Chook Chook (5 page)

Chapter Nine

I whipped around to see a plump middle-aged woman, gripping a feather duster in one hand. Little and Lo calmly peered at her, their eyes wide and heads cocked.

‘Oh my goodness, birds! Filthy, disgusting birds!' the housekeeper screeched. My chooks turned their heads in opposite directions, their beady eyes darting left and right.

I hurried over to explain. ‘It's okay. They're just chickens. They're perfectly tame.' I leaned over and picked up Little and held her in my arms.

‘Oh my goodness, a child! What are you doing in here? Who are you? Answer me this minute. Oh my goodness!' She only stopped firing questions at me when Lo suddenly darted forward, his wings spread out to their full span.

‘Shoo! Oh my goodness, it has diseases.' She swung her feather duster about like a sword. ‘Diseased pests!'

‘Stop it, you'll hurt him,' I cried out as one of her blows clipped Lo's crest. Lo was furious, puffing up his feathers so that he looked about twice his normal size. He charged ahead, his sharp beak pointed forward like a missile.

He pecked the tip of the woman's shoe. She threw up her arms and let go of her duster, falling backwards on to her bottom. She lay there with her legs flailing and kicking the air.

‘Help, it bit me. It
bit
me! Oh my goodness, rabies! I have rabies!'

Lo glared at her as she thrashed about, scratching at the carpet with his sharp talons.

I scooped him up just as he readied himself to pounce. I held both chooks close to my chest. ‘Shh, shh. It's okay, it's okay,' I murmured in a sing-song voice, doing my best to calm them. The housekeeper gawked at us, strands of hair poking out of her ponytail. I heard the squeak of doors opening down the hall.

‘What's going on?' came a boy's voice.

I had to get out and fast.

The housekeeper was pointing at me. ‘You, you . . . you're not allowed here. I'm telling the dean!' I didn't waste any more time and rushed out into the corridor. A few boys poked their heads out of their rooms as I scampered past.

‘Hey, come back here!' one of them yelled.

I broke into a run.

I took the stairs two at a time, Little and Lo clasped firmly to my chest. There were shouts following me as I burst into the courtyard.

‘Cap! Cap!' I hollered.

Cap was standing between the rubbish-bin goal with his knees bent and arms outstretched. He looked up in surprise. ‘Mei, what's wrong?'

‘We have to find Guo! Before she tells the dean!'

‘Hey, time out!' Chun called out, wiping the sweat from his brow as he jogged over. ‘What's going on?' He was much taller than Guo and bigger too, almost as big as Jin. I felt a bit like a squirrel gazing up at him, my cheeks red and puffed out from running down the stairs. He looked at the chickens writhing in my arms. ‘Um, what's that?'

‘Oh, this is Mei,' said Cap. ‘That's Little and Lo.' He turned to me, confused. ‘What do you mean we have to find Guo?'

‘The housekeeper, she's going to tell the dean we're here and get Guo into trouble. We have to warn him!' I could feel that Little and Lo's hearts were pounding as hard as mine.

There were shouts coming from the balcony. The housekeeper's head popped up over the railing. ‘There they are. Get them, seize them!' Her voice was a hysterical cackle.

‘Oh no, it's crazy Mrs Tan,' said Chun. ‘She hates it when we play ball in the courtyard.' He whistled loudly to get the attention of the other boys. ‘We should get out of here. Come on, I know where Lin's class is.'

Chun led us to one of the smaller buildings along the main road of the campus. But even this one was almost four storeys tall, its walls covered in large grey tiles. I saw a sign above the entrance but aside from the characters for ‘school', I couldn't read it. As we walked up the steps to the sparkling glass doors, I asked Chun about the sign.

‘
It says “School of Economics and Management”
.
It's where you take business classes,' he explained. ‘That's what your brother's studying.'

‘What about you?' Cap asked.

‘I'm doing a course in advanced maths and science.'

Maths and science were my worst subjects in school. Chun must have been really smart too. ‘Keep your voices down. There are classes,' he whispered, pressing a finger to his lips.

