The White Amah (32 page)

‘Please don’t put yourself to any trouble, Madame Ling. If I can just have a quick word with Clarence,’ said David, feeling very much in the way.

‘I’ll be right back,’ she said, and went out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Too restless to sit, David walked over to the windows. One of the brawny packers took a drill out of a bulky tool bag and screwed down the lid of the packing case. He shoved the trolley underneath its front edge and rolled it up the ramp. A few minutes later the men came out carrying a stack of flat cardboard boxes. David screwed up his eyes and stared at them; they were Chinese. His father had mentioned that the company was expanding its export division. He looked at the logo on the van – Global Logistics – and made a mental note to look them up.

Twenty minutes passed before he heard the door open.

‘Mother told me you wanted to talk to me about Mei Li,’ said Clarence, a look of concern on his moonish face. ‘I don’t know what else I can tell you. Like I told you on the phone, I dropped her off outside Victoria Street Station. I waited until a cab pulled up. The passenger, I’m sure it was Tuff, rolled down the window and said something to Mei Li and she got in. And that was the last I saw of her. I’m sorry, David. I feel terrible. I
suppose it’s much too soon for the police to get involved. Doesn’t a person have to be missing for two or three days before they’ll look into it?’

‘It’s a common misconception that a person must be absent for seventy-two hours before being legally classed as missing, but this is rarely the case and certainly not in these circumstances. Mei Li has disappeared in the company of a
prime suspect
in a
murder case,’
said David, sounding like a lawyer.

David got to his feet as Madam Ling came through the door carrying a tray of pastries.

‘Surely you don’t believe Tuff would harm her own daughter,’ said Madam Ling, looking around for somewhere to put the tray. She’d changed into loose, wide pants and a flowing top, but she still seemed edgy and distracted. ‘I think you’ll find that she’s just frightened that the media is going to give her a hard time and she’s trying to keep her hiding place secret. Wouldn’t you, in her shoes?’

‘I hope you’re right, Madame Ling.’ She sounded impatient and David could tell she wanted to get on with organising the move. He shook his head when she offered him a pastry. ‘No, thank you. I won’t take up any more of your time. I can see how busy you are. Have a safe journey home. Mother and Father send their regards.’

As he was leaving Pau came into the room, yawning. ‘I hear the bird has flown the coop,’ he said, helping himself to a Danish. ‘Well, you know what they say. If she comes back she’s yours, if she doesn’t she never was.’

David hadn’t trusted himself to answer. He wished he could have wiped that smug smile off Pau’s face. He looked up and down the street and checked the time, again. Where was that
damned taxi? He’d wasted the whole morning on a wild goose chase. Clarence was a decent guy and he had no reason to doubt he’d told the truth. Now if Mei had gone off in a car with Pau, well, that would be a different story, he told himself, still angry.

A pretty, heavy-set young woman with dark hair was walking up the square holding a small boy’s hand. The child was holding a bright yellow soccer ball. He dropped it and it rolled under the truck. David bent down, picked up the ball and gently kicked it back to him. The boy smiled and waved goodbye to him all the way up the avenue until he and the au pair had turned into the park.

David looked at his watch. Damn it, where was that taxi?

Adele was feeling tired. It was a long walk from the tube station and even though her maid was carrying three-quarters of the shopping she was still weighed down with carrier bags.

‘Not much further now,’ said the maid as they turned into the square.

‘It’s
miles,’
said Adele petulantly. ‘And they haven’t finished yet. The van’s still there.’ She stopped. In an instant her bad temper evaporated as she recognised the familiar figure pacing up and down the pavement. ‘Oh look, it’s David,’ she cried. ‘Thank goodness we came back early. I might’ve missed him.’ She still had a crush on him and she was pleased he’d come alone. Mei Li must be having a sleep-in. She knew it had been late when Clarence took her around to David’s flat.

She raced off but she’d only got a few metres when she rushed back again. ‘Where’s that present I bought for Mei Li? Is it in one of your bags? Quick, have a look.’

