Dominic and Rita finally arrived when everyone had almost given up on them coming back. Dominic was seen embracing a book close to his stomach. The book raised a lot of eyebrows - Mr Donald got startled to see Dominic with the book of Black Magic.
"Was wondering what must have kept them when the ropes of tiny skulls were not faraway", he said to himself, staring at them amazement.
The farmers approached them to ask some questions. Tricia watched them from afar where she stayed with her mates. She was at least happy to see her brother again after leaving without telling her.
"I told you guys not to worry. I knew they'd eventually be back", said Ben with all smiles.
"Who thought they'd never come back?", Tricia scorned at him.
"Your beloved Grace", he pointed at her, who only returned a forced sheepish smile, "and Mark!", he pointed at Mark who was isolated using his phone. Tricia only shook her head in boredom.
Over to where Dominic and Rita were being spoken to by their farmers, the couple found it hard to believe they risked their lives going back to the land of Black Magic just to go get an ordinary book. "So you two are saying you risked your lives for an ordinary book?", asked the man with a doubtful giggle.
"Is there anything else you see us with?", gestured Dominic.
"Then something special is in that book", the woman concluded, staring at the book curiously. She could not see its title because Dominic had it well covered.
A sudden call got into Dominic's phone and trying to pick it up got extremely excited, though surprised also to see the Chief Constable on the phone. "It's the Chief Constable calling me!", he said to Rita who immediately brightened up. Mr Donald joined them to find out why both of them were happy.
Dominic picked up the call and greeted;"Good morning Sir!"
"Where have you been? I couldn't call you because of no reception before", asked the Chief Constable.
"Are you in the Anaka community?", he asked.
"How did you know I'm here?", Mr Roland got surprised.
"I'm with the students and colleagues. They informed me the police were on their way and I assumed you'd be among them", he replied.
"Okay", responded Mr Roland, "Where are you guys right now?", he inquired.
"Uhmmm", Dominic looked round for a distinct landmark, "I don't really know how to explain this environment I'm in right now", he said.
"Ask for where he is", the female farmer said to him.
"Uhh! Sir, where are you at the moment?", he asked.
"Well...", the Chief Constable had a glance round, "I'm close to a very narrow stream, where I am now has a lot of huge trees", he said with hesitation.
"Do you guys know any place having a lot of huge trees close to a very narrow stream?", he asked the farmers in a low voice.
They figured out the place almost immediately. "He just crossed over the demarcation between the land of black magic and the land of purity", the woman revealed.
"Tell him to wait there. It's along this path we're about to follow", said the man.
Mr Roland was calling on Dominic after not hearing him speak over the phone. Dominic quickly replied to him;"Please hang on there Sir. We know where you are and are coming towards there."
"You really know where I am?", Mr Roland asked in relief.
Dominic glimpsed at the farmers to assess their confidence in knowing the place. "Yes Sir! We're coming there so we could then get out of here", he said.
"Thank goodness! I'll be waiting here. Please hurry up", Mr Roland requested.
"Okay Sir. We're on the way", he assured Mr Roland who then hanged up the phone.
"Let's get going right away", urged Mr Donald.
"Let's get going guys!", Dominic raised his voice, gesturing for the kids to go forward. They did as he asked of them, with the adults right behind them, except for the principal who was with the JS1 students to keep them company.
Tricia waited for her brother to approach her. He hugged her by the side as soon as he got to her. "How are you doing?", he asked cheerfully.
"Not happy with you. You left without letting me know", she frowned her face dramatically.
Dominic giggled in return. "I felt I'd return without you guys noticing", he said.
"That's not an excuse", she gazed at him with a grimace.
"Okay fine. I'm sorry", Dominic gave in to her argument. They walked past the dead boy wrapped with a clothing material that laid on the ground and became sober. "Rest in peace feller", he said inwardly. Everyone went into the woods being led by the farmers who went behind of them.
* * *
As soon as everyone had diverted into a wider path leftwards, the farmers looked down the sloping cliff by their right as they all kept on moving forward. They soon spotted five people down the sloping cliff close to the very narrow stream just when Dominic was about to ask if they had arrived at the place.
"Are those the people you're looking for?", the man pointed downwards.