We tiptoed through the wide hallway. The floors were so smooth and shiny I could almost see myself in them. The walls were decorated with fancy wooden plaques lined with neat gold trim. At the far end of the corridor, behind a glass cabinet, was a large bulletin board with rows and rows of pictures. When we got closer, I looked up and saw a familiar face.

‘Look,' I pointed for Cap. ‘It's Professor Law.' In his photo, Guo's professor peered over the top of his thick spectacles at us, a grumpy expression on his face.

‘It's room 305, come on.' Chun waved us over to the nearby stairwell.

The chooks shifted in my arms. The unusual sounds of our voices and footsteps echoing on the tile floor were unfamiliar and making my chickens nervous. Little, especially, was squirming. I nearly dropped her when one of her claws scraped my side.

‘Here,' Cap said, taking her from me. I breathed a thankful sigh of relief.

Chun led us up the stairs to the third floor. This hallway was much less decorated, with plain grey walls and dull slate tiles. Chun was moving quickly so I had to run to keep pace with his long strides. I was huffing and puffing by the time we finally reached room 305.

‘He's in the middle of his lecture,' Chun whispered as he peered through the window cut into the door.

‘Let me see.' Cap stood on his tiptoes, smushing his nose against the glass. I tried to look as well, but the window was too high for me.

‘I see him. I see Guo!' Cap spoke so loudly that Chun had to shush him. I needed to see so I set Lo down and pushed the boys aside. I jumped up, hoping to glimpse my brother at his desk.

‘Hang on,' Chun said and lifted me up under my armpits so I could get a better view. My feet dangled in the air as I peered through the glass panel. Then I spotted Guo.

He was just two seats over in the row closest to the door. He was slumped at his desk, his head pillowed on his arms, a pencil dangling from the tips of his fingers. And even though I couldn't hear him, I could tell that he was snoring!

I tapped a fingernail gently against the glass, hoping I could wake him up and get his attention.

Chun quickly pulled me away from the window and set me on the ground.

‘I
need
to talk to Guo, or he's going to get into trouble!' I said.

Chun shook his head. ‘Professor Law won't tolerate an interruption. Believe me, Lin'll be in even more trouble than he already is.' He stole another peek into the room and frowned. ‘Lin's a brave kid. I can't believe he's sleeping in class.'

I pouted and felt so sorry for Guo. This was all my fault.

‘Hey, guys.' Cap was pacing up and down the hallway, looking worried. His movement back and forth was making Little anxious. Worried she was going to cry out, I rushed over to take her from Cap. I looked down at my empty hands.

Where was Lo?

CA-CAW! CA-CAW! COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO! CA-CAW!

Lo's proud crowing rang in my ears. And it was coming from inside Guo's classroom!

Chapter Ten

Professor Law's office was small, dark and cramped, his desk a mess of papers, pens and used coffee cups. A dusty old computer sat in the corner with the keyboard balanced on top of the screen. A bookcase stood against the wall, but it was mostly empty.

Meanwhile, the rest of the room was brimming with books. Some lay open on the desk, their corners bent, with colourful tabs sticking out like little flags all around the edges. Others were stacked in neat piles along the floor, rising up like buildings in a mini city. The wall behind the professor's desk was plastered with picture frames, each holding an award, honour or certificate of achievement.

The professor sat in a chair in front of them all, scowling.

A couple of his students had managed to capture the crowing Lo. They had found an abandoned wire cage in one of the supply cupboards. I had been too scared to protest when they stuffed my poor rooster into the cage and then wrested Little from Cap's arms.

Professor Law had then marched us into his office, ordering his students to leave the cage by the door. I could still hear my chickens squawking outside.

The professor peered down at the three of us seated before him, his large googly eyes darting left and right. He leaned forward on the desk and barked at Guo, ‘Mr Lin, explain yourself!'

Guo shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his mouth twitching as he struggled for words.

‘I'm – I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know – they must have escaped somehow.' Guo hung his head, avoiding his teacher's gaze.