Several minutes elapsed before the small package containing
a carefully wrapped crystal figurine was found at the bottom of the last bag.

‘You bring the rest,’ yelled Adele. She ran ahead, holding the package against her chest and calling out David’s name.

A taxi pulled up next to the van. Oh no, thought Adele, quickening her pace, running faster than she’d ever run in her life. David was talking to the cab driver and if she didn’t do something now he’d drive off. The plump little girl ran and ran. Her heart was beating faster and faster and she was so tired that it seemed to her that she couldn’t run another step. Gasping, she screamed David’s name. The choked cry was absorbed by the dull roar of the passing traffic.

‘Sorry, guv, the traffic’s all snarled up.’ The cabbie opened the door for his passenger, the five-pound tip still fresh in his memory.

Red-faced and panting, too out of breath to yell again, Adele half walked and half ran, but she was too late. The cab sped off. In the back of the cab, unaware of how close he’d been to finding out the truth, David once again called Tuff’s home number as Adele staggered the last ten metres home.

It was late morning when Mei Li woke. Rays of morning sun illuminated the narrow gap round the rim of the coalhole cover, a hatch in the pavement above the underground cellar that had been installed so the coal could be delivered straight to the bunker and the coalman didn’t need to enter the house with dirty sacks of coal. Perplexed, Mei Li stared at the glowing circle that had appeared as if by magic on the ceiling. Could that be the way out that her grandmother had told her to find?

She remembered seeing a ladder in the corner of the room
and closed her eyes, trying to recall its location. Kicking aside or clambering over the jumble of junk, she found the ladder propped against a wall. By pulling, pushing, twisting and turning, Mei Li finally managed to get the rickety old ladder where she wanted it. When it was in position it was less than a metre short of the ceiling. Fear of falling didn’t enter Mei Li’s head. Used to shinning up trees since she could walk, she climbed up the ladder swiftly, like a monkey up a palm tree. The coalhole cover was almost directly above her head and she was able to reach it easily from the last but one rung. Curious, she ran a finger round the illuminated edge, probing with her nail the tiny gap between the rim of the lid and the raised metal frame through which the light was gleaming. Suddenly an exciting thought occurred to her: could it possibly be daylight?

Instantly her chest felt tight and she couldn’t breath. It felt like all the air had been squeezed out of her and she was conscious of the blood pounding in her ears like a surging tide. Mei Li realised that the basement was accessible from above, hopefully from the street, which meant that the only obstacle to escape was a mere metal lid.

Sixty years ago the firm of local coal merchants had delivered the last sacks to the household and since then the hatch had remained closed. By the time Mei Li’s questing fingers discovered the bolt that prevented the coalhole cover being lifted from above, she was trembling so much she would have fallen if she hadn’t been gripping the sides like grim death. The house was well maintained. Locks, bolts and hinges were regularly oiled and greased to stop them siezing up, but the obsolete coalhole had long been forgotten. It would be a miracle if Mei Li could release the disused bolt. To her surprise it slid out of the hole
at her first attempt, evidence of the longevity of fish wax, the old-fashioned lubricant that was highly regarded in Victorian households.

Mei Li’s relief was short lived. The hinged cover had been designed to be opened from above by strong men. Mei Li raised both arms above her head and pushed against the lid with the flat of her hands. It didn’t budge, but she hadn’t expected it would, not at her first attempt. Next time she pushed harder with strong, sustained pressure, and she felt the wedged-in lid move slightly. Buoyed by success, she pressed against it with renewed energy and was rewarded when she managed to raise it slightly. Straining with all her might, she tried to push it up further but it was too heavy for her. It was all she could do to hold it up, and with a cry of frustration she let go. She only just saved herself from falling to the cellar floor by clinging to the sides of the ladder. The heavy iron lid slammed back down with a resounding ring that reverberated in the tiny room.

Worn out, she kept on trying despite the dull ache of soreness in her arms and shoulders and the pain in her forearms as sharp as a knife. It felt like her bones were separating.