Dominic and Tricia turned and saw the policemen who were waiting impatiently for them. "Yes they are!", Dominic exclaimed in excitement, "Mr Roland! We're up here!", he called out to them. This caught the attention of everyone, looking downwards to see who Dominic was calling on.
Mr Roland and the Constables looked upwards and saw everyone. "Hey Dominic! You're with the students", Mr Roland expressed his joy.
"Good morning Sir", greeted Rita with delight in seeing him, "Thank goodness everyone is okay. Mr Donald stood beside her with his smile shining brightly on them.
Mr Roland and the Constables went up the slope and on getting to the top, they were assisted back to top of the cliff. "How did you find the students?", Mr Roland asked Dominic and his colleagues.
"It was a coincidence. We found them at the home of these kind farmers", replied the principal, showing him the farmers.
"I'm surprised you're still here", Chief Constable Roland gazed at him in amazement.
"Why won't I be here with my students?", he stared at Mr Roland in confusion.
"Thought you had already betrayed them and - maybe - got killed out of self defence", Mr Roland replied vaguely with a shrug. The principal only stared at him in wonder.
Mr Roland went to the farmers to commend and thank them. "That man told me you both are kind", he smiled, "How did you two find the students?"
"We found them in a terrible state of starvation and took them home to give them something to eat", answered the woman.
"Dominic's sister told us what they passed through. They were betrayed and then abandoned by their supervisor", her husband added.
Mr Roland turned to ask Dominic;"Who's your sister Dominic?"
Dominic searched for her. "Look at her there", he pointed, "The one on black and blue shoes", he described. Mr Roland stared at her for a short while with a smile, leaving her in a state of confusion, wondering what she must have done.
Mr Roland then turned his focus back to the farmers. "I'm fully aware of what their supervisor did and I'll make sure he's found and punished by law", he said to them and heaved a sigh, "I have to say...you two are the reason these students are alive. I really appreciate the act of generosity", he thanked them.
"But we're not done yet", the woman giggled.
"Yeah! We haven't yet led you all out of this forest", said her husband cheerfully.
"That's what you're already doing. Let me just thank you for the previous ones", said Mr Roland, "We Nigerians don't like accepting appreciations", he chuckled.
Meanwhile, Dominic, Mr Donald and Rita were having their own talk with the four Constables that followed Mr Roland. "No one got hurt while in the land of black magic right?",. asked Dominic, expecting a positive reply.
The Constables became sad as soon as they were asked, remembering the death of Constable Simon. "We lost Constable Simon", one of the Constables informed them.
Dominic, Mr Donald and Rita were saddened by the news. They recognized him to be the Constable Dominic had asked to know where the Chief Constable was when they were called to the station.
"What happened to him?", asked Rita.
"He was consumed to nothing by a large army of ants after he picked up a fruit to eat. The fruit opened up and they marched out of it and chased all of us but he ended up being a victim", the same Constable narrated. The news of how he died was quite terrifying to the three of them.
"He didn't eat of the fruit right? He only picked it up", Rita asked the Constables and they concurred, "I did the same thing but it didn't happen", she said.
"My sister told me they lost one of them that way but she bit of the fruit", Dominic revealed, "It all depends on fate maybe", he said.
"We were even being pursued by them but surprisingly they couldn't cross over this very narrow stream", said another Constable, showing them the stream, "But then they suddenly disappeared before our eyes."
"Those farmers said the stream is a demarcation between the land of black magic and here", said Dominic, "Those ants are of black magic so they can't cross over the stream, even as it is very narrow."
"How about you guys? No one was lost amongst you?", asked the first Constable. He watched the three Constables that followed Mr Donald, who were with the children and principal.
"If it's from the police, no!", Dominic replied and paused, "But we lost another student last night, with cause of his death unclear", he said. The Constables felt bad for the students.
While all this was going on, a girl amongst the waiting students heard some strange sounds of someone treading out of the bush beside her. She quickly turned behind and saw someone, though not clearly, approaching them. She wanted running away but collided with her mate who was not happy for her actions.
"What's going on?", her fellow girl asked, seeing the fear in her eyes.
"Someone's coming out of the bush", she stuttered with fear, pointing towards the direction. They both turned to see, only to find Father Christmas standing still right next to them. They both screamed at the top of their voices. All the students soon saw Father Christmas and screamed, withdrawing away from him and clinging closer to the adults who managed not to show off their fears too.