9
The absurdity of my situation wasn't lost on me. A man I'd shot to death was lying in the dirt back at camp, Ju had been attacked and injured, an unconscious boy was no more than a few yards away and I was lying half-naked in the cool grass with a beautiful woman in my arms who was kissing me, clinging to me and talking in Chinese. And I was enjoying all the sensual aspects of being with her, was delighting in giving myself over to the pure pleasures of the body, unsullied by a conscience or morals.
Even in the darkness, I could see Wu Lien's beauty. She was ethereal and moved me in ways I had never experienced. Even with being physically spent, Wu Lien's voice, the touch of her small hands, her mouth moving and nimble tongue still raised me to heights. We were akin to the animals who coupled in the wild and gave no thought to anything else but the moment of joining.
"Wu LeeYEN! Wu LeeYEN!" Ju was calling and Wu Lien sat up, her long dark hair falling about her face and shoulders like a sheet. I reached for her and pulled her back to me, kissing her, wrapping my arms about her, overwhelming her, and she willingly opened to me. Again, her smooth skin was such a contrast to mine, her tender mouth so vulnerable as was the rest of her.
"Wu LeeYEN! Wu LeeYEN! Mistah Adam Cartwright!"
Wu Lien struggled slightly in my arms and I released her. She said something to me in rapid Chinese, looking fearfully toward the sound and then back at me. I couldn't resist her. I pulled her to me again and kissed her mouth, her closed eyes. She moaned. But Ju was coming closer.
I raised Wu Lien as I stood up. Quickly, I buttoned and tucked in my shirt and Wu Lien held her robe closed. Then we headed to camp, Ju now calling only my name, "Mistah Adam Cartwright! Where you are? Where you are? Where Wu Lien?" There was an edge of panic to her voice.
We met up with Ju at the edge of the trees. She looked relieved to see us, sighed and stated to talk in Chinese, until we stepped closer and she saw us better. Then her face darkened with anger and she began to talk rapidly in Chinese, gesticulating wildly, looking to me and then back at Wu Lien who let her robe fall open as she held on to my arm as if protecting me. But it had to be obvious what had transpired between Wu Lien and me. From the way Ju looked back and forth at us, she knew. "Ohhhhh…." Ju said. She raised her hands and looked to the heavens. Then Ju spoke sternly but Wu Lien's jaw shot out defiantly as she answered. Ju was demanding in whatever she was asking or saying and Wu Lien released me, clutched her wrap about her and headed to the camp, entering the glow of firelight. I was behind her – she seemed even smaller now and more vulnerable and when I thought of what almost happened to the face I adored, a chill ran through me.
Ju harshly spoke, grabbing Wu Lien's arm. Wu Lien answered, almost with a sob, and headed to the wagon until she saw the dead man lying by it. She stared at the corpse and spoke in low tones to herself in the way someone might pray to stave off a curse. Ju, changing not just her tone but her stance, went to Wu Lien and spoke softly, placing her arm about her. Wu Lien nodded and seemed to try to take another step past the body but couldn't. I quickly swept her up and carried her to the wagon. And after I let her down inside, Wu Lien kneeled at the open door and held my face in her hands, speaking gently to me, She said what she had earlier cried out as we lay together – " Wo ài nĭ." And she leaned closer and kissed me. I felt my chest tighten with emotion. Looking at Wu Lien's face, I realized she was more beautiful than I could have imagined any woman to be and if Ju hadn't rushed over like some harpy, I would have taken Wu Lien to me again, held her next to me, kissed her mouth, her neck and her soft belly and breasts, listened to her moans and been encouraged by them even if we ended up on the ground next to the dead man's body.
But Ju was right there, sticking her bulldog-like face into mine. "You stay away from Wu Lien, you…you goddamn!" Ju told me. Even hurt by the dead man's attack on her, Ju was strong, tugging at my arm to pull me away. I think if she had known how to use a gun, she would have shot me right then and there. Then she said something in Chinese to Wu Lien, chastising her. Wu Lien answered sharply and looking sadly at me, she softly closed the wagon door.
Ju turned on me again. "Her not for you! Her give to Fang Zhen. Him kill Wu Lien him know she lay with you. You are goddamn!"
"Well, I may be goddamned but…" I glanced at the wagon. A lantern was on inside and I wondered what Wu Lien was doing. Was she washing by the dim light, reminding herself of what we had done. I practically had to shake myself to come back to what was necessary. Ju's visage was sobering. "I need to bring the other attacker back to camp; it's one of Fang Zhen's sons." I leaned down and pulled the black hood off the head of the body in the dirt. "As I thought; this is Fang Zhen's eldest son, Fang Shan. He's the son of the first wife, the true wife."
"You lie. Him not Fang Zhen's son."
"No, 'him' is Fang Zhen's son," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. I was aware of my head throbbing again, my pulse drumming in my ears. "I need your help with the other one, Ju. I don't know if he speaks English. C'mon." Ju looked at Fang Shan's body, spat, and said something in Chinese. Then we headed off to find the boy.
It took me a while to find him as I wasn't quite sure of the direction – I had been in pursuit and not paying particular attention. I stopped and listened and Ju did as well. "What you goddamn hear?" she asked.
