The Story Traveller (9 page)

‘Good morning Kai-ying,' a gentle voice said. Lucy turned round and saw a smiling dolphin, with her head resting on the river bank.

‘You're Baiji?' Lucy asked in surprise.

‘I'm Baiji,' the dolphin replied, ‘which means flag bearer and I'm a freshwater dolphin. But today I come to be a Kai-ying bearer,' and the dolphin threw back her head and gave a tinkley laugh.

‘My name is Lucy,' Lucy explained with a smile. Baiji just smiled back.

‘Here in China you Kai-ying. I hope is OK?'

Lucy nodded, amazed that she should find herself talking to a dolphin in Chinese.

Speed gently nudged his mistress.

‘Be careful, my pet. I'll see you soon,' and he was gone. Lucy turned back to Baiji. She felt curious, but not worried, about how they were going to continue their journey.

‘Baiji, am I travelling on the river with you?' she asked politely.

‘Yes, you ride on my back, just as you do with Speed and it's important you keep wrapped up, as we swim underwater and…'

‘Underwater! Won't I drown?' Lucy asked in alarm.

‘Not if you wrap up. You won't even get wet,' Baiji assured her with her usual beaming smile. ‘But I depend on you to make sure you are covered. My eyesight is poor.'

‘Oh dear!' Lucy looked even more alarmed. ‘If you can't see too well, how do you know where to go?'

‘Dolphins use sonar, and, Kai-ying, no good speaking to me once we start. I won't hear you. If you need me, tap.'

Baiji waited patiently as Lucy settled on her back. As the dolphin moved off at a gentle pace Lucy began to enjoy the sensation and stared with interest at the strange new world. Strange it certainly was, but very beautiful. A huge variety of small colourful fish swam in every direction, some individually, some in great shoals that swished and swayed, as they turned one way and then another. Above her head Lucy could see what looked like water rats swimming on the surface, only to disappear into holes along the river bank. Various aquatic plants grew thickly, especially near the edges of the river and the whole scene was one of peace and tranquillity.

Baiji then began to swim up towards the surface. Her head broke above water and, with a deft movement, she gently deposited Lucy on the bank, where she discovered she was, as Baiji had said, quite dry. ‘Soon we near my home,' Baiji told her. ‘It's Anhui Province, which means beautiful peace. You find no fresh water dolphins anywhere else in China. It's true peace. It's my home and I adore it.'

‘Then I'm sure I will as well.'

‘But I must warn you! River is too home to alligators. Chinese alligators mostly eat rats. However, you would also make a tasty snack.'

‘Thanks for the warning!' Lucy said, somewhat bothered by this. ‘I thought everything was going too swimmingly! But don't worry; I'll keep my cloak well round me.'

‘Here too is home of Chinese paddlefish,' Baiji went on. ‘Paddlefish eat other fish, a few crabs and crayfish, but a short-sighted one might mistake a waving arm for food, so keep both hidden.'

As they slid under the water again Lucy felt a little tense, but it was hard to stay worried, as the gentle music of the moving river and the constant sight of various fresh water creatures intrigued and excited her.

Calm and relaxed, eventually Lucy spotted her first Chinese paddlefish. It was chasing a crayfish along the bottom of the river. It had a white belly with a grey back and head. Lucy resisted the impulse to lean over and stroke it and watched with amazement its skill as an angler.

Every now and then Lucy could hear Baiji emit sounds, rather like radar bleeps. They were oddly comforting. Lucy was so relaxed all thoughts of the alligators had disappeared, when Baiji slowed down and moved into a small inlet in the river bank.

Once more Lucy was deposited on land.

‘Kai-ying, my friend, the alligators cannot see you, but humans have a strong scent and a group of them have formed a barrier up ahead. Stay here.' Without another word Baiji had gone and left Lucy alone.

The sun was now high in the sky as she looked around her. There were no houses, no buildings, no people within miles and everything was quite beautiful. The whole area was covered in flowers of the most wonderful colours and shapes. She'd never seen anything like them. Lucy did see a few birds flying overhead and wondered what kind of animals roamed the countryside. For some strange reason she thought she saw a tiger, but shook her head in disbelief.

‘Don't be silly, Lucy Chase! Your imagination's playing tricks again,' she told herself, as she settled down to wait for Baiji.

It was a strange feeling being stranded in a country, out of your own time, and with no idea where you were. Lucy sat huddled under her cloak. In her whole life she had never felt so out of control, but with a strong effort she stilled herself and waited patiently. Within possibly minutes, but what to Lucy seemed a lot longer, Baiji was back.

‘We now have assistance Kai-ying,' she said.

‘We do?'

‘My friends.'

As they slid back under the water, a group of dolphins swam towards them. The excited new comers communicated in sharp staccato sounds and were well organised.

