Forged in Honor (1995) (3 page)

"Joshua!" Sarah cried out, seeing her son. She broke out of the crowd and ran toward the leader.

The tall rider grasped Joshua's arm and gently lowered the boy to his frightened mother. He bowed his head and touched his turban in a theatrical way. "I have heard of your beauty, Mrs. Brown, but the stories pale in your presence. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." Sitting back erect in the saddle, he spoke in a deeper voice. "I am Sawbaw Xu Rei Kang, Horseman and Protector of the Ri and Chindit of the Forest ... at your service, kind lady."

Frightened, Sarah backed up until alongside Henry. "Who is this man?" she whispered.

Henry, not hiding his disdain, kept his cold stare on the leader as he spoke. "This is our warlord who says he protects us from the bandits, but for a price. He calls himself the Protector of the Ri-which is the land and people that encompass the northern region of which we are a part. He is better known as `Chindit,' which means 'the lion.' He has fought for years against the government-"

"They fight me!" bellowed Xu Kang. "We are a free people! We will never be puppets to the junta."

"You cause death and destruction with your fighting!"

Henry fired back. "You blackmail these people with this pretense of bandits!"

U Do, the Shan assistant pastor of the church, quickly stepped in front of Henry and bowed his head up and down.

"I apologize for our pastor, Chindit. He does not know of the bandits that plundered our village before you came. We gladly pay for your protection."

Xu Kang ignored the small assistant pastor as his cold glare bored holes into Henry's forehead. "You must learn manners, Pastor Brown. I am hunting bandits and have fought two battles with them in the past two days. They are more brazen and come farther south, but they are not the biggest problem. The Wa are returning."

The villagers gasped when they heard the word Wa and pressed closer together.

"The Wa were civilized years ago," Henry snapped back.

Xu Kang shook his head as if dealing with a child. "Ah, but many are returning to their old ways and are collecting heads. Several packs have come back to the mountains to reclaim their land. The junta has allowed them to return and has even given them arms. The junta believes the Wa will make war on us as they did before." The saddle creaked as Xu Kang leaned forward and pinned Henry with his eyes.

"You see, Pastor, as I've told you before, the junta wants all Shan dead. We mean nothing to them. One day, perhaps, you will come to understand."

Henry rolled his shoulders back. "You endanger us all by your presence here. If the government learns of your coming and of our people paying you, they will close the mission.

P. Lease-,le. Ave and take nothing. In God's name I beg you to leave us."

Xu Kang's chiseled features broke into a cruel smile. "Pastor, you have been my guest here for years and still you know so little. The government will never know. Your flock knows that if they speak of me I will know of it and the offender will be nailed by the tongue to a tree. The Chindit has spies everywhere and knows everything within the Ri. Calm yourself, for I have not come for payment. I have come to deal with the bandits and the Wa ... and to give you my son."

Raising his hand, Xu Kang made a circling motion. The horsemen behind their leader reined their ponies out of the way to make room for two riders. An old, barrel-chested man with a huge white moustache rode forward leading 'another horse with a small, black-haired boy perched in the saddle.

Joshua stepped closer, in awe of the old rider's moustache, for it was the strangest and most beautiful one he had ever seen. The snow-white whiskers flowed downward from beneath the old man's brown nose but split just above his lip and flowed upward again to be swept back almost to his ears.

As if feeling Joshua's gaze, the old rider looked at the boy and gave him a wink. Closing his open mouth, Joshua saw a glint coming from the old rider's tight wrist. He was wearing a silver bracelet identical to that of the leader.

Xu Kang motioned to the thin, dark-haired boy without looking at him. "This is my son. He is twelve and his name is Stephen, named so by his Christian mother who has joined her ancestors. I promised his mother the boy would be educated and not be a Sawbaw like his father. Take him, Pastor Brown, and teach him your ways. He speaks English as I do but needs your school words and thoughts."

