Lizard's Tale

by Weng Wai Chan

  ‘Underneath the dermis is the fat layer, then the buccinator muscle. And after this we are in the mouth itself,’ said Mr Nakajima. He clicked his fingers and said to Nobu, ‘Do it.’

  Nobu stepped forward once more, grabbed Lizard’s hair and raised his knife.

  ‘No!’ Lizard kicked out hard. His foot caught Mr Nakajima in the stomach, doubling him over with a grunt.

  Mr Nakajima straightened up. He took a deep breath and a large step back. ‘Good, Lizard,’ he said. ‘You show a samurai spirit. You strike when it is right to strike. It is a pity that you are not Japanese. You are a waste of great potential.’

  Behind Mr Nakajima, the screen of Mount Fuji started to teeter. Lizard watched wide-eyed as it finally tipped and fell forward, crashing onto Mr Nakajima, whose head and torso erupted through the paper volcano.

  At the same time Lili launched herself off the floor.

  ‘Nobu!’ she yelled, and as Nobu turned towards her she headbutted him full in the face. His nose flattened with a sickening crunch and burst with a shower of blood. He dropped the knife, and reeled back with an agonised moan.

  Mr Nakajima was trapped in a mess of broken paper and wooden frame. His face was purple with shocked outrage. He twisted around, and both he and Lizard looked up and saw Georgina Whitford Jones raise a large turquoise crackle-glazed vase high with both hands.

  ‘No!’ Mr Nakajima shouted as Georgina brought the vase down with unstoppable force onto his head, where it shattered loudly into a thousand pieces. The man thudded to the floor like a falling durian, breaking the frame of the screen.

  Georgina dusted her hands and tossed her red hair over her shoulder. ‘I’d rather not have Lizard damaged any more, thank you very much,’ she said.

  Lizard stared at her. ‘How?’ he gasped. ‘How can you be here?’

  ‘I followed you,’ said Georgina. ‘Oh! Look at your face!’

  Lili sat, stunned, on the floor.

  Nobu’s hands cupped his nose. Blood oozed between his fingers, and his maddened, watering eyes glared at her. ‘I break you!’ he roared as he straightened up. He stretched out his bloodied hands, grasping at Lili. Blood continued to splatter from his nose onto his shirt and onto the floor as he moved towards her with the relentless menace of red-hot lava.

  Lili scrambled backwards until she hit the wall.

  One more step and he would seize her with those huge, blood-dripping hands. But as he surged forward, he suddenly flipped up and backwards and his boots flicked past Lili’s astonished eyes. He fell, cracking his head on the back of Lizard’s chair as he thumped to the ground.

  Nobu lay still, but several small red things rolled towards Lili. She reached out and picked them up. ‘Saga seeds?’ she said, flabbergasted. She looked up to see Roshan bounce out from behind a screen and beam at Lizard.

  ‘I told you, my friend!’ Roshan exclaimed. ‘I told you the seeds were lucky!’ He gestured down, and Lili looked round and saw more of the hard smooth seeds scattered around the unconscious Nobu.

  ‘What did you do?’ Lili asked Roshan.

  ‘I carry my lucky seeds all the time. I could see that big fellow was going to get you so I rolled them out for him to stand on,’ Roshan said. ‘Very slippery things.’

  Just then, the door crashed open and Miss Adelia burst in. Her mouth dropped open in a most unladylike manner at the sight in front of her. She picked up the knife that Nobu had dropped and cut Lili’s bonds with it. ‘What happened here?’ she asked, as Lili stood up.

  Georgina stepped over the unconscious Mr Nakajima and bent down to Lizard. He leaned back as she peered at his face.

  ‘Ow,’ he winced.

  Lili took the knife from Miss Adelia and limped over to Lizard. She elbowed Georgina aside and gently lifted Lizard’s chin.

  ‘Of all the nerve!’ Georgina started, hands on her hips, but Lili ignored her.

  Lili studied Lizard’s cheek. Then she gently held his chin and angled his face to the light. He winced again but didn’t move. It had stopped bleeding.

  Lili turned to Georgina, handed her the knife and said, ‘Cut him loose.’

  It didn’t take long for Georgina to cut through the silk. Lizard shook and rubbed his arms, looking relieved to be alive.

  Lili turned back to Miss Adelia, who had just finished checking the men lying on the floor.

  ‘Both breathing,’ Miss Adelia said. ‘Quick report, please, Lili.’

