White Tiger (28 page)

I
lay awake, listening to the surf. The moon shone through the curtains, making the bed covers glitter as if covered in frost. Simone was an unmoving dark shape in the room’s other bed. The curtains billowed in the breeze. I’d left the window open; I liked to hear the sound of the waves.

I rose and went into the dark living room, still wearing my old tank top and tatty shorts.

Mr Chen was leaning on the balcony railing, dressed in black pyjama pants. The breeze lifted his long braid and brushed it over his bare back. A few strands of hair floated around him. He shifted slightly and the muscles moved beneath his skin, glowing in the moonlight.

I could have sworn he was waiting for me. He turned to me and smiled, his dark eyes shining. I slid the door open and the warm air brushed over me. I joined him on the balcony. The tiles were still warm, with a light dusting of sand on them. Simone’s little boogie board leaned against the railing to one side.

I stood next to him and we watched the moon rise over the water in silence. It seemed to fill the sky, the water shimmering below.

Eventually he spoke, his voice warm and low. ‘You should be exhausted after the day you’ve had today.’

‘I think I’m through exhaustion and out the other side, Mr Chen.’

He smiled sideways at me. ‘I’d really prefer it if you called me John.’

‘Not in front of Leo or Simone I won’t,’ I said, ‘…John.’

More than anything in the world, I wanted to put my arm around his waist and lean into him. I wanted to touch him so much it was killing me. I moved slightly away.

‘The moon is very beautiful tonight, isn’t it?’ he said. He gestured towards the ocean. ‘There is a large amount of sea life out there. Whales are migrating down the coast. The water is full of cetaceans and juvenile billfish, tuna and marlin. I swam side by side with another turtle for a long time. It is wonderful.’

‘You saw all that? Hold on—
another turtle
?’

He didn’t turn away from the ocean. ‘Don’t worry, I can hold human form out there, hard as it is for me.’

I bent and rested my forehead on the railing. ‘I’m employed by a sea monster.’

He spoke with mock impatience. ‘I thought you’d done some research on me. You should have known that by now.’

‘What—that you’re a sea monster?’

He nodded. ‘Hn.’

I straightened and leaned on the rail next to him. ‘North, black turtle. South, red phoenix. East, blue dragon. West, white tiger.’

‘Four winds,’ he finished for me. He turned and leaned one arm on the rail. ‘The dragon is blue-green. His name “Qing” means “clear” as in “clear sky”. In China he is often depicted as blue. In Japan he is often depicted as green. I suppose you saw what colour he really is.’

‘A gorgeous shade of turquoise,’ I said. ‘His hair is amazing.’

‘You should see his True Form. He is exquisite.’

‘He scared me to death,’ I whispered.

‘He wouldn’t be a dragon if he didn’t.’

‘And you’re North…’ I didn’t finish it; I didn’t want to insult him.

‘I am a turtle,’ he said. ‘I am the egg of a turtle.’

I gasped. The ‘egg’ thing was even more of an insult. He’d just calmly called himself a motherless bastard. I was speechless.

He turned back to the sea. ‘And a dog demon is a bitch. It is what we are, our nature. I am a Turtle.’

‘What about the snake thing, though? You’re often depicted as a combination of a snake and a turtle twining together.’

He watched the waves. ‘My Serpent essence is out there somewhere, roaming. I do not know where it is. Nobody else has seen it. It is absolutely silent when I call.’ His voice changed slightly. ‘Don’t ask me what happened, because I have no idea. Half of me is missing and I don’t know where it is. Right now I can exist separately. I will rejoin when I regain True Form.’

‘Does it hurt?’ I whispered.

He didn’t answer me. He just watched the waves.

‘Does it have something to do with the current situation? Because you’re so drained?’

He didn’t turn away from the water. ‘No. It happened long before all of this. I have no idea why.’

‘That is one of the weirdest things I have ever heard,’ I said. ‘And I have had far more than my fair share of weirdness in the past twelve months.’

‘And you have handled it remarkably well,’ he said. He turned back to me and smiled slightly. ‘Particularly the way you have been dealing with the demons.’

‘Are you kidding? Killing demons is great fun.’ I
shook my head as I understood. ‘Good God! I saw the Four Winds sit down to play mah jong,’ I said.

‘Until the Tiger once again opened his big stupid mouth.’

‘He threatened to eat the Phoenix. She was so…’

‘The word is “pissed”, Emma. I really like English sometimes. There’s no word that conveys it quite as well in Chinese.’

I grinned. ‘And the Dragon didn’t do anything. The Tiger insulted his consort and he just sat there.’

