Bianhua Ch. 01

"You best call whoever you need to," I said as I handed her my cellphone, "And let them know where I am taking you."

The young lady took my cellphone and punched in the ten-digit phone number. As soon as it was answered she spoke. "Mom my horse threw me. I'm on the way to the hospital in Richmond."

There was a pause then the young lady said, "Mom I best let you talk to the man who found me, I'm sure he can tell you the answers to your questions."

She handed me the cell as I shut the vehicle off.

"Hi, this is Dirk Blackstone how may I help you," I asked.

"What's the extent of my daughter's injuries?" The lady asked.

"Not sure as I did not examine her fully," I said. "When I found her, she was passed out with her right leg bleeding badly. I ripped the seam of her blue jeans and found a deep gash that had a broken vein. I repaired it to stop the bleeding, but she is going to need surgery to fix it properly. She has lost a lot of blood and is weak but is stable."

"Take her to Richmond County hospital. My husband and I will meet you there." The lady said.

"You might want to arrange for the doctor on duty in the emergency department to be ready to talk to me when we arrive," I said. "He needs to know what I did and what I used so he can treat her accordingly."

********

I was six years old when the Chinese authorities once again clamped down on the growth of Christianity within their country. They came in the darkness of night and took my father, a well-respected missionary. My mother, from that point on, had to hide us as much as possible. So, we dressed in the local Chinese clothing and tried to blend in as much as possible while constantly moving around. Without the help of local believers, we would have been caught instantly.

La Chey, who I called grandfather had been one of our family's greatest supporters, had taken me to the Shaolin Temple after the Chinese authorities had arrested my mother because he knew they were closing in on him. After all, he believed that they would put him in the same work prison as my parents. He thought the Buddhist temple was the only place I would be safe. He took me there with all my identification and some personal effects of my parents.

To this day I do not remember what La Chey told them. I just knew that everything had to change. Because of the danger I was in and what kind of threat I brought to anyone who knew of me my given name ceased to exist. From the first day of my arrival to the day I left I was called 'Wuming.' It means 'no name' in English. In private they used my name in public they did not.

From the age of six to the age of fifteen I remained with the Buddhist Monks. I had to remain hidden during the daytime away from the lookie Lou's and tourists who were allowed access to the grounds but not to the inner sanctions. If I went outside of the temple it had to be during the darkness of night. I had to wear my monk's clothing, keeping my head covered and stay out of the lighted areas in case I was seen. It was drilled into me that I dare not allow myself to be spotted.

In the darkness, on the steps of the temple, I became friends with one local girl. Suling, who was dealing with a lot of problems in her everyday life. We would talk every night, at least when she could sneak out. For both of us, it became something we looked forward to. I guess I brought calm to her crazy world and she brought sanity to mine. Suling was living with her uncle and his family. Her cousin, a bit older than her, felt like he owned her and had to control everything she did.

Although we had never seen each other faces she had worn my father's ring around her neck. I loaned it to her until she returned it to me because the authorities had released her father from prison. They were leaving the country because he and his brother had been kicked out. When she gave it back to me, she said when she was being troubled, she would touch it because it gave her inner strength. The night she said goodbye I thought I had lost part of myself.

In parting, I had told her that although she saw herself as an unimportant caterpillar, the time would come when she would be revealed to be a beautiful stunning butterfly with the freedom of wings to carry her in anything she decided to do.

My mornings were spent being instructed in everything the Monk's felt was going to be important in my walk of life. The sciences, nature, and math were drilled into me for years. Three afternoons a week was set aside for instruction in the philosophy of Zen and the martial arts. The master taught me the secrets of the old because of the way I took to nature and life. With him, I became fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, and the English languages

It was stressed to me that our bodies were a temple and as a result should be treated as such. The knowledge he was imparting in me should never be used for violence but for improving the quality of life of others. During those years I learned to speak and write Cantonese fluently so much so that it was my second language.

I asked the master if there was ever a time where he had to cross the boundaries he had put on his way of life. He answered that all humans must come to the point when everything they believe will be put to the test. When that happened to me, I had to use my knowledge to defend myself. I left the person alive, but their life was changed forever. I still live with those decisions every day and wonder still if the way I resolved it was right.

About three days before the Chinese government authorities came, in mass, to sweep the monastery because they had finally gotten a creditable tip about where I was, my adopted father took me to the American Embassy in the middle of the night with all the paperwork to prove who I was and that I was an American citizen, leaving me inside the embassies gate. The embassy staff found me sitting there the following morning and took me in.

It was through the embassy that I learned that both my parents had been accused of being spies for the US government and had been sentenced to death. The Chinese government's plan for me was to turn me into a double agent. That was why the search for me had been so intensive.

Until my showing up at the embassy they had believed I had been captured. My parents, according to embassy sources, had been taken outside and shot in front of all others in the work camp to send a message.

I was sent to Scotland to live with Bruce McGregor because they thought that I needed to be with some I could trust as I learned the western culture. He had served with my father and had been there when I was brought into the world.

