The Mountain

By Daniel Kung'u

The story revolves around a tragic character – Kimani Muwinda, later named Robert Hunite, who gets separated from his mother at a tender age after losing his father. By some strange twist, he finds himself in Nanyuki town and settles at the foot of Mt. Kirinyaga. At the height of loneliness, he adopts two dogs from which the pack grows to twenty dogs. In order to survive, he ventures into hunting, aided by his dogs. He distinguishes himself as a successful hunter, a philanthropist and a man of faith.
Things take a different turn when one night he gets a divine visitation. Like the biblical Jonah, he is commissioned to go to preach to the residents of Nyasumu City. With a heavy heart, he abandons his beloved dogs and embarks on the journey. Barely five hours after his arrival, he loses his luggage and in that moment of desperation, comes face to face with the forces of darkness. His unwavering faith is shaken to the core, Will he overcome and fulfil the divine assignment?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528968461

Daniel Kung'u

A professional fine artist and a businessman, Mr Daniel Kung’u finds time to pen his ideas and thoughts in the midst of his busy life.

Book preview

About the Author

A professional fine artist and a businessman, Mr Daniel Kung’u finds time to pen his ideas and thoughts in the midst of his busy life.

Dedication

To the woman who bore and raised me up, and for her unrelenting support over the years, my mother. Blessings beyond measure to her.

Copyright Information ©

Daniel Kung’u 2021

The right of Daniel Kung’u to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528935876 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528968461 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2021

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

Level 37, Office 37.15, 1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

Thanks to pastor Hezekiah Owiye Majengo

For his words of encouragement and the teachings.

May God expand your territory.

Chapter 1

Master Not Around

Day One and Day Two

Woof! Woof! Woof! The dogs barked at dusk, in unison with the other animals in the jungle, the nearby town and villages. Robert Hunite, as he was known in the nearby community of Nanyuki, was an aged man who had never married. He had fallen in love with dogs since his childhood and they had become a part and parcel of his life. He had never found the time to settle and have a family. As a result, he remained a bachelor, eventually graduating into a senior bachelor. The fact that he lived in the expansive Kirinyaga forest also meant that he was alienated and lived a solitary life with minimal human interaction. His main activity in the forest was hunting, which he had done all his life and loved passionately. The young boys and girls in the nearby community adored his lifestyle which they thought was full of adventure.

After a period of incessant barking, the dogs calmed and eventually fell silent. Some went to the foot of the wall of Robert Hunite’s house. The house was made of bamboo and consisted of two rooms plus a kitchen. The kitchen protruded from the edge of the sitting room at an angle of ninety degrees. Already fed on the meat they had earlier hunted from the jungle, other dogs scattered around the compound. Hunite also went to his room to rest for the day, hopeful that the next day would bring forth with it a bountiful catch of wild animals.

Robert Hunite was woken up by the growling of his pack of twenty dogs. This was their daily routine, growling and barking at the door of the bamboo wall of their master’s house. Robert Hunite stirred, rose to his feet and opened the main door. The dogs growled harder, wagging their tails, sniffing and rubbing themselves against him. They followed him as he first entered the kitchen and came out with clotted blood which he normally got from the town’s slaughterhouse for feeding them. He poured out a ration for each on its distinctive plate and they fed. The dogs were well versed in feeding manners and routine, thanks to a long meticulous training by their loving master.

He then fetched water from a cistern outside the kitchen and washed his face to clear his eyes. The panoramic view of the mountain right behind his house was covered with fading haze. This view brought out in him a great urge to go hunting in the mountain that day. He particularly looked forward to hunting tortoises, which were found there in plenty. It was however hard to hunt them that early because they hid in the boulders due to cold. However, as the day progressed and the sun came out, the tortoises would come out to bask. He went back into his kitchen and brewed himself a cup of espresso. He enjoyed the espresso more than any other morning drink, especially when taken with brown bread spread with natural honey. He had been advised this by the Healthy Living Organization down in the village that it was very healthy.

The dogs started playing with each other while Hunite had his breakfast. He then went out of his kitchen with twenty pieces of meat for each of his twenty dogs. This was a daily ritual, in part to know whether all the dogs were around and fit for the day’s hunting. Each dog came wagging its tail once its name was called to receive its piece of meat. They all patiently waited their turn. Today one of the dogs was missing, Master. Master was the dog that outshone all his other dogs in hunting, manners, strength, bravery, speed and even wisdom. He whistled and called Master’s name several times around the compound but Master was nowhere to be found. The rest of the dogs also started barking for the missing dog but in vain.

