‘I wonder which runway she got that look from?’ Millie whispered to Ambrosia.
The woman raised her eyebrows. ‘She certainly doesn’t subscribe to the theory that less is more.’
Despite her diminutive size, their photographer began barking orders at the group, determined to get the perfect shot. She demonstrated each pose and then encouraged the children and adults to mimic her. First, she had them all standing to attention with sombre faces, which was tricky because everyone’s natural inclination was to giggle. She then had them with their hands in the air, making peace signs, followed by hands on hips and then arms folded. A small group of tourists gathered and started taking photographs of their own too. When the woman pouted and made kissing noises, Miss Grimm stormed forward, snatched the camera and thanked her for her trouble.
‘Perhaps next time you should avoid the fashionista photographers,’ Ophelia said, passing the camera to Miss Reedy.
The English teacher bit back a smile and nodded. She quickly reviewed the pictures and stifled a snort as she came upon one of her husband making bunny ears above the headmistress’s head. It was promptly deleted.
An hour later, having caught the tram back down the mountain, the group was loaded onto the tour bus along with their luggage. They made the short journey through one of the tunnels to Kowloon, the mainland part of Hong Kong, where most of the population lived. The bus pulled up on a busy street perpendicular to a string of market stalls, and Miss Grimm spent the next five minutes on the microphone going over buddy groups and instructions on what the children should do if they got lost.
‘Now, each of the adults is going to show you how to haggle with the shopkeepers,’ she continued. ‘It’s an interesting art and I don’t want to hear of anyone paying full price for anything out there. And please be sensible. Remember, you have to be able to fit whatever you buy into your bag and we still have a lot of the trip left.’
For this activity, Miss Grimm had decided that each parent would be paired with their own child. She put Venetia and September together with Caprice, Sep and Sloane, and Figgy and Rufus joined them. In hindsight, it did seem to be a somewhat diabolical grouping, but Sep was immensely sensible and Sloane was much better these days too. Besides, Venetia seemed to be a woman with her wits about her. Ophelia and her husband, along with Miss Reedy and Mr Plumpton, would bring up the rear, keeping an eye on everyone, from a distance.
Alice-Miranda was grouped with Millie, Jacinta, Lucas and Susannah, under the supervision of Lawrence Ridley and Ambrosia Headlington-Bear. Jacinta made eye contact with Alice-Miranda, who raised her brows, hoping to convey to her friend that now would be as good a time as any for her to snatch a few minutes with Lucas, but the boy seemed glued to his father’s side.
The group walked into the market and was immediately set upon by vendors eager to sell their wares. First up was an endless display of handbags and wallets.
Ambrosia shook her head. ‘I suspect they’re of dubious origin,’ she said, looking at the designer labels with prices a fraction of what one would pay in a boutique.
‘Are they fakes?’ Jacinta asked.
‘Sometimes it’s hard to tell, but sadly there are lots of factories which produce knock-offs. It’s highly illegal but difficult to police, so as long as there are people who buy them, supply will always equal demand,’ Ambrosia explained.
Alice-Miranda walked further along and found a shop that sold traditional Chinese merchandise. There were little porcelain figures hanging from red string – dogs, roosters, monkeys – in fact, every animal of the Chinese zodiac. ‘These are sweet,’ she admired.
‘Five for twenty dollars,’ barked the old lady manning the stand.
Alice-Miranda went to pull out her wallet.
‘Not yet, you don’t,’ Millie whispered, stopping her. She shook her head, then eyeballed the woman. ‘Five for ten dollars.’
The woman’s jaw dropped. ‘You rob me,’ she cried. ‘My family will starve.’
‘Oh no, it’s all right,’ Alice-Miranda said quietly. ‘I can pay what she asked.’
Lawrence, Ambrosia and the other children watched with wonder as Millie took over. ‘Sorry, I think we’ll leave it for now,’ she said, grabbing her friend’s hand and walking away.
Alice-Miranda frowned. ‘But they were lovely.’
