I
t was coming to the end of term in late March. Michael, Simone and I went up to Simone’s classroom together, Simone prattling about her schoolwork and Michael silent. I dropped Simone at her classroom and gave her a hug and a kiss. She waved cheerfully to us as we left.
Michael and I threaded our way through the parents and children on the first floor to get to the uniform shop. I was rostered to help out that day, and he needed some new trousers. I kept threatening that if he didn’t stop growing I’d chop his legs off. He didn’t think it was funny at all.
Michael would be as tall as his father when he was fully grown. He already towered over me. The Tiger was delighted.
Despite the fact that he looked ridiculous in his too-small uniform, Michael still didn’t want to go into the shop and buy new pants. He had given me an extremely hard time about me doing it myself, but I wanted to be sure that the pants would fit.
We entered the uniform shop together and he immediately slouched into Sullen Teenager mode. I glared at him. He glared back.
I greeted the two women behind the counter, and they both smiled and waved back. Jessie was a tall, slim Chinese lady who’d been born and raised in the UK, then married an Australian engineer and moved around the world with him, latest stop Hong Kong. Short, blonde Bridget was the wife of an Australian airline pilot and had been in the Territory for many years.
‘Michael’s getting some new trousers,’ I said.
‘Sure, Emma,’ Bridget said. ‘Looks like he needs them. Need to put a brick on his head.’
Michael scowled but didn’t say anything.
‘Turn around,’ I said, and he obliged. ‘What size are these ones?’
I lifted his shirt to check the size and laughed. Like most of the boys in his year, he had the trousers pulled down over his hips with a pair of silk boxers from Temple Street showing above them.
‘You look ridiculous like that,’ I said, and pulled at the waistband of the trousers to check the size.
‘Cut it out, Emma!’ Michael dragged my hand off and jumped away. ‘Let me check the size myself!’ He dropped his voice. ‘You’re as embarrassing as my
mother
sometimes.’
‘That’s a compliment, Emma,’ Bridget called from the other side of the shop, where she was watching us with amusement.
‘Go and check the size then,’ I said, gesturing towards the changing booths. ‘I’ll find you some to try that are two or three sizes bigger.’
Michael slunk into the changing room.
Bridget and I shared a smile. Jessie looked confused; she didn’t know about the Chen family.
There were some rustles and grunts in the changing room, then Michael called, ‘Twenty-nine.’
‘Way too small,’ Bridget said. ‘Thirty-three or thirty-five at least.’
I pulled some larger sizes off the sample rack and handed them through the curtain to him. He grabbed the curtain and wrenched it closed.
‘How about his PE uniform?’ Bridget said. ‘Are his shorts too small too?’
‘No!’ Michael said.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘But if we get uniform pants that fit, the PE shorts just need to be the same size.’
‘Thirty-three is okay,’ Michael said. ‘Can I go now?’
‘Come out and let me see,’ I said.
Michael sidled out of the changing room scowling. The pants did appear to be long enough, but I wanted to check.
‘Lift the shirt, let me see,’ I said patiently.
He almost didn’t do it, then caved in and raised his shirt. These pants were also pulled way down over his hips, and obviously too small around the middle.
‘Go and try on the next size up,’ I said.
He scowled, turned and went back into the changing room, jamming the curtain closed.
‘What size jeans does he wear?’ Bridget said.
‘Forty-four,’ I said, and she snorted with laughter.
I had no problem with Michael wearing jeans that were ten sizes too big for him. It meant he could carry a small weapon and it was unnoticeable. That was where the fashion for pants that were much too large had originated, and it suited us just fine. He couldn’t carry his white katana, that was too big. But he could slip the matching
wakizashi
, a long dagger, easily into one pocket and it was entirely invisible. He’d never been caught with it in a shopping mall or on the street, and he’d already had to use it three or four times, but not on humans. Guys still came after him, but he was a match for any human bare-handed. The weapon was for demons.
John had suggested that Michael be armed at school and we’d had a huge argument about it, me and
Michael both firmly against it. If he was caught with it in the changing room or at the lockers he’d be in serious trouble.
The bell on the shop door rang and Kitty Kwok wandered in, as casual as anything, and strolled up to the counter.
‘Michael, have a careful look around right now,’ I said loudly.
