Moon Princess (10 page)

Outside the sun was up, but the almost-full moon could still be seen in the sky. Heat already blanketed the city Despite the beauty of the day, Sienna had an uneasy feeling, but she was tempted to take off the headscarf. Let people stare at her hair if they wanted to!

‘It'd be better if you kept your disguise on. Where we're going, they've probably never seen a foreigner before,' said Zou, once again seeming to read her mind.

At the next crossing he ushered them off the bus. They were surrounded by modern blocks of flats.

‘All newly built,' explained Zou. ‘And still no one is living there.' He shook his head sadly.

Sienna followed him along the dirt road that wound between the apartment blocks. ‘Where are we going?' she asked impatiently. Yellow dust
coated her shoes and bag and she was hot and thirsty.

‘It's not much further,' replied Zou. ‘You see the stream back there?' He pointed to a muddy trickle of water.

On the opposite bank were some shacks built of wood and plastic. As they got closer to the water, an unpleasant smell filled the air. They crossed over the stream, using a few rickety wooden planks as a bridge. The stream was full of rubbish and waste.

‘If I fall in, I'll never forgive you,' Rufus grumbled.

Zou stopped at one of the huts. ‘This is it.' The hut didn't even have a proper door, just some plastic across the entrance. Sienna and Zou looked expectantly at Rufus.

‘Hey, don't think I'm going to go first just because I'm invisible to most people. Out of the question!'

‘Please, Rufus,' said Sienna. ‘Can't you just have a quick look to see if Feng's in there?'

The dog disappeared behind the plastic curtain, muttering to himself. It wasn't long before he was standing in front of Zou and
Sienna again.

‘Well, if anyone's interested, no dog would accept that kind of accommodation. The size of a shoebox, full of rubbish, and as for the smell …' Rufus shook himself.

‘Just tell us, Rufus. Is he in there?' Sienna snapped.

‘Oh, yes. He's fast asleep.'

Zou and Sienna went into the shack. The sun shone through the holes in the roof, and the only furniture was a plastic table, two chairs and a small wooden shelf with a hotplate on it. Clothes, cutlery and a few CDs were piled up on the floor. On a mattress in the middle of the room lay Feng. He was wearing a grey sweatshirt which was much too big for him.

Snuggled close by him, and also deeply asleep, lay Xiaolong. Sienna sighed with relief that they both seemed to be fine.

Zou shook Feng's shoulder. ‘Time to get up, my young friend.'

Feng sat up with a start. He looked at his visitors, startled. Then he buried his face in his hands like a child hiding from strangers.

Zou clasped his wrists gently. ‘I sense you are
carrying a heavy burden, young friend. I think it is time you told us everything,' he said softly.

Feng looked up at last. Tears welled up in his eyes and he took a deep breath. ‘When my parents died,' he said quietly, ‘Gege was my only family. I was just seven years old – Gege was fifteen – and we didn't want to go into a children's home.'

Sienna sat down next to Feng on the rotten mattress. Rufus remained standing at the door, scowling.

‘We lived on the street for a long time. Gege did everything he could to take care of us, to find us a better life. Eventually, he found work in the mine nearby, but they closed down the pit. So we tried selling drinks and making ourselves useful at the temple, but it was difficult to earn enough to get by. The money Gege had saved ran out. Then we met a fat monk …' Feng paused and drew in a shaky breath. ‘He saw us at the temple. He said he had some work for Gege. It involved a foreign expert who wanted to write a book about the temple. That was your mother, Sienna.'

Sienna swallowed hard at the mention of her
mum, then nodded at Feng to continue.

‘The monk said Gege was to gain her trust. He had to help her with her work. He showed Gege a secret chamber behind the statue of Guanyin. All Gege had to do was make sure that your mother discovered it.'

‘Why? Why didn't the monk just show my mother the chamber?' asked Sienna.