‘Just follow my lead,’ Millie said under her breath. ‘It’s not over, trust me.’
The girls moved on to the stall opposite when the old lady rushed across. ‘You drive a hard bargain, little girl,’ she said with a wry smile. ‘Five for sixteen dollars, okay?’
Millie looked at her evenly. ‘Fifteen, and you have a deal.’
Alice-Miranda grinned at Millie and then at the old woman. ‘Thank you,’ she said, retrieving the right change and handing it over.
The old woman plonked the trinkets into a plastic bag with a swirly gold print and gave them to Alice-Miranda. ‘Your friend is a good haggler. You can learn a lot from her. She will never pay too much.’ She winked at Millie, whose smile couldn’t have been any bigger.
As the group continued on its way, Lucas spotted a man selling kites in all shapes and sizes. He raced over to have a look with his father. After some furious negotiating, the boy was soon the happy owner of a colourful dragon, which folded up neatly into a small bag. He wished there was time to fly it, but the humid air was so still and thick they’d never have got a kite off the ground, even if there was an opportunity.
Ambrosia found some beautiful silk cushions, which she decided would be perfect for Jacinta’s bedroom, so mother and daughter spent a few minutes haggling to get the price down. Jacinta eventually sealed the deal and was very pleased with herself. Meanwhile, Susannah purchased a lovely cloisonné vase for her mother at a bargain price. It seemed all the children were getting the hang of it.
‘You know, I can’t stop thinking about Summer,’ Jacinta said as she and Alice-Miranda wandered along the market lane together. ‘Some of those things she did – I wouldn’t have imagined they were humanly possible.’
Alice-Miranda had been thinking about the girl too. Although she hated to imagine there was anything wrong, she kept coming back to that look they’d shared and what it could have meant. Maybe some of what Millie had said was right – not her whole crazy idea about Summer being treated like a slave, but the part about the girl being exhausted. Who knew how much training she had to do? Putting on that incredible show each night would be tiring enough, let alone on top of all the training.
‘I wish I could learn some of those tricks,’ Jacinta said. She threw her cushion into the air and executed a perfect cartwheel that just missed the top of a passing man’s head.
‘Probably best not to try them here.’ Alice-Miranda grinned. She glanced ahead and caught a glimpse of a familiar-looking girl who was having a heated exchange with a young man. ‘Summer!’ she gasped, and dashed through the crowd towards her.
‘What?’ Jacinta squinted into the sun and took off after her friend.
The young man grabbed Summer’s arm, just as Alice-Miranda reached her. Summer wrestled against him.
‘What are you doing?’ Alice-Miranda demanded, calling the man out. ‘Leave her alone!’
Summer Tan turned and looked at her in surprise. She said something in Cantonese and the man released her.
‘Hello,’ he said, his scowl melting into a smile. ‘Summer is my … sister. We were just discussing what to buy our mother for her birthday.’ He then said something to Summer in Cantonese and the girl nodded.
Alice-Miranda looked at the pair, who were now smiling uneasily.
‘I’m sorry, but we really must be going,’ the man said. He took Summer by the arm and the pair of them hurried off, vanishing like a puff of smoke.
‘Who was that?’ Lawrence Ridley asked as he caught up to the girls with the rest of the group in tow.
‘Summer Tan and her brother,’ Alice-Miranda said, her mouth set in a grim line.
‘Oh, what were they doing here?’ Lawrence craned his neck to see if he could spot the pair, but the crowd of shoppers had swallowed them.
‘Buying a present for their mother, apparently,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘He was mean,’ Jacinta added.
Lawrence grinned. ‘Big brothers sometimes are. Well, I’m just glad there was nothing to worry about. I’ll call Benny and tell him we saw her.’
‘Good idea,’ Alice-Miranda agreed. She noticed Sloane and Sep up ahead with Venetia and Caprice, but September, Figgy and Rufus were nowhere to be seen. ‘It looks like we’ve almost reached the end of the market.’
