The Destroyer - 128 - The Destroyer 128 - The End of the Beginning by Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir

Author:Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir [Murphy, Warren & Sapir, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pulp Action
ISBN: 9780373632435
Publisher: PINNACLE BOOKS
Published: 2002-07-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

"That's not to say you Catholics were always bad," the Master of Sinanju announced.

The old Korean was sitting cross-legged on a broad, flat rock in the middle of the prairie. The cold and lonely sky above his aged head was black and scattered with stars. Somewhere far off, a lone coyote howled at the waxing moon.

They had been in the desert for so long now, Remo had lost all track of time. His sunburned skin had long since gone from lobster red to a dark tan.

It was closing in on midnight. Rather than return to their motel when evening fell, as had become their custom during these weeks in exile, Chiun had proclaimed that this night they would remain out in the desert.

At the old Korean's insistence, Remo was trying to start a fire. He had been trying to start one for the past three hours. Remo didn't know what he was doing wrong. After all, he had seen it done in Westerns a million times. Something to do with rubbing sticks or banging rocks. Unfortunately, what was child's play for Gabby Hayes was proving impossible for Remo Williams. All the sticks he managed to scrape up were snapping and all the rocks were shattering in his hands.

Remo was squatting in the sand. At his toes was a growing pile of broken sticks, crushed rock and no fire.

When the Master of Sinanju brought up Catholics for the umpteenth time, Remo wasn't in the mood. "Are we back to Catholic bashing again?" Remo grumbled as he worked. "I thought you'd reserved today for dumping on the Chinese."

The Master of Sinanju's rampant prejudices became even clearer as the days bled into weeks. By the sounds of it there weren't many members of the human race he had much use for. Even the inhabitants of Sinanju-which Remo learned was also the name of the North Korean fishing village from which Chiun hailed-weren't spared criticism. Two days ago Remo had been forced to endure a six-hour monologue on the village cobbler, with the ominous warning never to entrust him with a pair of ceremonial greeting sandals. Remo-who had never worn a pair of sandals in his life, never intended to wear a pair, thus negating the need for mending, and who had never been to Korea and had no intention of ever going there-agreed to take Chiun's warning to heart. That blessedly ended the Sinanju-cobbler harangue. But since sunup yesterday it was all about the Chinese and how they were all thieves and liars, so Remo was a little surprised when the old man started up on Catholics again.

"You just said a prayer to the founder of your cult," the Master of Sinanju explained.

Remo frowned. "No, I didn't."

"I heard you distinctly," the old Korean said. "You invoked your deity. You said 'Jesus Christ, why won't this light?'"

"Oh," Remo said, nodding understanding. "Just a figure of speech. Although I wouldn't object to a little otherworldly intervention right about now. The Lone Ranger could use his gun to start a fire.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.