What I heard was a horse and a man's desperate grunts. I hurried to the sound and saw that the boy was trying to get on a horse with his hands still bound behind his back – a ridiculous attempt as the horse shied away from him each time he approached it and would have run off if it hadn't been tied to a thick tree branch. But the boy was desperate and kept trying to get a boot into a stirrup. He must have heard us come upon him as he turned and seeing us, tried to run. His bound wrists made him awkward and I quickly caught him, grabbing him by his collar and jerking him about.
"Ju, get the horses," I ordered, pulling the boy along with me.
"What you mean, get goddamn horse?. You get! I not Mistah Adam Cartwright servant!"
Holding the boy with one hand, I grabbed the front of Ju's top and jerked her up as well. "Now you listen to me. I feel like hell and I have no patience for any of your crap. Get the goddamn horses and bring them back to the goddamn camp or I'm going to shake you like a goddamn dog shakes a goddamn rat. Do you goddamn understand?"
Suddenly Ju was smiling and nodding, I released her. "Ju happy get goddamn horses for Mistah Adam Cartwright." I waited while she managed, after some awkward struggling, to get both horses' reins, and together we walked back to camp. But Ju was wary of the horses and their teeth and tried to walk backwards. That caused the horses to resist.
"Give me the reins," I said, grabbing them from Ju. "Here." I pushed the boy toward her. "You take him back to camp." And he looked more frightened of Ju than he ever did of me.
~ 0 ~
With his hands bound behind him, the boy dropped to his knees by his brother's body, rocking back and forth, crying and mourning in Chinese. He may have been praying, may have just been bemoaning his loss, but I didn't care. I just wanted to lie down and get some rest but there was still so much to do. And so much had already happened in such a short time.
I grabbed a rope, pulled up the boy and then pushed him down with his back against a wagon wheel. I tied him to it. I squatted down to interrogate him.
"I'm Adam Cartwright from the Ponderosa and I knew your brother Fang Shan." The boy wouldn't look at me. "Why did you and your brother attack Wu Lien?" I was certain that if my head hadn't hurt so bad, if my mind wasn't still full of Wu Lien, remembering her silky skin over which my lips glided, her breasts that fit in my hands, her lean thighs and her scent of flowers and perfume – well, if I could stop thinking of her, I could understand what had happened and why. But even Wu Lien's breath was like blossoms. I couldn't concentrate – my mind kept going back to Wu Lien. I tried to stay in the moment. What puzzled me the most was why they hadn't killed me and Ju. Why didn't they just kill Wu Lien when they had the chance? I saw the way the two men had looked at her, how they had seemed to disagree, and Fang Shan had caressed her face, spoken almost reverently. If they found her even half as beautiful as I did, half as desirable, they could have both taken her, done unspeakable acts with her and then killed her. But they hadn't. All they seemed to want was to disfigure her. I couldn't understand. And the boy wouldn't answer.
"Ju know."
"What?" I turned. Ju was standing behind me.
"Ju know why they here, why they want slice face Wu Lien." The boy looked up at her, his eyes wide with fear; Ju, her eyes narrow, held the abandoned knife with its dragon-caved handle, moving it in a tight figure-eight. "Maybe we make him girl – make him fi jiàn."
"No, no," the boy said, drawing his legs back, his eyes wide.
"Okay, Ju," I said wearily. "You tell me why they're here."
"Fang Zhen wives not want new wife, not want young, beautiful wife. Fang Zhen spend all nights with Wu Lien, give her many gifts. Old wives unhappy. Sons honor mothers' wishes and make Wu Lien ugly. Then Fang Shen not want Wu Lien– send her away and all as was before."
"Is that it?" I still squatted before the boy. If he spoke English, and I was sure he did, he would understand Ju's explanation.
The boy still wouldn't meet my eyes but he answered me. "Yes."
"What's your name, boy?" He turned frightened eyes to me but said nothing more. "It really doesn't matter anyway," I said. "You'll have to tell Sheriff Coffee in Virginia City."
Resigned, the boy slumped and answered, "Fang Mill-ard." I had to smile; apparently, he was named after Millard Fillmore, president the year he was born. It must have been an attempt to help him better fit in white man's society
"Well, Millard, you're our prisoner until I turn you over to the law, so I'm going to have to keep you tied up. Then Sheriff Coffee can deal with you and your father." I stood up and my knees protested. My whole body ached. I glanced at Fang Shan's body. "I'm sorry about your brother. I wish none of this had ever happened."
Ju harrumphed at my conciliatory words and spat again at the corpse as she passed it to go into the wagon. Then I set about wrapping the body in one of my blankets, tying it with rope and pulling it out of Millard's sight. He shouldn't have to stare at the body of his dead brother. Tomorrow I would tie it over the back of one of their two horses. I took another of my blankets and tucked it about Millard. There was no reason he should freeze. I built up the fire for the night and looked about. The horses had been tended, the women were safe although I could hear them arguing in the wagon – at least it sounded like arguing - and finally, fatigue overcame me.
Now I could lie down wrapped in my one blanket left and hopefully ease the pain in my head and back. I longed for a dose of laudanum to lure me into a deep sleep but the blood pounded in my temples. I threw an arm over my eyes, waiting to drop off, and was about there when I felt a cool hand touch my brow. I jerked awake and grabbed the wrist. It was Wu Lien. I let her go and was going to speak but she smiled gently and softly said something. – I had no idea what - but she rose and beckoned me. I couldn't help but follow.