‘I think they had a small falling out afterwards. The Phoenix is pissed with both the Tiger and the Dragon. The only one she’s not annoyed with right now is me.’

We laughed softly together.

‘Are you speaking English right now?’ I said.

‘Yes. I’ve learned a few languages.’

‘Why? I would have thought you wouldn’t need to.’

‘I can speak and be understood. But if I write, I must write the language.’

‘Oh. That makes sense.’ I smiled up at him. ‘Your English is excellent.’

‘When I want to be clearly understood, I don’t bother speaking the language. But I like to keep my skills up, so I speak English to you, Leo and Simone as much as I can. Can you tell the difference? I’d be curious to know.’

I thought about it. ‘Yeah, I can tell. When you’re speaking English, like you are now, you sound more formal. More old-fashioned. When you’re not, you sound like me.’

‘That’s because then you are hearing the meaning, not the words.’

‘You always have a slight English accent, though. It’s very charming on top of your old-fashioned way of speaking.’

He raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something, then shook his head. He turned back to the water and I did as well.

We watched the moon rise in silence.

After a while he spoke. ‘Would you like to see some energy work? I think you would enjoy it.’

‘Yeah, sure,’ I said. ‘What’s involved?’

He gazed into my eyes and held his hands between us, palms up. ‘Take my hands.’

I froze, watching him. ‘Don’t be silly.’

His smile widened slightly. ‘While I am doing energy work, I have complete control of the energy. You are safe. I cannot harm you. Trust me.’

I sighed with resignation. I did trust him. I put my hands in his, feeling the hard calluses on his palm and thumb from the sword. I had similar calluses on my hand. We were a matched set.

I held his hands, looked up into his glowing dark eyes, and everything around us disappeared.

His eyes turned inward as he concentrated. He didn’t seem to see me. ‘Close your eyes.’

I closed my eyes, trusting him completely.

‘Don’t let go of my hands. This is most important. Wait.’

A slight tingle moved through me, from my hands to my feet and then back again.

‘Keep your eyes closed while I tell you what I’ve done. Don’t let go of my hands.’

I nodded with my eyes closed. The tingling stopped.

‘I have lifted you above the building,’ he said. I gasped. I couldn’t feel it; the sandy tiles were still beneath my feet. ‘You are now about half a li—about two hundred metres—above the top of the building. Whatever you do, Emma,
do not let go of my hands
.’

‘I understand,’ I said. ‘Can I open my eyes now?’

‘Sure.’

I opened my eyes. He stood in front of me, his face rigid with concentration, his eyes unseeing.

I looked down and felt a moment of dizziness when I saw how far above the beach we were. I gripped his hands and closed my eyes.

‘Are you all right?’ he whispered.

I nodded and reopened my eyes. I just wouldn’t look down.

Now that we were higher, the sea seemed to stretch forever. The moon had risen further over the water and a glittering silver road spread over the waves. The beach glowed below us, and the mountains of the hinterland shimmered in the distance.

‘This is energy work?’ I whispered.

He didn’t focus on me, he was concentrating. ‘Hn.’

‘You can teach me this?’

He seemed to see me for the first time. ‘If we had a thousand years, I could teach you this. But I will teach you some simpler things; I think you will find them useful.’

I looked into his glowing dark eyes. ‘I wish we did have a thousand years.’

His voice was full of pain. ‘So do I, dear Emma.’ He inhaled sharply and his eyes unfocused again. He smiled slightly, still concentrating. ‘I am a fool.’

‘We both are,’ I whispered.

Leo’s deep voice carried clearly on the night air. ‘If you two do not come down from there right now, I will call the police.’ He stood on the roof garden, next to the spa, with his hands on his hips. ‘Even worse, I may be forced to call Ms Kwan.’

‘He’s just upset because if he were to try energy work it would probably kill him,’ Mr Chen said loudly, still unfocused.

‘You are incredibly mean to him sometimes,’ I said.

‘Don’t worry, Emma, he’ll get his,’ Leo said. ‘You two
get down here now
!’

I didn’t feel the movement. The tiles were still warm beneath my feet. Mr Chen’s face went rigid with concentration and we floated gently back down to the balcony.

Leo ducked inside from the roof garden and thundered through the apartment and out onto the balcony. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest and glowered.

Mr Chen nodded reassurance and released my hands, then both of us turned to face Leo, looking sheepish.

‘Do that again and I really will resign,’ Leo said. ‘I don’t know why I bother looking after you when you throw your energy away like that.’

Mr Chen sagged slightly. I felt like a child caught with her hand in the candy jar.

