The Witch's Market (29 page)

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Authors: Mingmei Yip

BOOK: The Witch's Market
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The lawyer laughed. “Ha, Eileen, don't you worry about this! We're a big law firm and can find anyone we want. That's what people pay us for.”
Hanging up, I remembered what the
Book of Changes
had told me after I'd left Penelope's haunted room:
 
Pushing upward brings great success
It's the right time to see an important person
Do not be afraid
Going to the south
Is auspicious.
 
So the “great success” and “going to the south is auspicious” lines must have been referring to this five-million-dollar inheritance!
Epilogue
M
y time on Tenerife had been filled with new experiences, but they had been taxing ones. After all the misfortunes I had encountered I felt a need for closure, so I took trips to pay respects to the five departed souls: Alfredo and Penelope, Sabrina and Isabelle, and the only one who'd led a full life, Grandpa.
Standing at Sabrina's grave, I told her the good news that Juan, her son with Alfredo, had been found safe and sound. I also told her not to worry about her son, because his best friend Luis had inherited money from Alfredo to take care of Juan for life.
At Isabelle's grave, I told her the truth about Penelope but also asked that she promise not to enter my dreams again. For whatever reason, she kept her promise.
I never again visited Past Life Lake, for I believed I had learned whatever it had to teach me, and now wanted the unquiet dead out of my life.
Since our confrontation I had not seen Cecily, nor heard anything about her. I wondered if she'd gone to the lake in search of Alfredo's hidden wealth. Unexpectedly, my question was soon answered when I read the morning paper over breakfast a few days later.
F
OUR
W
OMEN
D
ROWN IN
P
AST
L
IFE
L
AKE
Four women drowned while diving in Past Life Lake, a notorious body of water that has claimed many victims in the past. Pending an autopsy, official identification has been withheld. However, sources have informed us that one of the deceased was Lucia Cruz, thought to be in her forties. Another victim was an older woman, while the other two are twins, probably in their twenties.
The source also said that the four women were considered by some to be witches and were sometimes seen selling products in the Witches' Market. Why they were diving and the exact cause of their drowning remains under investigation.
Had the witches overtaxed themselves trying to bring up the treasures?
Or was the lake really haunted with ferocious ghosts eager to pull people down to the depths?
Either way, what really killed them was their own greed.
Imagining the women drowning, I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. I forced myself to take a deep breath, only to have my head start pounding. Needing to lie down, I quickly signed the check and left the dining room. As I crossed the lobby, the receptionist called me over and handed me a package.
“Who's it from?” I asked.
“I have no idea; it just came in the mail.”
Instead of waiting for the ancient elevator, I rushed up the stairs to my room. Once inside I tore open the package and found a DVD. I inserted it into the player and pressed the play button.
At first I saw nothing but a park with tall trees. Then I recognized it as the place where the two brothers, Ed and Kyle, had claimed they'd witnessed the earth swallowing the homeless man and a dog—Isabelle's dog.
I really was not in the mood for any more strange happenings but, my heart beating fast, I steeled myself to watch.
Onscreen, a very old man dressed in rags appeared, accompanied by a feeble-looking dog anxiously sniffing the ground. Suddenly a gust of wind blew, stirring up a cloud of dust. Then the dust seemed to form the image of a woman whose face I had come to recognize—Isabelle!
I rubbed my eyes to have a clearer look. Though she was only in silhouette, I was sure I was seeing an apparition of Sabrina's daughter. The dog must have seen it, too, because it began barking excitedly. What followed was even more unexpected. Another silhouetted form, its expression elegant and arrogant, tried to snatch the dog away. Just then the dog and man were pulled down into the earth, as if by some unknown geological force.
At this point, the tape ended, leaving me agitated and sweating. So the story was true after all. Not only did the earth truly swallow up a man, but also the ghosts of Isabelle and Penelope were there, still fighting over a dog from beyond their watery graves.
While I strained my mind, trying to make sense of the whole thing, a voice in my head interrupted me, saying,
“Let go of the other world and focus on your present one. The only way to counteract evil is to do good.”
I began to gather up the packing material when I noticed there was a letter. I unfolded it and read.
Dear Eileen,
You will see that Ed and I didn't lie—the earth truly did swallow an old man and a dog. We felt a ghostly presence, and the dog certainly could sense it as well. I'm sure you're the only person who'll believe in our story. Maybe you will even be able to tell who that ghostly presence was.
I could feel the presence with my sixth sense, but I think because you're a woman, yours is stronger than mine. I do know that there really are ghosts—and the dog knew it too. I hope this tape won't scare you, but help you solve some of the puzzling happenings here on the island.
Ed and I will go back to the U.S. this afternoon, so this is good-bye.
Perhaps our paths will cross again. In the meantime, best of luck in all your adventures.
Kyle
The tape had scared me—how could it not? But I was also relieved because now I could include this strange event in my book, and I had video evidence of it as well.
I had to conclude that the people whose paths I'd crossed on the islands—Alfredo, Sabrina, Maria, Cecily and her friends, Luis, Father Fernando, Juan, Uncle Wang, even the long-deceased Penelope and Isabelle, and the brothers Ed and Kyle—had been my teachers, however unwittingly. I wouldn't have chosen the lessons, but felt better off for them. And I was richer too. Laolao had always told me that everything that happens to us is for a reason and I was beginning to think she was right.
Even though I was now financially secure, I had learned the price of greed and resolved to be satisfied with what I had. Alfredo was hardly a model, yet in the end he had redeemed himself by trying to make amends—including supporting the young man he'd rejected as his son.
Luis seemed to be the only one without greed. He was perhaps the most decent man I had ever met; yet even so, I wasn't sure that I would be content to spend my life with him. With or without me, I hoped that his beginner's heart would never be defiled as he journeyed through this world filled with smoke and dust, wind and frost.
Luis reminded me of a fictional character, the protagonist Jia Baoyu in the great Chinese novel
Dream of the Red Chamber
. Living amidst endless temptation and evil, Baoyu forever retains his innocence and undying love for Lin Daiyu.
Like Baoyu waiting for Daiyu, I decided to go to Luis's house and wait for his return.
While waiting, I could finally start to write my book. I'd had more than enough adventures to fill a book, whether nonfiction or fiction.
Now that the evil witches were out of the way, I decided to revisit the Witches' Market. I considered even setting up my own booth as a professional, but an honest one. There were many things I could do: use my third eye to discover secrets, enhance luck for the unfortunate, prepare traditional Chinese herbs, not only familiar ones like ginseng, but authentic ones like swallow soup, live frog wine with animal blood, and water mixed with burnt talisman ashes. Or, like Laolao, maybe I'd even beat the petty people. But I decided that practicing witchcraft could wait while I worked on my book. So I sat in my hotel room, scribbling furiously.
The days and weeks passed until I thought it was about time for Luis's return. So I packed and checked out of my hotel. The bellman managed to squeeze all my luggage into a taxi and after the long ride I arrived at Luis's house. There was no sign that he had come back yet. Once my luggage was safely inside, the first thing I did was start a fire and heat water for a bath. Soothed by this, I went to Luis's bedroom and took a long nap. Waking up and feeling refreshed, I went to sit in the courtyard with my pen and a notebook.
I forgot about the passing time, until I noticed the sunlight was fading and I looked up at the setting sun. The huge disk rested on the horizon, dyed a stunning orange-red. Watching it slowly submerge into Past Life Lake, I thought back on all that had happened since I'd come to the little village.
There were sculpting lessons with Grandpa and my talks with Luis about love and books, our simple good times, and Luis's plain but tasty cooking. Happy and sad moments, all evoked by this stunning twilight, far from home in a remote village next to a haunted lake.
The setting sun marked the end of this phase of my life; but when it rose the next morning, I was sure it would show me new adventures, maybe with Luis and maybe not.
Lines of Lu You's poem came into my mind:
Nothing stains me with the world's dust
Wherever I go, cares do not follow me.
When it rains, I just wait for the rainbow....
I knew this was the real gift of the opening of my third eye, not to look back on the dead but to see the world of the living with a new perspective.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
THE WITCH'S MARKET
 