‘Who wants an ice-cream?’ Lawrence asked, eyeing a vendor’s stand. ‘This shopping is hard work.’ He wiped the perspiration from his forehead with a handkerchief. There was a chorus of yeses, and Alice-Miranda raced off to see if Sloane, Sep and Caprice wanted one too.
The children gathered to survey the unusual selection, with red bean, taro, black sesame and green tea among the more traditional flavours of vanilla and chocolate. While Lawrence organised the orders, the children stood there chatting about their purchases.
‘What did you buy?’ Jacinta asked Sloane and Sep.
Sloane opened a little bag and held up the same trinkets Alice-Miranda had bought. ‘I got some of these,’ she said excitedly.
‘Me too! I’m going to give them to Mrs Smith and Mr Charles and Mrs Howard.’ Alice-Miranda laughed and opened her bag to show Sloane her identical wares. She glanced up and realised that September wasn’t with them. ‘Where’s your mother?’ she asked.
‘Who knows?’ Sloane shrugged. ‘She said something about buying fabric and then disappeared.’
‘Where are Rufus and Figgy?’ Lucas asked, looking around.
‘We think they went with Mum,’ Sep said. He was desperately trying to salvage his ice-cream, which was melting fast.
‘Or they’re lost,’ Sloane added.
Venetia Baldini stood at the edge of the market, looking at her watch. She turned and walked over to her group. ‘September said she’d be back by now. Can you see her?’
The children shook their heads.
‘I want to go and buy that bag, Mummy,’ Caprice whined.
‘Darling, you don’t need it,’ Venetia said.
‘I don’t care!’ the girl snapped. ‘I want it and I’ll carry it. You don’t have to. Anyway, it’s my money. Daddy gave it to me, so I’m going.’
Venetia looked to the heavens and took a deep breath, summoning patience. ‘No, you’re not.’
Ambrosia Headlington-Bear walked over to the woman. ‘Would you like us to keep an eye on the other kids while you go with Caprice?’
Venetia glanced over Ambrosia’s shoulder at her daughter. ‘Don’t you move, young lady – I won’t have you getting lost.’ She turned back to Ambrosia. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ she confessed. ‘September promised she would only be gone a few minutes.’
‘Why don’t you go and get Caprice’s bag and we’ll wait here with the children?’ Ambrosia touched Venetia gently on the shoulder. The poor woman looked as if she were about to cry. Ambrosia knew all too well the churned-up feelings between a warring mother and daughter, having been there many times before with Jacinta – although, fortunately for her, things were different these days.
‘Thank you.’ Venetia smiled tightly. ‘Caprice, I’m coming.’
The girl crossed her arms impatiently and pulled a face. ‘Hurry up!’
Lucas and Sep compared purchases while the girls strolled inside a stall that carried a range of ridiculously cute stationery. Ambrosia and Lawrence scanned the market and the street beyond.
‘There she is,’ Ambrosia said as she watched September, her arms laden with bags, tottering towards them in her high heels.
‘Sep, come and help Mummy with all these parcels,’ September called. ‘Who knew that fabric would be this heavy?’ She plonked the bags onto the ground, retrieved a tissue from her bra and mopped at her forehead. ‘This humidity! I hope we can go back to the hotel for a swim this afternoon. I’m not walking around any silly old gardens in this heat.’
Sep and Lucas ran over to help her. ‘Where are Figgy and Rufus?’ Sep asked.
September looked at him blankly. ‘Who?’
‘The other boys in our group,’ Sep said with a sinking feeling. ‘I thought they went with you to carry your things.’
September snorted. ‘I wish! I had to lug all this on my own. I’m boiling and I need a drink. Go and buy me a cola, will you, Sloane?’
Ambrosia and Lawrence looked at one another. ‘So if Figgy and Rufus aren’t with you, where are they?’ Lawrence asked.
‘How would I know?’ September huffed. ‘Venetia said she’d watch the children.’
‘Mummy,’ Sloane said slowly, ‘have you lost boys?’
September threw back her shoulders. ‘I didn’t lose anyone.’