‘If Ms Kwan saw you doing that, she’d nail your shell to the wall,’ Leo said.

I giggled at the mental image and Leo glared at me. ‘Think of Simone,’ he said.

That sobered me. ‘She’s right, Mr Chen. You should rest.’ I nodded to Leo. ‘I’m glad one of us has some common sense.’

‘I wouldn’t call it common sense. Look what I put up with!’ Leo returned to his room, shaking his head.

Mr Chen and I shared a smile.

‘He’s right, John. Go and rest.’

We went through the sliding doors and Mr Chen closed them behind us.

‘Thanks for showing me that,’ I whispered as we parted. ‘But don’t ever do it again.’

‘You are more than welcome,’ he whispered back. ‘And I’ll try not to.’

M
r Chen pulled an old black T-shirt over his swim shorts and stretched out on his towel. ‘We’ve been here a week now, Emma. We’ll go back in another three days, after the weekend. There are so many things that need my attention. I can’t stay away for too long.’

‘I understand.’ I didn’t need to ask him whether he felt better. He glowed with good health, the scar on his abdomen had nearly disappeared, and he even appeared younger, in his early thirties.

‘I wanna stay here,’ Simone said without turning to look at us.

‘I have to go back to Hong Kong, you know that,’ Mr Chen said.

Simone banged her little spade on the sand in disgust.

Leo hadn’t said anything and I looked over at him. He was distracted; gazing up the beach. I turned to see what he was looking at.

A pair of good-looking men in swim shorts practised martial arts together. They looked in their mid-thirties, tanned and muscular. They performed high roundhouse kicks on each other; probably karate or tae kwon do.

Two gorgeous young women sat on towels nearby and watched them.

The men stopped and walked down to the water together. One of the women followed them in. She spoke to them and they answered her. They were friendly; I could see them smiling as they spoke. Eventually they walked out of the water and back up the beach together, ignoring her. She gave up and returned to the other young woman, said something. The first woman shook her head.

Leo and I both laughed.

‘Go and talk to them,’ I said softly. ‘They probably know their way around.’

Leo turned back to watch Simone.

‘Go, Leo,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Tomorrow’s Saturday. Take the whole weekend. The time is yours.’

Leo didn’t move.

I shoved him so hard he nearly fell over. ‘Go!’ ‘That’s an order, Leo. Go and talk to them,’ Mr Chen said.

Leo growled something unintelligible under his breath, rose and walked over to the two men. He showed them some shaolin moves, demonstrating ways to block the high kicks and take an opponent down with a minimum of effort. The men were delighted and asked him to show them more.

Mr Chen watched Leo with a small smile. Then he turned his attention to me. ‘And you, Emma, will visit your family. I have booked a flight for you to return to Hong Kong in two weeks.’

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

‘I spoke to your mother and she will be delighted to have you there.’

‘What?’

‘She’s expecting you tomorrow morning. Your sister will be there as well—she says your nephews are dying to see you.’

I raised my hand to shove him and changed my mind. He grinned at me. I dropped my head to my knees.

‘You don’t want to see your family?’ he said.

‘I am so embarrassed,’ I said. ‘I’d intended to spend a day with them, and I haven’t even done that. I didn’t even
think
of them really.’ I looked up at him. ‘Thanks.’

He shrugged. ‘Family is important.’

I shared breakfast with Mr Chen and Simone before I left.

‘Where’s Leo?’

Mr Chen stirred his congee. ‘He didn’t return after meeting up with his friends last night. I don’t think he’ll be back until late tomorrow night or early Monday morning.’

‘Good,’ I said. ‘Will you two be okay without me?’ Both Simone and Mr Chen snorted with disdain. ‘You are a silly, Emma,’ Simone said. ‘You go and see your mummy and daddy.’

‘I’ll be gone for two whole weeks, sweetheart.’

‘Is that longer than one day?’

‘Yep.’

Simone shrugged. ‘Me and Daddy are going swimming. And talking to the fish.’ ‘What do the fish say?’

Her eyes were cheeky over her cereal. ‘They’re really boring. Nearly as boring as Daddy.’

Mr Chen made a soft sound of amusement but didn’t say anything.

I finished my tea. ‘I’d better go. I’m supposed to pick the car up at nine.’

Mr Chen rose and came to me. He stood slightly away and looked down. Then he looked into my eyes. ‘I will miss you.’

‘I will too!’ Simone yelled, and ran and tackled me. I picked her up and she threw her little arms around my
neck. She kissed me loudly on the cheek. ‘Me and Daddy will miss you, Emma!’

