Year of the Golden Dragon (18 page)

She turned and raced to the gate.

When she got there, she saw two uniformed men escorting a man off the plane. He was struggling between them, trying to get away from their grip. “This is ridiculous!” he shouted. “I
had
a boarding pass. How could my name suddenly disappear from the passenger list?”

The security guards continued marching the man away.

Hong Mei cringed, but she continued onto the plane and found her seat.

Now, buckled up, Hong Mei looked at her watch as the plane’s engine geared up. She saw the red numbers flashing, 31:57:37.

The aircraft began to shudder and roar as it picked up speed on the runway. Hong Mei felt herself being pulled back into her seat. This was only her second plane ride and it scared her. She thought about her parents; they had never been on an airplane. Were they at home now, or in Beijing? She tried to summon her second sight to find out. It hadn’t worked since she’d seen Ryan and Alex running away from Black Dragon. Maybe she was too tired.

Hong Mei dug her hands into her jacket pockets and felt for the pieces of jade. How had the boys ended up at the train station in Beijing? Hong Mei felt dead tired, but she had to try. Closing her eyes she tried to get an image of the two brothers.

Blank.

She tried again.

Nothing.

A female voice spoke over the loudspeaker welcoming everyone on board. The flight attendant urged passengers to relax and enjoy the two-hour flight. They would arrive in Beijing just before seven o’clock.

Hong Mei’s eyes remained closed, but this time it wasn’t to use her second sight.

Exhausted, she’d fallen asleep.

•~•

“Miss?”

Hong Mei’s eyelids stayed shut. She hoped whoever was talking would go away. Instead, she heard the voice again as someone shook her shoulder.

“Excuse me, Miss. We’ve arrived in Beijing.”

Hong Mei forced her eyes open. “What?” she croaked.

The flight attendant gave Hong Mei a reproving look. “You must get off the plane. You are the last passenger.”

Hong Mei remembered where she was and tried to get up, but the seat belt held her back. She blushed as she fumbled to release herself.

Hong Mei walked through the emptied jet and passed two airplane cleaning staff. She put her hands in her pockets and felt the jade pieces. Concentrating on the jade, Hong Mei missed the cleaners nodding to one another after she walked by.

Now that she was back in Beijing, what was she supposed to do? Would someone be at the airport to meet her or was she to hire a taxi and go to Madam Ching’s place? Maybe Hong Mei should call first. There would be telephones in the terminal.

Looking up the ramp, she could see people rushing about inside the main building. As Hong Mei neared the exit out of the ramp, two large men suddenly blocked the doorway. They stood shoulder to shoulder and folded their arms over their chests.

“Miss Chen?” one asked. His eyes were hard.

Hong Mei’s stomach somersaulted. She turned and headed back to the plane, hearing the men thumping down the ramp behind her. Just as she was about to get back on the plane, she nearly collided with the cleaners. Both of them were grinning at her. One held the back of a wheelchair, and the other had something in his hand.

Her breath caught when she saw it was a large syringe.

Were these the people Madam Ching threatened to send? Were they going to drug her and take the jade? There was no time to find out. The men and the needle were closing in on her, and there was only one way out.

Hong Mei yanked her hands out of her pockets to fit the three pieces of jade together. She was shaking so hard she had to grit her teeth and focus completely on the task. She saw the disc begin to glow. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting an icy blast.

Instead, she felt strong hands pushing her down into the wheelchair. Then, instead of the sharp and sudden jab of a needle that she expected, she felt an unseen energy grip her skull. It squeezed hard, lifting her up out of the chair and turning her by her head. Faster and faster, she began to spin, as the force twisted her like a toy top. Just when she thought her body might fly apart, she was released and sent spinning into space.

Chapter 16

A Terrible Truth

When Ching Long had driven the car out of the hub
of the train station, he told Ryan and Alex it would only be a few minutes to his family’s home. Alex focused on the streets and any distinctive markings, memorizing how many lefts and rights they made in case they needed to get back to the train station by themselves.

At last they turned into a large tree-lined avenue with high brick walls. Alex thought it looked dreary in the grey winter afternoon, but it was probably pretty nice during the summer.

A few metres down the street, they turned into a driveway and stopped in front of a solid black iron gate. On either side of it were two tall pillars with an old-fashioned coach lamp on top of each. Ching Long stopped the car and rolled down his window to push a buzzer. A voice answered, and Ching Long called out his name. It was cold enough that Alex could see the man’s breath.

A few moments later, a small, square peephole slid open on the gate, and two eyes stared out at them. Ching Long leaned out of his open window to show his face. The peephole was shut again and the gate creaked open, allowing the car to enter.

As they drove through, both Ryan and Alex turned to look out of the rear window. There were two burly men in heavy coats and gloves. Alex watched one close the gate as the other stared back at Alex with steely eyes.

“I wouldn’t want to mess with those guys,” Alex said to Ryan.

He turned back to the front and saw that Ching Long was looking at him in his rear-view mirror. “You don’t have to worry about them,” Ching Long said. “My mother has quite a large staff, but only five of them are for security.”

“Five? Your mother must be a pretty important person if she needs five guards,” Alex said. He was looking at the dozens of ceramic duck-egg pots lining both sides of the white gravel driveway. Inside each pot was a shrub with miniature oranges. He felt a tug at his heart. Aunt Grace loved it when these trees came out just before Chinese New Year. She always went to Chinatown and bought one or two for their house. He bit his bottom lip and stopped looking at them.

