White Tiger (13 page)

I spoke very softly. ‘He’s dying.’

She put her hand on my arm. ‘He isn’t. He looks fine.’

‘He is. He has a few years, no more than that.’

‘Plenty of time,’ Louise said. ‘Don’t be stupid. Don’t throw something good away just because it’s not going to last forever, Emma. Nothing lasts forever anyway.’

‘I know.’ I shrugged. ‘He’s made his choice and I have to respect it.’

Louise smacked her forehead with her palm. ‘I don’t know which of you is stupider.’

I smiled with misery. ‘You know what? Neither do I.’

M
onica looked after Simone before dinner while I had a session with Mr Chen. I stopped dead halfway through the set I was working on; I’d forgotten the next move. I frantically searched through my memory, but I couldn’t remember what came next.

Mr Chen waited quietly next to the mirrors. He would only help me if I asked.

I took myself two steps back through the set and performed the moves again. Again I stopped.

I dropped my arms and sagged. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t remember what comes next.’

‘Your performance of the set is very untidy, as well,’ Mr Chen said. ‘You should be practising more.’

‘I can only practise when Simone’s doing something else. It’s hard to find the time.’ ‘What about the evenings?’

‘Hey, that’s my time,’ I snapped. ‘You have no right to ask me to work then.’

He wasn’t fazed by my outburst. ‘I’ve seen you come in here in the evening.’

‘Yeah, okay, I practise in the evenings sometimes,’ I said. ‘But most of the time Simone’s worn me out by the end of the day.’

Mr Chen watched me silently for a while, then Leo tapped on the door and entered. He saluted Mr Chen. ‘I can take Simone sometimes, not a problem.’

‘Emma, arrange a roster with Leo for him to care for Simone so that you can practise,’ Mr Chen said. ‘If you are to gain this useful skill, you will need to work with it. Practise at least an hour every day.’

‘You sure that’s all right, Leo?’ I said.

‘Not a problem. The more skilled people, the better.’

‘I’ve been called,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Emma, stay here and practise the set while Simone is with Monica. Leo, Emma was about halfway through a level six Southern Mantis set—remind her of the next part.’

‘My Lord,’ Leo said, and both he and I saluted Mr Chen. He nodded to us and went out.

‘You should have mentioned it if you didn’t have enough time to practise,’ Leo said. ‘Start from the beginning, see how far you go.’

I moved through the first part of the set. ‘I don’t like taking so much time off work to do this.’

Leo nodded as he watched me. ‘Very nice. It’s not time
off
work, it
is
work. If you are skilled enough then you can defend Simone as well as I can.’

‘Oh come on, Leo. I’m just a tiny woman. How could I possibly be as good as you?’

‘Wing chun was invented by a woman.’

‘That’s one of the most lethal styles of all,’ I said with wonder. ‘A woman? Really?’

‘That’s the story.’ Leo moved forward to correct my stance slightly. ‘Women are smaller and faster. In battle you have the advantage over someone bigger like me, because I have to come down to you.’

‘Do you think those guys this afternoon were demons?’

‘Hard to tell. But as long as they don’t know you’re learning the Arts, they won’t come after you.’

‘That’s reassuring,’ I said. ‘I’ll just have to make sure they never find out that I’m learning.’ ‘It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.’

‘I’m not worried about them coming after me,’ I said. ‘I’m thinking of Simone’s safety. If they don’t know I’m trained, I’ll have the advantage of surprise. All the better for me to defend Simone.’

‘Excellent,’ Leo said.

I stopped. ‘This is as far as I can remember.’

Leo moved next to me, so I could see him in the mirrors, and took up the same position. ‘Okay, I’ll show you the next bit. Tell me when to stop.’

‘I really appreciate this, Leo,’ I said softly.

He smiled at me in the mirror. ‘You’re kidding, right? It’ll be great to have somebody else in the household to practise with, who won’t always be knocking me on my ass.’

‘Down, Emma,’ Mr Chen said, gently pushing my arm down. ‘Don’t imagine your opponent higher than you are. You are smaller than most demons, you have the advantage. Make them come down to you.’

I nodded and lowered my blocking arm, then spun and punched, punched with the other hand, and blocked again.

‘Good,’ he said. ‘Again.’

I went through the set again. Step, punch, block, punch, punch.

‘After this week we can’t train on Saturday or Wednesday mornings,’ Mr Chen said, watching me. ‘Now that the weather’s cooler, I’m having my horse moved back from China, from his summer turnout. I’ll be riding with Simone twice a week.’

‘I didn’t know you had a horse,’ I said, blocking too high and correcting myself before he could do it for me.

