Fosuaa And The Thief
AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN
PRINCESS BY HEART SERIES
FOSUAA AND THIEF
EPISODE 2
She jumped down as Ato tried to stop her. The door of the chariot opened and Adobea looked out.
“What’s this, Ato?” she enquired angrily. “Why did you stop so suddenly and jolted my spine? I’ll have you punished for this! Must the future queen suffer such irresponsible behaviour?”
“Forgive me, my Queen,” Ato said miserably. “Fosuaa, your slave, pulled the reigns because she saw a wounded man!”
Fosuaa ran to the wounded man. He was moaning weakly.
“Please, help me!” he said in a weak voice.
Adobea and Ato soon came to stand beside Fosuaa.
“Fosuaa, leave this imbecile and let’s go!” Adobea screamed. “Can’t you see we’re already late?”
“This man is wounded!” Fosuaa cried. “He’s a stranger! We must help him!”
“He’s just a common thief who has got what he deserves!”
Adobea retorted. “He can die for all I care! Get up now and let’s go or I shall have you whipped and sacked!”
Scared, Fosuaa stood up, and they turned away.
The wounded man raised a bleeding hand weakly.
“Please,” he moaned hoarsely. “Please don’t leave me! I’m dying!”
“Die then, you thief!” Adobea said.
Fosuaa stopped. She felt so sorry for the man. He looked so young and helpless, and her kind heart went out to him.
“I can’t leave him here,” she said. “Please, let’s take him to Maame Benewaa’s house. If he’s indeed a thief the police will come for him, but let’s help him.”
“Leave him alone!” Adobea screamed. “Come with me, or you will be sacked. This is my final warning.”
“I can’t let him die,” Fosuaa said sadly.
“Fosuaa, from this very moment, you’re no longer my slave!” Adobea said angrily.
And so, they got into the chariot and left Fosuaa alone with the wounded man.
She had a flask of water in her little bag. She washed the man’s wounds and applied herbal medicine, which she prepared from herbal plants she picked by the roadside and mashed them into pulp. Fosuaa tore strips from the hem of her dress and used them to bind the herbs to the man’s wounds.
Finally, she sat back and tears slowly fell down her face.
“Oh, what a fine mess I’ve gotten myself into,” she cried.
“Now my parents will not get the money, and I’ll be humiliated as the first slave girl to be sacked in the history of my family!”
The sun was hot, and she knew if the man didn’t get out of the sun his condition would get worse. She recalled what Ato had said: two thieves had escaped. If the man was indeed one of the thieves, the other one could return and hurt her.
Gently Fosuaa dragged him into the shades of the trees.
“Hungry,” he whispered weakly.
Fosuaa left him in search of fruits. She found some papaya and pawpaw. She brought them to him.
And she fed him the fruits in small pieces and then she gave him water from her flask.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“You’ve caused me quite some trouble,” she said. “But that’s okay. I can’t carry you to the town, and I can’t leave you here. There’s been some nasty hyenas around. So, if you can move a little, you’ll have to hobble to town. It is not far from here.”
The thief nodded weakly.
Painfully he got to his feet, put his arm around Fosuaa’s shoulders, and slowly they began to walk towards Sika. Fosuaa took the wounded man to her home.
She shared a tiny room with her parents and siblings, so she normally slept out in the open.
If she had been taken as Adobea’s slave, her parents would have been given a new house with five well-furnished rooms.
Now she had lost everything!
Fosuaa helped the wounded man down on her mat. Her sick mother was lying on the only bed, and so she decided to keep the wounded man outside for a while.
Her father entered the house just then.
He looked very excited.
“What’s going on?” Fosuaa asked.
“What are you doing here?” her father asked, alarmed. “Are you not supposed to be at Maame Benewaa’s place? And who’s this man on the floor?”
Fosuaa told her father all that had happened.
“What have you done, girl?” Father asked, and he began to tremble. “Oh, girl, you’ve brought me shame! I shall not receive my new house! And where am I going to find money to refund what I was given as your slave keep?”
Her father sat down heavily on the ground and began to weep.
Tears fell down Fosuaa’s face too as she ran to her father and dropped down beside him.
“Father, please forgive me! I’m so sorry, but I could not leave him to die!”
“The prince has come back,” Father said miserably. “He’s now in town, asking people to show appreciation for him. The people are giving him a lot of their money because they know he’s just testing them. He’ll reward them with more money!”
“The prince has returned from the city?” Fosuaa asked incredulously. “When?”
“Oh, this morning, after you left!” Father explained. “He was wearing his Crown Ring and holding his Royal Staff. Word had spread beforehand that he was coming, and was going to test our loyalty! Many people are giving him a lot of money!”
Just then there was a screech, and the chariot stopped in front of the house. Ato was driving, and behind the chariot were about ten Palace Guards. They looked really fierce and terrible in their uniforms. They were holding swords and guns.
The chariot door opened and an infuriated Maame Benewaa came out, and right behind her was a fuming Adobea.
“You ungrateful little wretch!” cried Maame Benewaa. “How dare you leave the Princess to attend to a common thief? You shall pay for this, I promise you! But first, the guards will arrest the thief, and afterwards we will deal with you!”
Adobea smiled wickedly at Fosuaa.
“Have you heard that the Prince, my husband-to-be, is in town? I’m going to meet him for the first time, and after our marriage I’ll make you sorry for disobeying me!” Adobea said to Fosuaa.
Fosuaa and the thief