  Lili drew Miss Adelia across to the darkroom and went inside. In a low voice, she told her everything that had happened.

  ‘And they never knew you had the maps and photographs hidden away?’ asked Miss Adelia.

  ‘No!’ Lili’s voice was an indignant squeak. ‘They didn’t even look in my direction, once I was tied up. All their attention was on Lizard.’

  ‘Of course, you’re just a girl.’ Miss Adelia gave a brief smile, as she approached the long sink. ‘They’d never suspect a girl of espionage. That’s why we’re going to set this place on fire.’

  ‘What?’ Lili said, surprised. ‘Why?’

  ‘They’ll think the maps and photographs burnt up, and they won’t know we’ve got them.’ Miss Adelia studied the bottles of chemicals on the shelf over the sink. She picked out two bottles. ‘Highly flammable,’ she said, reading the label of one of them. ‘Just the ticket. Stand back.’ She raised the bottles high over her head and smashed them on the floor, right onto the trapdoor.

  As she and Lili left the darkroom, Miss Adelia opened her small silver handbag and took out a box of matches.

  ‘Will that be enough chemicals?’ asked Lili.

  ‘My word, yes,’ said Miss Adelia. ‘Mustn’t over egg the pudding. Can’t burn all of Raffles, can we.’

  In the studio, Georgina was pulling Lizard to his feet.

  ‘Actually, it might be an improvement,’ Georgina was saying to Lizard as she looked at the cut on his face. ‘Adds a touch of ruggedness.’

  Miss Adelia hustled Lili into the studio. She turned, surreptitiously lit a match, threw it into the darkroom and shut the door.

  ‘Time to go, everybody,’ she said, and she clapped her hands. ‘Chop, chop. And drag those men outside. Goodness, is that smoke I can smell?’

  ‘Who is that lady?’ asked Georgina as she stared at Miss Adelia.

  Lili and Lizard, who were hauling Mr Nakajima towards the door, paused and looked at each other. ‘I don’t know,’ they said simultaneously.

  Smoke was starting to flow out through the keyhole of the darkroom door now and they could hear the crackle of flames on the other side of the door.

  ‘Young man,’ Miss Adelia said to Roshan. ‘Do please help me pull this large fellow outside.’

  Surprisingly quickly, the five of them had Mr Nakajima and Nobu out on the grass outside the studio.

  ‘I nearly forgot!’ said Lizard and, before Lili could stop him, he dashed back inside. A few moments later, a bird flew out, followed by puffs of smoke and then a coughing Lizard.

  ‘The uguisu,’ Lizard explained. ‘It doesn’t sing much, but at least it’s free now.’

  From outside, they could see smoke billowing into the studio, and a few flames licking under the darkroom door.

  ‘You all right, man?’ Roshan said to Lizard, clapping him on the shoulder.

  ‘Yes—’ Lizard started, but Roshan didn’t wait to hear anymore. He melted away into the darkness.

  ‘Thank you for your help,’ Miss Adelia said to Georgina. ‘You might wish to leave rather smartly now. I expect a large crowd will soon gather, which will probably include your parents. Depends, of course, on how much explaining you wish to do.’

  ‘Oh, gosh. I’ll see you later,’ Georgina said to Lizard. ‘After all, now that I know where you live, I can easily visit you again.’ She took off towards the Palm Court at a ladylike trot.

  Mr Nakajima and Nobu started to stir and moan.

  ‘How,’ enquired Lili, turning to Lizard, ‘does she know where you live?’


  Luckily for Lizard, Lili was distracted when Miss Adelia opened her handbag and took out a photograph. It was of the Singapore Naval Base and it had some words in Japanese written on it. Miss Adelia put it on Mr Nakajima’s chest.

  ‘Evidence of espionage. I expect Commander Baxter will arrest Mr Nakajima and his large friend here when he sees this photograph,’ said Miss Adelia. She pointed across the garden. ‘Quick, go wait there and mix with the crowd as they come in.’

  Lili and Lizard hurried to the covered walkway opposite the studio.

  ‘Help!’ Miss Adelia screamed. ‘Fire! Fire!’ Then, she too, hurried over to join Lizard and Lili.

  As the smoke poured out of the studio, people came running into the grassy courtyard. Flames licked out the door. Mr Arathoon shouted for a hose.

