Excerpt from The Flame Tree by Richard Lewis, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Sporadic cheers. Imam Ali took the microphone and stuck his beaky nose to it. He spoke Arabic words of greeting, his beady eyes sweeping the crowd.

Isaac was a good Javanese-American Christian boy who believed in signs and portents upon the earth and in the heavens, and so when a flock of crows wheeled out of the clotted sky and settled in the branches of the mahogany tree nearest the stage, his blood seemed to thicken. As Imam Ali talked the robed men on the steps moved forward to unfurl banners and set up chairs that had been hidden behind the speakers, leaving only three men behind as bodyguards for a stooped, tuft-bearded, turbaned man with bristling white eyebrows and tombstone cheeks.

Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah Abubakar.

The crows cawed raucously.

"Iyallah," Ismail muttered, "it's him!"

The Tuan Guru turned his head toward the tent. Isaac backed up into the shadows, his eardrums pounding with his thudding heartbeat. The Tuan Guru's attention slowly, inexorably settled upon Isaac. Despite the stooped back, there was no sense of infirmity in that body or on that face creased with age. His severe gaze burned. Isaac quickly looked down at the ground.

When he glanced up again, the Tuan Guru was climbing the steps as spry as a goat to Imam Ali's effusive introduction. Throughout the crowd there rose Nahdlatul Umat Islam posters stapled to sticks. Other signs as well, in Indonesian and English: AMERICA THE TERRORIST. ZIONISTS ARE THE CAUSE OF ALL DISASTERS. INDONESIA: MUSLIM STATE, SHARIAH LAW.

Imam Ali continued to speak, warming up the crowd for the Tuan Guru. He orated with wild flaps of his arms and thrusts of his beaky nose. He spoke of unjust American government policies oppressing Muslims around the world, even here in Indonesia. He ratcheted up his voice and thundered, "We are a Muslim nation, yet here in Wonobo, in the heart of Muslim Java, there is an American Christian hospital run by American Christians trying to convert Javanese Muslims!"

Some people in the crowd shouted their angry agreement at this. Isaac's skin prickled. The Tuan Guru, seated upon a plush velvet armchair, once again swung his gaze to Isaac. Isaac wanted out, he wanted to become invisible, he wanted Scotty to beam him up. This is not good. I should not have come here. The Tuan Guru's thin lips moved -- he was saying something to Isaac -- a threat, a curse. Isaac's soul shriveled. The aide next to the Tuan Guru leaned toward the old man, listening to what he was saying, and then stood and whispered in Imam Ali's ear.

Isaac was so light-headed with fright that his thoughts came from another dimension. Oh, boy, here it comes. Imam Ali is going to haul me up there, bring out a sword, and if I don't say the confession of faith and convert to Islam on the spot, he's going to whack my head off.

But instead, Imam Ali broke off what he was saying and scowled down at his feet. He took a breath and changed the subject, moving to a denunciation of the Indonesian authorities for timidity and cowardice and corruption. Now the shouts of angry agreement rose from thousands of throats, solidifying into a roar.

Policemen in riot gear, reinforced by Red Beret special commando soldiers, raided the stage and shut down the speaker system. A detail of Red Berets respectfully escorted a calm Tuan Guru and the other men off the stage and back to the Grand Mosque, an orderly retreat in a general scene that grew increasingly chaotic. The angry crowd surged toward the stage. The cops shot rubber bullets at the front ranks, dropping four young men who writhed in agony on the ground. The crowd fell back. Other Red Beret troops fired their automatic rifles into the air. Tear-gas smoke exploded on the east side of the square, drifting downwind. People screamed and fled. Police whistles shrilled, sirens blared, cop cars squealed to a swinging stop, closing off all the roads. On the plaza's western flank a volley of rocks hurtled toward the policemen on stage.

Copyright © 2004 by Richard Lewis