‘Mr Lin, this is a university, not a child's playground! I don't know how you do things in the village, but here we
respect
our homes and our classrooms and we don't clog them with . . . with filth.' He gestured wildly towards the door. The chickens had stopped their squawking but I could still hear them scratching at the cage.

Guo bowed his head even lower, his eyes fixed on the ground as Professor Law went on. ‘These
children
. . .' he turned to glare at me and Cap, ‘. . . these children do not belong here, not to mention those . . . those
monsters.
Do you think this class is some kind of joke? Do you?'

‘No, sir.' I could see my brother was squeezing his eyes shut to avoid crying. I had to do something.

‘I'm sorry!' I blurted out. ‘It's all my fault! I wasn't supposed to be here.'

Professor Law turned his attention to me. I was burning with shame and anger but I did my best to explain. ‘I'm sorry. Please, it's not Guo's fault. I – I came to the university without telling anyone. I wasn't supposed to be here. And then I wasn't supposed to leave the room but I did.' My cheeks were wet and my vision began to blur. ‘Please, please don't punish Guo. It's my fault, it's all my fault.' My final pleas came out as loud sobs so I wasn't sure if anyone understood me.

The professor lowered his voice but it was still firm when he spoke. ‘Little girl, while it's admirable that you are standing up for your brother, whom you clearly love, you are a child. Your brother is the one who is supposed to be responsible and in charge. He should know better.' He turned to Guo and waited.

‘It's true, Mei. It's my responsibility.' Guo put his hand up to my cheek to wipe away my tears. ‘You're my responsibility and you always will be, no matter what. I'm your big brother.'

‘Guo, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble, you have to believe me.'

Guo nodded and gave me a small smile.

Professor Law sighed loudly and rustled under his stacks of papers until he pulled out an old telephone. It didn't even have buttons on it, just a large plastic dial. He picked up the handset, twisted the dial a few times and then pressed the phone to his ear.

‘Yes, Miss Wu? This is Professor Law. I need to get the Health Department to the university grounds at once. There have been diseased animals about. Yes, the whole building as well as the dorms will need to be disinfected. I'm not sure, I guess we quarantine the birds. Maybe there's a humane way to dispose of the animals, if they must.'

My crying had died down to sniffles but I felt my throat tighten as the meaning of Professor Law's words sunk in.
Dispose of the animals
?

Guo looked worried. ‘Wait, professor. There's no need for that. The chickens, they're our pets, they don't have diseases.'

But Professor Law shook his head. ‘I'm sorry, Mr Lin. You village folk might think that chickens can be pets, but here in civilised society, we know they're riddled with diseases. We simply can't take these types of risks, especially in a university.'

‘You can't!' I spluttered, jumping to my feet. ‘Little and Lo
do not
have diseases. They roll around in the dust every day to clean themselves.'

Professor Law cocked an eyebrow and his mouth curled upwards into a sneer. ‘They
clean
themselves in the dirt?'

I groaned. Pa had warned us that sometimes city folk were completely clueless when it came to farming. I looked helplessly at Guo.

Cap cleared his throat. ‘Professor, if I may interrupt, I believe you have this all wrong.'

‘I beg your pardon?' His eyes widened even more behind the thick lenses of his glasses.

We all turned to Cap. This was the first time he had spoken since the professor had brought us into his office.

‘You see, I was born in the city too. Before he was a general, my father was a city official.' I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at Cap's boasting. ‘I understand the diseases birds can carry. And chickens from those dirty villages, why, they're the worst!'

I was ready to clobber him but kept my clenched fist down by my side. Professor Law was nodding in agreement.

‘But, you see these chickens, they're not village chickens at all!' Cap winked at me.

What was Cap up to?

‘Surely,' he went on, ‘you know the TV show
Bet You Can't
?
Contestants take on crazy bets to win money
.

Professor Law nodded impatiently. ‘Yes, yes. My mother and I watch it together all the time. But, son, what does any of this have to do with these chickens?'

Cap smiled broadly. ‘Why, I thought you'd recognise them by now. The birds you've captured are the famous Tic Tac Toe Champion Chickens!'

Guo and I gawked at each other.

Tic Tac Toe Chickens?