There was silence from the changing room. Then: ‘Nothing,’ Michael said. ‘Any problem, Emma?’
I went to the curtain and spoke quietly. ‘Mrs Simon Wong just walked in.’
‘Holy shit,’ he whispered over the frantic sounds of him dressing. ‘You want me to call someone?’
‘Check Simone,’ I said softly as he threw the curtain back and peered around.
His eyes unfocused, then snapped back. ‘She says she’s okay.’
‘Are you absolutely sure there are no demons anywhere near here?’ I said.
His eyes unfocused again. ‘None. Simone says no as well.’
Kitty chatted with Bridget.
‘She may have brought humans, Emma,’ Michael said. ‘Neither of us can sense them.’
‘Let’s go up to Simone’s classroom,’ I said. ‘Leave the pants. Let’s go.’
Kitty ignored us completely as we went out.
‘What the hell is going on?’ I said as we headed to the stairs.
She’s following us
, he said silently.
‘Can we take her? The two of us?’ I whispered as we went up to the second floor where Simone’s class was. Kitty wandered casually behind us.
‘Easily,’ Michael said. ‘She’s a perfectly normal human being with no training whatsoever.’
‘What the hell is she doing then?’ I hissed. ‘She’s on the run from the police right now!’
‘You want me to call for help?’ Michael said.
At the top of the stairs I hesitated. ‘Let’s check Simone first.’
Michael nodded and we both went to Simone’s classroom. I didn’t open the door; I used my Inner Eye to check inside. No demons. Michael’s eyes snapped back to focus on me; he had been doing the same thing.
Everything’s fine, Emma,
Simone said silently.
Kitty came up the stairs behind us. Michael and I readied ourselves.
Kitty walked right past us and tapped on the classroom door, then opened it. She ignored us completely. Michael and I shared a look. When she went in, we followed her.
Kitty went up to the teacher and smiled. ‘I’m here to take Helen to the dentist.’
Michael and I posted ourselves either side of the door and waited.
‘Sure, Mrs Ho,’ the teacher said.
One of the little girls rose from her desk and went straight to Kitty and took her hand. Kitty turned and walked right past us out the door, the little girl holding her hand and smiling.
Michael and I spun and followed her. Both of us ignored the look the teacher gave us.
This is extremely weird
, Michael said.
Kitty stopped and waited for us outside the classroom. ‘This is my niece, Helen. Say hello to Miss Donahoe, Helen.’
‘Hello,’ the little girl said, obviously shy.
‘What are you going to do to her?’ I said.
‘I’m taking her to the dentist,’ Kitty said.
‘You’re not taking her anywhere.’
‘Go in and ask the teacher. I’ll wait for you,’ Kitty
said. ‘She’s my niece. I collect her from school all the time.’
‘What are you up to?’
‘You have a problem with me taking her?’ Kitty said.
I suddenly understood. I went to the little girl. ‘Can you give me your hand, please, sweetheart?’ I said. ‘Double-check for me, Michael.’
Michael came up behind me as I took the little girl’s hand. As far as I could see, she was a perfectly ordinary human.
The little girl stiffened and squeaked, her eyes wide. Then she relaxed. Michael had turned his Inner Eye on her.
Perfectly ordinary human
, Michael said.
‘Is this your aunty, Helen?’ I said.
The little girl nodded without saying anything.
‘Oh, I’m sick of this. I’ll take her to the dentist another day,’ Kitty said. ‘Come on, sweetheart, I’ll take you back to class.’ She spun on her heel and went back to the classroom, holding the little girl’s hand. The girl glanced back at me, eyes wide, as Kitty pulled her through the door.
We followed them. Kitty came out of the classroom and walked briskly away, passing us as if we weren’t there.
What the hell is she up to
? Michael said.
I peeked through the classroom door. The little girl had returned to her desk as if nothing was amiss.
I hesitated. Then I went in. ‘Can I talk to you privately for a moment?’ I said quietly to the teacher, a sweet blonde Australian woman by the name of Jo.
Jo glanced at the class, then shrugged. I led her out of the classroom, where Michael was waiting.
‘Is there a problem, Emma?’ Jo said.
‘That woman’s on the run from the police,’ I said. ‘Underworld connections.’
