“Where’s the fifth man?” said Guet Imm to Tet Sang.
Tet Sang jerked his head towards the approximate direction in which the bandit had gone. “Went off.”
“So, he’ll go and tell his brothers we killed one of their own?” said Fung Cheung.“Shit!”
“They know a nun killed him,” said Guet Imm, speaking slowly and distinctly for the benefit of the bandits still living. “I am not part of your group. We are strangers who met on the road.” She gave Tet Sang a pointed look.
“Youkilled him?” said Fung Cheung incredulously.
“Broke his neck,” said Ah Hin. He looked at Guet Imm, woebegone. “Sister, you’re a witch?”
It was more of a lament than a question. He did not really expect an answer, and Guet Imm gave none.
“What happened?” said Fung Cheung.
“I found sister,” said Ah Hin. “But we just started talking only when the bandits ambushed us. She—” He waved his hands. “She disappeared! Just lenyap like that!”
“Sorry, brother,” said Guet Imm. “I had to go keep the sarira away, make sure they were safe. I came back as soon as I could.” She knelt by Ah Hin. “Are you hurt?”
But Ah Hin flinched away. Guet Imm’s face went blank.
“If there was a survivor, the bandits will be comingback,” said Rimau to Fung Cheung. “We have to get out of here.”
Guet Imm said, “You have time.” She looked off into the trees, but there was a distant look in her eyes. It wasn’t the trees she saw. “Their camp is not so close and the bandit is getting lost. He’s not clever at navigating the jungle. It’ll take him a while to get back to his camp.”
Rimau and Fung Cheung exchanged a look.
“How do you know?” said Rimau.
“I can see it,” said Guet Imm. She got up and dusted herself off. “The deity grants certain powers when there is need.”
Her tone was matter of fact. Rimau and Ah Hin shifted, uneasy, but Fung Cheung was not superstitious. He looked irritated.
“If you could do magic all along, why didn’t you defend yourself at the coffeehouse?” he demanded. “You could have just cursed that customer!”
“Brother has not been a waiter before, so you won’t know,” said Guet Imm. “But you’re not supposed to curse your customers. You’re supposed to serve them.”
“The fight started in the first place because the customer said you hexed him!”
“He never proved it,” said Guet Imm. “Anyway,ifit happened, a small jampi to teach a man to keep his hands to himself is not the same as cursing that man to win a fight. Shaping the air is not for coffeehouse brawls. Thedeity lends us these powers so we can protect others, not for selfish purposes.”
While Fung Cheung sputtered, Tet Sang said, “Those powers would have been useful at Sungai Tombak.”
Guet Imm’s face had been as smooth as the surface of still water, but this introduced a ripple. Her eyes dropped to Tet Sang’s waist, where his wound was, under the bandages and robes.
“Yes,” she admitted. “If I had known… but I was being careful. I was scared you all wouldn’t understand.”
She turned to Fung Cheung, bowing.
“Forgive me, brother. I’ve only been causing trouble since I joined you all,” she said. “You should go now. Leave Kempas before the sun goes down and keep to the roads. You will be okay. The deity has shown me.”
After a moment, Fung Cheung nodded. But Rimau was not a believer in the Tang deities.
“Even if we leave, where can we go?” he said. “The mata are chasing us. Now the bandits will be looking out for us also. There’s nowhere on the peninsula where we will be safe.”
“The bandits will be chasing me,” said Guet Imm. It was a command, not a statement. She looked meaningfully at one of the bandits on the ground, who was blatantly observing the proceedings, having forgotten he was meant to be unconscious. He hastily shut his eyes and slumped.
“I’m the one who killed their brother,” Guet Immcontinued. “And I’m the one who betrayed the Order, according to them. You are laypeople I misled. As for the mata…” She looked thoughtful. “Wait here first.”
