The breaking of dawn found him watching mounted riders herding the horses into a circle where they would be loaded onto transport trucks once they had completely calmed down. Back at the wreck, they were field dressing the dead carcasses. The air reeked of bowels and blood.
"Nice work," the cop told him. "Don't know how you done it, but it was a right nice job of running horses."
"Thanks."
"Man who owns that herd's gonna want to reward you, I'd wager."
"Tell him it's on the house."
"That's your right, I reckon. Anyway, you done us a good turn."
"How's that?" Remo asked.
The cop grinned. "Why, we'd have plumb exhausted our bullet budget for the month if it weren't for you." Remo laughed. It stopped suddenly when he saw the Master of Sinanju standing off where the trees were thickest. "Excuse me," said Remo, starting off.
The visage of the Master of Sinanju was stern as Remo approached, thinking he might as well get this over with.
But when he stepped into the trees, Chiun's wrinkled face broke out into a beaming grin. "Very good, Remo. I am pleased to see you take the initiative."
"What are you talking about? And how the hell did you find me?"
"I found you here the same way you found yourself here. Emperor Smith."
"Oh."
"Did you find what you sought?"
"Sister Mary Margaret died last night, Little Father. I was there."
Chiun nodded gravely. "It was good that she did not die alone and forgotten but with one who truly cared for her."
Remo said nothing.
"Did she reveal to you any of the truths you sought?"
"No. But she did say she saw the guy who left me on the orphanage doorstep, but she didn't know him."
"Then you have not discovered your roots?"
"No. Sister Mary did tell me something strange, though."
Chiun cocked his head to one side curiously. "And what is that, Remo?"
"She saw him again. In a movie theatre."
"The strange thing is that it was here in Oklahoma City."
"That is strange?"
"Why would the guy who left me at a Newark orphanage where Sister Mary worked show up years later here, where she'd come to live?"
"I do not know."
Remo looked around. "I think I'll stick around here for a while."
"And if you do not know who this man is or what face he wears, how do you expect to recognize him, my son?"
"I don't know. But I will."
"I do not think so."
"How would you know?"
Chiun shrugged carelessly. "You would be surprised at the things I know and do not know."
"Right. Well, you can forget about the Rite of Attainment and going to Hesperia. Because I'm staying here till I figure this out."
"But you have already gone to Hesperia."
"What do you mean by that?" Remo asked suspiciously.
"To the Greeks, Hesperia was the western lands." Chiun lifted his arms to encompass his surroundings. "This is as far west as one can go from Greece and not go east. Thus, you have come on your own to Hesperia."
"Yeah, well, I'm doing no more labors."
"Labors?"
"Don't play coy with me. Smith told me what athloi means. The jig's up."
"But you have already accomplished your next labor."
Chiun gestured toward the derailed train and to the horses beyond. "You have succored the steeds of Diomedes successfully."
Remo planted his hands on his hips angrily. "You can't tell me you were going to drag me to Oklahoma City to round up horses?"
"Not here. I was considering Argentina. But this will do. Congratulations, Remo. You are the first Master of Sinanju to perform a labor without his Master's guidance."
"So?"
Chiun frowned. "So it is a good omen."
"Yeah, well, it's also the end of the Rite of Attainment. I want to sniff around here for a while."
"If that is your wish, I will not stop you."
"Seems I've heard that before."
"But if you would know a hidden thing, I would advise you to consult the Oracle of Delphi."
"Delphi? That's back in Greece."
"All Masters consult the oracle in the course of the Rite of Attainment."
"Not me. I've seen enough of Greece. I'm staying here."
Chiun bowed formally and, to Remo's surprise, said, "I will not stop you."
"I don't trust you when you're so agreeable."
"Would you rather I be disagreeable?"
"I dunno. By the way, I met Nuihc in the Void."
Chiun asked suddenly, "And defeated him?"
"Yeah."
"Very good."
"By the way, I figured out the riddle of the Sphinx. It was the Great Wang."
The Master of Sinanju eyes his pupil doubtfully. "Did you meet Wang, as well?" he asked thinly.
"What does that matter?" Remo said evasively.
"That tattletale! What else did he tell you?"
"He said these dreams are part of the rite. And that Nonja had information about my father. But when I met him, he told me to ask Kojing. Haven't met him yet."
"I see. . . ."
And from one voluminous sleeve, Chiun extracted an object of wood and steely metal.
"What's that?" Remo asked. "It is a gong."
"Doesn't look like a gong. Gongs are round."
"It is very special gong."
Remo looked closely. The object was a length of varnished teak about as long a human hand. Suspended over it by stiff wire loops was a round bar of steel. From one end of the teak base, Chiun drew a wooden mallet whose handle fit into a long groove under the floating bar.
As Remo watched, Chiun tapped the bar of steel sharply. It rang. Perfect C. The vibration made Remo's sensitive ears ache. The note hung in the air for a full minute. Just as it was about to die, Chiun struck the bar again. The perfect C filled the air.
"What the heck are you doing?" Remo demanded.
"Calling for your long-lost father."
"With a gong?"
"This esteemed gong has been in my family since the days of Master Kojing. Have I ever told you of Kojing, Remo?"
"The name rings a bell. But they all do. Every third Master might have been named after a gong. If it wasn't Wang, it was Ung or Hung or Ting and Tang or Kang. No wonder I can't ever keep them straight."
Chiun started off. He struck the gong again. Its extended shimmering note filled the air.
"Where are you going?" asked Remo.
"I told you. I am in search of your father."
"What makes you think he's going to respond to that thing?"
Chiun struck the gong again. "Who can fail to hear it?"
They walked the early-morning streets, Chiun leading, striking the gong whenever the shimmering note was about to die out. And Remo following, wearing a puzzled expression.
Everywhere they went, faces came to windows and doors opened.
They were stared at, honked at and questioned by the police several times, but nothing more interesting befell them.
By noon the Master of Sinanju returned the wood mallet to its groove and, with a firm thumb, silenced the gong-which by now had begun to drive Remo crazy.
"Your father does not answer. Therefore, he does not dwell here," he announced loftily.
"Says you."
"You have the word of the Reigning Master of Sinanju that he does not."
"And how would you know?"
"You must consult the Oracle of Delphi."
"Not a chance. I'm staying."
"You may call Smith if you prefer."
"Why would I do that?"
"Very well. Be stubborn."
Remo folded his arms. "From now on, 'stubborn' is my middle name."
"You look tired, my son."
"Thanks to you."
"Perhaps you would like to nap."
"Not till I've turned this town upside down."
"If this is your wish," said Chiun. "But I am tired. I may nap."
And the Master of Sinanju yawned sleepily.
Remo regarded him dubiously. In twenty years he had never known the Master of Sinanju to need a nap. Chiun yawned again.