Jo inhaled sharply. ‘I didn’t know. You sure?’
‘Damn right I am. I know her well. Her boyfriend keeps trying to kidnap Simone.’
‘Is that why you’re here?’ she said, eyes wide. ‘You thought she was about to try something?’
‘Why’d she take Helen?’ I said.
Jo paused, her eyes still wide. ‘That’s strange. She’s in and out all the time. She’s always taking Helen for doctor’s appointments, bringing her back, all the time. Sometimes she collects her from school. Never had a problem with her. She always treats Helen really well.’
‘This is extremely weird,’ Michael said behind me.
Jo glanced up at Michael. He was slightly taller than her as well. ‘Why aren’t you in class?’
Both of us shrugged the question off. ‘Do you have the number for Helen’s parents? Or her home address? I want to check this out.’
Jo hesitated. She was obviously reluctant about giving out this sort of information.
Michael went rigid behind me. I felt what he did, even though I didn’t know what it was.
Jo’s face went slack. Her eyes unfocused. ‘I’ll get it for you,’ she said absently. She turned and went back into the classroom, her eyes unseeing.
‘That’s a neat trick,’ I said. ‘When did you learn that?’
‘Na Zha taught me,’ Michael said. ‘Please don’t tell my dad or Lord Xuan, Emma. I don’t think they wanted me to learn how to do it.’
‘Why not?’
Michael laughed softly. ‘Think about it.’
I understood. ‘I don’t think you would use it irresponsibly. I think we can trust you. You’re a very honourable young man. I know I trust you.’
‘Thanks, Emma.’
The teacher came out and handed me a piece of paper.
‘Thanks, Jo,’ I said.
Jo immediately snapped out of it.
Michael spoke before she could say anything.
‘We’d better go and finish in the uniform shop, Emma. My teacher’ll be waiting.’
‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘And I’m supposed to be working there. Thanks a lot, Jo. I’ll leave you to it.’
Jo smiled, turned, and went back into the classroom.
‘Have you done anything with metal?’ I said. ‘That would be very useful.’
‘Nothing,’ Michael said.
‘I’ll call Helen’s mother,’ I said. ‘You’d better head back to class. I’ll pick up the uniform for you at the same time.’
‘Very good, my Lady,’ Michael said with a smile.
‘You are very cheeky,’ I said as we went our opposite ways.
I felt bad about making the call, but it was the only way I could be sure.
‘
Wei?
’
‘Is Mrs Leung there, please?’
‘
Wei?
’
‘Can I speak to Mrs Leung, please?’
‘Who asking?’
‘I’m calling from the Australian School. I want to check about Helen Leung.’
‘Wait.’ There were rustles, some shouting, then footsteps.
‘
Wei?
’
‘Hello, is that Mrs Leung?’
‘Who is asking?’
‘I’m from the Australian School, Mrs Leung. I just wanted to double-check the pick-up arrangements for Helen.’
‘Okay. Is there a problem?’
‘No problem. I just want to confirm. The people who can collect Helen are you, Helen’s father, her
poh poh
,’ I used the Cantonese term for ‘grandmother’, ‘and Mrs Kitty Ho.’
‘Is correct.’
I was completely floored. I hesitated. I wanted to ask more, but anything I said would probably blow my story. I decided to tackle it head-on and see what reaction I could produce.
‘One of the other mothers has claimed that Mrs Kitty Ho is wanted by the police, Mrs Leung. I just wanted to hear your side of the story before we did anything.’
She hung up.
I
held a brainstorming session with John, Michael and Leo. But not a lot of storming happened. We sat silently for a long time.
‘Come on, Emma, help us out here,’ John said. ‘Think.’
‘My brain’s already worn out from turning this over,’ I said. ‘I have no idea what’s going on.’
‘She must be taking the little girl for experiments or something,’ Leo said.
‘That’s obvious,’ I said. ‘The question is: why? Why do the parents let her? And why did she do it right in front of us? And make such a performance out of it? She came to the uniform shop first, to make sure that we’d follow her.’
‘Call the police,’ Michael said. ‘Let them know. They’ll pick her up—end of problem.’