‘The monk said your mother
had
to discover the chamber herself.' Feng rubbed his eyes. ‘Gege liked your mother a lot, and he didn't want to lie to her, but the monk gave him a lot of money to do as he said. When your mother came across the chamber she was very excited. She said that what she had found there would be a sensation. It would make the temple famous.'

Sienna sat up straighter. ‘So what did she find?'

Feng swallowed and paled. ‘Something … something amazing. But Gege stole it from her. He said we would get a lot of money for it. That we'd be able to buy ourselves a proper flat, perhaps even a little shop. That was the day before he and your mother disappeared.'

‘But what was it?' Sienna insisted, already half
guessing the answer.

Feng now stood up and walked outside to the bank by the stream. He pushed his hands into the soft brown clay and began to dig. When he had found what he was looking for he pulled out a mud-stained package and returned to the shack, panting. ‘Here,' he said, and held out the package to Zou and Sienna.

Sienna carefully unwrapped it, and stared open-mouthed at the object. It was the brilliant-white statue from the photo that Feng had passed to her in the restaurant. Although not much bigger than Sienna's hand, it was much more impressive in real life. The stone was so white it appeared to sparkle in the sunlight filtering into the little shack.

‘The moon princess,' Sienna cried.

Zou had sunk down to sit on the mattress. ‘You're thinking of a different story, Sienna. This is the goddess Guanyin. So beautiful,' he breathed, and Sienna saw astonishment and adulation on his face. His eyes shone. ‘But you're not
completely
wrong. Do you know the story of when she was a princess?' he asked, turning to Sienna.

Sienna remembered what the monk had told her yesterday. ‘Only a little bit,' she said. ‘Could you tell me the whole story please?'

‘Guanyin was a princess indeed. She left her family to become a hermit. When her cruel father, the King, fell ill, she wept tears of mercy for him on the Fragrant Mountain on the night of the full moon. Despite his cruelty, she vowed to sacrifice her life for his. Guanyin's tears trickled into the earth at her feet and sank deep into the ground, a well of purest water springing from the spot. She died, but in sacrificing herself, saved her father. People realized she was actually a goddess – the goddess of mercy. The remorseful king buried his daughter at the summit of the Fragrant Mountain and built a pagoda on her grave, protecting the sacred well which had sprung from her tears. He had many more monasteries built and became a devout Buddhist.'

Rufus yawned and scratched himself behind one ear in boredom. ‘Who cares?' he growled to himself.

‘She was buried at
our
temple?' Sienna cried, suddenly feeling the pieces of the puzzle slot into place.

‘Yes,' answered Zou. ‘Although the temple has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, the well remains. It
is
the place where, according to legend, the goddess manifested herself.'

‘What is all this rubbish?' Rufus shook himself vigorously, his long black ears flapping around. ‘Guanyin … manifestations … temples. What this is really all about is that our friend here' – he threw Feng a hostile look – ‘is telling us nothing but a pack of lies. Yesterday his big brother was a simple driver, today he's a cheat and a thief who deliberately deceived Sienna's mother. I vote the boy stays here and we go and look for Kate on our own.'

Sienna was glad Feng could neither see nor hear Rufus. She looked at her new friend's tear-stained face, his hair clinging to his cheeks. He looked so despondent, and she felt sure she could trust him, in spite of all the lies.

‘Feng, have you told us everything now?' she asked him.

Feng nodded and sniffed noisily. ‘Gege did help the fat monk, but he
didn't
know he'd put your mother in danger. Perhaps …' He hesitated. ‘Perhaps they both disappeared because
the statue is missing. Perhaps if we give the statue back then they'll be set free?'

‘You may be right.' Zou nodded thoughtfully. ‘Let's go home to my place, then we'll decide what to do. Feng, pack up the things you want to bring with you. This is no place for you.'

As Feng put a few things in a bag, Xiaolong woke up. He looked around the room and saw the statue in Zou's hands. He seemed happy, flipping around in the air and shooting sparks from his nostrils.

‘Can you see him yet?' whispered Sienna to Feng, whose face was set in sudden concentration.