  When Commander Baxter arrived, Miss Adelia went up to him. ‘Oh, commander, those poor Japanese men ran out of the fire and collapsed!’ She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards Mr Nakajima and Nobu, who were still lying on the grass moaning. Miss Adelia picked up the photograph from Mr Nakajima’s chest.

  ‘What’s this?’ she said, and put it in the commander’s hand. As he frowned at it suspiciously, she backed away.

  Lili grinned. ‘It’s time to go,’ she said and they followed Miss Adelia out of the busy courtyard and into a quiet area under some stairs.

  ‘Show me what you found, Lili,’ Miss Adelia said.

  Lili pulled out the envelope. As she pulled the papers out of the envelope, something fell out of it.

  Lizard picked up two rectangles of cardboard.

  ‘They’re boarding tickets,’ said Miss Adelia, reading the print. ‘For the cargo ship, Senko Maru, departing the harbour midnight tonight, from the Main Wharf. Let’s go.’

  Lili and Lizard followed Miss Adelia as she ran out of Raffles Hotel into Bras Basah Road, where a black car was parked.

  ‘Singapore Harbour, Main Wharf. Hurry,’ Miss Adelia said to the driver as they got in.

  The driver looked at Lizard in the rear-view mirror and raised an eyebrow.

  ‘This is Lizard,’ Miss Adelia said to the man. ‘Lizard, this is Mr Bee.’

  Lili turned to Miss Adelia. ‘We’ve already recovered the maps and photographs, and caught the spies. Why do we need to go to the ship?’

  ‘Maximum Ops Asia Division require extraction of the gamekeeper. Remember the message we decoded? What was the last line?’

  Lili frowned in concentration. ‘Nightingale and Mr Nightingale to board boat midnight Nov 9.’

  ‘Uguisu-san,’ said Lizard. ‘Uncle Archie will be on that ship!’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The Harbour

  As the black car tore down Connaught Drive along the waterfront, Lizard glanced up at the Victoria Memorial Hall clock tower. Five minutes to midnight. He was bewildered by everything that was happening. He only understood one thing: they were going to rescue Uncle Archie before he sailed away—but only if they made it in time.

  The car drew up at the harbour entrance. Lili, Lizard, Miss Adelia and Mr Bee got out and ran along the harbourfront dodging people. The harbour was busy even as midnight approached.

  ‘There!’ Lizard yelled, and pointed at a passenger-cargo ship docked just ahead. They stopped, panting for breath. Senko Maru was painted on the ship’s bow in English and with Japanese characters underneath. It was medium sized, for a cargo ship, which was still quite big. Coolies were carrying bundles and boxes up the narrow wooden gangplank onto the ship. The occasional passenger hurried up carrying their own travelling trunks.

  ‘Are we going to board the ship?’ asked Lili.

  ‘We don’t want to cause a diplomatic incident by forcing our way onto a Japanese ship,’ said Miss Adelia. ‘Ideally, we’ll intercept before Lizard’s uncle boards.’

  Lizard was on edge. Voices in different languages were all around him, machinery hums and clanks echoed in his ears and electric lights washed the whole area, giving everybody’s faces weird shadows. Underlying everything was the ceaseless slap and splash of the sea against the dock and the hull of the ship. An image of Uncle Archie in the Tanaka’s basement cage flashed through his tired, dazed mind.

  ‘At least he won’t be in chains,’ said Lili, as though reading Lizard’s mind. ‘They won’t want him drawing any attention.’

  No one on the dock paid any attention to them as they stood and watched crates and boxes being taken up the gangplank.

  Two coolies came past, carrying a large wooden box. ‘So heavy,’ one complained in Hokkien, as he staggered past. ‘Should have been loaded with the crane.’

  ‘Shut up and hold it steady,’ grunted the other one.

  ‘I am. You’re the one not holding it steady,’ replied the first. ‘Hope we can get it up the gangplank.’

  Lizard watched it go past as if in a dream. It did look heavy and wobbly.

  The men had reached the gangplank before he saw the words on the box. A large label gleamed briefly as the light caught it. It said Via Singapore.

  The coolies looked at the gangplank, complained a bit more, then hefted the box onto their shoulders, above the railings of the gangplank. They were halfway up before Lizard noticed the words stamped on the box under the Via Singapore label: Tanaka’s Emporium.

  He grabbed Lili’s arm. ‘Look!’ he said, pointing at the box. ‘Tanaka’s Emporium!’ He didn’t wait for Lili’s reaction before he pelted towards the gangplank.