‘We have had quite enough contact with the police as it is,’ John said. ‘Remember, Michael, both Leo and I will die soon. I will die very soon. We want it to be clean and above board, no legal complications whatsoever. I want as little to do with the police as possible right now, so that when I go there are no questions.’
‘How soon, my Lord?’ Michael said softly.
I dropped my head into my hands.
‘I doubt that I’ll make it past the middle of next year,’ John said. ‘In fact, I doubt I’ll make it past the end of this year. I have two more sessions with Kwan Yin, including this one coming up. After that, probably less than a year.’
Leo inhaled sharply. He leaned forward over the table and his voice became fierce. ‘Simone’s not ready yet! She won’t be ready! You must stay, my Lord. Once you’re gone I won’t last long.’ He looked down and his voice softened. ‘I have a mouth ulcer already.’
‘Oh my God, no!’ I said wretchedly. ‘No.’
John glanced at Leo. ‘After Kota Kinabalu I’ll be able to clear it again, Leo. It’s only two more weeks. Just be careful.’
‘What?’ Michael said. ‘My Lord. Leo, sir. Please. Explain.’ He spoke with a very slight desperate edge to his voice. ‘Please don’t keep me in the dark.’
‘I told you I’m HIV positive, and that’s why we brought you in,’ Leo said. Michael nodded. ‘Well, it’s more than that. It’s already full-on AIDS. I was in second stage. But Lord Xuan can keep me clear of the virus as long as I’m in his service. I’ve been tested, and given the all clear, since I joined the household.’
‘But you said you have a mouth ulcer,’ Michael said. ‘Does that mean…?’
‘I’m very drained, Michael,’ John said, his eyes burning.
Michael was silent.
‘I’ve already taken myself off bladed weapons until after the trip,’ Leo said. ‘My Lord, please inform all the staff. Infection control, if I’m wounded. It may be best just to leave me if I’m severely wounded; tell one of the Celestial Masters to send me away. I don’t want to infect anybody. I should stop teaching anyway. I don’t want to put any of the students at risk.’
‘You will continue to teach at the Academy. You will continue your duties as if nothing was different. You
will not handle bladed weapons in class, but you will still teach them. That is the only difference that I will permit. And that is an order, Leo,’ John said.
‘My Lord,’ Leo said, full of anguish.
‘Helen Leung,’ John said briskly, returning to the matter at hand. ‘What can we do?’
‘Has Simone had her over to play?’ Michael said.
All of us straightened.
‘Very good, Michael,’ John said. ‘We can have her here and check up on her. We can talk to her.’
‘What if that’s the intention?’ I said. ‘What if Kitty lined her up to be brought over here to try something?’
‘She’s a normal human, yes?’ John said.
I nodded a reply.
‘Then she can’t do anything. Let’s ask Simone to invite her here, and see what happens.’
I showed Helen to the door where her Indonesian domestic helper waited for her. ‘Bye, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘I hope you had fun.’
‘Bye, Emma,’ Helen said. ‘Bye, Simone. See you at school.’
‘Only one week left!’ Simone said with a jiggle of excitement. ‘I’m going to Kota Kinabalu for the holidays!’
‘I’m going to Phuket,’ Helen said. ‘Bye.’
The domestic helper took her out. I dropped Simone with Leo, then went into John’s office. I sat across the desk from him and we studied each other. I shrugged.
‘Why then?’ John said.
There was a tap on the office door.
‘Enter, Michael,’ John said.
Michael came in, his face rigid with restraint, holding something in a towel. He put it on the desk, on top of the pile of papers. ‘I suggest you don’t touch it, my Lord.’
Both John and I leaned forward and studied it carefully. It was a little stone turtle, a very common
household decoration in Hong Kong. It appeared to be made of rose quartz.
John put his hand over the turtle without touching it, then closed his eyes and concentrated.
‘The little girl left it here,’ Michael said. ‘I could sense it from my room.’
‘It’s not a bug, is it?’ I said. ‘We don’t have to be careful talking near it?’
‘Nope,’ Michael said. ‘No idea what it is. Not a bug, though.’
John pulled his hand away and opened his eyes, then concentrated again.
Gold appeared between Michael and myself. He leaned forward and studied the turtle carefully. He picked it up. ‘What do you say, Dad?’
The stone was silent.
