The Gemini Child

by Shea Meadows

  He looked at each of the people at the table. “I know about you because I have eyes and ears everywhere.” He pointed at David. “You, sir, are the present father of my sweet Nelly, but you work for the government of America. Is that not true?”

  David smiled. “I used to work as a detective for one of the states of America. Now my wife and I have our own business. She specializes in working with people such as you.”

  “Such as me? Chinese businessmen?”

  “No, those who have chosen not to go on to the Celestial Kingdom,” David replied.

  “Ah. She speaks to ghosts. But I am more than a ghost. I have created an invisible dynasty,” Du corrected. “How many ghosts do you know who are warlords?”

  “A few. We travel in interesting circles.”

  Du’s ghost made a huffing sound that might have been a laugh. He shifted his gaze to Susan, Bonta and George. “The three of you are in costume tonight.” He pointed at Bonta. “Yes, there were people from the African continent in this club. You could have come as yourself, but instead you chose to represent a past incarnation, the concubine of Emperor Jingdi. Is this not so?”

  Bonta nodded. “You were there, too, in that incarnation. Do you remember?”

  “Yes, being the dowager was always your goal, but it never came to pass. I was eunuch of the court. I will never choose that path again,” Du answered with a shudder.

  He looked to Susan Fry with gleaming eyes. “This was the real dowager. You were the witch Lee Gee who became the empress, then the mother of the new emperor. Your influence changed the course of Han Dynasty history.”

  “I have just discovered this recently. I also remember you,” Susan answered.

  “You are a friend of Sung Ho in this incarnation. I was a friend of his grandfather. I honor him for keeping the treasures of the ancient people safe from the long arm of government. You will have questions later, I am sure.”

  “That information is exactly what we need, Lord Du,” Susan said, smiling.

  He then looked to George. “You are in a mask as well, my friend. Our time together was long before the Han dynasty. We were courtiers in the Xia dynasty, do you remember?”

  “It has taken me many lifetimes to forget. I would rather be George Banner from America than a general and thug in the army of Emperor Zhuanxu. You, if I remember your essence, were Wing Yi, the court sorcerer. You created the original Bi Mo Chu and unleashed the ghost army to fight our battles. You won the war for us but created mayhem. The curse of the ghost trap continues to reverberate throughout the ages. That is why we returned to China,” George said, looking boldly into the eyes of the ghost.

  The ghost spread his hands out in a fan. “I confess to this. I am aware that the Bi Mo Chu has been resurrected. If I have any fear, it is that I will be sucked into that world and forced to be a captive in the cage I created, many thousands of years ago. To avoid that, I would go forward to the next incarnation, but I have found an easier way.”

  He reached behind his collar and showed them the mummified head of a monkey suspended on a chain, to his chest. “This is a talisman I have created to protect me from the fate of the cube. I wear one on my back, one in my shirt and a third in a place not mentioned in polite society. People laughed at me and called it superstition, but that never stopped me. The protection includes all of my clan. They are safe even after death. But the side effect of the remedy is that the lucky monkeys keep us in this netherworld. We play our parts over and over again.”

  “That sounds much like the report of Wang Mang who recently left the Bi Mo Chu,” Ricky said. “He described the endless circle of contention and punishment in the cube reality.”

  Du’s ghost smiled and nodded toward Ricky. “I cannot argue with his assessment, but here, though there are unpleasant times, we still have the freedom this place represents. We carry on with the gambling, the opium, the music, the food and the lovely ladies. It is far more enjoyable than being ruled by the large ego of a failed sorcerer.”

  Du smiled at Moon. “This one is an advocate from spirit world. She and her fellow guides visit often, attempting to lure us forward into a time of contemplation followed by another incarnation. That may happen sooner rather than later. I am waiting for the opportunity to be involved in an important story that might redeem my reputation. Maybe this will be it. Do you think so, Moon Angel?”

  Moon smiled. “That is for you to decide, Du. Being our ally could go a long way with the Council of Elders.”

  Du nodded. “I will consider that.”

  He turned back to George. “I believe you have brought a tribute for me. I cannot trade information unless you have something to give me in return.”

  The cane appeared in George’s hand then jumped to the hand of Du, who examined it carefully. “An exact replica of the one I carried when I ran this place. I had to escape the government by moving to Hong Kong. It was impossible to bring it, so it remained here. I could have created a replica, but I knew someday I’d receive it as a gift.”

  “It is our way of saying your friendship is appreciated and valued,” George said.

  “We need your assistance, Lord Du. Nellie’s father, Norton Reston came to you in friendship, and you did certain favors for him. One of them was teaching him how to block out sections of his Akashic Record. This skill makes it difficult to follow his trail. Perhaps you could show us how to unblock it or, if you have the missing information, share it with us?” Moon asked.

  Du looked at her with a startled expression. “Oh, you travel to much higher frequencies than I, and you read the records of lifetimes easily. Why don’t you know these things? How can anything be hidden from you?”

  “We are all still evolving,” Moon replied. “I never pretended to know everything. I can connect with sources of knowledge not available during incarnations, but do not have access to every fact. You are the expert concerning your most recent lifetime. And, as my father said, we need your help.

  “Nory, who you loved as Nellie, came in to a new body to reverse a wrong done by her father. If we do nothing, Norton’s Bi Mo Chu will poison everyone in the Clark household and draw them into the cube. Nory is now living away from her home because she does not want her new body destroyed like her last one,” Moon explained.

  “That is only part of the concern. Norton Reston is gathering ghosts from both the Han and the Qin dynasties. He uses information he found on scrolls provided by Sung May Su to pull them from burial replicas into the Bi Mo Chu. We suspect he is building an army to attack the physical reality in some way. Our mission here is to stop him, not only for Nory, but for all ghosts held in the cube reality against their will,” Ricky added.

