Chapter  17  The Temple

The tram was empty of people.

Lord Kim Hee Sung had bought all the tickets for this particular ride, presumably as a token of affection for his betrothed, Lady Ae Shin, and curious onlookers as well as irate passengers, who would otherwise have been on the tram for urgent matters and had been forced to wait for the next ride, had gathered on the tracks, and quite a sizeable crowd had formed by the time Dong Mae strode up to the tram, and proceeded to board it, despite the protests of the tram driver, and an unhappy Hee Sung whose face had filled with dismay at the sight of that long mane and familiar kimono-garbed tall figure stepping onto the tram.

Dong Mae seated himself across from Hee Sung, and folded his arms across his chest, and stared at him. 

Ae Shin stepped onto the tram with her faithful maid and old manservant, who were quickly ushered off the tram by a beaming Hee Sung.

"Forgive me," he said, "but I have urgent matters to talk to Lady Ae Shin about, in private."

They pointed at Dong Mae, and said, "But he is sitting there."

Dong Mae sighed, and signalled the tram driver to start the tram. 

Ae Shin was frowning in puzzlement.

Dong Mae said, sitting opposite her, "Remember the fifteenth of next month."

"I will not forget," she said, her chin up.

Dong Mae looked from one to the other.

"She owes me a debt," Dong Mae said casually.

Hee Sung looked shocked. "I will pay for it. My family is the richest in Joseon."

Dong Mae looked at him sourly. "This debt is to be paid by her, and her, alone."

"Yes, I will pay for it on my own," Ae Shin said. "I do not need your help."

Dong Mae got up, and said, "This is where I get off."

He watched the tram rumble off, and smiled. The fifteenth of next month was an eternity away, and, until then, he had to keep himself occupied so that time would pass faster.

At Hwawollu, a party was in full swing, attended by Lord Lee Wan Ik, and Japanese officials from the Consulate of Japan. 

Dong Mae watched the guests arrive, and beckoned to Yujo.

"Have you removed one half of the guards at Wan Ik's house?" he asked in a low tone.

Yujo nodded.

Dong Mae had been asked by Hina, as a special favour for a dear friend, to remove half of the guards at Wan Ik's house earlier on, and he had agreed; she was intending to do something at the house tonight, and it was something that Wan Ik would not approve of. He had tried to probe further, but she was vague, and he had given up asking her further. 

"Wan Ik is a dangerous man; be careful," he said.

She shrugged. "He is my father, and I know him well."

And that was that.

Dong Mae stood in the shadows, watching as Lee Duk Moon, Wan Ik's assistant, and Ae Shin's cousin-in-law by marriage, ran after Hina, dressed all in black, wearing a mask, and carrying a long fencing rapier, as she walked out through the front door.

"Stop, intruder!" he yelled. "Guards, stop this intruder!"

Dong Mae stepped out of the shadows and knocked him out with a blow to the head.

He grabbed Hina by her hand, and ran, pulling her beside him. 

They ran until they reached the intersection, and, ahead, the street lights beckoned.

"Walk slowly, and mingle with the crowd," he said, holding her hand tightly in his.

He glanced down at her. 

Her cheeks were flushed, and she was breathing fast.

He took her hand, and tucked it into the crook of his arm.

She looked up at him, narrowing her eyes.

He laughed. "We are lovers, taking a stroll on a cold wintry night. Nobody would think that just a moment ago, you were rummaging through the house of Lord Lee Wan Ik, searching for something of import."

She smiled.

"Thank you for rescuing me, but I would have taken care of him myself," she parted her long black coat slightly to reveal the wicked-looking rapier hidden beneath it.

"I have no doubt of that," he stopped, and bowed. "I will leave you here, where it is safe, and filled with people."

He walked away, and melted into the crowd.

He returned to a commotion at Hwawollu; a group of Japanese officials were gathered around Hotaru, the tarot card reader, and harassing her. Dong Mae realized that they had imbibed too much wine, and were drunk. Hotaru was crying, and being threatened by one man in particular.

Dong Mae stepped forward, just as the man slapped Hotaru across the face, so viciously, that she stumbled, and fell.

"What is the matter?" He helped Hotaru to her feet; there were bruises on her face, and a cut on her lip. 

The sight of her battered face made his blood boil.

She clung to him, and he put his arm protectively around her.

"This woman is mine," the drunk man slurred. "She refused to entertain me, and wrote that rubbish in her notebook." He kicked the notebook to Dong Mae.

Dong Mae picked it up, and flipped it open.

