I walked over to the side of the room and sat down quietly. I watched as Mom and Dad leaned in close together, holding Mei Lin between them. My parents smiled big smiles. They looked like one big happy family. They seemed to have forgotten that something was missing.
Me.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was noon by the time the van clunked its way back to the Dolton. But after a quick lunch in our room, we headed out on a group tour of a silk museum. It wasn’t my top choice of Exciting Things to Do in China, but it was better than sitting around a hotel room. Besides, I figured it would give me a chance to talk to Katherine. A million questions bumped around inside my head and I couldn’t wait to find some answers.
We walked quietly through the museum as Lisa Wu acted as tour guide, translating the plaques and telling me more than I ever wanted to know about the silk worm and how it spins silk. The best part of the tour was the huge paintings covering the walls of the museum. If you stood up close, you could see the detailed scenes were actually made of silk threads.
Unfortunately, there was no time for private conversations as we followed Lisa around and listened to long explanations. Mei Lin slept on Mom’s shoulder through all of it but some of the other babies let us know how bored they were with a lot of squawking whenever we stopped to listen to Lisa’s speeches.
When we finally finished the tour, we ended up at the silk shop next door where everything you could imagine was made from silk. Clothes, pillows, mattresses, toys, you name it! The whole room was full of stuff and most of the parents in the adoption group, except for mine, seemed ready to spend a lot of money. So we stayed in the shop for a long time.
“I’m going to talk to Katherine,” I said, spotting the perfect opportunity to get away from my parents.
“Take Mei Lin,” Mom said quickly, strapping her back into the stroller.
I found Katherine with her parents, looking at the quilts. When she saw me, she grinned. “Madison and I are going to walk around for a while,” she told her parents as she unbuckled Madison from her stroller. The Bresners didn’t try to stop her, even though there was a lot of stuff a toddler could get into. They were probably as glad for a break as mine were.
“What’d you think?” Katherine asked as we walked around the shop.
“The paintings were kind of cool,” I said. “But I was getting a little tired of hearing about the silkworms.”
Katherine nodded. “That’s for sure.”
“So . . . I’ve been dying to hear more about the plan!” I told her, the words rushing out of me. “What are finding spots? When are we going to post the letter, and how are you going to do it without your parents or mine finding out? And, what are you going to do if your birthmom contacts you?”
“When,” Katherine corrected me. “Not if.”
“Okay, when.” I took a deep breath. “So tell me about the finding spots.”
“Well, it’s against the law for parents to abandon their babies,” Katherine said. “No, Madison, you can’t have that!” Madison had grabbed an embroidered silk pillow and had stuck it in her mouth. Katherine put the pillow back on the table and Madison started to shriek.
“Let’s go look at the stuffed animals,” I suggested. “I saw some around here somewhere.”
Katherine grabbed Madison’s hand and pulled her over to another display that didn’t look as expensive. “Here,” she said, handing Madison a stuffed monkey. “You can play with this.” But Madison didn’t want the monkey. For the next few minutes, we tried out an assortment of animals until we found a tiger. She finally stopped shrieking, and then Mei Lin started, her little arms reaching out from the stroller.
“You were saying?” I asked when they both settled down, a silk stuffed animal in both of their arms.
“Parents leave their babies in places where they know they’ll be picked up and brought to the orphanage. The officials take a photo of the baby and they print it in the newspaper.”
“Why? Anyone who leaves their baby is giving it up for adoption, right?”
“I guess.” Katherine’s eyes clouded over for a moment. “It’s not the mom’s fault, though. China has really strict laws about how many babies you can have.”
I nodded. I still didn’t understand how the whole thing worked. The government didn’t let you keep your baby, but it was against the law to give the baby up? How did that make any sense at all?
“So, my birth family probably lives near my finding spot. So, if I tack up a letter, chances are someone will see it. If not my birthmom, then another friend or relative at least.”