Henry quickly stepped forward, took hold of Xu Kang's horse's bridle, and spoke in a harsh whisper. "You can't leave him here, Chindit. The government will find out-"

Xu Kang cut him off with a wave of his hand and motioned toward the old man. "I leave Master Horseman Bo Bak here to teach your village men how to protect themselves. He will also ensure silence." Xu Kang raised his chin but kept his penetrating stare on Henry. "Pastor, my son stays. I made a vow to his mother. If you know anything of Shan honor. vful know I must fulfill my promise."

Henry held the Sawbaw's gaze for several moments before lowering his head with a reluctant nod.

Xu Kang's hard expression softened, and he bowed toward Sarah. "It was indeed a pleasure, Mrs. Brown." Turning his attention to Joshua, the Sawbaw smiled. "You have a Shan Horseman's heart, little Sao. I shall always remember your challenge to me."

The leader glanced only a moment at his son, and his face showed excruciating pain. He reached out to touch the boy's shoulder but suddenly withdrew his hand and reined his black stallion around. Kicking the horse's flanks, he was in a full gallop in seconds and his troop with him. In a moment all that remained was a cloud of dust.

The old rider's creaking saddle broke the silence as he climbed down from his pony. "Greetings and blessings, Sao.

I am Master Horseman Bo Bak, the teacher."

Henry eyed the old man coldly. "Never call me Sao-there is only one Lord. That is the first lesson of your stay in Shaduzup."

The Horseman's leather face cracked into a disarming smile. "And you have many lessons to learn as well. The Shan custom of greeting is always 'greetings and blessings.'

You insulted my Sawbaw by not giving the proper greeting.

I will learn from you, Pastor Brown, but I ask that you too learn and respect our customs."

Sarah nudged her husband. "Henry, the people."

Henry broke his glare from the old man and turned to face the villagers. Raising his hands, he bellowed, "Return to your homes, the danger is over. I will have a special prayer service tonight for deliverance from the evildoers the Chindit has warned us about. Go to your homes knowing Jesus is with you."

As Henry was speaking Sarah walked up to the mounted boy, who was staring at the vanishing dust cloud. She reached up to touch his hand and spoke softly. "Come with me, Stephen. I'm happy to have you as a new student."

The boy didn't move. He sat staring toward the north with tears running down his cheeks.

Chapter 2.

"How's Stephen doing?" Sarah asked Joshua as he came up the front porch steps.

"He's in the dorm but won't talk to anybody."

Sarah turned to give the man across the table an icy glare.

"Your Sawbaw is a heartless man."

Horseman Bo Bak leaned back in a wooden porch chair.

"Many think so, Mrs. Brown, but I have known the Chindit for fifteen years. You are correct only because today he lost his heart when he left his son. No man loves his son more."

Sarah's glare dissolved as she saw the sincerity in the old man's eyes. "Tell us about your Sawbaw," she asked. "Where did he learn to speak English so well?"

Seated beside his wife at the table, Henry pushed his chair back and stood up. "I've heard all this before. I'm going to the church and prepare for tonight's prayer service." He nodded to Bak and strode down the steps.

Joshua took Henry's place at the table as the old man began speaking.

"Mrs. Brown, the Chindit is Chinese, Cantonese Chinese.

He was a lieutenant in the Chinese National Army and came to Burma with his unit to help force out the Japanese during the war. His unit fought alongside the mountain Shan in the Ri region. It was then I first met him. He was a very brave man in battle and earned the respect of the Shan. For his courage we gave him the name `Chindit, The Lion.' " After the war the Chindit returned to China, but things turned very bad when the communists took over.

"What was left of the National Army was forced to retreat across the border into our country. The Chindit was then a captain. The Shan welcomed him and his men and helped build their camps. Your country's secret intelligence, I think you call it CIA, provided the Chindit with weapons and money to go back to China to foster a rebellion. The Chindit's army marched into China six months later, but the communists already had their stranglehold on the people.

The Chindit was again forced to retreat to our country and wait for another day. That day never came, Mrs. Brown, for he fell in love with this country and our people. He married Stephen's mother and became a colonel in the Shan Army.

