by Grace Lin
But when the girls saw me and the buffalo come through the trees, they screamed. They jumped out of the water, grabbed their robes, and ran away. They moved so quickly, it seemed like they had all disappeared into the sky.
All except for one, that is. One girl stayed in the water and stared at me with scared eyes. Her hair floated around her like a midnight halo and her white face looked like a star in the sky.
“Hello?” I said.
“Your… your buffalo,” she said, and her voice was like flute notes in the air, “he’s sitting on my clothes!”
“Oh,” I said, and I quickly pushed him over. On the ground, crushed and a little muddy, was a blue silk dress. As I lifted it, the softness made me ashamed of my rough hands. “Here,” I said, bringing the dress to the edge of the lake.
She looked at me, hesitating. “I won’t look,” I said, and I placed the dress on the ground and walked a bit away, with my back turned. I heard her slip out of the water and rustle of silk as she put on her clothes.
“Thank you,” she said. “You can turn around now.”
And when I turned around, a girl was smiling at me. She was my age but she was prettier than any girl I had ever seen before. Even paintings of princesses were ugly compared to her.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I said. “My buffalo was just thirsty.”
“I guess so,” she said, and she laughed like tinkling bells as we watched my big, lumbering buffalo make his way to the water. “I can’t believe my sisters just left me like that! I’m the youngest too—they’re supposed to watch me. But I’m glad they didn’t because now I can talk to you. Tell me all about you! Does your buffalo go with you everywhere?”
And just like that, we became good friends. She wanted to know everything about me and wasn’t snobbish or anything. In fact, a lot of the time she sighed and said she wished she had my freedom.
“I have to go before they miss me.” She sighed. “I wish I could stay here. Where I live, I’m not allowed to do anything. There’s always someone watching, telling me what to do. And it’s kind of lonely.”
“Well, visit me,” I told her. “We can have lots of fun together.”
“I’ll try,” she promised.
And she kept her promise. Like she said, it was hard for her to get away, but every night on the full moon when she visits her grandfather, she stops here. Sometimes she can only stay for a little while, sometimes she can stay for hours. Whenever I see her, we laugh enough to last for the month. She’s my best friend, and someday when we’re old enough I’m going to talk her into staying here forever.
“And she should be coming tonight,” the buffalo boy said, and his smile was bright and broad.
“Oh, can I meet her?” Minli said. It was funny how the buffalo boy’s whole manner changed when he talked about her—his vaguely mocking attitude and tough expression washed away and he lit up like a lantern. She was glad the boy had someone in his life other than the buffalo.
The boy looked troubled. “She’s really shy around other people,” he said. “And I think she’s afraid if anyone sees her, her family might find out that she stops here instead of going straight to her grandfather’s. They’re really strict with her.”
“I won’t bother her, then,” Minli said. “Do you want me to leave?”
“No, you can just stay with the buffalo,” he said. “She told me last time that this visit would have to be fast anyway. She was behind on her work, so they will expect her back quickly.”
“Work?” Minli asked. “What does she do?”
“She weaves and spins thread,” the boy said. “That’s what she brings to her grandfather when she visits—thread that she spins. Hey, I know! I’ll ask her how you can see the king! She’ll know.”
“How will a weaving girl know about the king?” Minli asked. “Does she live in the Inner City?”
“No, she lives far away,” the boy said vaguely, “but she knows a lot of things.”
Minli shrugged. It didn’t seem likely to her that a friend of the buffalo boy would know how she could see the king, but as she didn’t have any ideas of her own, she would hope.
CHAPTER
19
Minli started awake as she heard the scraping of the door against the dirt. The moonlight streamed in from the window, lighting the bare hut. The boy had given her his pile of grass to sleep on and joined the buffalo, using some of its grass as a pillow. But as the buffalo snored loudly, Minli could see the bowl-shaped hollow in the hay was empty. “I wonder where he went?” Minli said, and she found herself thinking of Ma and Ba and Dragon all waiting for her. Suddenly the room seemed to ache with loneliness.