I bit my lip. I understood what Katherine was saying, but according to what I learned in math class this year, the probability of it actually happening would be pretty low. In a city of millions, Katherine’s birth family, if they still lived nearby, would have to walk by the finding spot during the exact time Katherine was in China. And since we were already on our third day of the trip, we didn’t have many days to spare.
In other words, the odds of Katherine finding her birth family AND my chances of winning the photojournalist contest with a story of a reunion were about one in a million.
“I’ve already written the letter,” Katherine said, in a voice that sounded dreamy.
“But . . . how do you even know where your finding spot is?”
“The adoption guide told my parents. They’ll show us Madison and Mei Lin’s too while we’re here—hey, Madison, wait up!”
Madison had taken off around a bamboo screen. That’s when we heard a loud clatter. Katherine and I stared at each other with wide eyes then raced after Madison to see what damage and destruction she had caused.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Oh no!” Katherine gasped when we spotted the rack of clothing on the floor, silky dresses and blouses on hangers strewn all over the place. Madison sat in the middle of the wreckage, banging a hanger on the tiles and squealing with joy.
“No, Madison!” Katherine said, trying to scoop her up. “Bad girl!” Madison just squirmed out of her arms and squealed some more.
The Bresners rushed over. “What happened?” Mrs. Bresner asked, her cheeks flushed.
Katherine shook her head. “Madison wouldn’t listen to me. She just took off, and then she pulled down the whole clothing rack!”
“You shouldn’t have let her out of your sight,” Mrs. Bresner said while she reached for Madison.
“It wasn’t my fault. I tried to stop her, but she was too fast.”
Mrs. Bresner didn’t respond to Katherine, just began picking things up and hanging them back on the rack. A saleslady appeared around then and tried to tell Mrs. Bresner not to worry. First, she said something in Chinese, then gave us a quick smile. “It’s okay. We fix it.”
Mrs. Bresner kept apologizing while Katherine just stood there, not saying anything. I was glad when her dad put an arm around her and said, “Don’t worry about it, honey. Luckily, she didn’t break anything.”
I wished Mrs. Bresner would say something nice, or at least smile at Katherine. She’s the one who let Katherine walk off with Madison without telling her to use the stroller. But Mrs. Bresner stayed focused on cleaning up the mess instead of worrying about how Katherine felt.
I wanted to finish our conversation, but it was clear it wasn’t going to happen right then. “I’m going to find my parents,” I told her. She nodded without looking back at me.
***
Once we got back to the hotel, my parents put Mei Lin down for a nap.
“Tell you what,” Dad said to me, “we’re going to run over to Lisa’s room for a little while to ask her some questions—”
“Questions about what?” I glanced over at tiny Mei Lin snoozing away in her crib. I thought about the way Madison had run all over the store that morning while Mei Lin was content to sit in a stroller. “Mei Lin’s okay, isn’t she?”
Dad scrunched up his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“You know,” I said, looking down at the flo
or. “That she’s not walking yet, and she hardly even crawls.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your sister,” Mom said. “She just needs some time to catch up.”
Mom sounded like she believed what she was saying, so I just shrugged. “What are you going to Lisa’s for then?”
“The group is visiting the orphanage tomorrow,” Dad said. “We’re trying to decide if we want to go.”
“Hey, I’ve got an idea!” I said, snapping my fingers. “We could go to Orange Lake instead! It would be so much more fun than visiting a boring old orphanage. Mei Lin will love it!”
My parents exchanged looks, but I had no idea what they were thinking.
“We haven’t seen any of the pretty parts of China yet,” I pointed out. An idea was forming in my head, an alternative to the “Girl Finds Birthmom” story, just in case it didn’t work out. “Besides, the orphanage means another day stuck inside.”
“We’ll see what Lisa has to say about it,” Dad said. “Orange Lake does sound like a nice place to visit, doesn’t it, Lynn?”