But he frowned and shook his head.

12 Xiao mao – Cat

I
t was late at night, and the floor of Zou's apartment was strewn with papers from the folder Hong Yi had given to Sienna. She was crouching amongst her mother's letters and research reports, searching for anything relating to the statue or Ling, while Feng had spread out the photos before him, and Rufus sat silently beside the boy, who had no idea he was there.

Xiaolong was sitting on Feng's shoulder. Sienna had noticed that he didn't seem to like
being away from Feng nowadays, and was always on his shoulder or by his side. Sometimes Feng
almost
caught sight of the dragon, but the moments were almost as frustrating as they were fleeting.
Why can't I even see my own friend?
he would demand, his eyes swimming.

Sienna was trying to get her mother's notes into some kind of order to see if she could spot anything significant. She sorted all the documents by date, including all the letters and emails Mum had written. Her mother had arrived in China in March. The last anyone had heard from her had been a phone call in May. Now it was September. She sighed in frustration: she couldn't seem to find
anything
!

Suddenly there was a small sound from the ground floor, causing Rufus to sit up. Xiaolong flew up into the air and Sienna turned round just in time to see Minka come up the stairs with a series of elegant leaps. Her white fur was unkempt.

‘Minka.' Rufus's voice betrayed no surprise. ‘You're certainly not looking your best. I always thought you cats valued cleanliness, if nothing else. Clearly I was mistaken.'

Before Minka could reply, Zou came into the kitchen. He didn't seem at all surprised to see Minka. He greeted the cat with a friendly smile and a small bow. He warmed up some milk for her and placed a small bowl on the table.

Minka drank quickly, then jumped on to a chair and started to wash her paws. Sienna was bursting with curiosity. She knelt down by the chair.

‘Minka, where have you been? Have you found my mother?' she asked.

‘Of course,' the cat replied tartly. ‘I told you back in Shanghai that she was alive, and now I've found her. You can always count on me.'

‘She's alive!' Sienna repeated to Feng breathlessly. She sank down to the floor, feeling overwhelmed with happiness and relief. She wanted to laugh and scream and throw Rufus in the air!

Feng sat down beside her and stroked her arm gently. ‘What about my brother?' he asked her. ‘Can your … friend tell you about him too?'

Minka carried on cleaning her fur, as cool as a cucumber. The doctor and Bai tuzi watched her in fascination.

Rufus, though, had lost patience. ‘Spit it out, will you? Where
are
they? What's happened to them?'

Minka sighed. ‘Kate is being held prisoner, deep in a mine nearby. There is a man with her, though I didn't pay much attention to him, I'm afraid. I suppose he might be this one's brother.' She flicked her nose at Feng dismissively.

‘Gege's all right too,' Sienna whispered to Feng. He smiled in relief.

Minka continued. ‘She has other, very unpleasant company, though – that woman from the photos, whose fingernails are as sharp as the claws of her friend, the crocodile monster. Her voice could turn water to ice.'

‘Ling!' cried Sienna.

‘Yes,' said Minka. ‘But the good news is, Kate is alive. She's writing a book, and she has until tomorrow to finish it. The witch has demanded it for the Moon Festival celebrations tomorrow night, apparently. After that, well, they won't need your mother any more.'

For a moment there was silence in the room. Sienna was trying hard not to think about what would happen when they no longer had any use
for her mum. She wiped her eyes quickly with both hands and sniffed hard.

‘I'll find my mum
and
Ling, and I'll make Ling wish she'd never messed with our family,' she said firmly. She sat down beside Minka and began to stroke the cat's fur carefully. ‘Can you find your way back to where they're keeping Mum and Gege prisoner?'

Minka looked up contentedly to the ceiling as Sienna tickled her neck. ‘But of course. There's only one problem – I can't get through to your mother. There were times when I thought she could hear me – she'd look in my direction, follow my movements with her eyes – but I also got the feeling she didn't want to speak to me.' Minka shook her head sadly.