The Scavenger's Daughters (Tales of the Scavenger's Daughters, Book One) (26 page)

“What?” Jet glanced over at her as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Just thinking out loud. I don’t know where else to look for Jasmine. But I’ve got to find her. That’ll be the first thing Ye Ye asks when he wakes up. If she’s still lost, it might send him into another relapse.”

Jet thumped the steering wheel, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. Ahead of him a man on a motorcycle carried a woman and a small boy, and Jet paused to let them through to the other lane.

“Think, Linnea. What does she like to do? What does she talk about?”

“She doesn’t talk, Jet. She never has.”

“Oh, I forgot. Sorry.”

Linnea wished the little girl
would
talk. Instead all she seemed interested in was her doll and playing with Ye Ye. She remembered just the night before how she had watched him in adoration while he told them—

“Jet!”

Jet jumped and jerked the wheel. Linnea grabbed the door handle and held on. She had never even ridden in a car and she could already see she hadn’t been missing much. She’d much rather be on a bigger, safe city bus than in the small, fragile vehicle.

“What, Linnea? You scared the crap out of me.”

“I’m so sorry. Forget going home. The girls will be fine. I have somewhere I want to check first. You know Plum Garden? Go there.”

Jet scrunched up his face. “Plum Garden? Why? Isn’t that a bit far for her to wander?”

“For most kids her age, maybe yes, but not Jasmine. That’s where Ye Ye and Nai Nai found her and it’s her favorite place to go on family outings. She could possibly remember how to get there. There’re too many of us for a taxi, so we’ve always walked together. I have a feeling she might go there to talk to her beloved fish.”

“Fish?” Jet looked puzzled. “Okay, if you say so. Let me find a place to turn around. But I do hope you know that garden has over seventy thousand square meters of land. It will take us hours to search the entire seventeen acres.”

Linnea shook her head. “No, it won’t. I know exactly where I want to look.”

Jet turned into a supermarket parking lot and then circled around to exit the opposite way.

Linnea clutched the door handle nervously with one hand and with the other she crossed her fingers under her leg. She hoped her gut instinct was right. If Jasmine wasn’t there, she was at a loss for what to do next to find the girl.

In front of the park Jet rolled his window down and handed the parking attendant ten yuan. The man waved them into the small space and tore a stub from his roll, giving it to Jet even as he looked the car up and down, admiring the sleek black lines.

Linnea struggled to sit taller in the seat, trying to peer through the windshield at the elaborate entrance gates. It was useless. Too many people were in the way and she couldn’t see any small children wandering alone.

She felt the tires hit the curb and was out of the car and on the sidewalk before Jet even shut off the ignition. She shifted from foot to foot, waiting for him. Dusk was coming and the park would soon close. She didn’t want to get locked out before she could take a look.

“Come on, Jet. Hurry!”

Jet joined her on the sidewalk and they hurried through the gate and toward the area where Jasmine had been found the year before. All of the girls knew their finding places; it was just one more way for her grandparents to help them know their history. Jasmine probably had the prettiest finding place of all—but this time Linnea ignored the beauty of the hanging trees, winding vines, and rock gardens as she searched through it all for a sign of the tiny girl. She kept walking, a pace that she could tell Jet was having trouble meeting, even though his legs were much longer than hers and he should have been running to keep up. She was getting impatient with him.

“Linnea,” he heaved, just a step behind. “Slow down. Wait. So this is where your little sister was found?”

Linnea paused for half a second, letting him catch up. “Yes, this is it. Well, this is the park—Jasmine was found just outside of the Huoran Cave.”
She picked up to a jog again. “We need to run, Jet. But that’s where we’re going. It’s a beautiful place to start a new life, right? Much better than my finding place.” Her words came out in jagged breaths with each stride.

She didn’t have to explain. By now Jet understood the term
finding place
meant where she was found after being abandoned.

“Wow, do you think her birth parents just left her here?” Jet asked, his tone incredulous.

Linnea sighed. She’d always found that people from the other side of town who had no experiences with abandonment or poverty also had no sense of reality for what desperate people could and would do. It wasn’t his fault; it was just the bubble that the rich lived in.

“We don’t know. There is a possibility she got lost, but no one came forward when the officials ran the ad in the local newspaper. So if they lost her, they sure didn’t try too hard to find her again.”

Around them they dodged open umbrellas held by women trying to shield their skin from what little light the setting sun gave off. They darted around strolling couples, children, and elderly men and women. Most were on their way out of the park and Linnea was frustrated at the slowness of everyone around her. Didn’t they understand this was an emergency situation? Her grandfather lay possibly dying, her little sister was lost, and the people around her were going on with their evenings like everything was fine with the world. Linnea thought she would explode with frustration.

As she left the path to take a shortcut to the cave, Jet must have felt the vibrations of stress coming from her, because he reached over and squeezed her hand.

“Linnea. Calm down. If she’s not here, we’ll keep looking. I’ll help you find her.”

Linnea was embarrassed when she felt the wet tears begin sliding down her cheek. Lately she’d really had a hard time shutting away her emotions. Jet was going to think she was nothing but a baby, but she couldn’t help it. The situation was desperate. She was desperate. It was getting dark fast and Jasmine was out there somewhere alone.