His successes against the government forces could not be counted on two hands; the people thought of him as their protector and he was made a general in charge of the defense of the Ri.

"Some ten years ago the Shan government leaders were assassinated by the junta and the Shan resistance crumbled except for a few regions like the Ri. The Burmese government has been trying to catch the Chindit ever since. They have failed, Mrs. Brown, because he is truly a lion, who has more cunning and courage than any man I know. But sadly the price has been very high. Shea, Stephen's Shan mother, bore the Chindit three sons. The first was killed by the Wa when he was Stephen's age, and the second was killed by a government artillery round. Shea blamed the Chindit for the deaths of her sons since he had been away fighting. The losses caused a sickness within her. A month ago, knowing she was dying, she made the Chindit promise her last son would not follow in the ways of the Chindit. A devout Christian, she wanted Stephen to become a pastor and help her people."

Sarah lowered her eyes. "It must have been very hard for your Sawbaw to give up Stephen. But as a mother I can understand his mother's feelings."

Bak shifted in his seat and spoke while gazing at the northern mountains. "You asked me before about the Chindit's English. His family was Christian and sent him to the English missionary school in Canton."

"The Chindit is a Christian?" Sarah asked with hope in her voice.

Bak motioned toward the distant mountains. "He worships the Ri and its people, Mrs. Brown. Your god and the gods of the Shan and even Buddha are respected by him, but his church, Mrs. Brown, is those mountains."

Sarah leaned back in her chair and looked at the old man.

"And you, Bo Bak. What does it mean to be a Master Horseman?"

"You see, Mrs. Brown, the title 'Horseman' goes back in our history for centuries. The Shan ruled Burma many years ago, and the Horsemen were the Shan king's knights. Our Shan Army brought back the old tradition and selected the best one hundred fighters in the army to be trained as Horsemen. I was fortunate enough to be selected for the training as well as the Chindit. The one hundred Horsemen were given assignments to the Shan villages with the duty of protecting the people and the land."

Bak's eyes became distant and his voice became more reflective. "When our Shan government leaders were assassinated by the junta, our army and government crumbled-but not the Horsemen. They would not surrender to the junta.

The Horsemen joined with the Chindit. You saw them today.

We, the Horsemen, are sworn to protect the Chindit and the Ri with our lives. The Ri is everything to us, for it is all that remains of what was. It is our last hope. The cost for us has been high; there are only thirty-one of us left. Many Horsemen have died in battle, or have grown too old, like me. And the young men don't care about the old ways. They are impatient and want to learn only about the modern weapons."

"The Chindit has only thirty men in his army?" asked Sarah incredulously.

"Oh no, Mrs. Brown," Bak said with a smile. "The Chindit has more than six thousand soldiers, but they are in outposts throughout the Ri protecting the mountain passes and roads. The Chindit also has hundreds of spies. He knows everything, Mrs. Brown. He knows beforehand when and where the junta plans to attack, and more important, he knows who are his enemies and who are his true friends."

Bak looked deeply into Sarah's eyes. "Mrs. Brown, talk to your husband. The Chindit's warning about the Wa was true.

I will train ten of your parish men as a militia for the protection of the village. Trained men properly armed will persuade the Wa and any bandits not to attack Shaduzup. Without the militia you will be at their mercy."

Reaching out, Sarah patted the old man's hand. "I will talk to him, Bo Bak, but I can't promise anything."

Bak held Sarah's gaze as if reading her thoughts before slowly nodding. He then stood and pushed back his chair. "I will be camped on the plateau above the river, Mrs. Brown.

If the pastor decides to give me men, I will train them there."

Sarah motioned toward the dormitory. "And Stephen?

What do you suggest we do?"

Bak walked down the porch steps toward his pony. Grasping the reins, he looked over his shoulder at Sarah. "Time, Mrs. Brown. It takes time for the wounds of the heart to heal." He put his foot in the stirrup and swung easily up into the saddle. Bowing his head toward Sarah and giving Joshua a wink, he headed his shaggy horse toward the river.