The Left Hand of God Page #6

If you come back and serve me

loyally for three years.

Those are a good terms, Jimmy.

There'll be no more bargaining.

All or nothing, Yang.

Bring out your dice.

Pao Ching, the dice!

Now let me be clear, Jimmy.

I leave you and these miserable

people in their stinking villages

and your den of superstition

if I lose.

If I win, you come with me

and no further escaping

and no treachery for five years.

Three years.

Five years, Jimmy.

This is no longer a sure thing.

All right.

Agreed, five years.

You can't win a dice

in those clothes, Jimmy.

Never mind the clothes, just roll.

Three sixes.

Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Four threes. You lose.

You shouldn't have

involved the Trinity.

There's another mission.

The Protestant.

It's smaller than this so you'll only have

to bid three years of your life against it.

Or does your God

only have one house?

There's a text in the book you

don't believe in, Yang. It says,

"They parted my garment amongst them

and upon my vesture, they cast lots."

I know two soldiers shooting dice

in Jerusalem. You see, I read too.

Pair of threes.

Roll.

Twos. You lose.

Come back with me,

I'll double year salary.

You have to shoot me sometime.

I like being boss too.

I stopped the caravan in the hills,

there were two priests from Sinkiang,

you'll be unmasked,

you'll be disgraced.

Don't you worry about it, Yang.

They're here in answer

to a letter I wrote.

Well, I wouldn't have

enjoyed shooting you anyway.

I suppose I'll have to act

benevolent, create a legend.

I've been touched by the Holy Spirit and

I've decided to spare these villagers.

You'll become the most

celebrated priest in China.

They'll light bonfires of

thanksgiving. It'll be a miracle.

I myself will proclaim it.

You gave up a good woman

in Mary Yin, Jimmy.

Then Yang feel touch again.

"Who touch me?"

He said to Father O'Shea.

And Father O'Shea say,

"Holy Ghost touch you, Mieh Yang."

Mieh Yang look around and he say,

"I don't see Holy Ghost!"

And Father O'Shea say,

"Holy Ghost everywhere."

And Mieh Yang is afraid

Holy Ghost will touch him again

and he kneeled down and

he say to Father O'Shea,

"I will not have burn

number one village, Shen Fu."

Dr Sigmund and Beryl were looking

for you, but you left so suddenly

I didn't have a chance to

thank you for what you did.

Oh, nothing to thank me for.

My luck ran good, that's all.

Luck?

- Call it that.

It's more than that.

Even Dr Sigmund thinks so.

You finally overawed him. He's

willing to admit now you were right.

Anne, I'm leaving the mission

tomorrow with the caravan.

You? But that's impossible,

how can you after today?

My work is finished.

I'm not a priest, Anne.

I never was.

What?

What do you mean, Father?

I don't understand.

There are two priests arriving here tomorrow

by caravan, sent by the Bishop from Sinkiang.

They know who I am.

I wanted you to know

now before they came.

I won't believe it. You couldn't

have done what you did today

and not have been Father O'Shea.

Why, the people kiss the hem

of your cassock,

they followed you like a saint.

Saint?

You know how I got rid of Yang?

I shot dice with him.

Dice?

- Crap game. There wasn't any question of faith,

there weren't any miracles.

I just got lucky with the dice cup.

But if you're not a priest,

Father, who are you?

A liar, like your husband.

I crashed up there only I survived.

And I made one big mistake.

I tried to get out of Yang's trap

and I walked into a bigger one,

this one, this mission, God's.

And I found that His trap was

tougher to get out of than Yang's.

Well, now it's over.

Tomorrow everybody will know, Dr

Sigmund, the villagers, that I was a fake.

That nothing I did had

any authority.

Whatever the Church decides,

I'll do.

You're not the only one who

has something to atone for.

I have too.

You?

I fell in love with a priest.

Well, a man who wasn't a priest

was falling in love with you.

I'm afraid, Joseph, I'm a little

too old for transportation like this.

I'm not happy myself, Cornelius.

Good afternoon.

- Good afternoon.

I'm Father Cornelius.

This is Father Keller.

You want to wash up?

I've had the room made ready.

Thank you.

Shen Fu, the child is very sick.

Shen Fu.

Now go to the hospital,

Miss Scott will take care of you.

She'll know what to do.

It's nice to know that you still use

the hospital now and then

and limit your number of miracles.

I read your extraordinary letter.

You express yourself well.

I was inclined to

accept your sincerity.

I assume you understand how the

Church regards sacrilege such as yours.

Yes I do, Father.

Good evening, Doctor.

- Yep.

If you need me,

I'll be over at the clinic.

I'd like to ask about Mieh Yang.

I heard in the villages as we came

here several versions of what happened.

The very fact that you permitted

these people to think of it

as a miracle makes me doubt the

sincerity with which I credited you.

Precisely what were the terms

of your bargaining with Mieh Yang?

What was the price of that alleged

miracle? That so-called answer to prayer?

Well, I shot dice with Yang.

The stakes were five years of

my life against this parish.

Five years of your life?

And if you lost...

It may not have been justified, Father, but

I had an odd feeling I wasn't going to lose.

Sit down, Carmody.

- Thank you.

Are you asking me to condone

a sin because a good came of it?

I'm not asking for anything.

I know I wasn't

meant to be a priest,

it takes a different kind of a man.

But maybe, there's a bit of what it

takes to make a priest in every man.

Not much, but a little.

That's an interesting theory.

In your letter, you said

you're willing to accept

the discipline of the Church.

This is the bishop's decision,

continue to wear the cassock and

maintain the outward appearance

and dignity of a priest until you

see the bishop himself in Sinkiang.

He will talk to you then and he

will have my report to guide him.

You mean no-one is to know

I'm not a priest?

Would it be good for them to know?

- No.

Since no spiritual harm

has come to the parish,

it's better to preserve the faith

of the people than to expose you.

You'll leave with

the caravan tomorrow.

The parish will continue to think

you're what you pretended to be.

I'll remain here with Father Keller.

There's another matter, Father.

You mean Miss Scott?

- Yes.

Does she know that

you're not a priest?

Yes, since last night.

There was nothing between you before that?

- Nothing.

I think it's best for you not to discuss

the matter any more with Miss Scott.

Thank you, good night.

Good night.

Good night.

Shen Fu, you will go away?

Yes, John, tomorrow.

Tomorrow?

Church know best.

I shall miss you very much, John.

You shouldn't let them do this to

you, you're giving in too easy.

Don't, Dave. You're only

making it more difficult.

We've become very fond of you.

Oh, don't be sentimental,

O'Shea knows we're fond of him.

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