Crane (6 page)

“That's enough for now, Charles,” Bing said. “Come over here and give me a hand with the jars.”

“Sure,” Charles replied. He lowered his feet and stood up, walking back over to Bing. “Are you going to do your standard routine with the acrobats?”

Bing nodded.

“Acrobats?” Hok said.

“I planned to tell you after we'd practiced today,” Bing said. “Sometimes I perform juggling tricks to
earn money, especially during festivals. Charles and GongJee perform tricks, too. GongJee is already an accomplished foot juggler and Charles—well, you will have to wait until the Dragon Boat Festival begins to see his main skill.”

“What is
your
specialty?” Hok asked her mother.

“Watch,” Bing replied. She nodded to Charles and said, “The big one.”

Charles helped Bing pick up the largest jar in the cart. They turned it over, and various-sized packets of dried herbs and other medicines spilled into the cart. Charles let go of the wide-mouthed terra-cotta jar and took several steps back. Bing held the empty jar herself. It was so big, she could barely get her arms around it.

Bing tossed the heavy container into the air and positioned her body directly beneath it. Hok's eyes widened. She was certain the huge jar would crush her mother's head as it tumbled back to earth. At the last possible instant, though, Bing flattened her back and caught the jar between her shoulder blades.

Hok watched in awe as her mother executed a series of moves that seemed to defy gravity. Bing balanced the enormous jar on everything from her elbow to her chin to the top of her turbaned head— without ever touching it with her hands. She passed it from balance point to balance point by jerking her body powerfully in one direction or another, then gracefully catching and balancing the huge jar for whatever length of time she desired. Bing was in complete control. Hok had never seen anything like it.

Bing eventually put the jar down and nodded to Hok. Beads of sweat ran down Bing's forehead.

“I've never seen anything like that,” Hok replied. “Where did you learn to do it?”

“I taught myself,” Bing said. “If you teach GongJee how to walk on her hands, I will teach you how to do this. What do you say?”

Hok's eyes lit up. “I would like that.”

Bing nodded, and for the first time Hok thought she saw a hint of a smile on her mother's face. “Excellent,” Bing said. “Perhaps we can start your training in Kaifeng. For now, we should pack up and get moving. We need to pick up our traveling pace if we plan to make it there in time for the annual Dragon Boat Festival.”

H
ok, Charles, Bing, and GongJee arrived in Kaifeng just before dark on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival. As they passed through the walled city's enormous wooden gates, Hok was immediately struck by the onslaught of new sights, sounds, and smells, not to mention the hordes of people. Most surprising of all to Hok were the horrible conditions in which most of the people lived. Raw sewage trickled through open sewers in the streets and most of the buildings they passed were in disrepair. Many of the crowd members appeared to be homeless drifters who owned nothing more than the clothes on their backs, and a shocking number of them had lesions and other open sores on their skin.

If Kaifeng was the region's capital, why did so many people have to live like this? Hok made a point to remember to ask her mother.

They found the acrobats in a makeshift camp on the southern bank of the Yellow River, near the main bridge that connected the northern and southern banks. The acrobats lived in a collection of four large tents that they had set up on a relatively clean stretch of riverbank well away from the open sewers that emptied into the river farther downstream. Hok was relieved.

There were four acrobats, all brothers. Their names were Ming, Ling, Ping, and Ching, but no one bothered to point out which was which to Hok. Hok soon learned it didn't matter. In keeping with Bing's desire to conduct business in relative secrecy, no one ever mentioned anyone else's name while in camp.

The brothers let Hok, Bing, GongJee, and Charles have one of the tents, and after unloading a few things from the small cart, Bing announced that she was going to have a meeting with the brothers. GongJee said she was tired and wanted to go to bed, so Charles and Hok decided to take a short walk.

Darkness had settled in, and there weren't many people left along the riverbank. Hok and Charles headed for the bridge in the bright moonlight. At the foot of the bridge was a large display board that contained numerous announcements of events over the next several days. In the upper right corner of the
board was a very official-looking document that made Hok's blood run cold.

“Hey!” Charles said, pointing to the document. “Is that—”

“Shhh,” Hok said as she stared at a sketch at the top of the posting. “Yes, that drawing is me. Keep your voice down.”

“Why?” Charles said. “Does it say something bad? I can't read Chinese.”

“Just a moment,” Hok whispered as she scanned the document. She couldn't believe it. Tsung hadn't been exaggerating back at Shaolin Temple.

“It's a wanted poster,” Hok continued. “It says I'm an Enemy of the State because of some things that happened at Shaolin Temple. It also claims that I had a role in the destruction of my own temple, Cangzhen, considered to have been a closely guarded secret ally of the Emperor. At the bottom it also lists rewards for information on the capture of my brothers, Fu, Malao, Seh, and Long. It claims they were involved in Cangzhen's destruction, too. This is crazy.”

Hok adjusted the turban on her head, glad that she'd decided to wear it until her hair grew to a respectable length. Another thing mentioned in the document was the fact that she had brown hair. Tsung must have reported that.

“What should we do?” Charles asked.

“I don't know,” Hok said. “I—” She stopped in mid-sentence as her eyes passed over a second posting that also contained a sketch.

“Whoa,” Charles said, pointing to the second posting. “Look at
that
guy. I wonder what happened to his face.”

“That's my former brother, Ying,” Hok replied in a low voice. “He thinks he's a dragon. It's also a wanted poster.” She pointed to a smaller document pinned to the board next to it. “This one here is an update. It says that Ying has been captured and was thrown into prison under orders from the Emperor.”

