|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
leg. He faced the wedding audience, holding the child above his head with both hands: "Do not feel sad, my people. For although no wedding will take place on this day, behold the son of my adopted son by the warrior woman Jilda of Lakluun!" The people of Sinanju started to cheer. But the cheering died in their throats. "White," they whispered. "It is white. Are no Koreans ever again to take responsibility for our little village?" Remo stepped in front of Chiun: "You did this," he said. "You told Jilda about the wedding." Chiun stepped around Remo so the audience could see the child, who stared wide-eyed and uncomprehending at the wedding party. "Later," he hissed. "This is the crucial moment. The village must accept your Page 80 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html son as Sinanju." "What am I going to tell Mah-Li?" Remo said hotly. "She will find another. Mah-Li is young; her heart is resilient. Now, be silent!" Again Chiun addressed the crowd. "You call this child white," he cried. "It is white-now. But within a year he will be less white. In five, you will not be able to tell him from a village child. And in twenty, he will be Sinanju in mind and body and soul." "His eyes are round," a boy said. "He will grow out of it," insisted Chiun. "Already the sun source burns within him. After Master Chiun, there will be Master Remo. And after Master Remo, there will be this one, Master . . . What is his name?" he asked Jilda from the side of his mouth. "Freya, daughter of Remo," Jilda said. "Freya, daughter o-" Chiun's mouth froze on the open vowel. The villagers broke into howling laughter. They pointed at the little girl and openly mocked Remo's tattered figure. Remo looked at Freya, at Jilda, and again at Freya. He mouthed the question: Daughter? Jilda nodded. Abruptly the Master of Sinanju handed the child to her mother, his face bitter. He waded into the crowd. "Away! Away with you all! What follows here is not for the ears of common villagers." Reluctantly the village people started to drift off. Curiosity slowed their feet. But at an angry exhortation from Master Chiun, they broke and ran. The Master was beside himself with fury. They understood it was not safe to remain. Chiun waited until the last flop of sandaled feet had faded from hearing. He faced Remo and Jilda. "You tricked me!" Remo said. "And me," added Jilda. "Your letter told me nothing about a wedding. Only that my presence was urgently required." Chiun dismissed their complaints with flapping hands. "Trivia! I will not hear of it! Do you not realize what has happened here?" "Yes," Remo said bitterly. "You ruined my life." "Your life! Your life! What about mine? I am shamed. You are shamed. We are all shamed." "What have I to feel shame for?" asked Jilda, patting Freya's head. Frightened by Chiun's strident voice, the little girl had buried her face in Jilda's shoulder. "For this!" said Chiun, pulling back the hood of Freya's snowsuit. It came off like a golf-club cover, revealing hair like new gold. Remo and Jilda looked at Chiun blankly. Seeing their expressions, Chiun stamped a foot and spoke his shame aloud, which only made it worse. "A female. The firstborn of my adopted son, the next Master of Sinanju, is a lowly female." "So what?" said Remo. "Yes, so?" agreed Jilda. Chiun pulled at the hair tufts over his ears in frustration. "So what! So what! She is useless. Masters of Sinanju have always been male." "I have not given permission that this child be entered into Sinanju training," Jilda said firmly. "Your permission is not needed," snapped Chiun. "This does not concern you, only Remo, the child, and me." "I am the child's mother." "Has she been weaned?" "Of course. She is nearly four years old." "That means your work is done. Remo is the father and I the grandfather-in spirit, of course. We make all decisions concerning the child's future. But it does not matter now. Everyone knows that females are uneducable. Their bodies cannot handle Sinanju. They are good only for cooking and breeding. In that order." Page 81 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "Have you forgotten, old man, that I was the representative of my people at your Master's Trial? Only Remo and I survived that ordeal. I am female and a warrior, too." "A warrior is not an assassin," Chiun spat. "My people will never again look upon us with respect. It is your fault, Remo. You gave this woman the wrong seed. You should have given her a good male seed, not an inferior female seed." "I'm a father," Remo said bewilderedly. He reached out to touch the little girl's hair. It felt soft and fine. "You sound surprised," snorted Chiun. "You knew that she bore your seed when you and this woman parted after the Master's Trial." "I asked that you not tell him," Jilda said accusingly. "You promised to keep this child our secret." "He had to know. The child bears the spirit of Sinanju. Or at least I supposed it had. Why did you not tell me it was a female?" "This is Remo's child. The rest does not matter." And at that particular piece of white imbecility, the Master of Sinanju threw up his hands. "I give up! I am ruined. Disgraced. And no one understands. " But neither Remo nor Jilda was listening. Remo was stroking his daughter's [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
Podobne
|