by A. H. Shinn
“It’ll be okay,” the monk said as he leaned into her.
Kellie had seen his face before, but there was something oddly different about it. The voice was also familiar. It didn’t make any sense. A lily pinned to his robe was the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes. This had to be just a bad dream.
Blackness befell her once more.
A cool towel rubbed across her forehead. Nothing bound her hands and feet, and the floor was still. Incense drifted into her nostrils, and Kellie smiled.
“Master Chen?” she called.
When she opened her eyes, someone propped up her head and gently put a cup to her lips.
“Drink.”
Kellie took a sip, and when the wooden cup was moved away from her face, she saw the bald monk who had drugged her on the plane. It wasn’t a dream.
The familiar voice and face belonged to her mother. She no longer had long, black hair and green eyes, features that resembled Kellie’s. Her head was completely shaven, and her irises were a dark brown.
“Where am I?” Kellie asked. She pushed up her upper body, but fell back from dizziness.
“Please, do not try to get up,” Victoria said. “The medication is still in your system.”
“What medication? Why are you doing this to me?”
“It had to be done. It was the only way to get you here.”
Kellie scanned the room. It was tiny and plain, barely fitting the bed and a few pieces of furniture. A floor mat was placed under a table that was only inches above the ground. The white walls had no decor, and an oil lamp provided meager lighting. A door made of wooden planks was closed, which was the only exit.
“We had to sedate you,” said Victoria. “It was easier getting you on the plane that way. Airport officials do not scrutinize the papers of a semiconscious girl in a wheelchair.”
“Airport?” repeated Kellie. “Where—where am I?”
Victoria smiled. “You are home. You are in Bhutan.”
Bhutan? “Where?”
“Where you belong,” she said.
“Where is Bhutan?” asked Kellie.
“It’s a beautiful country in South Asia.”
South Asia? Kellie couldn’t breathe, and she clutched her chest. She couldn’t believe she was in another country. Kellie tried to get up again, but Victoria gently but firmly gripped her shoulders and guided her back down onto the mattress.
“You are not strong enough yet.”
“Get your hands off me!” Kellie yelled as she thrust her weak leg into Victoria’s stomach. Victoria fell back onto her rear but quickly sprang to her feet.
There was no power behind her floppy foot, but the maneuver gave Kellie just enough time to stand up. Her thighs wobbled while her hands patted her surroundings in search of something to stabilize her weight. The tips of her fingers touched the wall as she prepared to defend herself.
The smile on Victoria’s lips was gone and she had a stern look on her face. “This is your home now. Sooner or later you will get used to it.”
Whatever they’d drugged Kellie with, it was still piping through her veins. Her belly was queasy, and her muscles flaccid. Doing her best to act if she wasn’t so vulnerable, she glared at the female monk. “You’re not my mother, are you?”
“No. I am not.” The deceptive smile was back on her face. “But we are all your sisters.”
“You kidnapped me! You can’t keep me here! People will be looking for me…and when I get my strength back—”
“Such the fierce warrior you are.”
“I am not a warrior!” Kellie’s knees buckled, but she caught herself. Leaning against the wall, she warned, “When the Taiping monks find out what you’ve done, they will come after you!” Kellie hoped threatening Victoria might scare her into releasing her. “The Taiping monks are the best martial artists, and no one can defeat them!”
The door swung open, and a condescending laugh echoed through the room. “The Taiping monks, you say?” Another female monk entered, and if Kellie hadn’t heard her voice, she would have thought she was a man.
“The Taiping monks are a bunch of soft men who are a disgrace to kung fu.” This tall, muscular woman was followed by two other female monks.
With four people blocking the door, it was impossible for Kellie to make an escape. She would have to wait for the right time.
“Why have you taken me?” asked Kellie.
“Taken you?” asked the tall woman. “We have brought you home. It is the Taiping monks who have kept you from us. We are your family.”
“Do—do you know who I am?” Kellie froze against the wall.
“Yes, I do.” The tall lady had a smirk on her face. “First, you must regain your energy.” She and the other two dipped their heads and left the room.
Victoria remained and put out her hand. “Please,” she said soothingly, “let me help you. Lie down. When you awake, we will explain everything to you.”
Kellie stared at Victoria’s open palm.
“Please,” she said again.
Kellie decided to play along. Anyway, what choice did she have? She took Victoria’s hand and allowed her to guide her down to the mattress. Victoria put a blanket over her, and Kellie closed her eyes, pretending to go to sleep. Once she heard the door shut, her eyes popped open.
Immediately, Kellie swung her legs off the mattress and unsteadily made her way to the door. She pushed on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. She tried shaking it, but the plank door was a lot heavier than it appeared. She looked around the room. There was no other way out. One part of a wall had a square section that was painted over. It seemed to have once been a window. Now it was completely filled in.
She dragged her heavy body toward the bed and collapsed onto it. Turning to her side, she lay in a fetal position, biting her lower lip, forcing herself not to cry. She thought about Master Chen. He was right to have been suspicious of her fake mother.
Why didn’t I trust him? I trusted her over him.
