She remembered her father's warning when Kwame first courted her.
"Why is a man of thirty years unmarried and childless?"
But Kwame was handsome and a good farmer. Who could believe that all that he could make to grow were the crops on his farm? There was never a moment's doubt in Abena's mind that the blame for her troubles lay with her husband.
The sun was getting low in the sky when Kwame laid down his cutlass and came across to Abena saying:
"I'm going to set the traps. Go home now and get ready. The funeral celebrations for Nana Sarfo start tonight. I'll be back in half an hour."
Kwame was especially skillful in setting wire-loop traps for the small creatures of the forest. When he came home with an animal, Abena for a while forgot her humiliation, for there is something indescribably delicious in freshly roasted bush meat. To cook the meat she would fan the log fire. When the flames blazed up they formed a little island of light in the surrounding blackness of the forest.
The village was celebrating the funeral of Nana Sarfo, a well-liked and respected Elder, who eight days ago had made the long journey to the village from which there is no return. Abena found the red funeral cloths for her husband and herself to wear, and took her time over getting ready for the ceremony. She put on her ear-rings, her best perfume and a black headkerchief in eager anticipation of a joyful break in her monotonous daily routine.
The drums were already beating out the rhythm of the dance when they arrived at the celebrations. Kwame went to join the men drinking palm-wine. Abena, caught up in the infectious excitement of the drumming, joined in the dancing.
Ampon, a hunter of repute who lived in a nearby village, had also come to take part in the celebrations. He led a solitary and dangerous life, but the Gods had given him sufficient strength and wisdom to know their ways and the ways of the forest. Ampon understood the skills needed to evade the spirits that endanger hunters. He could tell when an animal was possessed by a bewitched spirit, and so avoid the terrible consequences of killing such a beast. But in his own way, Ampon also suffered humiliation.
When he was successful in hunting and brought home an animal, he could not leave it near the house for a woman to find and bring in and praise his hunting skill. There was no woman to cook the meat for him. He needed a wife, and a funeral celebration is just the occasion where such a need may be satisfied.
Ampon's heart leaped and his pulse raced when he saw Abena dancing, and he joined in the dance to be near her. Not a word was said, nor needed to be said. It was a case of love at first sight. Through the intricate sign language of finger, head and body gestures, they arranged to meet, without any of the other dancers noticing their "conversation".
From then on, Ampon's hunting trips always took him near to Abena's house or farm. They often met and the more Abena saw of Ampon, the more she resolved to have a new husband. For she had no doubt that the hunter was a real man. But how could she free herself?
In cases of barrenness it is usual for the woman to be blamed. Abena could not deny that Kwame always provided the daily chop money. Although she knew that Kwame had in secret taken another woman in the village, which made her resentment of him even greater, she had to admit that there were no legitimate grounds for divorce.
Everyone knows that a woman's greatest need is to have security for herself and her children. If a man has the means of giving this security to more than one woman, there is every reason why he should do so. No, Abena could not complain of Kwame's behaviour and she could see no straight-forward way of solving her problem.
Ampon liked to talk of his feats as a hunter, and boasted of never missing an animal once it was within fifty paces. How Abena wished for some magic that would turn her husband into an animal that Ampon could hunt and kill. That night, as she fanned the fire to cook the evening meal, an idea came to her. There was an alternative to divorce by which a desperate woman could get rid of her husband and marry a hunter.
At first Ampon was horrified and would have nothing to do with to the idea. But Abena insisted that it was the only way that they could find happiness together. He was worried about disposing of the body, but Abena promised she would help him carry it to one of the disused gold mines.
No one would ever find a body lying at the bottom of a deep shaft. The plan was perfectly safe, for who was going to report a solitary shot fired by a hunter in the forest?
She taunted Ampon saying:
"You boast of being a brave man and of killing fierce animals. Show that you have the true courage of a hunter".
Finally Ampon agreed to the plan.
Just thirty paces from the house was a large odum tree. Abena told Ampon to bring his gun and hide behind the tree before sunset. There was plenty of work to be done on the farm at this time of year, and she knew that Kwame would be late home that night. When he returned, Abena greeted him as usual and started to prepare the meal. In the chill of the evening, Kwame enjoyed the warmth of the fire and sat beside it as Abena fanned the glowing embers. The flames from the blazing wood lit up Kwame's face and made him a perfect target. Ampon, hidden behind the odum tree with his gun, had plenty of time to take careful aim. He did not miss.
Hunters are used to carrying heavy loads through the forest at night, so between them, the two conspirators had no difficulty in carrying the body to a deep mine shaft. They threw it in and after a few seconds heard a distant splash, signalling that Kwame was gone forever.
Ampon went straight home, but Abena called at the neighbouring farms and asked if anyone had seen Kwame, saying that her husband had not yet returned home and that she was worried about him. But no one had seen him!
The next morning she went to the village to tell her father what had happened, and together they went to report to the Linguist.
Abena explained the situation:
"We both went to the farm to weed the yams. Then Kwame went to see to a trap. But he did not come back."
The gong-gong was beaten with news of Kwame's disappearance, but no one came forward with information. So the village's Asafo company organised a search party, beating the talking drums to inform the world that Kwame was missing. But they also found nothing.
Most people believed that a wild animal had overpowered Kwame and carried his body off into the deep forest. Some thought he had met Sasa Bonsam, the Devil of the Earth, and the most sinister inhabitant of the forest, whom no man meets twice.
Kwame was declared to be dead and his funeral was celebrated. Abena had difficulty in concealing her satisfaction and her friendship for Ampon. But no one had any suspicion of what had happened as Abena fanned her fire in the forest.
After the forty day rites had been celebrated, Abena felt free. Shortly afterwards, Ampon approached the head of her family to arrange their wedding.
In the first few months of the marriage, Abena was very happy. But to her dismay, she found that she had not solved her problem. She remained barren and was now very worried indeed.
When Ampon was out hunting she consulted the fetish priest. In spite of the priest's excellent reputation, the herbal treatment he prescribed had no effect. The Priest diagnosed that there must be some spiritual cause for her barrenness which he had yet to discover.
Ampon too had his worries. He wanted sons to whom he could pass on his hard won skills, but he dared not divorce Abena as she might reveal what had happened on that fateful evening as he watched her fan the fire. He found that each day his wife became increasingly hostile to him as her troubles pressed down upon her. She was so different now from the woman he had danced with when they had first met.
Fear is never a pleasant companion. Ampon felt that Kwame's spirit was haunting him and mocking at him. But in view of what had happened he could not go to the fetish priest for protection. The strain became intolerable.
One evening Ampon returned home late after a long and unsuccessful hunting trip. He was tired and hungry and sat down by the fire. Abena dutifully took her fan and made the fire blaze up. With a start, Ampon remembered her cunning ways and realised that she was still barren. Was it the hunter's turn to be the target
As the glowing embers blazed into flame, he leaped to his feet and shouted: