Chapter 1: The Reputation
A cry of a new born child filled the air at Valley Of Peace village.The cry was so loud that it caught everyone's attention.People in the village came out of their huts slow and assembled in groups wondering where the cry came from since no one in the village was expectant.This village was so small that everyone knew his neighbour and the condition of his neighbour.Nothing would have passed without the romour spreading to every corner of the village.Now,something strange had happened and questions filled the air as everyone mummured slowly that the village seemed to be a bee hive.
For a moment, everyone seemed confused and all the village activities had stopped for a moment in order to find out this mystery that had happened this morning.The entire village was cold as mother's had woken up early and instead of preparing breakfast they had been caught in a mission to identify an answer to the question in everyone's mind.A child who would complain of hunger would be scolded by its mother for making unnecessary noise.Husbands complained to their wives but their complaints fell on deaf ears since their wives' concerntration was on the cry of this unknown child.
In the entire village,there was only one family where no one seemed concerned with what was happening,and they had been continuing with there daily activities as usual.Now everyone gazed at Chief Boaz's home.
"The cry must be coming from the chief's house", whispered one woman from a crowd.Everyone turned and looked at her with questioning eyes,"well,it was just a guess,but that's according to my thoughts",she added
"Well,that might be true", someone else insisted,"But who in the chief's house might have delivered? considering the age of the chief and his wife they cannot bare a child".
Everyone was quiet now.A conclusion was drawn,the chief had become of age now and he wasn't in a position to bare children.His wife too was old and weak.Chief Boaz had only male children whose whereabouts were well known by the villagers.Coming to think of the chief's house as having a new born child was an act of offense and ruining the chief's reputation.
Now everyone was focused on the chief's house.The whole morning not even a glimpse of what had prevailed was caught.Mummurs could still be heard from a distance as the crowd kept moving closer to the chief's compound.The matter was now a whole village issue and even little children were into it.The chief's compound was now filled with people as if there was a feast to be conducted.
Chief Boaz sat uncomfortably on his raised seat at the end of the room with his fist on the cheek supporting his head.His face wrinkled while his eyes grew watery as he angrily stared at a picture on the wall.The picture on the wall was of his daughter Dressy who was also his last born child.A tear ran from one of his eye,he wiped it with a blanket which he had wrapped round his neck and quickly he recalled one fateful day when he woke up with an argument with his wife.
Chief Boaz had all his children as boys,this matter wasn't of little concern to him.He wanted a girl,a source of wealth,one that would help his mother with house chores.This argument had grown into a huge matter which brought forth elders from each side of the family to solve.They had agreed on the matter and the issue was solved but still in Chief Boaz's mind he wanted a girl.
Girls were considered as a source of wealth.One girl was worth a ransom number of cows, several sheep, goats and some cash for bride price.Someone who was lucky to have a perfect number of girls,he would emerge rich in a short period of time once his daughters have been married off.This is what ran into Chief Boaz's mind,he wanted to remain the richest man in the village in order to be the chief of the village for a long period of time and even his son would inherit him.
It happened that on a particular season one man by the name Mr Wawa,had married off six of his daughters and had become so rich that he almost became wealthier than Chief Boaz.This had made him so furious and restless.This is the reason he had pressured his wife wanting a girl child.He was never at rest.His stressful nature made his wife very worried.He would stare at his house gazing upon his compound and his flock.He saw this wasn't enough.
Greed for power had made the chief so furious,he thought of putting a gap between his level of wealth and any other person in the village.The only scape goat was by having girls in his family who would be married off and bride price used to increase his riches.His wife had tried to explain to him that he was having a wrong thought but Boaz was not those kind of men to listen to anyone.
When His wife became pregnant,he waited with great anticipation for a girl who would be his pride.He was now seen smiling.In his mind he saw his daughter's wedding and when he looked at his flock,his eyes multiplied the number of animals in his compound so that cows,goats and sheep filled the whole compound.His face was always full of joy whenever he looked at his wife.
When time came for his wife to deliver,he stood outside the room waiting for good news.And when the doula came out of the room,Boaz looked at her with questioning eyes.He had a cry,a cry that seemed farmiliar,that of a male,his face turned.He was so furious and restless.Disappointed in himself and his wife,he sat under a tree beside his house wondering what he would do next since he would never change whatever had happened.
Questions criss-crossed his mind and after thinking for some weeks,he decided to have a second wife.This idea wasn't received with joy by his wife, considering his wife's condition-she had delivered recently-but Boaz was a man of no-turn-back.He had made his mind and no one would stop him.After discussing this matter with the elders,he set forth the wedding plans and the bride was brought to the council.The bride price was discussed and agreed to be paid off after the wedding ceremony.