‘Give it a tap, my Lady,’ Gold said.
I tapped the stone.
‘Yes, my…’ Its voice trailed off, then went fierce. ‘What the hell is that?’
Gold turned it over in his hands. ‘No idea.’
‘Let me have a look,’ the stone said.
‘Take the ring off first, my Lady,’ Gold said. ‘I don’t think you should touch it either.’
I removed the ring and handed it to Gold. He touched the ring to the turtle.
‘Get it off!’ the stone squawked.
Gold jerked the ring away. ‘Sorry, Dad.’
‘Give me back to the Lady,’ the stone said.
Gold returned the ring to me and I put it back on my finger.
‘I’ve opened it. You can see what it is now,’ the stone said.
‘I see,’ John said. ‘Have either of you encountered anything like this before?’
Gold shook his head. The stone was silent.
‘Would it be safe for me to look inside it?’ I said. ‘What’s so different about it anyway?’
‘Look inside,’ John said. ‘But slowly, carefully.’
I opened my Inner Eye and studied the little pink turtle. Gold placed it on the pile of papers so that I could have a better look. It was like a miniature black hole. It was sucking reality into it. I suddenly knew that if I were to touch it, I would be pulled straight into it.
‘So that was the point of the exercise,’ I said softly. ‘To get one of us to touch that.’
‘That bitch is using
human children
to do her dirty work,’ John said.
‘Would it just kill me, or would it transport me somewhere?’ I said.
‘Probably a transport device,’ Gold said. ‘Shades of
Star Trek
.’
‘Never seen anything like it before,’ the stone said. ‘Ingenious. Wait until the Grandmother hears about this. She’ll be after this demon
personally
.’
I nodded to Michael. ‘Thanks.’
‘Sometimes I am extremely glad we have you around, Michael,’ John said. ‘You are the only one in the household who sensed this thing. Try to keep your abilities to yourself. As long as they aren’t aware of them, we’re at an advantage.’
‘My Lord,’ Michael said, then flashed me a quick smile.
‘I saw that,’ John said quickly. ‘Tell me now. That’s an order.’
‘Damn,’ Michael said softly. He sighed, then shrugged. ‘Okay, coercion. And PK.’
‘You have PK too?’ I said.
‘What’s PK?’ John said. ‘You’ve mentioned that before, Emma.’
‘Psychokinesis,’ I said. ‘The ability to move things with the mind.’
‘Oh, carrying,’ John said, understanding. ‘You have ordering
and
carrying, Michael? When did you learn this?’
‘A couple of weeks ago,’ Michael said.
‘Your father taught you?’
Michael dropped his head and didn’t reply.
‘Na Zha, I think,’ I said.
‘Damn, I’m impressed,’ John said. ‘Well done, Michael.’
Michael’s head shot up, his blond hair flopping with the movement. ‘You’re not upset?’
‘Every skill you gain is a skill that will give Emma and Simone an edge,’ John said. ‘We will start you on advanced work immediately. If you do not eventually find the Tao I will be extremely surprised.’ He leaned back, his voice full of satisfaction. ‘The Tiger is most definitely not having you back.’
Michael grinned broadly. ‘Thanks, Lord Xuan.’
I rose. ‘I’ll get Simone, see if she could sense it.’
I didn’t need to. Simone came bursting through the door, with Leo close behind her. She skidded to a halt, cast around, saw the turtle, shouted ‘Nobody touch it!’, put her hands out towards it, palms facing away from her, and somehow made it explode into a million tiny pieces.
Everybody disappeared in a cloud of dust. I coughed; my eyes were full of turtle fragments.
‘Gold!’ John said over the sound of everybody coughing.
It was like an exhaust fan was suddenly switched on: Gold somehow vacuumed the fragments into himself. The dust cleared quickly.
‘Whoops, sorry,’ Simone said, her voice very small.
‘No, Simone, you did well,’ John said. ‘When did you know it was there?’
‘I thought something was strange,’ she said. ‘I could feel it. I was going to ask you to look for me. It was in
my room, then it came in here, then it kind of went…’ She tilted her head. ‘
Kablooie
. What was it?’
‘If you had touched it, it would have taken you to the bad demon,’ I said. ‘But it needed to be turned on. The stone in my ring turned it on.’
