A Golden Tree
Page 10
Jack guffawed. “When we pick up Cooper, let’s ask him.”
“All I have to do is pinch your neck, and I can kill you. You do know that, right?”
“Yeah, and while you’re trying to do that, what do you think I’ll be doing?”
“Dying,” Harry shot back immediately. Both men laughed, but it wasn’t a funny ha-ha laugh; it was hysterical, verging on a total collapse.
Jack turned the heater to low as he raced down the interstate, ever mindful of speed traps and smokies out to gather their quota of speeding tickets for the month.
“So how come you were so snarly this morning, Harry? You still not sleeping well?”
“I had another of those wild-ass dreams I’ve been having lately. This one was a real whopper. The phone rang, and it was Jun Yu. He said he was dying or something like that. Then he said he was sending me something, and I needed to guard it with my life. Said he trusted me.
“Then he said something about his son Hop, his daughter Gan, and Lily, that he found Hop and Gan but couldn’t find Lily. He kept calling me brother and said how much he loved me. And, get this, he said I wasn’t really number two. We were tied, but the Abbot was pressured by the elders into picking just one, and they went with him because he was staying in China. He sounded truthful, and I’ve never known Jun Yu to lie. He said I was now number one. It was a crazy dream, Jack. Still, it bothered me.
“I had it in mind to call him today. I haven’t talked to him in months. Figured we’d have a good chuckle over the dream. I can’t tell you how real it seemed. What could he possibly be sending me, Jack, that I need to guard with my life?”
“Beats me, Harry. Why don’t you call him now?”
“I didn’t bring my phone. I meant to charge it last night, and I thought I had, but I guess I forgot, because when I went to get it before we left, it was dead. So I left it in the charger.”
Jack was silent for a good three minutes before he said, “Harry, are you sure the phone call was a dream? What if it was a real call, and you answered the phone, then fell asleep and left the phone on. Did you think about that? You said you think you charged it before you went to bed. If you thought you did, then you probably did. Habits like that are hard to break. Use my phone and call Jun Yu. Like now, Harry. I know you know the number by heart, and even if you forgot, I know it. Now, Harry. I don’t like coincidences, because I do not believe that there is really any such thing as a coincidence. The phone’s right there on the console. Do it, Harry!”
Harry bit down on his lower lip as he pressed in the digits that would send his call halfway around the world. “It’s ringing. One, two, crap, it’s going to voice mail.”
“Leave a message, Harry.”
Always succinct, Harry left a message. “Call me, it’s urgent.” He placed the phone back in the console. Then he looked over at Jack and said, “It was real. It wasn’t a dream, right?”
“That would be my guess. What’s the time difference? I can’t remember, twelve hours I think. Something like that. Try calling Quon Fang or Pye Min. If you can’t reach them, then call the damned monastery. All three of those numbers are on my call list. Jun Yu always calls right back. Do you have Jun Yu’s wife, Jun Ling’s, number? I think her number is on my call list, too, though I have never had occasion to use it. Harry, are you listening to me? Why are you staring out the window? C’mon, get with the program here.”
Harry licked at his lips as he stared at Jack. “I don’t think in my entire life I ever experienced real fear, Jack. Whatever it is that I’m feeling right now, this minute, it has to be real fear. I know, Jack, I know, when I dial those numbers, there will be no answer. You know it, too, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but do it anyway,” Jack said as he steered his Beemer around an eighteen-wheeler to get into the fast lane, where traffic was less congested.
Harry’s fingers moved like pistons as he dialed number after number. His agitation increased with each number pressed into Jack’s smartphone. And Jack knew what his friend was going to say before the words shot out of his mouth.
“Quon Fang’s and Pye Min’s went straight to voice mail. So did Jun Ling’s. There is no answer at the monastery, but that’s not unusual. They shut down at seven o’clock. No calls in or out. The monks refuse to believe anything could be an emergency. The monastery is a place of peace and serenity. An emergency would never dare present itself, or so they think.
“It’s all a dry well, Jack. I just tried Jun Yu’s number again, and it went straight to voice mail this time. At least I got to leave a message earlier. What the hell is going on, Jack?”
“I don’t know, Harry, but I’m thinking it’s not good. Jun Ling should have answered. When was the last time you spoke to Jun Ling?”
“Quite a while back. Yoko is the one who calls her. It’s a girl thing.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get that. Nikki makes calls to guys’ wives, too. I get it. Just keep trying. Don’t you have any other numbers at the monastery, like the Abbot’s?”
“Nope. The monks and their staff do not like it when we call, and they will not put the calls through. They call us when needed. In the whole time Lily has been there, we only ever got one call, and that’s because Lily came down with the mumps, and the attending physician called to assure us she was recovering nicely.”
“Well, that damn well sucks, Harry,” Jack growled.
“Tell me about it. Yoko and I are living with it. In the end, it was our decision, and we knew the rules going in just as my parents knew the rules. I turned out okay, so we just have to think positive.”
“It bothers me, Harry, that in all these years, Jun Yu never before told you that you were equals. You thought of yourself as number two all this time, and you’re not. You are as much number one as Jun Yu is. For some reason, I’m having trouble getting past that.
“I know you say I am your equal, and perhaps I am on certain levels, but I will never be what and who you are. I know this, and I accept it. The reason I know this and can live with it is, you were born to the art, and I had to learn it. It’s not the same, Harry, and we both know it. Having said that, I appreciate your little lie.” Harry simply nodded.
They were three hours into the long drive before either man spoke again. Harry broke the silence by saying, “The calls are all going straight to voice mail. I’m starting to think this is all a conspiracy of some kind.”
Jack turned slightly to the right so he could better observe his friend. All he could see was the misery etched on Harry’s face. He’d never seen him this worried before. On occasion, to be sure, he’d seen him concerned, antsy, bewildered, but never fearful. He wished he knew the right words to erase the distress that he was seeing on Harry’s face. All he could think to say was, “Keep trying. Sooner or later, someone is bound to answer. I would think that when the monastery opens in the morning, they’ll answer.”
“My gut is telling me they won’t, Jack. Listen, if it wasn’t for your dream and our heading to Atlanta to pick up Cooper, I might agree with you. Cooper has changed all the dynamics here. Tell me I’m wrong, Jack.”
“I can’t tell you that, Harry, because I agree with you. Cooper is the game changer.”
“It all comes down to a dog!” Harry said as he pounded out numbers on Jack’s cell phone.
“That’s pretty much how I see it, too. An hour to go, and maybe Cooper will give us a clue or something.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then we fall back and regroup. I’m not a seer, Harry. Why don’t you go into one of your . . . um . . . trances, zone out in your body, find your core, and see if you can see something in the future.”
Harry simply ignored him as he continued to press the numbers that he now had memorized.
Jack had no other recourse but to keep his eyes on the road and drive.
There were a little less than sixty miles to go before they set eyes on the magical dog, Cooper.
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Copyright © 2015 by Fern Michaels
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