“The boy must be meeting his friend,” Minli realized, and unable to control her curiosity, she crept to the window to peek.
Yes, the friend was there. Minli was startled when she saw her. Even with the buffalo boy blocking most of her view, Minli could see his friend was beautiful, even more beautiful than he had described her. She seemed to glow like a pearl in the moonlight and her deep blue silk dress seemed to be the same color as the sky. The bag she held in her graceful hand seemed to be made out of the same silk, but the silver thread embroidered on it made it look as if it were made from a piece of the star-scattered sky. Everything about her seemed finer and more delicate than the average person. There was definitely something unusual about the buffalo boy’s friend.
Minli watched her laugh and then listen intently as the buffalo boy spoke. He gestured to the house and Minli just ducked down out of sight as the friend glanced toward her. He must be asking her about how I can see the king, Minli thought.
As soon as she dared, Minli peeked again out the window. The buffalo boy’s friend had her eyes closed toward the sky, as if listening to the wind. Then she looked at the buffalo boy and spoke. He nodded and the girl smiled at what Minli imagined was the buffalo boy’s enthusiastic thanks.
Minli sat down on the wooden stool. “She knows a lot of things,” the buffalo boy had said about his friend. After seeing her, Minli was ready to believe it. “But who is she?” Minli asked aloud.
And just then the buffalo boy came back inside. “Oh, you’re awake,” he said when he saw Minli. As much as he tried he couldn’t hide the leftover smiles and laughter from his visit; his eyes sparkled as he sprawled himself out on the bed of grass. “I talked to my friend. She said that the king might be at the Market of Green Abundance tomorrow morning, but you are going to have to find him yourself.”
“Really?” Minli said. “How does she know?”
The boy shrugged.
“You didn’t ask?” Minli asked. “Don’t you think it’s mysterious that you only see her once in a while? And you never visit her, she only visits you? And that she knows things like where the king might be tomorrow? Who is she, really?”
“She’s my friend,” the boy said simply. “That’s who she is and that’s enough for me.”
As Minli looked at the buffalo boy, aglow with happiness against his poor surroundings, she saw it was enough for him. More than enough, as the smile that kept curling up on his face told her. Minli’s questions fell from her as she realized there was nothing else to say.
CHAPTER
20
Ma and Ba walked quietly through the forest. Their steps made a rhythm to the music of forest noises. Ba’s arms ached from carrying the goldfish bowl, but he said nothing.
“I can carry the goldfish if you are tired,” Ma said.
Ba opened his mouth to protest when he heard, “Let her, old man. It’s her way of saying she’s not angry anymore.”
Ba closed his mouth and looked at the fishbowl and then at Ma. She stood, waiting, clearly ignorant of the fish’s words. He handed the bowl to Ma. “If it gets heavy, I can take it back,” he said.
“We can take turns,” Ma said, nodding.
Ma was carrying the fishbowl when the night fell and they came back home to the village. The neighbors saw their return and all crowded around a
s if they were selling good luck. “Did you find Minli?” they asked. “Where is she? Where did you get a goldfish?”
Both Ma and Ba shook their heads over and over again. “No,” they said, “we didn’t find her. We don’t know where she is. The goldfish is from the goldfish peddler. We followed his footprints thinking they were Minli’s.”
“And we decided,” Ba finally said, “to come back and wait. After she finds Never-Ending Mountain, Minli will come home.”
“Wait for her!” one of the neighbors said. “How can you let your daughter search for Never-Ending Mountain? You are just as lost as her!”
“We tried to find her, but now we do not know where to look. So, we will wait,” Ba said, and then glanced at Ma, who, though her lips tightened at the neighbors’ words, did not disagree. “We trust Minli. She will come home.”