“Sure,” Mom said, but I could tell she was seriously considering the orphanage. “We’ll see, okay, Emily?”
“We’ll be back in a little while,” Dad said. “Keep an eye on Mei Lin.”
“Got it,” I said, crossing my fingers they’d decide against the group tour.
After they left the room, I pulled out my journal and flipped back to My Fears About the China Trip. So far, I was making progress. I’d already checked off the fear of flying and eating authentic food, and I moved my finger down to #5: What if I don’t like Katherine and I’m stuck hanging out with her for two weeks? I smiled and checked that one off, too. Katherine and I were different, but she was beginning to grow on me. Besides, she’d pulled me into an exciting adventure, and if things worked out the way she hoped, I’d win the contest for sure.
And if they didn’t? Well, I already had a back-up plan.
I plugged in my laptop and opened the contest document. Then I typed
Plan A: “The Reunion in China: Adopted Chinese Girl Finds Her Birthmom”
Plan B: “The Beauty of China in Expected and Unexpected Places.”
Mei Lin stirred in her crib and her little elephant jingled and fell to the floor. She let out a cry. She was just like me, needing her stuffed animal to fall asleep! So I picked up the elephant and tucked it in next to her, straightening the pink blanket so she was all comfy. She sighed softly, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
I sat back down at my computer, thinking about the next day. A trip to Orange Lake with its temples and waterfalls and orange trees would give me some expected beauty. But the photo of a bat hanging in Walmart might work for the rest of the title, and the more I looked at the country and its people I was sure to find other things that would surprise me.
While I was hoping for Plan A, a back-up plan wouldn’t hurt.
A knock on the door shook me out of my thoughts. I shut my laptop and jumped up to see who was there.
“You want to go swimming?” Katherine asked when I opened the door. I could see a purple bikini through her cover-up. “Dad’s taking me while Madison naps.”
“Really? No Provincial Museum today?” I teased.
Katherine rolled her eyes. “Thank goodness, no. Madison’s stunt today wore Mom out. She doesn’t like it when her children misbehave.”
I laughed. “Madison’s just a baby.”
“Yeah, and I was the one in charge.” She shrugged. “Oh well. So, are you up for it?”
“Mom and Dad went to Lisa’s to talk to her about something. But if you wait for me, I’m sure they’ll let me go.”
“Okay.” Katherine grinned and waved at me. “See you in a bit!”
I changed into my bathing suit while I waited for my parents, packing Nana’s camera along with my towel. We were only allowed fifteen photos for the contest, but you had to take a lot to get the right one. The pool was the perfect place to capture Katherine’s spirit. I could bet she was an expert swimmer, just like she seemed to be an expert at everything else. If I could get a photo of her diving into the pool it could have a bigger meaning than the obvious one.
Like Nana always said, “Let your photos dig beneath the surface. Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary.”
That’s exactly what I was going to have to do if I wanted to win the contest.
After my parents returned, I rushed off to Katherine’s. They said they needed some time to discuss the trip tomorrow, so it worked out perfectly.
Katherine was an awesome swimmer, just as I had predicted. Our voices echoed inside the room and bounced off the walls, so we didn’t have a chance for private conversation at first, but when Mr. Bresner decided to swim some laps, I took advantage of the opportunity.
“So, when are we going to put up the letter?” I whispered to her. “We’re leaving Changsha at the end of the week!”
“Come on,” Katherine said. “Don’t you think I’m a better planner than that? I was born in Guangzhou, and we’ll be there for seven days!”
“Good,” I said. “I was afraid we were running out of time.”
“Don’t worry,” Katherine said. “We can look at Lisa’s itinerary for next week. I’m sure there’s some free time when we first arrive.”
“But how are we going to sneak out without our parents finding out? They keep a pretty close eye on us, you know.”
“Simple. I tell my parents I’m with you, and you tell your parents you’re with me, and we sneak out when they’re too busy to pay attention to details. With a new baby, it shouldn’t be too tricky. My parents seem a bit overwhelmed, how about yours?”
