Chapter 2. Disturbance
Ack! I have a great desire write the entire script in Mandarin! Hack! Hack!
The next morning, Jun ate her rice porridge like normal and behaved as though nothing had happened. Deep inside, though, she knew something was very wrong. She had thought it was a dream but when Len had asked her, 'just what happened last night, anyway?' she knew it must have been real.
"Well, you sure are quiet today, Jun," Her mother said, "Did you sleep well?"
"Mei shi, ma ma," Jun replied quickly.
Mrs. Tao looked sympathetically at her daughter and then went back to eating.
That afternoon, Jun sat painting a picture. She drew a tree. Bai-Long sat watching her quietly.
"Jun-sama," He broke the silence, "You have been very quiet. What happened last night? Unless you are going to the bathroom you usually want me to follow."
"Mei Shi, Bai-Long, really, Mei Shi." She painted a man standing under the tree. Unconsciously, she wrote a character on his shirt as his family name. She looked down at it. Where had she seen that? The man's knife… She gasped and quickly turned the page over. Bai Long had not seen. She gave a little sigh of relief. Kong… She would remember the character… Kong. She tore the paper up and quickly started on another picture.
"Yie Yie," She said that evening, "Kong… does that family name ring any bells?"
"Hmm…" he wondered, "Oh, yes, few hundred years ago, our family had an enemy. Their family name was Kong. They wanted revenge for some long past argument. They don't bother us anymore, though… where did you hear this?"
"Oh, I heard you talk to father about that once," She lied. She felt bad. She had never lied before, especially to Grandfather, but the man's threat rang fresh in her mind, "You will keep quiet… you saw and heard nothing this night…" He had meant he would kill her.
Jun couldn't sleep that night. She had to find out more about these people. What did they want from Len? Did they still want revenge? Again, like the night before, she clipped up her hair, slipped some talismans in her leg band and put on her slippers.
"What is the matter?" Bai Long was more suspicious this time.
"Nothing, I can't sleep. I'm going for a walk." She grabbed her cloak and pulled it around her shoulders.
"No, something is the matter. I'm your guardian spirit. I can tell. What is wrong, Jun-sama? Who are the Kong?"
"I do not feel well, I am going to pray to the ancestors. Please do not follow me." She walked toward the door.
Bai Long blocked her way. Gently but firmly he grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly. "You can trust me. I won't tell anyone. I don't want to see you this way."
"De bu qi, I can't tell you," Jun said and pushed past him.
"Nn…"
She had to… had to find out.
Jun shivered as she walked outside. It was cold despite the cloak. Maybe she should have changed into something warmer. It was dark. She felt around until she reached the shrine. Darn… she should have brought a spell that could make some light.
Jun pushed the door open. A torch spluttered on the wall. Jun added some oil to it so it wouldn't burn out. She turned towards the memorial plaques and asked the ancestors not to be angry with her intrusion.
She looked on the shelves. The scrolls of the family history. Where could she find out about this feud? A few hundred years, Grandfather had said. So, that would be five or six… maybe seven generations ago. She grabbed the first scroll and opened it. It was the family tree. At the bottom was Len's name. Of course, her name was not there because, since she was a girl, she would have no way of carrying on the family name. Her children would have her husband's name.
Back about five generations. She looked for a scroll with the name of the leader of the household at that time.
She scanned quickly through the scroll. Nothing. She went back one and forward one. Finally, she found it. These Kong lived in more of the south so that was why their dialect was different. The reason for the feud hardly mattered. The fact that they were and had had a feud with the Taos was a major problem. They probably had wanted to kill Len to dishonor her family. She wouldn't let them!
"Wo I ding bu huei rang ta men!"