Swordsman Behind the Scenes

CHAPTER VIII - FIRST MEETING PEERS

While peeling the second yam that he finished burning in a small pile of still burning wood with the remaining one last yam he dug from the back of an empty house where he currently uses for the night, he said, Waseso muttered softly;

"more than sleeping on an empty stomach"

When the fifth chew, he felt missed the atmosphere of eating together with his late parents. For him to eat together is a happy moment of his heart, because on that occasion he can hear directly both his father and mother telling stories, chattering any thing even slip a lot of advice that he can get. Therefore, he also greatly enjoyed the togetherness with the Temoto family, especially at dinner together, because at that time all daily activities have been completed, so that everyone is in a calm mood like not to be chased by time. He really enjoyed himself as an observer and listener. He liked it when Pakde Temoto chattered about one of the fussy customers. He really likes to see the way bude (because this moment reminds of his good memories of his mother) nagging kang Wiguno if found asleep in the front seat when his job is to welcome guests. He always smiled little seeing that Wiguno kang always nodded his head as if he would obey when tomorrow it happened and happened again. All the things he saw and experienced always made his heart feel peaceful and serene.

Slowly he rubbed each drop of water in his two eyes with the back of his hand and immediately broke down. Although she had separated from Temoto's family only four months ago, she felt like she had been for decades. He vividly remembered how bude Temoto was shedding his tears while tightly hugging himself. Bude was also the most opposed to his request to continue the odyssey, although on the grounds that he had stayed long enough with them that was ten months and therefore he did not want to burden them any longer. But the most powerful reason he conveyed and managed to melt the heart of the bude is when he said that now he has known the goal he really wanted is to be able to see Kotaraja (in their first meeting, Waseso could not answer Temoto's bude question; the place he wanted to go) finally the bude allowed him and gave him provisions for the trip.

The sunlight shone very brightly on the wide and dusty road. With slow set steps, while stopping occasionally to improve the position of the bundle of cloth he sled on his shoulder and at the same time replace the hand that feels sore because it holds a handle of banana leaf midribs that he uses to cover his head and body from the sunburn. From the front he saw four horsemen. As usual, he ignored her and did not intend to hide himself. While staying felt several spears passing by, from the uniform and the handle of the sword that poked from their backs, Waseso concluded that the four people must be a small group of soldiers who were on patrol. And according to his experience so far, it indicates that he has started to get close to the city. Finally near to cross paths, they slowed down their horses while watching the boy who continued to walk slowly with his head down. When they could clearly see that it was just a disabled refugee child and not to be suspected, they passed on their way. But not so far away, Waseso heard clearly the screams of one of them forcing his horse to stop and of course the three friends also stopped. Waseso reflexively stopped his steps and turned around to see what was happening. Now one of them, drove his horse towards Waseso and shouted;

"hey boy, stay put"

What a very strange command, he clearly saw that the boy was standing motionless as he looked at him still told to stay still on the spot.

"woii, please don't waste time"

thus the cry of one of the three soldiers who also stopped and was astonished by the behavior of his friend. But the three wanted to know what their comrades were going to do.

"quick put your bundle down, I'll check"

This was the first sentence the soldier said after getting off his horse. For the sake of looking at the soldier who still looks young but looks on very wide in such a way, while pointing at the bundle of cloth behind his back, of course makes the boy afraid. Without being commanded twice he threw down his bundle and threw it on the ground. Without wasting any time, the soldier squatted down and opened and actually did a search. For the sake of finding a small cloth tie like a headband as big as a fist holding his hand, he immediately broke the knot and laughed out loud for the sake of seeing a number of eight repes and six pieces of peces in it. Still he laughed, while the boy broke out in cold sweat to realize what would happen to the remaining supplies of money given bude.

"you little ones have dared to steal,.ayo go there,"

Later on;

"eih boy,.nih to you. Remember, I'm still kind to you"

He threw six pieces of peces in front of the boy's feet.

(100,000 pieces peces \= 1 coin repes and 1 piece peces \= worth 1 bh crackers).

While picking up the six pieces of peces scattered on the ground, the boy looked at the soldier who had climbed his horse and approached his friends, continuing his cheerful laughter as if boasting his ingenuity. The three friends took turns to accept the division given by the friend while the front one had now started to sigh his horse while saying;

"must admit, you're really observant,...."

The comment was immediately answered by the three with a loud laughing voice and moved to continue their journey, leaving the boy who was also walking slowly, too, but by issuing a curse against himself and even like not blaming the soldier who was fretting earlier;

"foolish,..dungu, why am I so stupid,..."

Suddenly the boy stopped, then took off all his clothes and pants that did look very clear was still the first time he wore.