  Just as he reached it, he heard the coolies give a warning shout, and the box fell from their shoulders and tumbled over the side. It hit the water far below and broke apart.

  Lizard got a glimpse of a man in the wreckage, just before he sank into the harbour. ‘Uncle Archie!’ Lizard yelled, and he leapt off the dock.

  The cold, black water of the harbour closed over Lizard’s head. He couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t see anything, but he could move, and his arms swept through the water, his hands searching and grabbing. Then he felt something. Hair.

  He held it tight and kicked up hard. His face broke through to the surface and he gasped air deep into his lungs as he struggled to pull Uncle Archie up.

  Just as he felt himself going under again he realised there was someone else in the water with him.

  ‘All right, Lizard, I’ve got him now, you can let go.’

  Lizard blinked and saw Mr Bee. ‘Let him go so we can get you both out of the harbour, eh?’

  Mr Bee prised Lizard’s cold, cramping fingers out of Uncle Archie’s hair. Lizard couldn’t seem to let go on his own. Then Mr Bee pulled Uncle Archie away and Lizard saw that his uncle’s eyes were closed and his face was white. He tried to follow, but people were hauling him up and out of the water.

  Lizard sat on the concrete dock, wet and shivering and exhausted. Lili’s face hovered into view and he staggered to his feet and reached out for her. She grabbed his shoulders to steady him.

  ‘Where’s Uncle Archie?’ he said, searching for a glimpse of his uncle through the forest of strangers.

  ‘He’s all right, Lizard,’ Lili said. ‘Mr Bee has taken him away and he’ll be all right.’

  ‘Where?’ said Lizard. ‘Take me to him.’

  ‘I can’t. They took him away in the car, they wouldn’t say where,’ said Lili.

  Then Lizard’s legs wouldn’t hold him up anymore and he crumpled onto the dock. Somebody threw a rough towel around him, and two of the dock coolies helped him to the harbour entrance and bundled him into a rickshaw. Lili got in next to him.

  ‘The Girls’ Mission School, Sophia Road,’ Lili said to the rickshaw man.

  ‘No,’ said Lizard, through chattering teeth. ‘Home. The shop.’

  ‘But, Lizard, there’s a nurse at the school—’ Lili started.

  ‘No. Or I’ll get out and walk.’ He squeezed his eyes shut and lay back, pulling the towel tight around him, but he couldn’t stop trembling. Was Uncle Archie all right? His face had been so pale, so unresponsive. Lizard had never seen h
im look like that, not even in the basement of Tanaka’s Emporium. He was bereft at being separated from his uncle again, and utterly heartsick at the thought that he might have been too late to save him.

  Vaguely, he was aware of arriving at the tailor shop, of being bundled up the stairs and of Lili talking to a surprised Ah Mok. Lili left the cubicle and Ah Mok dried Lizard off and helped him change his clothes.

  Lili came back and pushed a warm mug of Ovaltine into his hands. She made him drink it all, and then she turned to Ah Mok and offered him twenty cents to watch Lizard overnight. She put a blanket over him. Lizard clutched it and curled up on his bunk, facing the wall, completely shattered. Why wouldn’t they take him to Uncle Archie? He needed to see Uncle Archie.

  Lizard had called this place home before, but tonight this cubicle didn’t feel like home.

  Home was curry puffs on the verandah of a stilt house in Changi.

  Home was wherever Uncle Archie was.

  He felt as if he would never find his way home, and disappointment crushed him like a concrete slab dropped on his chest. He was grateful for the darkness that washed over him and dragged him down into the oblivion of sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Highly Useful Intelligence

  Three days later, Lili stepped into the corner office on the top floor of the school. A tall man stood by the open window, looking at the view of Singapore, spread out on the desk. He turned, and Lili recognised Sir Wilbur Willoughby, Director of the Asia Division of Maximum Operations Enterprise.

  ‘Good morning, sir,’ she said.

  ‘Lili, at last! Miss Neha and Miss Adelia have been most complimentary about your recent efforts. We are very pleased. The war office has gained extremely valuable intelligence from breaking the Japanese Navy codes. Those maps and photographs you found in the Raffles Studio show the locations of all the aerodromes in the Malay Peninsula plus new ones the Japanese army are building elsewhere and… well, we won’t be caught napping, that’s for sure. You may well have saved the Empire’s Jewel of the East.’