They were also very curious about Lucy and one by one came up close and gave her the same wide smile as Baiji. As the dolphins started to swim down the river they gathered speed, until they were travelling at nearly 60km an hour. Lucy held on, amazed at their grace and control, as they approached the part of the river where the alligators lay in wait.

When she looked straight ahead, she could just make out a line of grey armoured creatures. Her stomach tightened and she clutched the cloak even closer, determined not to give those hungry creatures any help. The nearer they got, the more she could see their large sharp teeth and patient determination. Unlike the friendly smile of the dolphins, the alligators had what could only be described as really wicked grins. Lucy tried hard not to think about those teeth. She concentrated hard on the staccato messages passing between her friends. She need not have worried: a family of dolphins travelling at such a speed is not something the average Chinese alligator wants to take on, and as the rushing dolphins approached, the crocodiles silently gave way and moved back towards the river banks.

After a swirl of excited goodbyes from Baiji's friends, Lucy and Baiji continued to travel sedately down the river and that's how it stayed until she was finally lifted on to the banks of the Yangtze.

‘Wise One will meet you here, Kai-ying,' Baiji said with her usual happy grin. ‘It's been great meeting you.'

Lucy bent down and kissed the dolphin gently on the tip of her snout.

‘Thank you, my friend. It's been an exciting, if at times scary, experience!'

Baiji dived, then appeared once more in a farewell salute before she returned to the river. Lucy sat quietly, wrapped in her cloak and looked around her. The whole area was covered in lush foliage and those amazing wild flowers; flowers that Lucy had not even seen in books. The sun was at its strongest, and the perfume from the flowers lulled and relaxed her. Warm and snug inside her cloak Lucy's eyes began to close and, though she was not asleep, she began to feel that she was sleep walking into a golden circle. In the centre was a seat shaped rock, made of precious blue stone. Lucy just knew that seat was meant for her and went over and sat herself down, not quite sure what would happen next.

Lucy arranged her cloak, so that both she and the seat were covered. The stone sparkled like a sapphire, but was as soft and comfortable as a bed of feathers. She looked about her. The circle was, in fact, made up of minute golden mushrooms, which reminded Lucy of a story her grandmother once told her when she was little. She'd said that if you found a circle in the grass then you should step inside, as it was magic, put there by the fairies. Once inside you made a wish.

Lucy began to think what she could wish for, when she became aware of a group of animals walking towards her, and there wasn't a fairy to be seen. She sat still as they came closer and kept the cloak well round her. She should have been invisible, but something about the way they made straight for her, made her unsure.

At the front was a rat, a fairly normal looking rat, very similar to the one that became Cinderella's coachman, but this rat wore a small crown on his head. Ambling slowly behind the rat was a calm and placid ox, followed closely by a proud and fierce tiger, whose magnetic yellow eyes stared into hers intently. Lucy, to her surprise, found she wasn't at all scared, but she felt relieved when she came face to face with a dear little rabbit.

Then, close behind the rabbit, strode a creature Lucy had only seen in picture books: a fire breathing dragon. A truly scary creature, that looked extremely annoyed, as he swished his huge tail from side to side and let out occasional blasts of fire. As the forked end of his tail passed close by, Lucy instinctively ducked, so she almost missed the next creature. She was so intent on avoiding a collision with the dragon; she only caught sight of the snake after she heard its spine tingling hiss and turned her head round to trace the noise. Lucy had never liked snakes in her world and didn't feel inclined to like this one.

She tried her best to make sure she was invisible, but nothing seemed to work. The animals began to form a circle round her, as they placed themselves behind the mushrooms, and she was relieved to see the last few creatures were both familiar and friendly: a horse, a sheep, a cheerful monkey, a flamboyant cock, a tail wagging dog and finally a pig.

The circle complete Lucy found herself once again face to face with the rat. The tiny rodent scampered right up to her, its whiskers twitched rapidly as he stared up. His little gold crown bobbed up and down as he looked her over.

‘Pleased to meet you, Your Majesty,' Lucy said, hoping her voice didn't give away that she was at a loss what to do. But the King Rat, after several more sniffs, turned and went back to his place in the circle.

This routine was repeated by each animal. Some like the ox ambled up and took their time, some like the dragon showed impatience and some, including the snake, disdain, yet there were others like the rabbit and the dog that seemed delighted to meet her and even let Lucy stroke them. But each one, after a thorough look at Lucy went back to his place in the circle.

She was, by now, completely relaxed. She knew none of the creatures, however fierce, meant any harm, but she wondered what they wanted of her.

‘Well, I don't seem to have made much impression on them,' Lucy thought, as one by one the animals walked away, except for the tiger. Once more he came and sat opposite Lucy and continued to stare intently, almost hypnotically at her.