It was Bruce who helped get my educational problems sorted out and gave me my introduction to western culture. With him, I learned to read and write the English language. I graduated from grade twelve at the head of my class. By that time, my parents' estate had been sorted out and returned to me.

For both of us, it was a learning curve as he caught up with the changes that had happened in China since he had left, and I learned how to adapt to the new freedoms I had. When he saw the cross, I wore he had to ask how I could keep it.

I said it was a gift from my Chinese grandfather on the day he had left me with the monks. Although the monks had tried to get it off me, I had resisted. It had been my resistance that had drawn one of the monks to take me under his wing.

Because of his build, termination, and knowledge, I could keep it because none of the other monks could afford to cross him. The cross was so large when I was small that it took a lot of determination for me to wear it. In time as I grew up, it had become second nature to me.

My master had often said that he had never seen such a determination in one so young. That was my he became my protector. It was the love that grew between us and the questions I asked that got him to impart his knowledge onto me.

When I graduated high school, I had come to America to finish my education. My few years with Bruce had been quite enlightening. The western ways were initially foreign to me but since I was young it was easy to adapt. During that period, I learned what it meant to be a Christian. It gave me a deep understanding of my parents walk in life and an appreciation for life that I did not have before.

Bruce's grandfather, Angus McGregor, was quite the character as he had lived long enough that he did not care what others thought. He spoke most of the time in the Gaelic language which was and is slowly dying. I learned he did that because the local authorities did not need to know his business.

By the time I left for America, I could finally carry normal conservations with him in his native language. It was he who taught me how to make his favorite alcoholic drink. During my university years, I had experimented with the process and developed my own recipe. To him, a good scotch had to be as smooth as a teardrop on the Goddess's cheek. For him, the longer it aged in the dark and the damp in the wooden barrows the better.

*******

I was grateful the young lady slipped in and out of conciseness. That told me her own body was coming to terms with what it was dealing with. I pulled up in front of the emergency doors and carried her in.

Her parents were waiting. Both of their faces showing their concern. The doctor, a Chinese American instructed me where to lay her. He right away began examining her and asked me to leave the room.

It was about an hour later that the Chinese American Doctor came out to talk to me.

In Cantonese, he said, "I was a young child the last time I saw the stitching of a Shaolin Temple Monk. They had just removed a huge carboil from my grandfather's back. Perhaps you should explain what you did?"

"Her vein was torn apart and unsavable, "I explained in Cantonese while taking a piece of the plant I used out. "So, I slid this in and tied up both ends. The sooner you get in and fix it the better."

"I have heard of this being done before," the doctor said. "Not only did you save her life, but you most likely saved her leg. We will put her on antibiotics to make sure there is no infection."

"I was a bit concerned that I may have problems because of what I did," I replied.

"No: it was a temporary measure to save a human life. I still have relatives that I communicate with back home," He said. "Are you the 'Wuming' the authorities came looking for?"

"There are some questions best left unanswered," I replied. "Until the secrets related to them come out."

"Regardless," The doctor said, "You saved that young ladies life. If you had not done what you did, she would have bled out. She is already in surgery to fix the vein properly. I knew by the way it was stitched and from what the parents had told me how skilled in the old ways you are. When I explained to the surgeon who is working on her what you had done, he was extremely impressed. I let her parents know that if it weren't for you, she would not be alive."

"Thank you," I replied in his native tongue as the girl's parents walked towards me.

"Your quite welcome," the doctor said in English as the girl's parents stopped in front of us.

"Mr. Blackstone," the man said as he held out his hand. "I'm Ian Conner and this is my wife Bonnie we would like to thank you for what you have done."

"It was nothing," I said. "I'm just grateful that I was able to do something. The Doctor feels she's going to have a complete recovery."

"That is what we have been told," Bonnie said. "Alana is going to be in surgery for about two hours. She wanted me to ask you to wait because she wants to talk to you when she comes out of the induced sleep."

"Perhaps while we're waiting, we can all go get something to eat," Ian suggested.

Ian is a tall man who towered over my five foot eleven and spoke with a strong thick voice. I could tell that with his build he had a lot of physical strength. With dark black hair showing a touch of grey, the way he carried himself explained a lot about him.

Alana got her looks from her mother. It was clear as night and day that they could pass as sisters. That implied that the two of them had a very deep connection. Both had long hair that, when not tied back, added a length to their face. She was just an inch or two shorter than me and spoke softly as most thought I did.

Throughout our eating together in the cafeteria they learned what I was doing with the old stripped mine and the desolate area. They asked where I was living. I explained I had brought in a sixty-foot trailer with a gasoline generator placing it near the gold mine because it still had functional sewage and water system in the old office which I had hooked into.

I learned they owned what they called a small horse keeping stable, boarded horses, and did horse rides in season. They thought that Alana was looking for new trails to take riders on in a place she should not have been in. Their small spread was on the other side of the mountain hidden off the main highway.

"She's only sixteen but headstrong like her mother," Ian said. "Perhaps this will teach her a lesson about being careful."

