Alice-Miranda in China

by Jacqueline Harvey

  ‘Whoa, that girl’s awesome,’ a boy in the crowd yelled out.

  ‘She sure is,’ Lucas agreed.

  The goldfish floated motionless in the bag. Everyone stared at it, willing the creature to live.

  ‘Come on, little guy,’ one of the security officers whispered, clenching his fist.

  Suddenly, the fish twitched. A gasp went up around the room, then a cheer, as it flipped and flopped and began swimming laps. Jacinta and Mr Plumpton exchanged high-fives.

  Once the fate of the fish was sealed, it seemed that everyone was keen to get on with their day.

  ‘George Figworth, what on earth were you thinking?’ Ophelia said.

  The boy licked his lips, trying to summon some moisture into his mouth. ‘It was a present for my host family. I heard that goldfish were good luck.’

  A security guard grabbed Figgy by the arm.

  Ophelia Grimm’s jaw dropped. ‘What are you doing? We’ve got a plane to catch.’

  ‘He is being taken in for questioning,’ the security officer replied tersely. ‘The boy has committed a criminal offence. We must search him for any other contraband. Maybe he has a tortoise hidden in his trousers?’

  The headmistress eyeballed the lad. ‘Do you?’

  Figgy shook his head and fidgeted uncomfortably with his wet underpants.

  Another of the guards was on the telephone and it wasn’t long before a very official-looking gentleman in a highly decorated uniform appeared and marched towards them. He asked Ophelia to step aside and the pair spent several minutes in hushed conversation. She explained as best she could that, while the boy had done something completely brainless, his intentions had been noble.

  ‘Hurry up, will you?’ a chap called from the middle of the line. ‘I’m going to miss my plane.’

  A chorus of grumbles started up.

  The official sighed and glared at Figgy. ‘You are free to go, but please ensure that in future you abide by our laws.’

  ‘May I take Gordon?’ the lad asked, looking over at the goldfish.

  ‘My children will enjoy looking after him,’ the man said.

  Figgy gulped and nodded.

  Ophelia Grimm thanked the man and took Figgy to join the others. The lad squelched through the checkpoint with everyone but Rufus giving him a wide berth.

  ‘I’m in big trouble, aren’t I?’ Figgy whispered.

  ‘Yup,’ Rufus said.

  Figgy frowned. The whole thing was so unfair and now he was going to have sit in wet pants for two and half hours. ‘But it wasn’t just my idea …’ he whined.

  Rufus swivelled his head and glared at him. ‘Don’t drag me into this,’ he hissed. ‘I wasn’t the one who chose a stupid goldfish.’

  Figgy folded his arms obstinately. ‘If I’m going home, you are too,’ he huffed.

  Rufus stalked away.

  Ophelia Grimm looked over from where she had been speaking quietly to Mr Plumpton and Miss Reedy. At this point in time she had no idea what she was going to do, except to hope that the boy’s judgement improved considerably by the time they reached the Bright Star Academy in Beijing.

  The flight had been uneventful and mercifully short. Despite being seated together, Figgy and Rufus hadn’t exchanged a word since Hong Kong Airport. With no in-flight entertainment, both lads had been bored senseless. Several times they had gone to speak to one another and then stopped themselves, remembering they were in the middle of a fight.

  Figgy was wary of Miss Grimm as she seemed to have forgotten all about Gordon, but having seen her in action in Paris, he knew that she’d unleash her fury on him at some point. His parents would be mortified if he was sent home, especially as he knew his mother had been bragging to his grandparents on his father’s side (who she couldn’t stand) that he’d been specially selected to represent the school in its pilot exchange program with a prestigious Chinese academy. Though it wasn’t technically true, it had made his mother very proud.

  The group arrived at Pudong Airport, which resembled the shape and bones of a whale’s belly. They were met by a petite young woman called Iris, who was to be their guide for the next two days. Iris was a picture of professionalism and efficiency, teaming a smart grey suit with a matching pair of practical trainers. Even her precisely cut bob looked like it meant business. Despite her diminutive size, she soon revealed herself as a force to be reckoned with. Iris welcomed the children and adults to Shanghai in excellent American-accented English and swiftly brandished a stick with a large cut-out red dragon stuck on top. ‘Keep an eye on this and you will not get lost,’ she instructed. ‘Now, follow me.’

