long.”
’You’ve been waiting long, miss?’ I asked.
“You’re Mr. Minke, aren’t you?”
Her hand was still in mine, and she wasn’t objecting.
“Yes, that’s right. It’s been very difficult for me to get a chance to look for Miss Ang.”
She politely withdrew her hand and invited me inside.
The veranda was very narrow, about five feet. There was nothing but an old bamboo bench. After she dusted it, we both sat down.
“I felt it when we passed earlier that you were the one I’d been waiting for. So I came straight back. Why has it taken you so long to come, especially as I do not have your address?” Her English was fluent and very correct.
I started to tell her all about how busy I had been. She believed me.
“Thank you for the protection you and your family gave to my late friend, though I am sure he also expressed his gratitude to you.”
I observed her pale thin lips and her brilliant white teeth. I looked at her feet—they hadn’t been bound.
“Why are you looking at my feet?”
“Oh, nothing, it doesn’t matter.”
“It’s only by accident that my feet have escaped their humiliation.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, miss, forgive me. A Chinese woman with feet like you, miss, it means that you haven’t been brought up in the traditional way.”
“I was brought up and educated in a convent, Mr. Minke, in a Catholic convent in Shanghai.”
This girl’s frankness was amazing.
“Have you told others this?”
She smiled, and looked at me with those shining eyes. “What is there that I shouldn’t tell a good friend of my friend?”
“Thank you, miss.”
She didn’t say anything about her friend who had died—who had written that letter to her.
“Why am I called ‘miss’ by a good friend of my friend? Call me Mei. No one calls me that now. I have heard a lot about you.My friend didn’t put his trust in people easily. He had sharp instincts about people. Whomever he trusted, so too must I trust them.”
“Thank you, Mei. You’re extraordinary,” I said, admiring her frankness.
“Thank you.”
“The letter won’t need a reply,” I said.
“Yes.” She was silent for a moment, “You’re right, it won’t need a reply. I haven’t even read it all.”
“You know what happened?”
“I know.” She shook her head weakly. Then her hands moved nervously as if she wanted to grab hold of something from another dimension. “I read about it in the newspaper.”
“How did you know he left a letter?”
“Everyone, including myself, believed in the power of his sixth sense. An extraordinary person.” Her voice was full of praise, but also sadness. “I have never met anyone like him.”
“He said he chose Surabaya because it was the most difficult area.”
“So he trusted you.”
I nodded.
“He didn’t give his trust easily. I will go to the most difficult area, he told me before he left. You will receive news from me in one way or another. If you don’t receive any news from me for a long time, then sooner or later someone will seek you out; I don’t know who. Perhaps that will be my last letter ever.”
She kept on talking. Her voice exhibited more and more adoration, but it also became sadder and sadder. Glassy-eyed, she looked down at her shoes, turned away her face, then stood and turned around as if to walk away. It seemed she didn’t want to show her feelings.
I turned around so as not to see her face. And I realized how deep the relationship between the two of them must have been. A relationship between two close comrades, between a young woman and a young man—it was not just a relationship between comrades-in-arms. They were bound by intimate and close emotional ties. I also felt her loss.
“You have my deepest, my truly sincere condolences, Mei,” I said.
“Thank you. You are the first to share my loss all this time. No one else knew about the relationship between the two of us.”
Soon I felt that I had known this girl for a long time, as
’You’ve been waiting long, miss?’ I asked.
“You’re Mr. Minke, aren’t you?”
Her hand was still in mine, and she wasn’t objecting.
“Yes, that’s right. It’s been very difficult for me to get a chance to look for Miss Ang.”
She politely withdrew her hand and invited me inside.
The veranda was very narrow, about five feet. There was nothing but an old bamboo bench. After she dusted it, we both sat down.
“I felt it when we passed earlier that you were the one I’d been waiting for. So I came straight back. Why has it taken you so long to come, especially as I do not have your address?” Her English was fluent and very correct.
I started to tell her all about how busy I had been. She believed me.
“Thank you for the protection you and your family gave to my late friend, though I am sure he also expressed his gratitude to you.”
I observed her pale thin lips and her brilliant white teeth. I looked at her feet—they hadn’t been bound.
“Why are you looking at my feet?”
“Oh, nothing, it doesn’t matter.”
“It’s only by accident that my feet have escaped their humiliation.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, miss, forgive me. A Chinese woman with feet like you, miss, it means that you haven’t been brought up in the traditional way.”
“I was brought up and educated in a convent, Mr. Minke, in a Catholic convent in Shanghai.”
This girl’s frankness was amazing.
“Have you told others this?”
She smiled, and looked at me with those shining eyes. “What is there that I shouldn’t tell a good friend of my friend?”
“Thank you, miss.”
She didn’t say anything about her friend who had died—who had written that letter to her.
“Why am I called ‘miss’ by a good friend of my friend? Call me Mei. No one calls me that now. I have heard a lot about you.My friend didn’t put his trust in people easily. He had sharp instincts about people. Whomever he trusted, so too must I trust them.”
“Thank you, Mei. You’re extraordinary,” I said, admiring her frankness.
“Thank you.”
“The letter won’t need a reply,” I said.
“Yes.” She was silent for a moment, “You’re right, it won’t need a reply. I haven’t even read it all.”
“You know what happened?”
“I know.” She shook her head weakly. Then her hands moved nervously as if she wanted to grab hold of something from another dimension. “I read about it in the newspaper.”
“How did you know he left a letter?”
“Everyone, including myself, believed in the power of his sixth sense. An extraordinary person.” Her voice was full of praise, but also sadness. “I have never met anyone like him.”
“He said he chose Surabaya because it was the most difficult area.”
“So he trusted you.”
I nodded.
“He didn’t give his trust easily. I will go to the most difficult area, he told me before he left. You will receive news from me in one way or another. If you don’t receive any news from me for a long time, then sooner or later someone will seek you out; I don’t know who. Perhaps that will be my last letter ever.”
She kept on talking. Her voice exhibited more and more adoration, but it also became sadder and sadder. Glassy-eyed, she looked down at her shoes, turned away her face, then stood and turned around as if to walk away. It seemed she didn’t want to show her feelings.
I turned around so as not to see her face. And I realized how deep the relationship between the two of them must have been. A relationship between two close comrades, between a young woman and a young man—it was not just a relationship between comrades-in-arms. They were bound by intimate and close emotional ties. I also felt her loss.
“You have my deepest, my truly sincere condolences, Mei,” I said.
“Thank you. You are the first to share my loss all this time. No one else knew about the relationship between the two of us.”
Soon I felt that I had known this girl for a long time, as
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