‘I bought him for my wife; she chose him and named him Dark Star. He raced for a few years and was quite successful, but he pulled a tendon. They wanted to put him down but I wouldn’t let them; he’s all right as a saddle horse. I feel I owe him a decent life, after all the happiness he gave us.’

I stopped with my hands still raised and grinned at him. ‘Your horse isn’t black too, is he?’

‘Of course he is.’ He moved beside me. ‘Add three palm strikes at the end of the last block.’ He demonstrated, moving with the fluid grace that always made me watch with awe. ‘Block. Punch, left, right, then three palm strikes.’ His hands were so fast they were a blur.

‘Again. I didn’t see your hands. Will you for God’s sake
slow down
for me, please? You’re just too damn fast.’

He took my chiding with his usual good humour. He slowed for me, moving carefully through the strikes, then turned and grinned. ‘How about that?’

‘That’s more like it,’ I said, and moved through the set, adding the palm strikes.

‘Down, Emma,’ he said, reminding me.

I performed the set again, adding the palm strikes lower, and he nodded with approval. ‘Well done.’

‘Can anyone ride there?’ I said.

‘No. Only club members are allowed.’

‘Damn,’ I said softly, performing the palm strikes and spinning to perform the set the other way. ‘All the places I’ve tried have waiting lists a mile long. The places that don’t have waiting lists are out in the New Territories, at least an hour and a half away.’

‘You ride?’

‘I had a pony I loved dearly back in Australia. I really miss him.’

‘Faster,’ he said. ‘Would you like to come along? I can arrange a school horse for you. That would be
perfect—you can ride with Simone while I work Star.’

I tried to control my huge grin but failed.

‘Do you have suitable footwear? Leo can take you to the tack shop in Star House if you don’t. Simone would love for you to come.’

‘Sure.’ I moved through the set again. ‘You spend a lot of time with Simone.’

‘I spend as much of my time with her as I can. I want to make every second count.’

I deliberately did the block too high, and he put his hand on my arm, gently pushing it down.

‘You’re a wonderful father,’ I said without looking at him.

He froze completely, his hand on my arm. Then he wrapped his other arm around me and pulled me into him, his chest against my back. I closed my eyes as my body responded.

‘You’re a wonderful nanny.’ He released me, moved back and spoke more briskly. ‘And very talented. You learnt that set very quickly. How about some weapons?’

I turned and gazed at him. I knew what I wanted to do.

And he knew it as well. He gestured towards the weapons rack. ‘Weapons, Emma.’

I shrugged, went to the rack and pulled out my sword. If he didn’t stop giving me these damn mixed signals I was going to use my sword on
him.

I pulled Simone’s little jodhpurs over her bottom. ‘You’re getting too big for these already.’

‘Leo says I’ll be taller than him when I grow up.’

‘I don’t think so.’

She threw her arms around my neck. ‘I’m glad you’re coming, Emma.’

I pulled her close and held her. ‘So am I.’

Mr Chen appeared in the doorway, wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of cream breeches. ‘Ready to go?’ I stared at him. ‘What?’

‘Couldn’t you find any black riding pants?’ He grinned. ‘No. I nearly had some made.’ ‘You should,’ I said. ‘You look strange in any other colour.’

‘Everything Daddy wears is black. He’s
boring
,’ Simone said.

‘You think I’m boring?’ he said with delight.

She threw herself at him. He hoisted her to sit on his hip. She nodded, very serious. ‘Yes. Boring.’

He squeezed her. ‘What colour’s your favourite pony?’

‘Black.’

I went to them, put my arm around her, and pressed myself into both of them. ‘Then you’re just as boring as he is.’

‘You’re boring too,’ Simone said.

‘I don’t think you are, Emma,’ Mr Chen said. He put his free arm around my shoulders and guided me out. ‘Come on, ladies, our black ponies are waiting.’

He held me around the shoulders as we waited for the lift. Neither of us said a word.

It was delightful.

Mr Chen drove us to the country club. I hadn’t been there before—Jockey Club membership was incredibly hard to come by.

‘How long have you been a member?’

‘I was one of the first Chinese to be nominated,’ he said. ‘Something over a hundred years, I’m not sure.’

I choked back the laugh. ‘Sorry. How do you deal with the passage of time?’

‘I keep “inheriting” the membership—I have legal staff who handle that sort of thing for me.’

He led us down the drive to the stables. The sparkling white building had a red tiled roof and seemed to stretch forever.

A beautiful red-headed woman rode past on a spectacularly shining chestnut thoroughbred. She wore expensive breeches and a bright green cotton shirt. ‘Hello, John.’ She stopped her horse and bent to speak to us with a very cultured English accent. ‘Hi, Simone.’