‘I’ll miss you too, sweetheart.’ I pulled her close and smiled at Mr Chen over her shoulder. ‘I’ll miss both of you.’

He turned away. ‘Go, Emma. I’ll see you back home in two weeks. Enjoy this time with your family.’

I lowered Simone. She pushed me gently. ‘Bye, Emma.’

I swallowed, turned and picked up my bag. I embraced Monica, and left.

I took a taxi to the shopping centre to collect the rental car. I was tempted to rent a luxury convertible, but decided against it and got a small hatchback instead. I threw my bag into the back and headed northwest to Montford.

The Gold Coast’s huge sparkling mansions faded and the houses became smaller and more unkempt the further west I travelled. Montford was an ordinary suburban town just out of Brisbane; nothing like the expensive glamour of the Gold Coast.

After nearly two hours’ driving I arrived at my parents’ house. They’d left a space on the drive for me, and two cars were parked in the street in front of the house. Looked like everybody was there. I steeled myself and pressed the doorbell.

I opened my suitcase on the living room floor and pulled out gifts for everybody. Game Boy for four-year-old Mark; less complicated toys for two-year-old David. Silk tops for my sister Amanda; she was older, shorter and rounder than me, with darker hair that fell over her shoulders. Her husband, Alan, was tall and gangly and I gave him some designer T-shirts I’d found in a factory outlet in Kowloon City.

I’d brought handicrafts for my mother: carved balsawood scenes and cloisonné. Her long kind face lit up.

My father received some small electrical things I’d picked up across the border in Lo Wu Shopping Centre. He was thrilled. He hadn’t changed at all since I’d last seen him; his generous, leathery face smiled under his greying hair; a working man.

I gave everybody a traditional Chinese silk jacket. Plain navy blue ones with embossed longevity for Dad and Alan; beautifully embroidered ones for Mum and Amanda. I even gave little jackets to Mark and David.

Everybody was thrilled and I was finally allowed to sit on the couch. Amanda passed me a mug of tea and they sat around me, expectant.

‘I sent you a Christmas card and your friend Louise said you’d moved out,’ my mother said. ‘Then this Mr Chen man calls and says you’re coming to stay.’ She hesitated. ‘Is there something you want to tell us, dear?’

‘I’m working full-time as a nanny for Mr Chen,’ I said. ‘Not what you’re thinking at all.’

My father was incredulous. ‘Full-time nanny, Emma? Surely you can do better than that.’ His eyes widened. ‘Wait a second, you
moved in
with this man?’

‘Let me! I wanna see!’ David shouted. Mark had opened the zip pocket in the lid of my suitcase and found my sword. He waved it triumphantly, and David jumped with frustration as he tried to get hold of it. ‘Let me see!’

I quickly rose and grabbed the sword from David. Before I had a chance to rezip the compartment, David had pulled my nunchucks out and was squealing over them.

Alan took the chucks from his son and held them, shocked. My father peered inside the case, then reached in and pulled out the pair of butterfly swords: short-bladed
weapons with hooks on the guards specifically designed for close combat against long blades. He held the weapons up, his face rigid. ‘Emma…’

I sat on the couch and rested the sword across my knees. I put my head in my hands.

‘I wanna play!’ David shouted.

‘I don’t think these are toys,’ Alan said softly.

I ran my hands through my hair and glanced up at them. They stood around me, watching me as if I was some sort of monster.

‘Please don’t look at me like that,’ I said.

‘I’ll take the boys out in the yard so you can talk,’ Amanda said. She glanced back over her shoulder as she led them through the door.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence my father spoke. ‘What the hell are you doing with these?’

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

‘Are these yours, Emma? Tell us the truth,’ my mother said gently.

My father moved to pull one of the butterfly swords from its leather scabbard. I raised my hand. ‘Don’t take that out.’

‘Why not?’

I took a deep breath. ‘Because,’ I said, and hesitated. ‘Because…’

‘Why, sweetheart?’

‘Because it’s as sharp as a razor and I don’t want to see you hurt.’

Alan put the chucks onto the floor in front of him. ‘These are all real, aren’t they?’ He pointed at the chucks. ‘These are hardwood. You could break somebody’s head with them.’

I nodded.

‘Tell us, Emma,’ my mother said. I thought quickly. I needed to put a believable story together, and cursed myself for not being prepared. Of
course
they’d find my weapons. I’d brought them to train with, and Mr Chen didn’t mess around with blunt padded training stuff; once we were at a certain level we used the real thing. Blunt weapons were useless against demons. The butterfly swords were my newest weapon and I needed the most practice with them. Ever since Simon Wong had turned up with his Wudang sword we’d done a lot of work on defence against a long sword with the butterfly blades.