On the page, she had written: "I am not a geisha; I read tarot cards."

Dong Mae looked up slowly, murder in his eyes, and said, through gritted teeth, "She has written that she is not a geisha, and that she reads tarot cards. Why do you persist in harassing her?"

"I want this woman, and what I want, I get," the drunken man spat. "You low-born scum, get out of my way, or I will shoot you." He drew out his gun, and pointed it at Dong Mae.

Dong Mae's men surrounded him instantly, their swords drawn.

A shot rang out, and one of Dong Mae's men fell, dead.

Dong Mae turned Hotaru so that she was facing him. He laid his hands gently on her shoulders. 

"Do not look," he said gently. "Close your eyes."

Dong Mae drew his sword, and slashed the drunken man.

Blood splattered as the man crashed heavily to the ground, his body sliced open.

The other Japanese men recoiled in shock at the sight of their superior, lying dead on the ground.

Dong Mae held his sword to the other high-ranking official's throat. 

"Put down your guns, or I will slice this miserable man's throat."

"Lower your guns," screamed the official.

The men lowered their guns.

"Now, go," said Dong Mae. "Keep walking, and do not look back, or I will slice his throat open.

The men scuttled off.

Dong Mae released the official, and said, "Now, it is your turn; walk, and do not look back."

"Minister Hayashi will hear of this," the man spluttered.

Dong Mae laughed. "Do you not understand? Hayashi needs me, he cannot live without me, and my men. He will do nothing to this low-born scum, because this low-born scum keeps him safe, and that is all that he cares about."

The man in Room 205 had been apprehended and handed over to the Joseon police, Dong Mae's men informed him upon his arrival back home.

Dong Mae felt a great weight lift off his heart; he had been worried about the safety of Ae Shin, and knowing that the man was now in the custody of the police meant that Ae Shin was out of danger.

The next day, he and his men conducted a search of Room 205, but could find nothing of suspicion, or anything that would reveal why he had been observing, and spying on Lady Ae Shin.

Eugene walked in as Dong Mae and his men were leaving the room. "Did you find anything of interest?" asked Eugene.

"Nothing," shrugged Dong Mae, "except this."

He tossed a packet of drugs to Eugene.

"Do you know anything about this man, Kim Yong Joo?" Dong Mae asked, looking at Eugene suspiciously.

The American knew something that Dong Mae was not privy to.

Eugene shrugged. "He is a drug addict," he shook the packet of drugs.

Dong Mae snorted, and strode off.

Dong Mae was in Jemulpo, where he had shot at, and wounded Ae Shin. But, this time, he had come to Jemulpo for a different reason.

The temple at Jemulpo was peaceful and serene. It was surrounded by trees and low bushes, and, occasionally, a light wind stirred the leaves, the quiet broken only by the chirping of the birds; there was no one at all, save for a nun sweeping away some fallen leaves at the entrance.

She looked at him coldly when he approached, and said stiffly, "We do not serve swordsmen here."

"I am here to enquire about the Lady Ae Shin's recent visit to the temple. I understand that she was here last month," he said in Korean. "She was dressed in the clothes of mourning."

The nun looked surprised that he was speaking in Korean, then pleased. "Yes, she was here, to pray at the mortuary tablets of her parents."

Dong Mae stilled.

"Her parents?"

"Yes, both of her parents."

She led him in. "They are over there," she pointed to where they stood, side by side.

Dong Mae got down on his knees slowly, then prostrated himself before the two tablets.

"Forgive me for my impertinence," he said, bowing low, his head touching the floor.

"I had to come."

"Forgive me for bringing this weapon," he touched the hilt of his sword, pressed against the floor.

"I struck the first cut at your daughter twenty years ago. I dealt her the first blow, when she was young and fragile. I cut her with my cruel words. Those words - does she remember them, does she hate me for those cruel words, has she healed from that first cruel cut?"

"I do not understand why your daughter is doing what she does."

"Please, tell me why she does what she does."

"I fear for her, I worry about her."

"I do not know what to do to stop her, to save her."

He swallowed. 

"I am lost."

He was weeping, and the tears spilled over, onto his hands.

"I do not know what else to do, but to come here, to follow the path that she took that day."

"I know that it is audacious of me to hope, to harbour hope, to dare to hope."

"Can I continue to hope?"

"I know that I am not worthy, this low-born scum that prostrates himself before you, here, now, and begs for your forgiveness, and your wisdom, and your guidance."

His voice shook.

"I know that I am not worthy, but can I continue to hope?"

"Is it such an impossibility, that I continue to hope?"