tan get closer, she could see the woman shoulders relax, but she voice still tremble when she reply, “Thanks God, you is a honest woman. Bounty hunters tell we Tan-Tan round the place, and I frighten to walk this lonely road by myself so late at night. I stay too late in the market. I ’fraid Tan-Tan hold me and cut me throat like hog!”
Tan-Tan smile to hear somebody call she a honest woman. “Is alright, lady, I could walk a little way with you to keep you company. Is where you going?”
Sadie was going to Basse-Terre, a village beside Resurrection Town. Tan-Tan agree to walk with she until the path fork at the bottom of the hill. As they walk, they talk about things: how ackee dear in the market now with the drought; and what a sad thing it was for a woman to turn outlaw and have she heart so hard like the Robber Queen Tan-Tan; and what a way pickney-child wouldn’t mind their elders nowadays. Little-little, Sadie start to laugh and joke with she like them was old friend. It was hard work for Tan-Tan; long time since she just make old-talk. Sadie almost catch she out when she ask, “And what about you, my dear? You think your nen-nen going to get well again?”
Which nen-nen? Tan-Tan almost answer, but she remember she story in time: “I ain’t know. She old now, you see. Every time she get sick like this, she never come back as strong as before.” Tan-Tan bow she head to shake it in pretend sadness over she pretend nen-nen. That is when she see a shadow shifting right where Sadie was about to step. Tan-Tan yell out, “Mind you foot!” but too late: Sadie step down hard; the shadow yelp; Sadie scream “Oh God oh God!” and jump back behind Tan-Tan. Tan-Tan make haste and pull out she machète, but when she look good at the shadow, she only start one set of laughing. It ain’t nothing but a small beast, cringing on the ground in front of the two women, growling a baby growl and waving a tiny tail back and forth in the dust on the path. Tan-Tan re-sheathe she machète and bend down to pick up the beast. She show it to Sadie:
“Don’t ’fraid, Sadie; is just a rolling calf baby. See, the tail spikes too small to have any poison yet. It can’t hurt you.”
“Jeezam,” Sadie say, coming closer to get a better look, “you ain’t frighten it bite you?”
“Nah, man. Is only the big ones you have to watch out for. Them miserable, will mash you just for so. This one going to be big like a bull calf for true, and the four legs going to have some wicked claws. And you see these tiny scales all over the body? They going to get thick and hard, like leather armour. Let we leave it right here. It will find itself back home when it ready.” She put the baby back down on the path, and the two women start to walk again.
Well, doux-doux, Sadie couldn’t get over what just happen; she start to chat like she mouth is a pot with no kibber. “Lord, anybody see my crosses? I just walking down the road, minding my own business, when one wild beast nuh try to bite off my foot? I tell you, missis, I don’t know what I woulda do if you wasn’t here to help me! Jeezam!” Tan-Tan try to tell she rolling calf does only eat bush, but Sadie carry on so till Tan-Tan couldn’t take the noise no more. She start to walk a little ahead, trying to leave some of the jibber-jabber. And Sadie scream again. Tan-Tan turn round, just in time to see one big mako something rush at Sadie and slam she to the ground. Rolling calf! Big one this time! The mother come to protect she baby, Tan-Tan think as she fetch out she machète again and run to help Sadie. The rattle of the rolling calf tail remind she that she shouldn’t get too close; the spikes in the tail could kill she easy. Tan-Tan jump back; the massive tail just miss she. In the dark, she could barely make out Sadie, twisting round under the beast, trying to get away from the snapping jaws.
“Sadie! I coming, gal!” Tan-Tan fetch one blow to the rolling calf tail with she machète. The spikes went flying off. The beast scream and left Sadie to come after Tan-Tan. She couldn’t see it good in the night, but she could smell it. Yeasty breath, like bread dough a-spoil. Rolling calf-them does have they snout full of grinding plates, and sharp eyes, for the half-way tree jungle dark like the Blackheart man soul. Them have hard scales all over the body. When them move fast, the scales and the tail spikes does rattle. That is why the first colonists did name the animal “rolling calf”; the rattling noise remind them of the scary anansi stories they grannies tell about the Rolling Calf, a jumbie bull calf all wrap up in chains, with eyes of fire, that does chase people travelling alone at night.
The rolling calf lunge and snap at Tan-Tan. It catch she by she sleeve, and she had was to tear it free. “Ai!” She leave some of the flesh of she arm in the rolling calf jaws. Tan-Tan could hear Sadie sobbing on the ground, and praying steady steady, but she couldn’t mind that; the beast swipe she with it injured tail and send she slamming down. The fall knock out all she wind. She try to roll away, but the rolling calf grab she foot. She feel the bite of it grinding plates scraping down she leg nearly to the bone. She scream and she jerk the foot away, but she shoe leave behind in the rolling calf mouth. Don’t tell me I go dead right here tonight, Tan-Tan think. She had was to move fast; the way to kill a rolling calf was to stab up through the brain, but she only had one chance. If she miss and it trample she, she would dead anyway. The rolling calf haul back to lunge again; Tan-Tan roll to she knees under the snapping jaws. With two hands, she drive the machète upwards, praying she hit brain. She feel the machète shudder. Rolling calf blood start to spray from the wound, all over she hands, and the beast crash down right on top of she. The blow almost knock she senseless. She couldn’t move. She hear Sadie cry out, “Lady, you alright? Oh God, lady, don’t dead!”