And then Ma and Ba went into their house, leaving the sea of shaking heads behind them. Ma placed the goldfish bowl on the table and quietly began making dinner. A soft breeze seemed to blow in the moonlight, spilling it through the open window and lighting the bowl like a lantern. Ba looked at Ma cautiously; her face looked weary but the gentle wind that rippled the bowl’s water seemed to smooth the creases of her face. And, when the cloud-white rice was finished, Ma took her chopsticks and fed the fish from her bowl.
CHAPTER
21
Minli and the buffalo boy pushed through the crowd as the sun burned the tops of their heads. Minli, used to the spare harvests of her village, couldn’t help gaping at the tall mounds of food for sale at the Market of Green Abundance. The street and open courtyard were filled with umbrella-covered stands and stalls, flaunting jade-colored cabbages, curled cucumbers, purple eggplants, and tangy oranges. Glossy sugared hawthorne berries, like rubies on a stick, made Minli’s mouth water.
“I don’t see the king anywhere,” Minli said.
“Well, maybe he’s not here yet,” the buffalo boy said.
“I don’t know if I’ll find him here,” Minli said. Now, in the daylight, the buffalo boy’s friend didn’t seem as extraordinary. “What would the king be doing at a street market anyway?”
“She said he’d be here, so he will,” the buffalo boy said, his mouth making a stubborn line.
“Hey! Get away from that!” a vendor yelled as the buffalo attempted to eat frosty green lettuce. The buffalo boy quickly pulled him away. “Get your buffalo out of here!” the vendor shouted, as red-faced as the radishes he was selling.
“I better take him away,” the buffalo boy said, pulling the buffalo’s head away from the arrays of tempting food. “He’s hungry, I should take him to pasture.”
“I’ll stay here,” Minli said. “You don’t need to look for the king with me.”
“Okay,” the boy said. “If you need a place to stay tonight, you know where my hut is. If not, maybe I’ll see you around! Good luck!”
“Thanks,” Minli said, but as he carelessly waved goodbye, she realized that she might not see him again. Before he disappeared from sight, she grabbed the last coin out of her bag, and ran to him. “Wait,” Minli said. “Here, take this.”
“No,” the boy laughed, “I don’t need that, you keep it.”
“But…,” Minli started, but he had already turned around. “Goodbye!” she heard him call, and the buffalo snorted a farewell as well. Minli smiled wryly to herself.
Now what? Minli thought as she wandered past stalls, weaving around merchants and customers. How am I supposed to find the king here?
“Please, spare a piece of fruit for an old man,” a voice creaked. Minli turned around and saw a wrinkled, poor man begging at a peach stand. He was dirty and bent and his clothes looked as if they were made from rags used to wash floors. “Please,” he begged the peach vendor, “I’m so thirsty. One small peach, your smallest?”
“Go away, old man,” the fat vendor said. “No money, no peach.”
“Please,” the beggar said again, weakly. “Pity a tired, old man.”
“Get away from here, you worthless beggar!” the vendor spat out. “Or I’ll call the guards on you.”
The vendor’s loud voice had attracted attention from passersby, and a small crowd began to form in front of the peach stand.
“It’s disgraceful to treat an old man like that,” someone murmured. “Just give him a peach.”
“All of you are so generous with my property.” The vendor glared at the crowd. “If you care so much, buy him a peach.”
As Minli watched the beggar’s hands outstretched and shaking with hunger, she felt a sharp pang inside her. It reminded her of Ba, reaching out with his last chopstickful of rice for her fish. The copper coin she had offered to the buffalo boy was warm in her hand. She could almost feel her heart beating against its round edges.
“Here,” she said, handing the vendor the coin. Then she picked the largest peach on the stand and handed it to the old man. He bowed to her gratefully and eagerly ate the peach. Forgetting about the Inner City and the Palace for the moment, Minli watched him. In fact, as if under a spell, the whole crowd stood and watched him swallow the fruit until he held a peach pit in his hand.
