Talitha Koum

Chapter 17

TALITHA KOUM

CHAPTER 17

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The door rustled.

Julie shot to her feet.

Cups and bowls were knocked to the ground. With her eyes darting about the room, she scrambled for a sword, a stick, anything.

A ruffling of canvas and a man glided into the room, just as Julie assumed a boxer’s stance, holding out a banana. The stranger froze, took a gander at her, and then at the offending fruit.

She glanced at it herself. She tossed it aside.

The stranger had been carried in on a litter by four other men. Now, the carriers laid the litter down, as the man whipped out a staff and clambered out of the carriage. He struggled along with a limp, favouring his left side. His dress was like the others, though he had a light coloured mask about his face. Brushing off the rain that clung to his arms, he lifted them up and shook them. Julie observed his every move from beneath her knotted brows.

Her eyes popped wide. “Yes, of course!”

This was the second man she had seen in the circle earlier, the one who had waved and shouted to her.

This newcomer sidled up to Julie and Tom and before they could react, flipped his own mask away with a flourish. “Surprise!” (Supplies)

“Mr. Fong!” They shouted together.

Tom started laughing as he struggled from the couch and into Mr. Fong’s arms, nearly knocking them both to the ground with the impact. “I thought I would never see you again…”

“It’s good to see you, Mr. Fong.” Julie moved in for a group hug.

Tom drew his head back. “I thought they must have killed you!”

“Well…” Mr. Fong shrugged.

Tom’s lips twitched. He wiped away at his eyes. “I’m so sorry…” Tom hugged the man again.

Julie smiled and looked away.

“Oh…” Mr. Fong remained where he was and rolled his eyes. Sighing, he let himself be hugged. He smiled at Julie, as he patted Tom on the back with his hand.

In time, Mr. Fong eased his head back and managed to peel Tom off his shirt like an embarrassing stain. The limping man looked away and sniffed his nose a few times. He cleared his throat. “So, how you like my new clothes? Very nice, huh?” Mr. Fong danced a little jig, wiggling his butt as he showed off his new threads.

He motioned to the men who had come with him. They unslung the packs from their backs and added more food to the table. After that, they moved out of the tent and left the three friends alone.

“I’m sorry I took so long to come.” Mr Fong smiled at the other two. “Lots of confusion. My Mandarin not as good as my English. And the fight took longer than I expected.”

“Yes, but how did you get here?” Tom eased himself down on a cushion nearby. “And what happened to your leg? And why didn’t they kill you?”

“Well, I…”

“And those clothes! Do you know they tried to kill us?! And did you send those horses?”

“Yes…”

“And how did you get here anyway?”

“Well you know if you shut up for one minute, I tell you!”

Tom closed his mouth.

 ~~~

As it turned out, Mr. Fong’s left leg had indeed been broken during the struggle with the two men who first came to the lab. After the fight, he was thrown over one of the horses and taken away. Once they made the turn in the road, however, his captors stopped and seated him properly on his mount. They tied his hands together in front of him. They also examined his leg with some care but did nothing for it at the time.