  As they snaked their way through the airport, Iris’s sweet tones transformed.

  ‘Move it, grandpa, I have children coming through,’ she barked at a startled fellow, who immediately shuffled aside. ‘Look out,’ she yelled at a man driving a cart. He slammed on the brakes to allow the children to pass, almost catapulting his disabled passenger through the windscreen.

  ‘Why does she yell at them in English?’ Jacinta asked.

  ‘Who knows,’ Sloane said, ‘but it works.’

  It was true. The young woman cut a swathe through the crowd, earning not one word of retaliation. They reached the platform for the Maglev train in what could only be record time, and lined up behind a glass barrier.

  ‘Look at that!’ Lucas exclaimed as a sleek train glided into the station.

  ‘Whoa, it looks like something out of a science-fiction movie,’ Sep said. ‘Or a giant caterpillar.’

  Iris laughed and executed a couple of deep lunges, before stretching her arms over her head. ‘Then it is the fastest caterpillar in the world.’

  ‘Yeah, this thing’s even cooler than the Japanese bullet trains and I didn’t think there was anything to rival them,’ Lucas said.

  The train doors and the glass panels opened simultaneously and Iris ushered everyone on board.

  ‘Find a seat and don’t get up while the train’s moving,’ Miss Reedy ordered. She found herself looking to Iris for confirmation, and the young woman nodded.

  ‘How fast does this thing go?’ Lucas asked.

  ‘I believe the top speed is four hundred and thirty-one kilometres per hour,’ Mr Plumpton said, ‘but when it was tested it exceeded five hundred kilometres per hour.’

  ‘My dad’s car goes faster than that,’ Rufus scoffed.

  ‘Yeah, and I’m Superman.’ Figgy looked at his friend and the pair grinned like idiots. It seemed the frost was thawing.

  ‘How does it work?’ Sep asked.

  Caprice rolled her eyes. ‘Seriously, did you have to ask?’ she muttered. ‘Here comes another mind-numbing Science lesson with Plumpy.’

  Venetia shot her daughter a glare. ‘Excuse me, young lady, there is no need to be rude. I, for one, am very interested to know.’

  Mr Plumpton stood beside his seat at the end of the carriage, despite his wife’s preference that he sit down, and gave a very interesting explanation of the magnetic levitation system employed by the train. His speech was only interrupted by gasps from the children as the speedometer displays quickly shot up to over four hundred kilometres per hour. It was hard to imagine they were going that fast, apart from the speed with which the landscape was changing.

  Thankfully, for Caprice at least, Mr Plumpton’s speech didn’t last long as the entire journey took just over eight minutes.

  ‘I can’t believe we’re here already,’ Mr Grump marvelled. ‘Last time I was in Shanghai, I recall sitting in traffic for hours.’

  ‘Yes, much better than the freeways – you can be stuck on them for days,’ Iris said.

  Millie wrinkled her nose. ‘Surely you don’t mean that.’

  ‘Oh, yes I do,’ Iris replied. ‘There was a traffic jam for over two thousand kilometres during Chinese New Year. Some people spent seventy-two hours in their cars. I never go anywhere during holiday periods in China – it’s nuts,’ she said with a grin.

  Millie was struck by the f
rightening prospect of being trapped on a freeway for days on end. She wondered where the motorists would go to the toilet and what they would eat. Or, even worse, what if someone had a heart attack or a baby? People could die in situations like that.

  The group disembarked and, with a wave of her flag, Iris led them to their bus. She regaled them with facts about the area they were travelling through, called the Pudong, as they took the scenic route to their hotel. Millie had been reading about it in her guidebook, and she and Alice-Miranda were busy pointing out the high-rise buildings they recognised from the pictures.