Hunite immediately initiated a search mission for Master. Accompanied by the dogs, he foraged all the places he thought the missing dog would be found, behind his house and on the mountain, calling out Master’s name loudly helped by the frantic barking of the rest of the dogs. Go! Go! Go! Scout! Scout! Scout! Here, there…Hunt, he implored the dogs to search. He used the same methods he employed while hunting wild animals and the hounds energetically combed the boulders and other hiding places. The tortoises, Hunite had been planning to hunt later that day, retreated further in their hiding places as they recognised the dogs that were always hunting them down. As the search progressed, two hares bolted from their hiding place in terror. Wamunugu was the first dog to sniff them out and he took off after them. There was general pandemonium as the rest of the dogs were alerted by the fierce barking of Wamunugu and joined in the hunt for the two hares. Although Wamunugu was a very good runner, Hunite knew he had problems catching small animals such as hares, squirrels and porcupines. In this instance, Wamunugu caught up with the hares by the sheer power of his speed. Due to his height, one of the hares hid between his belly and he was unable to hunt it. It suddenly bolted, escaping between his long legs and he was unable to follow it. Wamunugu always preferred to hunt larger animals such as gazelles and zebras.

Running a few steps behind Wamunugu was Mofi. Mofi was simply the best hunter of tortoises, hares, squirrels and other small animals. Her biggest disadvantage was her short legs, and she always lagged behind during hunting. So when that one hare veered away from Wamunugu, Mofi overtook Wamunugu as he tried to regain his balance. She ran after the hare, past the rocks and boulders closely followed by Wamunugu until they came to a dead-end of a natural elected elephantine boulder crept with hedges. Mofi slammed into the hare with her paws and jaws and strangled it, helped by Wamunugu. The other dogs growled and watched until the hare gave up the struggle.

Meanwhile, Hunite was wondering where his dogs had disappeared to. He bawled, yelled and called them until they emerged from the hedges with Mofi dangling a hare at her mouth. As was customary, the dogs couldn’t eat the animal they had killed without approval of their master. He removed the hare from Mofi’s mouth and carried it by its earlobes as it tried desperately to rescue itself from his hands.

Around him were twelve dogs, the others were still deep in the bushes. They had all dispersed and disappeared while hunting the hares. He kept calling out their names, whistling and looking for them frantically as well as Master. A couple of minutes later, he saw the youngest of the dogs exiting from the boulders. This was King, a dog born very recently to Jescka. She had given birth to two puppies but one of them was stolen in the town by an unknown person when he went to look for food in the slaughterhouse. None of Hunite’s dogs had ever disappeared and not found except the brother to King. He would search for them and if not found in the jungle they surprisingly came back to him on their own sometimes with serious injuries. But the brother of King was only a puppy when he was stolen. He searched for him for many months without success so he came to the conclusion that the puppy had been stolen and taken far away.

King was still an amateur in hunting. He had never hunted any single wild animal. Hunite could, however, see he was going to be one of the best dogs in his squad. He resembled Master so much that Hunite suspected that Master was his father. King came pacing, his tongue dangling out, drooling and looking fatigued. Behind was Jescka with the rest of the dogs. Jescka was carrying a hare in her mouth which she came and gave him to her master.

Robert Hunite removed a dagger from his scabbard. He never left home without it. He slaughtered the hare because it had many injures and shared the meat among the dogs. He then slaughtered the other hare which had earlier been brought by Mofi, built a fire on the mountainside and roasted it. Most of the dogs were lying and resting around him after eating but King was walking around the rocks on the mountain. Suddenly, Hunite heard a loud hair-raising barking from King. He could see the young dog on top of some boulders.

Hunite suspected King had sensed danger from either a snake or another wild animal. He climbed the rocks very carefully to where King was, and was startled to find Master ensnared in a narrow boulder’s cave. He quickly jumped towards the narrow cave calling out Master’s name. The dog just stared at him with glazed eyes, not responding to anything. He tried pulling Master out by his ears but he couldn’t; Master was too far into the narrow cave. He tried repeatedly to reach and pull Master out several times without success. He noted that there was something wrong with the dog, as it was not reacting the way he would have expected. The fact that Master was embedded so deep in the narrow cave meant the only solution now