“What do you make of that?” Charles asked.

“I don't know,” Hok said. “We should get back to camp.”

“Yeah,” Charles replied. He reached up and ripped down Hok's wanted poster.

“What are you doing?” Hok whispered. “Someone will notice that it's missing.”

“Do you want me to put it back?”

Hok thought for a moment. “No, maybe it's better if we keep it.”

“That's what I was thinking,” Charles said. “Come on, let's hurry.”

Hok and Charles returned to camp to find Bing still in her meeting and GongJee fast asleep. Hok lit a small oil lamp and sat beside Charles inside their tent. Charles removed the posting from the folds of his robe.

“Well?” he said.

“I don't know,” Hok said. “What do you think?”

“I think we need to talk to Bing,” Charles said. “Unfortunately, I've known her meetings to last all night. It's probably not worth waiting up for her. I
think we should get some rest and talk to her first thing in the morning.”

“That sounds logical,” Hok said. She scratched her head and began to unwrap the turban. “It's not like anyone is going to see me if I'm in here, right? We shouldn't be in any danger.”

“Right,” Charles said with a yawn. He set the poster down next to Hok and stood. “I'm going to sleep. We'll talk more in the morning, okay?”

“Yes,” Hok replied.

“Good night, Hok.”

Hok nodded and slipped the wanted poster into the folds of her own robe. Her mind raced as she blew out the oil lamp.

“Good night, Charles.”

A
cross the river from the acrobats’ camp, Tonglong was busy making Dragon Boat Festival preparations of his own. Some of the troops he'd taken from Ying were now with him in Kaifeng, and he had already put them to work. The leader of the current project, though, wasn't a soldier. He was a former bandit. A very troublesome bandit.

Tonglong pointed to a large wooden dragon head lying on the riverbank. The brightly painted grooves of its ornately carved face were filled with mud. “I want that thing cleaned after you attach it to the boat,” he said to the project leader. “Make sure you clean the tail, too. I don't want to be disqualified for a dirty, disrespectful craft.”

“I know, I know,” the enormous lump of man replied. “I'm familiar with the protocol. I was the boat keeper at the bandit stronghold for the past ten years, you know. We had dragon boats, too, and—”

“Don't talk back!” a silky voice interrupted. “Sssave your energy for tomorrow. You will need it.”

Tonglong glanced into a nearby moon shadow and saw a familiar woman sitting on the ground, her legs coiled beneath her. He had no idea how long she had been sitting there. “Hello, Mother,” he said.

“Greetings, ssson,” she replied.

The project leader, HaMo, turned toward the woman. “You have to stop sneaking up on people like that, AnGangseh.”

AnGangseh smirked and leaned into the moonlight. Her long, luxurious hair shimmered like the scales of a freshly hatched snake. “Toads are naturally sssuspicious of cobras. You'll get used to my ways.”

“No, I won't,” HaMo replied, turning back to the dragon boat. “I plan to take my money and get as far away from you as possible. How long before we get the treasure?”

“Soon,” Tonglong answered. “Very soon.” He flipped his long, thick ponytail braid over his shoulder. “What did you discover, Mother?”

“Bing has arrived at the acrobats’ camp,” AnGangseh said. “There were others with her, including an older girl I witnessed ssstealing a wanted poster from the foot of the bridge.”

Tonglong tugged on the tiny jade crane around his
neck and grinned. “That is a wonderful discovery, indeed. Did you happen to see any of the bandits?”

“No,” AnGangseh replied.

“I'm sure Mong and his gang will be in Kaifeng for the festival,” HaMo said. He looked at Tonglong. “What about your little brother?”

“Half brother,” Tonglong corrected. “Back at the bandit stronghold lake, I overheard Seh tell his temple brothers Fu and Malao that they were to meet Mong here in Kaifeng on the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival. From what I've seen firsthand, I have no doubt those three boys will make it here successfully. They are a determined and highly skilled bunch. Make sure you don't underestimate them.”

“I won't,” HaMo said. “Assuming they make it here and the bandits do, too, do you still think they are all going to get together? That seems highly unlikely to me.”

“They will gather in one location,” AnGangseh said. “I am sure of it. I sssuggest we continue to monitor the acrobats. Bing is with them now, and they have visited the bandit ssstronghold in the past.”

“I agree,” Tonglong said. “I predict the acrobats will put on a performance near the bridge. It's the most logical location because they will draw people from both shores. The bandits will attend in hopes of catching up with Bing, and the boys will follow the bandits. They will feel safe blending in with the crowd, and the crowd is where their focus will be. We should be able to attack from the dragon boats. They will never see it coming.”

“Which boy has the map scroll?” HaMo asked. “Your brother?”

“Half
brother,” Tonglong corrected again. “Not that it matters one bit.” He looked at AnGangseh. “Forgive me for saying this, but my connection with Seh means nothing. I will sever it just as readily as I will sever the head of anyone who gets in my way.”

AnGangseh nodded once and a smirk slithered up the side of her face. “I didn't raise you to sssee things any other way. You're not like Ssseh, who ssseems to have inherited his father's sssensibilities.
Your
father would be proud.”

Tonglong nodded back.

HaMo glanced sideways at Tonglong, and Tonglong scowled. “What are you looking at? Get back to work! That's what I'm paying you for, isn't it? Finish assembling the decorations on this dragon boat, then prepare the remaining craft. Tomorrow my journey to the throne picks up where my father's left off!”