Lucas spied Miss Grimm and her husband heading their way. ‘Uh-oh, here’s trouble,’ he muttered under his breath.
Sloane’s mind was racing. If her mother had lost the boys, the headmistress would have a fit. ‘You do know that Miss Grimm is going to put you on the first plane home,’ she said to her mother. ‘And then I’m going to have to leave school again – all because of you.’
‘But I didn’t do anything,’ September bleated, beginning to gauge the gravity of the situation.
Sloane could feel her temperature rising. ‘That’s precisely my point, Mummy,’ she hissed. ‘You were supposed to be supervising and making sure that everyone stayed together.’
‘It’s all right,’ Alice-Miranda soothed. ‘I’m sure they can’t have gone far.’
‘Why don’t I have a look further up the road? They might have followed you,’ Lawrence said.
All of a sudden, the market had become very crowded as another busload of tourists surged towards them.
‘And I’ll stay here to deflect any questions until you get back,’ Ambrosia said.
Sloane was fuming. ‘You’d better hope that Lawrence finds them, Mummy.’
‘They’re probably just over there somewhere.’ September waved at the melee of traffic and shoppers on the other side of the busy road.
Sep shook his head. He was beginning to think that maybe Sloane hadn’t been too harsh on their mother after all.
Benny Choo flipped open the auction catalogue and ran his finger down the page. There were some beautiful things, and more than a few odd ones, that left him shaking his head. He knew something of antiques – that they were expensive and often their value made no sense at all. His wife, a collector, had filled their house in Beverly Hills with purchases she’d made from all over the world and had threatened to make over their minimalist Hong Kong penthouse too. So far he’d managed to keep her and her extravagant tastes at bay.
Benny unlocked the top drawer of his desk and retrieved a nut-brown leather notebook. Today he would take charge of the situation. He’d caught wind that Monte Carlo Pictures had been sniffing around and enquiring if Beluga was on the market. No doubt they’d be after a bargain, but then again, selling the studio would free up some of the funds Benny needed. There was a message from Beijing that required his attention too. And he was worried about Summer. She was the main attraction of the Circus of Golden Destiny and he relied on her now more than ever.
There was a knock at the door.
‘Excuse me, Mr Choo,’ Fuchsia Lee said, poking her head around. ‘I have sent the gift to Summer.’
‘Very good, Miss Lee. I want to make sure that she knows how much I appreciate her,’ the man said. He had been relieved to hear the girl had been found. When he’d learned that she was missing, he’d been worried sick.
The woman smiled. ‘Of course, Mr Choo. She is so lucky to have a boss as generous as you. I heard that the former owner treated the troupe quite badly, but they are in very good hands now.’
Benny Choo might have been short and round with a particularly antisocia
l perspiration problem, but there was an air of power about him that Fuchsia respected, and although he could be curt at times, she had come to know him as a man with a good sense of humour and a generous heart.
‘Thank you, Miss Lee. Could you hold all my calls for the next hour? I must not be disturbed, no matter what,’ he said.
‘Of course,’ Fuchsia replied. She spotted the auction catalogue. ‘Do you have your eye on something special, sir?’
‘Perhaps,’ he said, a faint waver in his voice.
‘Well, if you need any help, Mr Choo, I am more than happy to do some research,’ Fuchsia said, then retreated from the room.
Benny Choo picked up the telephone and placed the call he had been dreading.
Summer Tan gently pressed the top of her arm, wondering how long it would take for the bruise to appear. There was something strangely satisfying about the pain – it made things real, because for the past few days she had begun to think that perhaps she had been transported to some parallel universe.
It had started with the letter. She had no idea where it had come from, but the words had ripped at her heart.
* * *
Your mother’s health has been steadily improving; however, in order for her to continue on the path to wellness, there are certain things you must do. Things that will guarantee her a better future.
* * *
Summer had read the page over and over, a chill running down the length of her spine.
* * *
Should you fail to do what is asked of you, or speak of this to anyone, you will never see your mother again. Know that there are eyes everywhere.
Alice-Miranda in China Page 8