  When the woman asked if anyone knew the population of Shanghai, Alice-Miranda jumped in, answering twenty-four million, which, Iris proceeded to tell them, made it the most populous city in the whole of China. She pointed out several other interesting buildings, including one that looked like a giant bottle opener, before their first stop came into view. Iris introduced it as the Oriental Pearl Tower, and in no time the group found themselves inside the giant foyer, where hundreds of red lanterns hung overhead. They lined up for the elevators, which would take them to the viewing platforms housed in the pink spheres that were dotted along the tower’s spine. Millie made a beeline for the viewing deck that wrapped around the building.

  ‘Look at that view!’ Alice-Miranda exclaimed, stepping out onto the timber deck. Lights twinkled in the distance and the whole city was on display.

  Sloane took one look at the section beyond the wooden floor, comprised of a glass-panelled walkway and safety barrier, and clamped her eyes shut. ‘Oh, I can’t look.’

  ‘What are you talking about, Sloane?’ her mother said. ‘It’s gorgeous out here.’ September tottered onto the transparent surface and was completely fine until she glanced down and realised that all there was between her and a very long drop were a couple of inches of toughened glass. September froze. ‘Oh no,’ she whimpered. ‘No, no, no, no. I c-can’t b-be here.’

  Sloane opened one eye to take a peek. ‘Well, come back then.’

  ‘I can’t move,’ September began to yelp. ‘I can’t feel my legs. I can’t breathe.’

  Alice-Miranda heard the woman’s cries and hurried over to her. ‘You’re fine, Mrs Sykes,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Just come towards me and put one foot in front of the other and you’ll be back on solid ground.’

  ‘I c-c-can’t,’ the woman gasped.

  ‘Come along, Mrs Sykes,’ Josiah Plumpton said, walking out onto the glass platform. ‘Take my hand and you’ll be fine.’

  September saw her life flash before her eyes and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

  ‘Stop that, Mummy,’ Sloane pleaded, feeling the weight of everyone’s attention on them. ‘You’re being embarrassing.’

  Sep ran over from the other side of the tower, with Lucas and Lawrence hot on his heels. He looked at his mother, whose legs were splayed as if she were about to lay an egg. ‘What’s the matter?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m stuck!’ September wailed, now clutching Josiah’s arm. ‘I can’t move.’

  ‘Of course you can,’ Sep said. ‘Just put one foot in front of the other.’

  Mr Plumpton was beginning to look a little peaky too. September’s talons were digging into his flesh so hard he was surprised there was only sweat running down his arm.

  ‘Mrs Sykes, please let go of my husband,’ Miss Reedy said, a note of panic seeping into her voice.

  ‘No, you’ll just leave me on my own,’ September wailed. She began to cry – and it was ugly. All the while, her heels had begun sliding apart on the sweat-stained floor, resulting in an awkward and ever-expanding splits position.

  Miss Grimm and Mr Grump watched on in bemusement, as did hordes of other tourists who were happily snapping photographs of the frozen pair. One little girl even poked out her head from between September’s legs, making a peace sign, while a boy ran over and prodded the woman on the bottom.

  Lawrence decided it was time to take action. Although he wasn’t all that keen on being out there himself, the situation was getting sillier by the second. He made his way towards the pair as if he were scaling a glacier. ‘All right, you two. September, on the count of three, I want you to release Mr Plumpton and grab on to my arm,’ Lawrence instructed. ‘One, two, three!’

  September let go of Josiah and launched herself at Lawrence. The traumatised Science teacher ran towards his wife, who consoled him with a hug.

  ‘Good grief,’ Lawrence squeaked, struggling under the woman’s weight as she wrapped herself around him like a python around a palm tree. He prised her free and swung her over his shoulder, running to the nearest elevator.

  ‘Well done, Uncle Lawrence,’ Alice-Miranda called out, clapping along with the rest of the crowd that had been watching the drama unfold.

  ‘Mama,’ said a little boy, tugging at the hem of the woman’s dress. ‘That was Vector!’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ his mother replied with a laugh. ‘That was just a pudgy man rescuing his silly wife.’

  Iris rounded up the rest of the group and they joined Lawrence and September back on the ground floor.

  ‘Did everyone enjoy the sky deck?’ she asked. The woman had missed all the fuss as she’d dashed off to make some telephone calls about their arrangements for the morning.

  ‘It was fantastic,’ Jacinta said.

  ‘The view was fabulous,’ Alice-Miranda enthused.