Now naked in the middle of the road, the boy seemed to slam a pair of clothes that he had just released even now in the stamp-tock of the shirt and the last time he picked up all then before dumped away he cursed;

"because you're fucking new clothes, I'm lucky"

True, the pair of clothes is a new clothes that he bought when he arrived in one of the small towns that passed by about a month ago using the money provided by the bude. Even though he has really been effective in the use of money supplies. The reason he bought the shirt was as a backup of his two old clothes, although the main interest underlying why he bought a new pair of nice and expensive clothes was actually he wanted to feel the sensation of dressing like a city child. And this morning he was no longer able to hold his heart so that for the first time since it was purchased, he finally put on the occupant remains the bundle of cloth. But it turns out that fate says otherwise, where the observant soldier has uncovered this oddity: a handicapped wandering boy walking alone, face and hair cut, without a marker bracelet, and a, the bundle of cloth is also dirty and dirty but wearing expensive clothes and looks new ?!!

A few days later.

With a slight roughness, Waseso who stood on the edge threw a mesh that despite its former and bulk, was still very strong and nothing was torn, towards the middle of the river where the depth was only chest-high. He did not care about his pants bottom which although it had been rolled up to above his knees had begun to swallow.

After the mesh is pulled but no fish is seen caught in it, he also gives up and then pulls, rolls and brings the mesh to the river.

"i haven't had any luck this afternoon"

Finished muttering he put the mesh he had found in the garbage dump pile of the city and he brought it as a weapon to find fish in the river which he also met yesterday afternoon. Then he walked towards the shade under a wild flamboyant tree. While heading to the place in question he turned his head to the left to see the possibility of finding yam and cassava plants that suddenly appeared overnight, because actually yesterday afternoon he had circled around the place to find out the same possibility and not found any of the plants in question that are worth digging (signaling a large tree trunk + quite high, quite high, the leaves are dark green).

There was indeed a small collection of cassava plants near the riverbank, but he knew that they were still too young and not yet contained.

"had my money taken, the remaining six peces aja immediately ludes to bribe the city gatekeeper, still no longer nyari fish can,..haduhhhh some days why I feel unlucky only"

So he grumbled and sat under a tree. His intention to lay down his body was aborted once he heard such a loud sound of the friction of the weeds plant as well as the grunts of horses. His body immediately woke up and looked to the right. Sure enough to see six spears there was a horse moving slowly towards him while occasionally his head lowered as if looking for fresh grass to chew. His instinct as a boy for the sake of seeing animals of course immediately appeared and defeated the hunger he felt earlier. With a big smile, he walked up to the horse and strangely the horse also looked docile and not at all surprised by his presence. Waseso soon realized there must be a horse owner, because in addition to the bridle, the back is also saddled.

"come here horse master, lest I have what you like,..."

He said to the interlocutor, holding the bridle in his head and leading the horse to the riverbank. Arriving there he immediately plucked all the cassava leaves that grew on his trunk and shoved it into the horse's mouth which of course immediately devoured it.

"wahhh, it's not enough, horse master, relax, I'll get you some fat grass"

While saying he also crouched down and pulled the fresh and fat looking grass around the place.

After a while, Waseso realized that he was not alone. Seen there was a boy who seemed to be the same age as him, sitting relaxed under a grove of trees near them (waseso & horse).

Waseso immediately walked closer to the newcomer and he guessed that of course the child was the owner of the horse seen from the type of clothes he wore, of course, expensive, marker bracelets, and he guessed, as well as a cloth bag that coiled around his shoulder .

When he was near, putting his butt near the immigrant, but not looking at the newcomer's face, he said;

"sorry I just meant to feed him"

"i know" replied the horse owner.

Upon hearing the answer, Waseso was shocked. He immediately looked into the face of his interlocutor;

"sorry, I thought you were a boy"

For the sake of him not hearing the decency, Waseso continued;

"it looks like the horse master is starving"

Not the answer that was the reply Waseso said just now, but instead the giggling laughter of a daughter;

"hihihihi..kikikk, i...ahahaha"

From giggling to now turning to laughter like teasing laughter, Waseso was of course confused. But strangely he did not feel offended or angry at all. Even for him the laughter that seemed to be aimed at him sounded so melodious that he just kept quiet. Finally the child's laughter subsided and he said;

"that means you've made two mistakes at once. You thought I was a boy, and then you just called the horse master, and he was a mare"

The reaction Waseso showed was to become stiff and mute instantly, but for the sake of the girl beside him this still left a snickering sound, he said, spontaneously Waseso immediately laughed out loud realizing his insolence that did not see the lower abdomen of the horse.

"of course I'm expecting you as a boy especially with your fair hair and the clothes you wear,....."

He stopped as if hesitating to continue.

"even what?..ayo go on,..."

The interlocutor's orders.