"Don't be too hard on her," I said. "Even though the crews and I are working six days a week there was no way she would have known that we were in the area. It was a freak accident and please just see it like that because I was just as shocked as her horse was."

"How are you going to handle it with the few snowfalls we get through the winter," Bonnie asked?

"The snow will help in the rotting process when it starts to melt," I said. "Moisture will help to break the compressed garbage up. Just before each layer is covered in topsoil, we will add cultured microorganisms to enhance the rotting process. Rotting produces heat so the process should continue during future cold weather."

By the time we had walked back, we discovered she was already in recovery. The operation had gone well. In front of both parents, the surgeon said that they should consider this a miracle because if I were not their things would have turned out a lot differently.

"Young man," the surgeon said. "Your quick thinking and skill is a gift. Have you ever considered a medical field?"

"No," I said. "I went into the field of ecology because of my views of mother nature and the earth."

"A shame because the quality of your work made mine look like a rookie," he said. "It's given me a challenge to work towards."

He told her parents that they were able to trim the vein and reattach it without much trouble and that there would not be a permanent scar. Her parents went in first.

Alana was sitting up by the time I was allowed in to see her. Her parents escorted me in. After talking for a few she asked her parents to leave because she wanted to ask me a question in private. Ian raised his eyebrow as if he were questioning. Bonnie got him to leave. Alana asked me to sit on her bed so she could whisper.

"I awoke in pain and saw you deliberately touching me," Alana said. "Suddenly I felt nothing. The next thing I knew we were slowing down because we were near your truck. Fill me in with everything."

"I used part of the Zen and martial art training I had which is filled with a lot of knowledge of how our nerves, muscles, and the brain communicate to create a block in the message system. That allowed me to be able to do a temporary repair to give me the time to get you to the hospital."

"From what the doctors have told me it was not as simple as that," Alana replied. "Your explanation is one that my parents will accept. The doctors said that you have shown by what you did that you have years of training."

"Between you and I, I was raised by monks who imparted in me their years of knowledge," I replied. "That is the only reason I was able to do what I did."

Alana leaned towards and planted a soft kiss on my cheek before speaking. "I know I would have died if you had not come along. So, Dirk will you agree to be my date for the spring prom. I'm in grade eleven and will be seventeen by then."

"Not without your parent's approval," I replied. "I'm five years older than you. I should warn you though: because of my being raised by monks my experience with the opposite sex is limited."

"Where were your raised," Alana asked?

"In a remote area of China far from where I was born," I said. "My parents were American missionaries who lost their lives because of their faith. I came to America from my Scottish Godfather's home to attend university which ended up bring me here."

For some reason that brought a huge smile to her face. We chatted for a few before her parents came back in to inform her, they were keeping her in for the night for observation in case there was swelling in her leg.

I said my goodbyes, preparing to leave when Bonnie said she would walk out with me.

"Dirk," she said. "Alana told us that she awoke for a moment to see you working on her leg. At that moment she felt no pain. I don't know what all you did but in my daughter's eyes you walk on water."

I left them figuring I would never see her again not knowing just how determined Alana could be about my escorting her to the prom.

*******

It was a Saturday towards the end of February. It had been a mild winter so there was not much snow. I was working with an engineer who was laying out the concrete road that I wanted to build. That was when we discovered the huge empty section on the side of the mountain hidden by some trees when looking from the ground. It was found right behind where the new waterfall would be coming down by the end of the summer. We were both wearing our winter jackets completely open.

I jokingly said, "This would be a perfect spot to build into if it could be confirmed that the mountain wouldn't come down."

"What's interesting is that there is no sign of water around us," The engineer said. "It's a natural fortress when reinforced with steel beams, it would last forever."

It took us about half an hour to find a way up and were amazed by what we had discovered. We measured it. Its height was twenty-eight feet. It was fifty-four feet deep and sixty feet wide. The engineer thought with the leveling of the area for the concrete road we could build a flat area up to it in which we could put in a septic system. A newly created yard and a driveway could be connected to the road.

"With twenty-eight feet that would give you room for three floors," he said. "And a built-in garage. The roof would have enough of a slope for a runoff if there was any that developed down the road. Since the sun rises from the east it would get lots of daylight sun. I would build it with steel beams and poured concrete with a patio in front of the side so that the windows would be easy to keep clean."

"Let see if there is room to build a pond in front of it so that the water falls into it before going elsewhere," I said. "It would also be a nice spot to spend a few hours relaxing before calling it a night."

In checking the area out some more we realized that a huge pond could be created with a second small fall dropping from it. He thought that the patio could be built that had concrete stairs leading into the pond from the patio. They would have to put in a deep culvert in to allow the water to flow through the road.

"The problem is water," I said. "Otherwise it would be a go."

"Since we are extending the county road in," He said. "We could tap into their water line. With the electrical generation plant being built, electricity will not be a problem. My biggest concern is how to get it to you."

"Come up with some plans," I said. "With projected costs. Run it through legal and accounting to see if It can be set up as a mortgage for me to be able to do it."

"You want to do this," he asked?