“Thank you,” the beggar said in a much stronger voice, and he bowed to the onlooking people. “The peach was so delicious, I wish for all of you to be able to taste it. If you would humor an old man and stay a little while, I’ll share my good fortune.”
The old man took a small stick out of his pocket and bent down. In the dirt next to the black bricks, he dug a small hole and planted his peach pit. He stuck his stick upright in the little mound and then asked for water. Minli, now completely fascinated, took out her water jug and handed it to him. As he poured water onto his stick, it trembled, and—was she imagining it?—it seemed to grow.
And it was growing. The stick grew higher and higher and thicker and thicker, until it was the width of Minli’s arm. When she could no longer see the top of it, pink flowers and branches began to blossom out of it. As the sweet scent of the flowers filled the air, Minli realized the stick had become a peach tree. The crowd of people seemed to realize this too as they all gaped at it open-mouthed. Even the stingy vendor left his fruit stand to stare at it in awe.
Like pink snow, the petals fell from the tree and made a soft carpet on the dirt. Green leaves sprouted and, as they cascaded over the branches, pale moon-colored balls like pearls developed. Almost as if they were small balloons being blown with air, they grew into round fruit, blushing pink and red as they developed. Soon, the tree was heavy with them and the air was full of the enchanting smell of ripe peaches. Children gathered around and stared longingly at the luscious fruit while the adults gulped with their mouths watering.
Finally the old man reached up, plucked a peach from the tree, and handed it to one of the people in the crowd. “Please,” he said, waving his hand, “help yourself.”
The crowd needed no other urging. Young children climbed the tree and passed down the fruit, while the taller adults simply stretched and grabbed. A boy with a tired horse climbed onto its back to reach an especially red peach that called him. Before long, everyone’s mouths were full of soft, sweet peach flesh and groans of delight. Even the peach vendor, his stand forgotten, stood under the tree with his eyes closed contentedly and peach juice dribbling out of his mouth.
Minli, however, didn’t join in the feast of peaches. If I hadn’t been eating peaches all the way to the city, Minli said to herself, I’d be the first one climbing the tree. But as she was slightly tired of peaches, Minli saw what no one else did. She noticed that every time someone plucked a peach from the tree, a peach from the fruit stand disappeared.
The beggar is using the vendor’s peaches for his tree! Minli laughed to herself as she glanced at him through the fruit-eating crowd. He was watching with an amused look, and suddenly Minli saw that the beggar wasn’t really that old at all. “He must be a magician. Maybe he can help me get into the Inner City.”
Minli edged toward him. As
she weaved her way to him, the last peach was picked from the tree and the leaves and branches began to disappear. The tree trunk seemed to shrivel into itself and it grew thinner and shorter. The crowd had finished their peaches and the ground was littered with peach pits. When Minli finally reached the beggar, the tiny twig of the tree vanished underneath the pile of peach pits and the beggar was turning to leave.
“Wait!” Minli said, and grabbed his arm. However, as Minli took hold of his sleeve, it pulled back and a glint of gold shone. Hastily, the beggar pushed back his sleeve, but the quick glance was enough for Minli to see that he wore a gold bracelet in the shape of a dragon. They stared at each other, as Minli’s quick-thinking mind somersaulted. Only the imperial family is allowed to use the image of a dragon, Dragon had said. Everyone knows a golden dragon is always and only worn by kings, said the buffalo boy. The words flashed in her mind and Minli could scarcely breathe.
“You’re wearing a dragon,” Minli gasped. “Only the… is allowed to wear a golden dragon… you must be… you must be…”
“Where’s that beggar?!” a loud angry shout cut through the chaos. Minli recognized the vendor’s voice. “He stole my peaches! I’ll get him!”
Quickly, the beggar shook off Minli from his arm and began to run. She stared in shock as she finished her sentence. “You must be,” Minli whispered to the ragged, disappearing figure, “the king!”
CHAPTER
22
Minli shook herself from her shock. “The king!” Minli said. “I can’t lose him now!” And in a panic, she began to run after the tattered figure.