Simone nodded.
‘But you sensed it before it was turned on?’ I said.
‘Yep. I knew she’d left it there. I knew there was something strange going on.’ Her little shoulders sagged. ‘I thought Helen was my
friend
.’
‘I’m taking her out of school,’ John said. ‘Until we have dealt with this, it is no longer safe for her.’
‘NO!’ Everybody shouted it in unison, even Leo.
‘I want to go to school!’ Simone wailed.
‘We can handle it!’ I shouted.
‘She’ll be miserable at home!’ Leo said loudly.
I looked at Leo. He shrugged and smiled slightly.
I turned back to John. Everybody was glaring at him. I leaned over the desk and glared at him too.
‘You have been outvoted, Xuan Wu,’ I said firmly. ‘Give it up. She could sense the device. And she is staying in school.’
‘She won’t be safe,’ John growled.
‘Time for us to disappear,’ Leo said. ‘Come on, Simone, Michael.’
‘Don’t you want to stay and see the fireworks?’ I said, still glaring at John.
‘I’m staying,’ Simone said. ‘I’m staying in school.’ She ran around the desk and threw herself at her father. He pulled her into his lap. She turned to face him, her hands on his shoulders, and smiled into his eyes. ‘Please let me stay in school, Daddy.’ She smiled sweetly, wheedling. ‘Please?’
John’s face was grim but his eyes sparkled with amusement.
‘You know you can’t say no to her,’ I said softly.
Simone put her chin on his chest and smiled up into his eyes. ‘Please?’
‘Women!’ Leo growled. ‘Come on, Michael, let’s get out of here. You’d better take off too, Gold. When the Dark Lord surrenders to his women it’s not a pretty sight.’
I didn’t look away but I heard the door close.
‘I’ll let you kiss Emma,’ Simone said slyly. ‘For as long as you like.’
John glanced up at me and couldn’t hold his face any more. He chuckled.
I dropped my head and shook it. ‘I didn’t teach her this, John, don’t blame me.’
‘Come and give Daddy a kiss, Emma, and then you and me are going to check through my room and see if Helen dropped anything else,’ Simone said. ‘And on Monday you have to tell Miss Atkinson to give me a different desk in the classroom, so I’m not so close to Helen.’
I went around the desk. Simone pulled herself out of John’s lap and stood next to him, still holding his hand.
John rose, grabbed me around the waist with his free hand, pulled me in and kissed me hard. I threw my arms around his neck and pressed myself into him.
‘Tell me when you’re finished ’cause I’m
not looking
,’ Simone said loudly.
We smiled into each other’s mouth, but we didn’t stop. For a long time.
Leo, Michael and I went to Sha Tin, where Helen’s family lived, on Monday. Leo parked in the car park of City One, a large estate of high-rise residential blocks, about fifty of them, all white-tiled and around twenty storeys. They were spread around a central market and shopping centre, but still very close together. Some of them had a view over the Shing Mun River. Each floor of the apartment blocks held about eight units.
‘Block thirty-three,’ I said as we walked out of the car park.
The three of us attracted some attention as we made our way through the estate. A small Caucasian woman, an enormous black man and a blond half-Chinese were hardly the usual sort of people seen in an estate like this.
The entrance to block thirty-three was standard: a large metal gate with a keypad beside it. I pressed the floor and flat numbers for the Leungs’ unit and moved back.
‘
Wei?
’
Michael moved his head next to the intercom microphone. ‘
Mgoi, Pak Gai. Hui mun.
’
The door buzzed.
‘She
does
order things from the supermarket,’ I said as Leo opened the gate and gestured for us to go in. ‘Well done, Michael.’
‘Gold helped me,’ Michael said.
The security guard wasn’t asleep. He watched us curiously as we waited for the lift but didn’t challenge us. Understandable: Leo was huge. I smiled and waved to the guard and he smiled slightly in return, but still watched Leo.
‘I still think we should have brought weapons,’ Leo said as we stepped out of the lift into the lobby of the nineteenth floor.
‘The guard would be on the phone to the police right away.’ I gestured towards the apartment door. ‘Michael.’
I opened the door for the stairwell and Leo and I stood inside, out of the line of sight of the apartment. Michael pressed the button for the bell.