Whew! I had been travelling for what seemed like hours and still, I didn't get to the end of the road. By now, all I wanted to do was take a break, so I parked the van by the side of the road and hopped out.

I was high in the mountains, somewhere in St Andrew. The air was crisp and cool and there was complete silence. The last place I passed, that I actually knew, was Gordon Town, about an hour earlier and since then, I had just kept going up.

No sign of life anywhere

Now, as I looked around, I wondered if I had somehow made it to the nexus of the universe. I hadn't passed anyone for the longest time. The road ahead was bumpy and I wasn't sure if the van I was driving could take much more, so I decided to walk a little farther up, just to see if there was anyone around.

The walk up that steep hill was tedious and I wondered out loud if anyone even lived around there. I saw a sign that read 'Dublin Castle Church of God of Prophecy', but I saw no church, and still, nobody. Then, it happened.

"Who go dung deh?" I heard someone shout. This startled me somewhat, because I didn't see anyone. It was as if the trees were speaking to me.

"I ... ah ... er" I stuttered.

"Who go dung deh?" the voice said, again. This time, the speaker sounded agitated, so I blurted out something like, "me go dung deh," hoping that this would appease the mystery speaker.

'Nuh worry yuhself'

Suddenly, a head appeared through the bushes beside the road. It frightened me half to death. "Nuh worry yuhself! Mi nuh duppy or gunman! Ah me, Charlie, man. Hee hee," the man said. He stepped out of the bushes and stood in front of me. He was a short fellow with triangular eyebrows and hair in his ears. He looked about 60 years old and was weilding a machete.

"How yuh do?" he asked.

I told him my name and asked him the name of the place.

"Dem call right yah so 'Dublin Castle'," he said, smiling.

I asked him where everyone was.

"Well, some ah dem gone a bush, di edda one dem might gone ah work or deh home ah cool out," Charlie said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

I didn't see any houses around, so I asked Charlie about this.

"Well, di house dem deh pan di hillside dem. Is only if yuh look over di precipice, yuh will see dem. Is a good amount ah people live here in Dublin Castle, but dem scatter all 'bout," he said.

Charlie told me that many of the people of Dublin Castle were church-going farmers who spent most of their time in the community. They didn't venture down the hill unless it was absolutely necessary.

Too much confusion

"No sah! Up yah cool and nice. Down pan di flat too hot and too much confusion. Unless we really haffi leave, we just gwaan stay up here and teck in di fresh air," he said, laughing.

"So tell mi something. Is how yuh reach up yah so, and not even know weh yuh deh?" he asked me.

I was struck by the question, because it seemed so simple, yet so appropriate. I realised that I really didn't have a good response. I told him so.

'It sound kinda strange'

"Well ah nuh faas mi ah faas, still. Mi only ah ask for it sound kinda strange fi one big man git up and drive so far and not even know which part him deh go," Charlie said, looking me over.

Red in the face, I tried to change the subject by asking him if the people of the community were planning any special celebrations for Christmas.

"Well di people dem ah bush dem yard and whitewash dem fence and dem ting deh. Mi hear seh nurse ah plan fi keep a fun day, but mi nuh sure yet," he said.

"We treat Christmas like how we treat life, you know, we just teck it easy and nuh too meck tings get confused. We just easygoing here inna Dublin Castle. We nuh mek nothing badda we."

robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com

Sure enough, there was a sign, but I saw no church building.

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