  ‘It was horrible,’ September whimpered. ‘And I broke a nail.’

  ‘Which I think is in my arm,’ Mr Plumpton grumbled.

  ‘We have a little while until the bus returns, so may I suggest a tour of the museum? There are some shops at the end of the arcade too,’ Iris said.

  At the mention of shops, September perked up considerably.

  ‘Oh no you don’t, Mummy,’ Sloane said, wagging her finger. ‘You’re staying with us.’

  Sep looked at the woman and nodded.

  ‘Perhaps we can all have a look together,’ Alice-Miranda suggested.

  September pouted like a three-year-old. Even her son had turned against her. Maybe she should look into getting a flight home, the woman thought to herself. She and China weren’t getting on very well at all.

  The old man smiled as he hung up the telephone. It seemed that his plan was coming together even better than expected.

  ‘What is that look for, husband?’ Winnie asked, standing in the doorway.

  ‘That was the realtor. He said they have agreed to our price for the old school. We will be able to purchase it as soon as the deal is done with the Circus of Golden Destiny. I have made a down payment,’ he said.

  Winnie walked into the room and closed the door. ‘Are you happy?’

  ‘Yes, absolutely. We cannot run the troupe forever and the boys agree this is for the best,’ he said. ‘Have you changed your mind?’

  ‘Of course not. There are so many children we can help and I can’t think of a better way to spend the rest of our days. Perhaps it is time to tell Cherry and Lucille and the children?’ She gave him a curious look.

  The old man shook his head. ‘There is no need, not yet.’

  ‘Are you worried they will not be happy?’ his wife asked.

  Lionel sighed wearily. ‘Tell me when Lucille is ever happy,’ he said. ‘All she wants to do is spend, spend, spend. Money flows out of her fingers like water. If she were in charge of the funds, we would all be living on the street by now.’

  Winnie nodded. ‘You are right about that, and she is lazy too. She has done none of the work in preparation for our guests. Wai Po and I have organised everything. And now, with Mr Choo coming to see the show next week, there is too much to do.’

  ‘We will get through, we always do,’ Lionel said, patting his wife’s hand. ‘By the way, Mr Choo telephoned this morning. He was keen to know about the troupe, so I told him that Coco is our best, although she is still a child, and Cherry defies her age. She works so hard and is magnificent not only with her acrobatics but her sleight of hand too. Mr Ch
oo was very impressed. He said he couldn’t wait to meet everyone.’

  There was a loud knock at the door, and Deng Rou entered carrying a tray with a teapot, two cups and a plate of orange slices.

  The old man smiled. ‘Ah, Rou, what would we do without you?’

  ‘I hope you’re not planning to do without me anytime soon,’ she said.

  ‘Of course not.’ Lionel looked up and caught his wife’s gaze. Winnie rolled her eyes and gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

  ‘Well, I’m sure that one day you will want to retire and have a life of your own,’ Winnie said.

  Rou placed the tray down with a clatter and proceeded to pour the tea. ‘Retirement is for ninnies,’ she said, sloshing some of the liquid over the edge of Winnie’s cup. ‘Besides, why would I leave when there is so much excitement ahead for us?’

  Winnie and Lionel looked at each other. ‘Excitement?’ Lionel asked.

  Rou smiled and wiped up the spill with a cloth. ‘I just meant that you are so clever coming up with new routines for the whole family. You must have some more big ideas for the show.’

  ‘Yes, we are having some fun,’ Lionel said cautiously. ‘There is no one in the world who is as innovative as we are.’

  ‘What about the Circus of Golden Destiny?’ Rou asked.

  Lionel’s brow furrowed. ‘What about them?’

  ‘Oh, I just read that they have the most incredible acts, doing things that no one had thought humanly possible,’ Rou said, lowering her eyes. She set a teacup down in front of Lionel, then Winnie, and offered the plate of sliced orange.

  Winnie didn’t believe a word of it. Rou’s eyesight these days was terrible – she was always complaining that she could barely read anymore. ‘As they aren’t allowed to perform in mainland China, I don’t think we will see them anytime soon. Unless you would like to go for a long-overdue holiday and watch them yourself?’