I grinned. It could definitely work.
“Hey, let’s see who can get the rings!” Katherine said, tossing them into the water. I dove in after her. Meeting Katherine in China had turned out better than I ever imagined. I couldn’t believe that just a few days ago I thought we could never be friends.
***
“Aren’t the rest of the families coming?” I asked that evening as we headed out to a new restaurant down the street.
Dad shook his head. “I guess Lisa figured we’ve had enough togetherness over the last few days. She said tonight we’re on our own.”
“But—but don’t we need a translator?” I asked. Even though I’d spent most of the day with Katherine, I wasn’t sure about ordering at a restaurant where the menu was in a different language.
Dad laughed. “Lisa wrote something that will help.” He held up a piece of paper with symbols all over it.
“What does it say?”
Dad peered at it closely as if he could read it. “It says ‘Do not feed this family snake, insects, or duck. Especially not the duck.’”
I giggled.
“Don’t worry,” Mom said. “We’ll get a good dinner tonight, I promise.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I remembered #2 on my List of Fears. I’d already checked it off, which meant I’d conquered my fear of real Chinese cuisine. So I squared my shoulders, held my chin high, and followed my parents into the restaurant with red awnings and a name I couldn’t read, hoping my parents were right.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Heading out for dinner on our own turned out to be a total disaster. I should have guessed it would be from the moment I saw the gigantic tank full of lobsters in the front lobby. It was a loud, bright place where voices echoed off the high ceilings and wooden floors, and I could barely hear my parents, who were sitting right next to me.
The waiter brought a high chair for Mei Lin without a tray, which meant she had a grand old time grabbing everything she could on our crowded little table.
“Wheeeeeee!!!” Mei Lin squealed, reaching for the china spoon. She immediately dropped it on the floor, and it smashed into a million pieces.
Things got worse from there. Dad showed the waiter Lisa’s notes, and the waiter asked a few questions in Chinese that of course we couldn’t understand, then walked awa
y, shaking his head and muttering.
While we waited for our food, I spent the entire time picking up chopsticks and napkins Mei Lin kept tossing on the floor. It was a little like that game with Polky the elephant but definitely not as fun.
When our dishes arrived, I had no idea what was what. There was a bowl of green slimy stuff that must have been some kind of vegetable, another plate that might have had burned tofu on it, noodles coated in a dark brown sauce so you couldn’t see the vegetables or meat that might have been hiding underneath, and of course, white rice without soy sauce. I was ready to send it all back, but I’d already checked #2 off on my List of Fears.
So I started with the tofu. Since Lisa wasn’t around, I speared a chunk with a chopstick and stuck it in my mouth. Aargh!!! My mouth was on fire! Since I couldn’t spit the food out, I forced myself to swallow it down before reaching for my glass of water to wash out the bad taste.
“What’s wrong?” Dad asked me.
I waved my hand in front of my mouth. “Spicy! Don’t let Mei Lin eat it!” I said, but when I looked over at Mei Lin, she was slurping it down like cottage cheese.
“Looks like she loves it,” Mom said. “Try another bite, Em. Maybe it’s not so bad.”
I shook my head, picking at the rice on my plate. At least Mei Lin hadn’t broken all the spoons, so there was something I could manage to eat.
“Try the Chinese broccoli,” Mom said, pointing to a green blob that looked like overcooked spinach.
“That’s okay,” I said, shaking my head again.
“Here.” Mom scooped some of her food onto my plate. “It’s noodles and shrimp.”
It looked just as gross as the rest of the food at the table. Had I really checked off #2 on my list of fears? The dishes at the hotel didn’t look anything like the ones in front of me. I pushed my chair back from the table and held up my hands. “Forget it. I’m not eating THAT.”
Mei Lin grabbed a noodle and tossed it. It landed right in my hair. “Stop it, Mei Lin,” I snapped at her.
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