— Chapter Nineteen —
A loud sawing noise emanated from Stu’s room, followed by the sound of Dao’s voice.
“ Stop snoring, pig William”
Then silence. This had been going on for the last few hours. It started again, but stopped when there came a loud rap on the door. Grumbling, Stu got out of bed, put a towel around his waist, and opened the door. Two armed, uniformed soldiers stood in the doorway, Stu drowsily looked at the soldiers, whose angry, expressionless faces stared at Stu.
Behind the two soldiers stood a gentleman dressed in a smart white uniform with gold braid, and next to him, the mad monk, Pon’.
“What do you want?” asked a sleepy Stu.
The smartly dressed man in the white uniform spoke English and requested
“May we come in please?”
Stu asked them to wait and closed the door. He went back inside the room, opened the curtains and windows, told Dao and then re-opened the door and invited them inside. The two guards remained outside, Taksin and Pon entered the room.
Pon, who followed behind Taksin, got a clip around his ear from Stu as he entered, which made him chuckle. Taksin Wai-ed Dao, who was sat up on the bed and a sheet covered her naked body. She tried to hold on to the sheet as she returned the Wai. Stu removed his clothes from the chairs in the room, and invited them to sit. Taksin introduced himself, and told them that he was a representative of the King, Dao was in awe. Taksin went on to explain about the significance of the holy relic and express his gratitude for all their assistance in the recovery of the sacred item.
Pon asked Stu to go to get Spock. Stu left the three in the room, and walked past the guards who saluted him as he went to Spock’s room. He rapped on Spock’s door and a sleepy eyed Moo opened it. Spock still festered in bed. Stu told him about the events of the last few minutes. Spock slipped on his shorts, Moo wrapped a towel around herself, and they went along to Stu’s room, the guards saluted the party as they entered. Spock could not resist the opportunity and looked the guards up and down as to inspect them, he then returned the salute and announced they should stand at ease and carry on and, not understanding a word he was saying, the guards remained stone-faced, so Spock joined the others in the room. Taksin and Pon Wai-d the new arrivals and Moo gracefully returned the greeting, while Spock made a clumsy attempt at this simple manoeuvre.
Taksin thanked them again for their assistance and gave them both his business card, just in case they needed to contact him. He informed them that the relic would be taken to the Imperial Palace, and they could visit as his special guests. He said that he and Pon would now be going to Bangkok, and thanked them both again. He rose from his chair and Wai-ed the girls first, and then the lads, who again clumsily returned the gesture. Pon said something to Taksin, who Wai-ed the monk and left the room. He heard a small slapping sound, as Spock gave Pon a clip around the ear. However, Taksin never looked back, exited the room, and closed the door.
Pon faced the four and, through Dao and Moo translating thanked them for everything, he now considered Spock and Stu as his brothers, and the girls, his sisters, a great honour for the four.
Pon then reached into his cloth bag and brought out a small gold ‘ornaments’ which he handed to Dao.
“For you my sister,” he announced.
Dao took the ornament and Wai-ed Pon He then brought out the blue ornament and gave it to Moo, who did the same. He removed his two remaining red stone ornaments and gave one to Stu, and one to Spock. Stu smiled at Pon and shook his hand; he had a lump in his throat and could feel tears well up in his eyes as he had grown fond of this funny little monk. Spock grabbed Pon and picked him up, squeezed him gently and replaced him on the floor. Pon smiled and went into his bag again and this time brought out the wad of dollars that he had shared with the small girl in Cambodia. He gave the wad to a startled Spock.
“He’d had money all this time, the tight-fisted little sod kept that quiet,” said a smiling Spock. They all smiled at Pon who bowed and walked over to the door. He turned and spoke in slow pigeon English
“Good bye my friends,” He then held up two clenched fists and extended the middle fingers on both and pointed them at Stu and Spock. He smiled and walked out of the door, leaving the four stunned by this cheeky little monk. Dao broke the silence by clipping both Stu and Spock around their ears, saying.
“Your fault, you teach monk no good.”
They all stared at their gifts. Dao knew hers was gold and couldn’t wait to show Luanne and brag about it. Moo looked at her intricately carved ruby, although unaware of its value. The lads stared at theirs, noting the skilled workmanship of the carving they both felt sad by the little monks departure, but something made them feel they would see him again.
“Oh well,” said Stu, “I will give this to my mum, tell her it’s a real ruby and worth a fortune.”
“You will as well,” said Spock, knowing his friend, and how he always told his mum small Porky pies, lies, about gifts.
Although unbeknownst to Stu, in this instance, he was correct, it was a 67-carat un-faceted, flawless ruby and it was worth a fortune.
The four looked at the wad of dollars that Spock had now laid out on the bed.
“What should we do with this?” asked Spock.
Dao counted the 100-dollar bills, there was $2600.
“I know,” said Spock, “remember that article we read in the local newspaper the ‘Pattaya today’. Stu had remembered and they mentioned the idea to the girls, who agreed and pecked the boys on the cheek.
“You are both 'jai dee,' good heart,” said Moo and Dao.
Spock and Stu were now in the good books with the girls, and all four decided to go eat breakfast and then go to ‘Pattaya Park,’ a water theme park and recreation centre. Nick then came and banged on the door. He had seen Pon leaving with some soldiers.
“What happened?” said an agitated Nick.
Stu spoke.
“The King wanted his best assassin back, as he had to go on another secret assignment.”
“Bullshit,” said Nick “Have you still got my teeth.”
“Not exactly,” said Spock, “but don’t worry, they are safe.”
The two lads laughed and the two girls looked at each other with a worried expression on their faces and quickly changed the subject. “Is Luanne awake?” asked Moo “We want to show her something.”