 
Mingmei Yip
 
 
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
 
 
The questions and discussion topics that
follow are intended to enhance your
group's reading of this book.
Discussion Questions
1.
Surveys show many people still believe in witches. Are you one of them? If so, why?
2.
What is the difference between a shaman and a witch?
3.
Do you believe that some people possess supernatural powers such as the ghost-seeing
yin
eye?
4.
Should Eileen continue to be a professor of witchcraft, or should she follow her
laolao
's footsteps and be a shamaness?
5.
Do you think Eileen would be happier with the poor furniture maker Luis or with her rich ex-boyfriend Ivan?
6.
Each character in the novel teaches us a different life lesson. What do you think these lessons are?
7.
Alfredo's maid, Maria, is loyal to him until his death. What do you think of what she does after?
8.
Laolao and Uncle Wang both seem to have supernatural powers. Do you think these powers are real? What do you think about how each uses them?
9.
The protagonist, Eileen Chen, learns much of importance from her dreams. Do you learn from your own dreams?
10.
Divination (fortune-telling) plays an important role in the novel. What do you think of using divination to make important life decisions?
Mingmei Yip
was born in China and received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne. She has written for major Hong Kong newspapers and has appeared on many national and international television and radio programs. She immigrated to the United States in 1992, where she now lives in New York City with her husband. Her novels have been published in ten different languages, and she is also an accomplished musician, painter and calligrapher. Visit her at
www.mingmeiyip.com
.
S
ECRET
OF A
T
HOUSAND
B
EAUTIES
Set against the vibrant and intrigue-laden backdrop of 1930s China, Mingmei Yip's enthralling novel explores one woman's defiant pursuit of independence.
 
 
Spring Swallow was promised in marriage while still in her mother's belly. When the groom dies before a wedding can take place, seventeen-year-old Spring Swallow is ordered to become a ghost bride to appease his spirit. Under her in-laws' protection, she will be little more than a servant, unable to know real love or bear children. Refusing to accept her fate as a “bad-luck woman,” Spring Swallow flees on her wedding day.
In the city of Soochow, Spring Swallow joins a community of renowned embroiderers. The women work for Aunty Peony, whose exquisite stitching once earned her the Emperor's love. But when Aunty Peony agrees to replicate a famous painting—a lucrative assignment that will take a year to complete—betrayal and jealousy emerge within the group. Spring Swallow becomes entangled in each woman's story of heartbreak, even while she embarks on a dangerous affair with a young revolutionary. On a journey that leads from the remote hillsides around Soochow to cosmopolitan Peking, Spring Swallow draws on the secret techniques learned from Aunty Peony and her own indomitable strength, determined to forge a life that is truly her own.

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