Master Chen didn’t have much of an education, but he seemed to know about pretty much everything. His instincts were nearly flawless. She should have listened to him.
Kellie had to regain her strength and devise a plan if she wanted to see her family and friends again. Playing along with the monks would be the only way to figure out exactly where she was and to find someone to help her.
For now, she allowed herself to rest. The medication was still in her blood and she needed to recover to escape.
A noise awakened Kellie. She reached over with her left hand to push the snooze button, but her elbow hit the wall.
The door had opened, and two monks had entered. Kellie remembered that she wasn’t in her bedroom in Milldale.
One of them moved to the corner of the room, and the other laid a tray on the low table.
Kellie was starving. The last thing she’d eaten was a light breakfast the morning she had her lunch date with her fake mother. She was barely able to eat half the bowl of cereal because she was too excited and nervous.
What an idiot I was.
“Eat and change your clothes,” said the monk who’d carried the food.
“I’m not hungry…” said Kellie.
The two women ignored her response and went about their business. After the other person set folded garments on the foot of the bed, poured oil into the lamp and relit it, she waited by the door. When Kellie caught her staring with a smile, the monk quickly looked down. The bossy one placed dishes, a tea kettle, and a cup onto the table, and then put the empty tray on the floor. They bowed and left the room.
Kellie grabbed the clothes and held them in front of her. It was a pair of plain, brown pants and a long-sleeved shirt with braided frog closures down the front—the same outfit that all the women she had encountered in her room had been wearing. Rolling it up
into a ball, she flung it at the door.
There was no way she was going to wear that.
Her stomach let out a long rumble and contracted from hunger pangs. She had to eat. Her body needed the sustenance to carry out the plan that she hadn’t yet created.
Sitting down on a silky, flat pillow, she lifted the cover off a stone bowl. It looked like mush. It was some type of porridge, and after taking a spoonful, she wished she had some soy sauce to flavor it with. Though it was bland and tasteless, it nourished her body. The tea had an unpleasant, bitter plant flavor, but it would do.
After finishing her lunch…or dinner—Kellie didn’t know what part of the day it was—she felt a surge of energy. She got up and looked around the cramped space. How was she going to get out of here? And the bigger question was: how was she going to get back to America?
There was only one way out of this jail cell. She was sure the door was locked, but it was worth a try again. When she pushed on the door, it opened! Was this a trick? She poked her head out.
About thirty or forty female monks scurried around as twilight approached. Where was she? She had never known that female monks even existed. None of the Taiping monks had ever mentioned them.
Numerous small, stand-alone abodes like the one Kellie had been held in were lined up in proximity. The walls on the outside were whitewashed, and the roofs tiled. The identical buildings were simple, but appeared sturdy and well-constructed.
Torches were lit in front of the rooms and along the walkways, preparing for nightfall. Women exited their private rooms and disappeared down a path. Trees and bushes surrounded the living quarters as if in the middle of a forest.
Kellie yanked her head back in, closed the door, and assessed the situation. One thing she understood: the door was left unlocked because there was nowhere to run. She would get lost in the darkness, and her captors knew it. Kellie would have to wait until dawn to make a move.
Fighting the female monks came to mind, but there were too many of them. The only option was to get them to trust her and figure out a getaway plan later.
And she knew exactly how to begin gaining their trust. She picked up the monochromatic outfit that was lying on the ground.
After changing her clothes, she spotted slippers in the corner of the room. She put on the cloth shoes, tied her hair back into a ponytail, and tucked the jade necklace that Master Chen had given her underneath her shirt.
There. I look like them. Well, almost. She was the only one with hair and momentarily feared they would shave off her locks. She took a deep breath. She knew she had to do whatever she needed to get back home to Master Chen…and with all her hair.
Swinging the door wide open, she stepped out onto the foreign land. Her body was stiff, and she swallowed with uncertainty.
Every single one of the women scrambling around stopped to look at Kellie. They knelt to the ground and bowed to her.
Who on earth do they think I am?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Rinzen
Kellie stood awkwardly as the female monks kneeled in prostration. She knew whoever they thought she was, they were dead wrong.
The women got back up on their feet and continued about their business, but occasionally glanced in Kellie’s direction.
She examined the vicinity around the living quarters, but there didn’t seem to be a way out. Every direction she looked was lined with trees or tall shrubs. The sun had vanished, and the areas beyond the torch-lit pathways were shadowed.
The women seemed to mostly ignore Kellie as she lingered by the doorway. Considering how important she seemed to be, Kellie thought there would be more of a commotion. This was perfect. She could begin her reconnaissance.
She had barely taken a step before three women approached her. Two female monks, the ones who’d brought Kellie her food and clothes, followed behind a woman in her fifties. She appeared physically fit, but so did everyone else.
“Rinzen,” said the woman.
Kellie looked behind her. No one was there. The woman seemed to be addressing her. “I, uh, think you have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Kellie.”
“Very well…Kellie,” she said, disregarding the first statement, “my name is Choden.”
She spoke with authority. It seemed she carried some rank: women moved around her with caution and respect.