I couldn’t lie to my father, he’d see right through me. He always had. I looked from one of them to the other, desperately trying to think of a story they would accept.

‘You’ve moved in with this Chinese man. You’re working as a nanny—something that you’re far too good for, Emma. And now this. Tell us what’s going on,’ my father said.

‘Okay.’ I took a deep breath. ‘I was working part-time for Mr Chen, looking after his daughter, Simone. But she needed full-time care, so I moved in to look after her.’

‘Is there more to this than an employer-nanny relationship?’ my father said sternly.

I hesitated, then looked him in the eyes. ‘Mr Chen and I do not have any sort of physical relationship. He hasn’t touched me, and he never will.’

My father glared at me. He saw straight through my careful phrasing.

‘So why nanny?’ my mother said. ‘Surely you can do better than that?’

‘He pays me very well, Mum, and his daughter needs me.’

‘How well?’

I hesitated again.

‘How much does he pay you, Emma?’ my father persisted.

I dropped my head and mumbled, ‘Five thousand dollars a month.’

‘That’s pathetic,’ my mother said. ‘That’s less than a thousand Australian dollars a month. You can’t let him pay you so little, Emma. What’s going on?’

I dropped my head even further. ‘Five thousand US.’

‘What’s that in Australian dollars, Alan?’ my father said. Alan was an insurance assessor and knew the exchange rates off the top of his head.

‘Five thousand US…’ Alan worked it out, then stared at me with wonder. ‘That’s nearly a hundred thousand Australian dollars a year.’

‘That’s ridiculous!’ my father snapped. He glared at me. ‘What the hell is going on, Emma?’

‘Okay, let me explain.’ I looked at them; they all appeared outraged. My father in particular was livid. ‘Mr Chen is dying, Dad. He’s terminally ill. He only has a couple of years left.’

My mother’s eyes went wide.

‘His wife’s family are all gone. When Mr Chen dies, his daughter will have nobody left. So I’ll look after her. The money isn’t important, I just love her dearly.’

‘And her father?’ my father said.

‘What about him?’

‘Do you love him?’

Something inside me began to hurt. I dropped my head and didn’t answer.

‘Okay,’ my father said. ‘That part I understand. He has the sense not to take it further.’

I nodded without looking up.

He raised the butterfly sword. ‘But why this?’ He gestured with it towards my short sword. ‘Why do you have these things? That sword you have there could kill somebody.’

I glanced up. ‘I’ve never used it on a single human being and I hope I never will.’

‘Well, then,’ he said, ‘why?’

I lifted the sword and brushed the gold tassel on the end of the hilt. I’d never really looked at it closely before; to me it was just my weapon. The hilt was made of silver alloy, engraved with entwined serpent-like creatures. Quite fitting for Xuan Wu. Shame there were no turtles on it.

‘Mr Chen is a martial arts instructor, and he’s been teaching me.’

‘Is he involved in the underworld there?’ my father said quickly.

I looked him straight in the eyes. ‘No.’ My mother sagged with relief.

‘So why do you have so many lethal weapons on you?’ Alan said.

‘Purely to practise with.’ I took another deep breath. ‘Mr Chen is very wealthy and that makes Simone a target. She already has a bodyguard—’

‘The little girl has a
bodyguard
?’ my mother said with disbelief.

‘Quite normal for the child of a wealthy family in Hong Kong,’ I said. ‘I’ve been learning as well, just in case—’

‘You are coming home right now,’ my mother said. ‘I won’t have you in danger.’

‘The weapons stay at home. I’m mainly learning them because I like it.’

‘You
like
it?’ my mother said.

I nodded. I smiled slightly and shrugged. ‘It’s great fun.’

‘What does this Chen man do for a living, Emma?’ my father said. ‘He’s teaching you martial arts, he’s wealthy. What’s his profession?’

I took a deep breath. I could almost hear the wheels rattle as I rolled the story out. ‘He does government work.’

‘
Government
work?’

‘Some administration, some management. He used to do fieldwork too, but nothing like that since Simone was born.’

‘Good God, the man’s a
spy
?’ Alan said. ‘For China?’ ‘Something like that. But not China. A much higher government than China.’

‘A
spy
?’ my mother said weakly.

‘Not really a spy,’ I said. ‘Just government work. He spends most of his time in front of the computer, and teaching martial arts.’

‘And?’ Alan said.

‘And that’s all.’

‘Are you in danger, Emma?’ my father said softly.