He finally continued;

"smell you like a horse"

The intended instead of angry or offended but for a moment he was like sniffing his body, but not continued further.

"biarin, rather than you sedeng, kayak mediate rice fields......"

He continued by rising from the ground and mimicking Waseso's way of standing namely; his shoulders slanted to the left but his head straight forward coupled with funny movements made up as he said earlier.

Seeing the style that was practiced just now, plus the two wrong prejudices he made, made Waseso laugh out loud, even rolling on the ground.

"dry base"

"it stinks of horses"

Thus unpretentious they mock each other while ngakak together.

If there were people on the hectare at that time would have thought that there were two crazy children. How not, in the middle of the hot afternoon, two small children were laughing out loud, even one of the louder sounds of laughter was still coupled with his body to roll on the ground. Only the horse looked the saneest, he was still busy sniffing the grass and eating the plants that fit his taste.

After feeling a slight pain in each other's abdomen, the two of them simply lay still on the ground.

"i am the most miserable child in the world, will you be my friend?"

The little girl started talking while rubbing her eyes dried up the remaining tears that came out while laughing earlier while getting up to sit down.

Waseso also sat down and extended his hand;

"i waseso"

"i'm kinda"

Thus they shook hands, and waseso continued to ask;

"what do you mean suffer the most?"

"because a month ago I was just at my father's funeral, he caught up with my mother who was also gone when I was six"

"ceremony? is your father a soldier?"

"yes on the top of the soldier, periwa,.previra,. officer or what,.owhya, why sich your shoulder is strange"

Got the question and at first glance he felt a trembling voice as Kinda explained the loss of her parents, Waseso recounted his history for the purpose of comforting him and for Kinda to no longer feel as the child who suffered the most. Told of his childhood, his departure from the village, to how he obtained his disability. But when he saw the change in the face of Kinda who seemed to show mercy to him until he saw also the eyes of his new friend began to glaze over, waseso cleverly told the benefits of the flaw, including directly demonstrating two roles at once, that is as himself when standing tilted quietly in fear and playing the figure of a bad person who stands checking or appraising himself, of course with a made-up hilarious expression. Kontan alone, the little drama he made that made Kinda laugh. Then he also recounted his meeting with bude who died bitten by a snake, with Temoto's bude and his family even his refusal to get treatment from a healer who would be brought by Temoto's pakde, for him this defect is his helper. While always paying attention to every look on Kinda's face, she continued to chatter. Back if it looks like the story is sad because it holds hunger on the way to how fateful he was when robbed by soldiers, immediately he turned the storyline in such a way as to be a laughing stock. Until finally he arrived at this place and saw his horse he described as a cover.

Sensing that Waseso had finished the story, Kinda immediately opened the sling bag she was carrying. He took out a piece of sandwich, large and two red apples. It appeared that he was cutting the bread haphazardly and the largest piece was immediately handed over to Waseso. For the sake of being seduced did not react, Kinda cleverly said;

"this is in return for your good deeds that have fed the lady of the horse"

Hearing Kinda's words, Waseso received a piece of the cake including a red apple. Whether he was too hungry or indeed the bread was special, but Waseso did not care that he was the quickest winner eating the bread, even the rest of the bread in Kinda's hand that she had indeed thrust into Waseso because of how greedy she was to eat, was also spent in an instant. Likewise the half-piece of Kinda's red apple that was also passed on to her, she chewed it out as a closing bonus.

"ewh sedeng....How old are you? if I were seven years old"

"i'm ten years old"

"where do you live?"

"let's go to my place,..."

Finished saying so, Waseso rose to his feet.

Kinda immediately picked up her bag, picked up her drinking bag and downed it a little and then extended it to Waseso who received and drank it while walking the lead to the location where she lived.

"this is where I live,..."

Thus the proud tone of Waseso when it reaches the place in question, while opening the curtain of nature in the form of vines on the wall of the buffer embankment just below the bridge aka under the bridge. The basic spirit of children who have an adventure instinct, the Kinda also does not feel uncomfortable or disgusted over the condition, he added;

"tomorrow I'll bring my mat to replace that ugly cloth mat"

While pointing towards some banner flags that have been seen to fade and runny.

"maybe, even if you have a pinch of foam powder, I'd be happy to receive it"

So Waseso answered while acting like a traveling leader.

"is there a bathroom?"

"owh certainly exists,.here, here,..."

While saying, without further ado, Waseso immediately pulled down his pants and took off his shirt and immediately turned around and;

"byuuurrrr"

Strangely for the sake of seeing Waseso down there standing in the middle of a clear river as deep as his chest, Kinda also shamelessly followed what Waseso did while proving that she was a true daughter, and;

"byuuurrrr, um,....."

They both bathed in the river like boys.

SERIATE.