‘Hello, Claudia. I’m going to ride.’

‘I’ll see you at the arena later then.’

‘Bye.’

Claudia shot a sharp glance at me, from my feet to my head, and rode away.

Mr Chen took Simone’s hand and we went into the complex, past a cleaner with a broom and dustpan who was carefully collecting every stray piece of hay or straw. We entered the stable building, with its large looseboxes on either side of the corridor. Fans on the ceiling kept the horses cool.

‘How many horses here?’ I asked.

‘About two hundred,’ Mr Chen said.

I whistled under my breath. ‘And they’re all retired racehorses?’

‘There are a few riding ponies as well, for the children.’ He nodded to a Chinese man leading a grey thoroughbred through the stables. ‘It’s a shame, not many of the racehorses make it this far. By the time they finish their racing career, most of them are either lame or too unruly to be decent saddle horses. These are the lucky ones. The Jockey Club does its best for them.’

‘You’re not joking,’ I said. We passed a groom leading a wet horse that had just been washed and Mr Chen pulled Simone out of the way. ‘This is like the horsy Hilton.’

‘No turnout for them though,’ Mr Chen said. ‘There
isn’t enough space. They’re in the stables all the time, except when they’re ridden or on the exercise machine.’

‘So your horse needs to be ridden every day?’

‘I have somebody to do it for me when I can’t. The son of a friend.’

We reached Star’s stable. The horse must have been seventeen hands high; he was enormous. The groom had already saddled him for Mr Chen.

Mr Chen nodded to the groom and shared a few words with him in Cantonese. The groom led the horse out and we followed.

We returned to the forecourt of the stables. An Olympic-sized indoor arena with viewing stands and a dark earth floor stood in the centre of the complex.

‘This is like something out of a movie,’ I said.

A European man on a very solid grey thoroughbred rode past and casually greeted Mr Chen.

Mr Chen waved back. He looked around, then nodded to some grooms holding ponies. ‘These are for you.’

Simone ran to the groom holding a cute black pony. He helped her on and adjusted her girth and stirrups for her.

‘The white one for you, Emma,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Thanks.’

The groom led the horse to the mounting block for me. When I was on I tried to adjust the stirrups but he wouldn’t let me; he had to do it. I wasn’t allowed to fix the girth either. Eventually I just sat, feeling extremely spoilt, while the groom did everything for me.

Mr Chen swung onto a dancing Star as the groom held the horse for him. He buckled his helmet, then took up the reins and nodded to the groom. ‘Come with me,’ he said. ‘We’ll have a walk around the cross-country course and then a run in the outdoor arena.’

The cross-country course was about ten hectares of beautifully manicured lawns and hedges with flowers. A few gardeners worked on the hedges as we rode past.

Star fidgeted all the way, baulking at every sound and trying to trot away. Mr Chen held him effortlessly; he was a fine rider.

‘How long have you been riding?’ I said.

‘On and off,’ he said cheerfully, ‘about sixteen hundred years.’

‘I have to stop asking questions like that,’ I said under my breath.

The European woman we’d seen earlier, Claudia, rode towards us. She turned her horse to join us. ‘Hello, John. Where have you been all the summer? We missed you.’

‘Star has turnout in China during the summer,’ Mr Chen said. ‘I only ride him in the cooler months.’

‘Lucky you, I wish I could do that.’ She smiled at me, friendlier now. ‘Who’s this?’

‘This is Emma, she looks after me,’ Simone said.

‘Oh, does she?’ Claudia’s smile gained a very slight edge and she spoke with a hint of disdain. ‘Nanny, I suppose.’

Simone nodded, serious. ‘That’s right.’ ‘You English, dear?’ ‘No, I’m Australian.’

Her nose tilted up. ‘Oh. Australian.’ She put both reins in one hand and the other on Mr Chen’s arm. ‘Dear John, the club is having the first competition of the season next week, why aren’t you competing?’

‘You know I don’t compete,’ Mr Chen said.

‘But your horse is so
good.
And so are
you.
I’ve seen the Chinese boy ride Star, he can jump anything you put him at.’

‘I don’t jump.’

‘But why not? You’re
such
a fine rider.’

‘Because I don’t want to,’ Mr Chen said with exasperation. ‘Weren’t you heading back to the clubhouse?’

She looked at her watch. ‘Oh, goodness, yes.’ She patted him on the arm, then turned her horse. ‘Give me a call sometime. We’ll have lunch or something together.’ She pushed her horse to a canter and rode away.