The Invasion of the Niger

Budo supervised the making of engines using a complicated combination of dried bamboo sticks, repurposed iron and steel, rubber, gunpowder and different crystals of mirror colors. The English singled out Budo for particular cruelty as the architect of their suffering, but also for his secret. O'Molola and her six children disappeared five months before. We celebrated with loud cries and songs, thanking Ulu to marry the creator. Our mistake was to misidentify a skirmish for the war. A second wave hit before we could reload Budo's magnificent weapons. They raised the village and killed old men, women, children.