Then the big cat got up and slowly began to walk towards her. He came so close she could see her reflection in his golden eyes and could hear his purr. Purr! Lucy expected him to growl, not to sound like an overgrown kitten.

Stealthily, paw by paw, the great beast got closer and closer, and then, as he reached Lucy, he opened his mouth. A
tiny
flicker of fear started up, but to her surprise Lucy felt a rasping tongue on her face: the huge majestic cat was licking her, but the next moment he'd gone.

It was at this point Lucy saw an old man descend on a white cloud. She rubbed her eyes, then rubbed them a second time, but by then the old man was right in front of her. He bowed politely. ‘Greetings Kai-ying,' he said in the softest of voices, like a breeze brushing past a lone pine tree. Lucy gathered her cloak tighter and wondered if she'd left a gap anywhere.

‘Not to worry, my dear, you cannot be seen, except to spirits of ancestors. But to make your journey more comfy you may remove your cloak.'

Lucy realised she was with the Wise One and immediately removed her cloak and folded it up.

‘How do you do?' she said politely and offered her hand, but the old man just bowed again, his two hands inside the wide sleeves of his jacket, so Lucy did the same.

‘I heard you very quick student. I see is so,' he said, as he unhooked a beautiful silk bag from his waist. ‘Now put your wrap in here and hang from your sash.'

Lucy took the bag and did as she was told, surprised how easily the bulky cloak folded into the neat little bag.

‘Wise One,' she said rather tentatively, ‘something strange has just happened. I was surrounded by a group of animals.'

‘Did any approach you twice?' the old man asked.

‘Yes, the tiger. He came up and licked me.'

‘You fortunate person. Means you born in year of tiger. Tiger protect you while you in China. Tigers in high regard in China, being creatures of magic. You no worry here: your tiger guards you.

‘How did he know I was born in the year of the tiger?'

‘How does a mother know her baby?' was all the old man said.

‘Wise One, could I ask why the rat, the smallest of all the creatures, was wearing a crown and was first in the group?'

‘Because is year of rat. Next year is year of ox and each creature you saw rules one year in every twelve years.'

‘How did that come about?' Lucy asked out of curiosity. ‘Many years ago, our great Buddha invited every creature to come and see him. Most never got invitation or not interested, except ones you have just seen. So Buddha rewarded each with chance to be king, once every twelve years. ‘Now, I take you to meet Yeh-Shen. She lives in Huangshan Mountains with her husband. At present China's in Tang Dynasty. Husan Tsung is Emperor. Much good has happened since he Emperor and one of most interest to you is, during his reign, first books printed.'

‘And Yeh-Shen was one of the very first Cinderella stories to be written down,' Lucy said, eager to show her knowledge.

‘Indeed! Your visit happy way to rejoice, as few story travellers come here. We have quite a trek, so, if you take end of my sash, journey not so tiring.'

As he spoke, the old man offered Lucy the end of a silken rope that was tied round his waist. As her hand touched it she felt airborne and realised she could move forward with absolutely no effort on her part.

Lucy and the old man proceeded in silence, as they passed through the meadow lands and began to travel upwards towards the mountains. She could never remember seeing so much beauty. They climbed higher and higher, passed huge granite peaks that had been worn into many wonderful shapes. Large parts of the mountain side were covered in enormous pine trees which had been bent and bowed by the winds and were much finer than many works of art. Lucy would like to have stopped and taken in all this breathtaking scenery, but the silk cord made sure she moved on. So they journeyed through lofty peaks, steep valleys, winding streams and gently babbling brooks.

Eventually, they reached an area where a rough track started. They began to descend again. The old man turned to Lucy and said:

‘You now go from Tang China to enter Chinese gate of Once Upon a Time. Yeh-Shen waits for you. Put on your wrap. I return when is time to take you home. But remember, tiger is guarding you, so no danger.'

Lucy took her cloak out of the bag and put it on. She bowed to the old man, but by the time she'd straightened up he'd gone.

As Lucy walked down the road, she felt the usual jelly wobble, but this time she tasted lychees, so she knew she'd stepped into Chinese Storyland.

In front of her was a beautiful palace. Its frontage faced south to catch the warmth of the sun and also to avoid the unlucky north. She couldn't see the entrance, which was hidden by a screen and guarded by two fierce looking stone lions. But she could see Yeh-Shen, a beautiful Chinese girl with coal black hair; skin the colour of fine porcelain and beautifully expressive eyes. She wore a wonderful coat made out of kingfisher feathers and on her feet were the smallest and daintiest red slippers Lucy had ever seen.

Lucy made her way over to her and timidly put out her hand, so Yeh-Shen could just see the tips of her fingers.

‘Hello Yeh-Shen. I'm Kai-ying. I think you are expecting me!'

Yeh-Shen's face lit up. ‘Greetings, my friend. We go to privacy of my room, so you take off your wrap and we get to know each other.'