“Jet, everything is falling apart. Jasmine is lost. And what am I going to do about Ye Ye? What about all of us? He’s dying and what are we going to do? What will Nai Nai do without him? They’re never apart—it’s unthinkable, Jet.”

Linnea felt Jet trying to pull her to a stop, probably to hug her and give her comfort.

“Linnea, shhh… shhh… no one said he’s dying.”

She pulled back. They didn’t have to say it; she wasn’t stupid. And she didn’t have time for comfort. Everyone was depending on her. She pulled away and ducked under the low branches of a majestic plum tree.

Beside her she heard Jet take a sharp breath.

“Lin, is that—?”

There was a flash of pink through the branches, surrounded by the blue of the swirling water. Linnea swatted the hanging willows from in front of her face and trudged ahead. Could it be?

She broke through the branches and breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she’d hoped, outside the cave, squatting in the koi pond amidst the lily pads and flowers was Jasmine, the tiny pink doll dangling from one hand as she intently searched the water beneath her.

Linnea’s hand flew to her mouth and she attempted to muffle the sob that tore from her. Jasmine didn’t hear them; she was in her own little world. All around her the colorful fish swam, oblivious to the child who proved no threat to them. Linnea shook her head—in the fading light of the day and the silence of the scene, it looked almost dreamlike and she could imagine it was exactly the same as Ye Ye had described it when he first found the small girl.

“We’re going to frighten her, aren’t we? She sure is intent on touching those fish,” Jet whispered, his arm around Linnea’s shoulders. “She’s lucky the park attendant hasn’t seen her wading around in his pond—he’d have given her a scare for sure.”

“I’ll get her.” Linnea sighed in relief. Finally, there was one positive thing in a day that had felt like one long, bad dream. She bent down and pulled off her shoes and socks, throwing them on the grass. She waded into
the water, ignoring the cold sensation creeping up the bottoms of her jeans. Behind her Jet squatted on the bank, quietly waiting and watching.

“Jasmine?” Linnea called out softly, trying not to startle her. She didn’t want her to slip in the water and be soaked.

The little girl looked up, her eyes widened in surprise at seeing her big sister there. She wrinkled her brow in confusion, looking around Linnea.

“It’s just me, Mei Mei. And Jet. Remember him? We’ve come to take you home. Ye Ye and Nai Nai are worried about you, baby. You’ve been gone all day.” Linnea spoke to her softly and moved in closer, one slow step at a time as she felt along the slimy bottom of the pond to gain traction.

Jasmine pointed down to the fish, her face scrunched up as if she were about to cry. Linnea remembered the story from the night before and knew exactly what Jasmine had come to do. In her mind, just like in the legend, Jasmine thought her beloved fish could make her Ye Ye well. She was going to give the fish her greatest wish and wait for them to grant it. Linnea looked behind her and saw one of Nai Nai’s jars on the bank. Obviously, catching some of the fish was in the plan, too. Linnea cringed; she hoped the girl hadn’t planned to find a way to get to their bones.

Her heart broke when Jasmine followed her attention and also looked at the jar. The little girl held her arms up to Linnea and began crying in huge racking sobs. Linnea grabbed her out of the water and held her close, stroking her hair. They cried together, Jasmine for fear of her Ye Ye’s health and Linnea for fear of that, as well as what would happen to them all when he was gone. But Jasmine’s cries were the most pitiful thing she’d ever heard. She wished the girl could talk and release some of her fears with words. Linnea couldn’t imagine how scary it was to keep everything locked inside, unable to communicate them. Carrying her, she waded out of the water toward the bank. Jet held his hand out and caught her elbow, guiding her up the steep side. A few people gathered around them to point and stare. One couple generously handed them a worn blanket to wrap around Jasmine and muttered for them to just keep it. Jet accepted the gesture and draped it over both Linnea and Jasmine.

“There, there, Mei Mei. Ye Ye’s in the hospital and the doctors are working hard to make him better. See what you did? You made it possible for him to go back and get the care he needs. See—your fish
are
magic.” She looked over Jasmine’s head at Jet. She hoped he knew that she wasn’t really giving the girl credit, as it was he who had stepped in and been a hero all that day. She didn’t know what she would have done without him.

Jet smiled knowingly at her. “Come on, girls. Let’s get you home.”

L
innea worked her way through the house with her willow broom, sweeping the pile of dust out the door and into the courtyard. They had a lot to do before Friday and she needed all her sisters to work hard. Judging by the number of get-well wishes from the neighbors and Ye Ye’s colleagues who had stopped by since he had been staying in the hospital, there would be a lot of people in and out to welcome him home and she wanted to make him proud. Three weeks had passed—three long weeks during which Ye Ye had remained at the hospital to take treatments, with Nai Nai by his side. During that time Linnea had taken full responsibility for everything. She left home early each day to catch the business from the morning’s commuters, then returned to the house by midmorning. The rest of the day was spent cleaning, cooking, and taking care of Poppy and her sisters. Thank goodness they had always been taught to pull their share, as the burden alone would have been much too heavy. She, Lily, and Ivy had teamed up to make everything run smoothly. Peony was the only one who didn’t help, but they were used to her orneriness and just let her sit and write out her postcards, safely out of their way.