Ching Long broke Alex’s thoughts of his aunt by saying, “My mother has married well. One of her ex-husbands is a vip at caac. That’s how she discovered you had missed the flight to Beijing. She had to pull a lot of strings to get those tickets, then when you didn’t show up…well, let’s just say she wasn’t very pleased.”

“caac?” Alex asked.

“It’s China’s largest airline company,” Ching Long said with a sniff. He pulled the car up beside a wall with a large circular opening.

Alex leaned forward, “Is the vip your father?”

“Mine? Oh, no,” Ching Long said, turning off the car. “My father died years ago. I can hardly remember him,” he added in a matter-of-fact way. He got out and opened the door nearest Ryan. He motioned toward the large round entrance and said, “Let’s go through the moon gate, shall we?”

Ryan and Alex didn’t move.

“After you,” said Ching Long before he bowed slightly and waved them to go ahead.

Alex finally went first and stepped over the raised threshold into a large courtyard. There were a few pots of orange trees, but the rest of the space was empty. Across the cobblestones stood a plain brick building with a simple pair of wooden doors. On either side was a stone guardian lion. Alex remembered they were called
fu
dogs because they looked like a mix between a lion and a dog; a Pekingese dog, that is. Each of these statues had a bright red ribbon around its neck, like the ones the concrete lions at the entrance of Lions Gate Bridge wore at Christmas.

Ching Long nodded toward the double doors and said, “That’s the entrance to the main house. My mother will be waiting for us in there.” Once again, he motioned for Ryan and Alex to lead the way. “By the way, I hope you like cats. My mother takes in every stray that comes along.”

Just as they approached the doors, one opened. Alex looked up to see a tall, slim woman holding a fluffy white Persian cat. Its red collar was nearly hidden in its fur, but Alex noticed that the colour matched the long, high-collared crimson dress the woman wore. Her black hair was pulled high up on her head and was adorned with a string of pearls. She stood very straight. While stroking the cat in her arms, she gazed coolly down at Ryan and Alex.

“Mother,” Ching Long said. “Allow me to introduce Ryan and Alexander Wong.”

A thin smile appeared on her face as she said, “Welcome. I am Madam Ching.”

Alex looked up at the woman’s face in admiration. She was so very elegant. Alex knew that he should say “thank you” or something, but he couldn’t speak. The longer he looked at her, the more he thought his first impression was wrong. She wasn’t beautiful at all. Was it her eyes? They were pretty cold. And that smell. Sandalwood, wasn’t it? He didn’t like it, never had. It made him feel queasy.

Madam Ching’s eyes remained fixed on him. Alex was starting to feel really unsteady.

“Ryan?” he said, moving closer to his brother. “I’m not feeling so great.”

He saw his brother’s face turn to his as a buzzing sound filled his head. Everything around him grew dark and he was having difficulty breathing.

He heard Ryan say, “Alex? Are you okay?”

The woman spoke. “Ching Long. Go get Lao Ming.”

•~•

Alex woke up in a small windowless room. He was lying on his back in a single bed. There was another bed beside him and a nightstand between the two. A lamp was lit beside him and he could see another one on a dark wooden bureau on the other side of the room. Beside the bureau sat an old man. When he noticed Alex looking at him, he smiled and came over.

“Ah, good. Lao Ming wait for young master to wake up,” the man said.

The way he spoke reminded Alex of Wai-gong, his other grandfather. He’d lived in Toronto for years, but still spoke English as if he’d just arrived in Canada. “I talk three kind Chinese, and little bit English,” he would say. “Canada people lucky if they speak only one language.”

Alex peered up at him and asked, “Where’s my brother?”

“With Madam Ching.”

Alex’s stomach heaved. Just the mention of that woman’s name made him feel sick. He groaned, but tried to sit up.

Lao Ming pushed him back down on the bed. Alex was surprised to feel how strong the old man was. He looked pretty feeble.

“Do not worry,” Lao Ming said. “Lao Ming make sure no harm come to young Emperors.”

Huh?

“Lao Ming sees young master has jade box.”

Alex saw the man looking at the carved wooden box sitting on the table beside him.

“Jade is not in box,” Lao Ming frowned, but in a kindly way. He looked very concerned. “Where is jade?”

“A girl who told us she was our cousin stole it,” Alex said.

“Chen Hong Mei?”

“I don’t know. She said her name was Lily. That’s why Ryan agreed to come here,” he said as he reached for the box. “Ching Long told us that his mother –” Alex’s stomach clenched again and he winced. Why was he reacting to Madam Ching this way?

“Now, now,” the old man said, patting Alex’s arm. “You are safe with Lao Ming. Madam Ching does not know Lao Ming is loyal to Chen family and Emperor’s sons.”

There was a knock at the door.

Lao Ming said quietly, “Shh. This our secret,” then went to the door and unlocked it. Ryan and Madam Ching, this time with a kitten in her arms, entered the room.

As soon as Alex saw the woman, his head started pounding. He pulled the covers up and held them tight under his chin. He glanced at Ryan, whose face was blank and still, except for the little movements in his jaw. Alex could tell that his brother was grinding his teeth. He’d seen this expression of Ryan’s many times before. Ryan wasn’t scared. He was furious.

Barely looking at Alex, Madam Ching asked, “Feeling better now, are we?”

Alex’s stomach gurgled as he watched the woman tickle the Siamese kitten under its chin.

Ryan came and stood next to him. “How are you feeling?” his older brother asked.