Lucy silently followed the Chinese girl. She wondered how Yeh-Shen managed to walk on feet that were so small they seemed too dainty for her slender body.

They passed through some simple, but elegant, gardens and entered the palace, where they walked through many lavishly decorated rooms, until they arrived at a small sunlit study that was both plain and uncluttered.

Yeh-Shen carefully closed the door and invited Lucy to take off her cloak and to sit down on the floor, while she carefully removed her kingfisher coat and put it away in a skilfully carved chest.

‘You take tea?' Yeh-Shen asked Lucy as she picked up a beautiful porcelain pot.

‘Thank you.' Lucy watched with interest as Yeh-Shen performed a simple but graceful ceremony of preparing the tea.

‘We haven't joy of drinking tea for many moons,' the Chinese girl explained. ‘In past tea just for medicine.'

As she waited for Yeh-Shen to finish Lucy looked round the room. Over by a pair of open sliding doors was a table and on it a painting. Lucy was very impressed with Yeh-Shen's art work, which was simple but beautiful. When she looked out she could see what inspired the young woman. The scenery was magnificent. Her room looked out on to the Huangshan Mountains, which gave her a wonderful view of the amazing cloud formations that these unusual peaks created. Beside the table was a small bamboo desk covered in sheets of delicate calligraphy. Yeh-Shen handed Lucy a tiny porcelain bowl full of delicate green tea. ‘Tea is Mao Feng, which means fur peak, so named from downy tips of tea: a famous green tea from Huangshan area. I hope you enjoy.'

Lucy took a tentative sip and was glad to be able to say truthfully:

‘It's delicious. We drink a lot of tea in my world too, but it's nothing like this.'

Yeh-Shen looked puzzled.

‘Your tea not same?'

‘No – ours comes in little bags: some round, some square and even some triangular,' then Lucy had a sudden thought, ‘but I think my grandmother used tea leaves.'

‘Your grandmother wise, Kai-ying.'

‘Yeh-Shen, can you tell me why I'm called Kai-ying? My name is Lucy.'

Yeh-Shen came and sat on the mat in front of Lucy and gave a sweet laugh.

‘Chinese language written in pictures. Each word has own picture. We have no alphabet, so hard for us to say your name. However, we give you one to suit you, as our names have meanings.'

‘What does Kai-ying stand for?' Lucy couldn't even start to guess, though she did wonder if it meant ‘big feet'.

‘Very very bright,' her new friend explained.

‘Oh goodness, I'm not sure I can live up to that!' Lucy smiled with pleasure at the compliment.

‘You chosen as story traveller, which means you
are
gifted.'

Lucy was lost for words. She'd never been called gifted before. She opened her mouth several times to say something, but it all seemed so unimportant, so the two girls sat for a while in friendly silence, sipping their tea. When Lucy finished, she put the bowl down carefully and walked over to the table to look more closely at the beautiful art work.

‘Yeh-Shen,' she said, at last finding her voice, ‘is this beautiful painting and this wonderful calligraphy your work?'

‘Yes, but I afraid work not good. I do my best, but education poor when I child. Now I must study how to paint and write poetry. I practise every day.'

Yeh-Shen joined Lucy at the table.

‘You too can try, Kai-ying.' Yeh-Shen carefully selected a fresh piece of parchment and placed it on the table. Then she handed Lucy a soft paint brush, pointing to the ink.

‘I don't know how to start!' Lucy knew she couldn't do justice to the scene in front of her. ‘It's all so beautiful and I'm no artist.'

‘Pick out just one tree, see how tree bends, see where branches go and work with your eyes, your hands and your heart.'

‘Just one tree?' Lucy queried.

‘For me less is more,' Yeh-Shen explained. ‘So much beauty, so I draw one tiny piece at a time. It very calming.'

Lucy's eyes had already picked out a gigantic pine tree, whose trunk had curved towards the east and whose branches were seemingly tipped with angels wings. She dipped her brush in the pot and stood quietly for a few moments, as she tried to hold the brush steady.

‘Not grip so tight,' Yeh-Shen advised her. ‘Let brush just flow.'

As always when Lucy concentrated, her tongue found the gap in her two front teeth. She relaxed her hold on the brush and gently drew the curved shape, adding the branches and cone-like leaves as carefully as she could. When she had finished she stepped back, looked at the picture and laughed.

‘Well, I'm certainly not a gifted painter.'

Yeh-Shen took the picture and held it up. ‘For first effort is good. I keep as a memento of you, my friend.'

‘That reminds me, I've come a long way to hear your story Yeh-Shen. Please tell it to me.'

‘I was born in mountains. My father, a potter of some reputation, as befitting his station, had two wives: my mother, who also decorated his pots and my stepmother, who kept house.