‘I won’t let it beat me … I won’t give up,’ she sobbed, angry at her own weakness, and resolutely she squared her shoulders and raised her aching arms again.

F
OR THE FIRST TIME IN DAYS THE SUN WAS SHINING WARMLY
and the au pair and her employer’s four year old son opened the gate of one of the loveliest gardens in the whole of London. Kiri thought there was nowhere on earth that could compare with New Zealand, but she had to admit that this garden with its ornamental trees, deep green ponds and ancient lichen-covered statues took some beating. Admittance to the private park was one of the perks of working in Belgravia and she felt happy as she sat down on a favourite wooden bench shaded by a plane tree, even though she had a difficult letter to write to her boyfriend back home in Queenstown.

The Percivals were going to Whistler for Christmas and wanted her to go with them to look after little Oscar. Kiri had learned to ski on New Zealand’s Southern Alps and didn’t want to pass up the chance to ski the picturesque Canadian fields. She stared at the writing pad, wondering how to tell Caden she wouldn’t be home for Christmas.

Oscar was feeling bored. Usually there were lots of other children to play with, but for once he and Nanny had the park to themselves. He’d tried to get her to play soccer with him but she said she was busy and told him to amuse himself. He kicked the ball as hard as he could and it went flying over the metal railings. Oscar knew his father would be angry if he lost another ball, so, after sneaking a look at Nanny, who was biting the end
of her pen and staring off into space, he ran down the path and through the gate that opened onto the square.

The bright yellow soccer ball had rolled into the kerb behind a large furniture van parked outside the ivy-clad house where the nice man had picked it up before. Oscar bent down to grab it and was amazed when the manhole cover moved. He looked at it curiously. He’d never seen it do that before. He knew what it was called and what it was for because there was one just like it outside his own house. His daddy had told him it had been used by workmen in the olden days to enter the cellar from the street.

He knelt down beside it. ‘Who’s down there?’ he called in his high-pitched voice.

Blood suffused Mei Li’s face and her eyes lit up with excitement. It was going to be all right. She was going to be rescued.

She yelled back ‘Help! Help!’ and banged her fists against the manhole cover.

Oscar grabbed hold of the handle but he couldn’t lift it. ‘Wait, I’ll get Nanny,’ he shouted, and raced off toward the park.

Mei Li laughed out loud with relief. She would be out of there soon. Just at that moment the light was switched on in the basement, the glow of its beam clearly visible under the bottom of the door.

‘Oh no, someone’s coming,’ she whimpered. She was certain that an evil force was at work. Why else was she being tormented so cruelly? No one could have such bad luck without the malevolent intervention of the gods. This was her punishment for daring to enter the astral plane without the approval of the spirits. Guiltily, she remembered she’d neglected to propitiate the gods with
offerings of tobacco and rice since she fled the longhouse. And even worse, she’d impulsively agreed to marry an outsider without seeking counsel from her ancestors.

Spare me. I promise to lead a good life. Please, please let me live. I swear I’ll obey the laws of my people.

Mei Li’s prayer was cut short when she heard the rattle of the key in the lock. Scrambling down the ladder, she grabbed the shovel and stood back out of sight, against the wall. Joe slid back the bolt, but instead of coming into the room he looked at the width of the door, shook his head and went back to the lift.

‘It’s no good,’ he said to Tan’s henchmen, two hefty Chinese packers from Global Logistics who were manhandling a large storage case nearly as wide as the lift door. They’d had trouble just getting the large pine crate into the small lift and Joe could see there was no way it would fit through the narrow storeroom door. ‘Take it back up. It’ll be just as easy to work up there. I’ll grab her.’

‘Do you need any help?’

‘Not necessary. Just tell Pau and Clarence to make sure there aren’t any servants hanging around the hall.’

He waited until the lift door closed and peered into the gloomy room, ‘It’s no good hiding,’ he warned. ‘You’ll just make it harder on yourself … Owww!’ he yelled as the shovel came crashing down across his shoulders and he stumbled backwards.