“You are at Druk Monastery. We are the bhikkhunı− order of nuns. We have been waiting a long time to have you here, Rin—Kellie.”
“I’m not Rinsan…or whatever. My name is Kellie Wei, and I don’t belong here. Milldale is my home and so is Taiping Monastery.”
“The Taiping monks have no right to have you.” Once again, Choden ignored Kellie’s insistence that she wasn’t who they seemed to think she was. “They are a paltry and deceitful group. Their practice of humility is a guise to mask their beliefs of superiority.”
Kellie felt the back of her neck warm. Who did this person think she was to insult her family?
“The Taiping monks are kind people, and I was honored to be raised by them. You and your followers are the deceitful ones…I was lied to and kidnapped. I don’t want to stay here…Take me home.”
Kellie stepped back and took a deep breath. There went my plan to get them to trust me.
“We are your family,” Choden said, opening her arms. “You will come to accept this. We are your sisters and we will help you realize your past, present, and future.”
“I will never accept that. I will never be part of your twisted family. You don’t know anything about me!” Her outburst caused every pair of eyes to fall upon her.
“We know you very well…” Choden said with a smile on her face. “You are a child of the forest. You possess a unique energy. And you are meant to guide the sisters of Druk Monastery. We have been waiting for you.”
Kellie’s jaw dropped open. How did Choden know she was found in Shenmi Forest? And how did she know about Hagos’s Emotive Chi? Kellie couldn’t help but wonder if she could be who they thought she was. She shook her head. No, I don’t belong here.
“Please, join us,” said Choden. “We have been preparing a celebration for your arrival. You will be pleased—and we will tell you more about who you really are.”
Kellie didn’t answer. She looked out into the blackness beyond the trees. She couldn’t escape right now, so she might as well listen to what they had to say until she came up with a plan.
Choden turned around to lead the way. The women with her waited for Kellie to follow. Hesitantly, Kellie trailed behind Choden, and the two others stayed close by.
They walked down a sinuous path lined with more torches. Kellie surveyed the area, but it was difficult to see past the fire burning atop the sticks speared into the ground. After trekking for a few minutes, they walked into an open area lit brightly with huge torches and fire pits.
Three whitewashed buildings surrounded an expansive, square-shaped cement floor. A flag waved nearby; it was orange and yellow with a dragon in the center. The middle structure, much larger than the other two, was elevated above the cemented space. The wide doors were pulled open, so the inside was well visible. Low tables similar to the one in Kellie’s room, but much longer and wider, filled the hall.
At least a hundred bald-headed women, all wearing the same brown outfits, moved swiftly about. Some of them carried baskets of food from one of the side buildings to the middle edifice. A couple of women coming out of the other structure barreled their arms around cylindrical objects that looked like drums.
Choden led Kellie up the steps to the large room, which appeared to be the dining hall. Curious eyes flicked toward them as they made their way to a table in the back.
The two women who were still tailing them sat down on the floor pillows. Kellie lowered herself onto the ground in the empty spot between her two bodyguards. She watched as the women p
assed dishes of unfamiliar food items. They spoke little to each other but worked harmoniously, as if they communicated with their movements.
Kellie rolled up her sleeves and wiped her moistening forehead.
“You will get used to the weather,” said Choden. “It is hot and humid in the summer, but we’ve been lucky. It’s monsoon season, and the rain has been avoiding us.”
A plateful of chopped fruits and raw vegetables passed in front of Kellie. She couldn’t identify some of them; they didn’t quite look like the ones Master Chen grew in their garden.
Someone poured tea into the cup in front of her.
“Thank you,” said Kellie, and the monk gave her a slight nod.
Green leaves floated at the top, much like the tea she’d had earlier. It tasted as if they’d simmered grass and dirt in a pot.
“I know you just had a meal,” said Choden. “I had food sent to your room because I thought you would be famished…but please, have some—”
“The tea is fine…” said Kellie as she stared down at her cup.
“…you must have many thoughts,” said Choden.
“Yes,” said Kellie, looking up at Choden. “I would like to know why you brought me here and who you think I am.” Her stomach did a back flip.
“You are the One who Sonam spoke of.”
“Who is Sonam?” Kellie asked slowly. Noticing her fingers gripping the cup tensely, she lowered her hands to her lap.
Choden looked away briefly before beginning her story. “Sonam is the founder of our monastery. She was our first bhikkhunı−, which is a fully ordained Buddhist female nun. In the early years when there were no monasteries, the nuns spent much time alone meditating in the forests…sometimes for months.” Choden’s face tightened. “There were heathens who harmed them in their vulnerable state. Terrible things were done.” The sides of her mouth relaxed. “Then there was Sonam. She was a young nun at the time. One day in the forest, while in prayer, three men attacked her, and she barely got away. It is said that she fought back with just her hands and feet when her enemies used sticks and whips. After she escaped, she lived in the forest for years. She learned not only to find strength with her mind, but also with her body.” Choden’s voice and head lowered as if she was about to reveal a secret. “It is said that she learned the ways of the animals. It is said that animals taught her kung fu.” She straightened and cleared her throat. “I am sure those stories were fables, but her talents were very real.”