  Du looked at Nory as three-year old Nellie. “So, my little friend, you wear a mask too. How old is your body in your present incarnation?”

  “My body is six months old, but I have an advantage: I remember my life as Nellie. This was granted to me since our mission is so important. Would you like to see my essence in my preferred form?” Nellie answered.

  Du nodded and then watched as Nory shifted into the teenage version of herself, complete with a dress in the cheongsam traditional style and her black hair held in place by a pearl comb. “I am not yet this but can see images of my body as it will be if I am allowed to live in it until I am a teenager.”

  “Why would you not grow to womanhood?” Du asked.

  “Norton Reston has other plans. He dreams of me as his concubine in the Bi Mo Chu reality, where he plans to rule as Emperor. What his mission might be, after that is achieved, is unknown to us,” Nory said.

  “How do you know what he dreams of? What is your source?” Du asked.

  Nory turned toward Bonta. “Could you show him the picture?”

  A copy of the drawing Bonta had made of Norton’s dream court in the Bi Mo Chu sprang into existence on the table. Du picked it up and examined it then nodded. “Where did this come from?”

  “I have the gift of receiving images that refl
ect strong possibilities,” Bonta explained. “It might entail reading the Akashic Records from the past or following the future path that is the brightest. Would you like a demonstration?”

  Du steepled his fingers as he thought. “Draw a representation of what happened to the man Bi Tu Ling who is now a ghost is this establishment.”

  Bonta nodded and manifested paper and pencil, quickly drew a sketch, and handed it to Du.

  Du looked at it and smiled. “This is truth. He was out making an opium delivery to an emissary of Italy when he was set upon by Japanese soldiers patrolling the Italian embassy. He was beaten and then beheaded. Look, he is behind the bar.”

  A thin ghost with a pock-marked face was placing drinks on a tray with one hand and holding his head in place with the other. Frequently the head slipped onto his shoulder and had to be replaced.

  He turned to Nory. “What information can I give you? Is it about the scrolls that explain the making of the Bi Mo Chu?”

  “Yes, we know you introduced him to a scholar who had the scroll. We also surmise Norton Reston discovered the Bi Mo Chu in a cave in Xian. We need any written information on another device that we think is a key to the cube, created by Emperor Jingdi’s last wife,” Nory told him.

  Du looked at Susan Fry. “That would be you in one of your incarnations. First a witch, then a concubine and you were at last a wife, true?”

  “So it says in my Akashic Records. When I was here before, I found a tool called a Bing Ta Cri in the archives of Song Hu. I suspect that the man Norton Reston met through you was his grandfather, Song May Su. Am I correct?” Susan asked.

  Du nodded. “Yes, Song May Su brought Norton Reston, who I called the White Emperor, to a private stash of artifacts saved in a subterranean space near his home. He was one of the librarians at the Shanghai museum at that time. In 1936, a new museum was being built, and many things were discarded that the national government did not think were proper to save. May Su refused to destroy them and secreted them away in what used to be a treasure cave. The scrolls were in that collection. He would not give them to Reston but did translate them for him.

  “Who knows? Perchance Sung Hu has what you are looking for. I will give you directions to his place. I am unsure if he still has the original stash of artifacts. The new government searches with more vigor than the Nationalists or even the Japanese. The grandson came here about a month back for a business meeting. Anyone who comes into my home has no secrets, so I can direct you there.”

  Ricky smiled at the drug lord ghost, thinking how strange it was that someone who caused chaos in the 1930s’ Shanghai could be helpful. Was Du being truthful? Was there any way to tell? “Thank you for the information. Not to rush but we are only in the city for two days. If you have an address, Susan Fry will contact her friend for us.”

  Du nodded and gestured to the waiter with the knife sticking out of his back. He whispered in the man’s ear, and all of them watched while the waiter approached a stout Asian man in a black felt hat and a tight Western suit which was riddled with bullet holes. That man hustled over to the table and Du introduced him as the head of security, Ping Tu.

  “Yes, sir,” Ping Tu said, as he pulled out a small notebook from his jacket which was streaked with blood stains. He looked over the information from several days back, mumbling “Sung Ho, Sung Ho” as a bare finger-bone scrolled over the entries. “Here it is: Sung Ho lives at 500 Peacock Way, the home of his esteemed grandfather. Would you like us to make contact?”

  Susan shook her head. “I know just where that is. Is there a phone number in the material?”

  The security head materialized a slip of parchment with a number transcribed and flew it over to settle in Susan’s hand. “The same number I have in my book. Ho must feel safe so more than likely still has his collection. Thank you both.”

  Du bowed his head and fingered the monkey head that dangled in front of his chest. “I help because of Nellie, so she can grow and be a woman of power. I saw that in her when she visited me when I still had a physical body.”

  He looked at teenage-Nory. “Can I give you a talisman that represents my presence? I cannot travel with you in person as you search for the ghost of Norton Reston. I maintain this hotel only by my refusal to leave. But I can send my eyes and ears with you if you care to bring them.”

  Nory looked quizzically at him. “What form would they have?”

  Du pulled a small, mummified monkey from an emerald green silk sack that materialized on the table. “This is your new pet. Bring him with you if you wish. He will be my surrogate if you or your parents call on me through him. I will not contact you; you must contact me. Also, if any friends of mine are in ghost form and can be of assistance, ask this monkey and they will come.”

  Nory took the monkey, looking to Moon and Ricky for guidance. They both nodded. ‘Thank you Uncle Du. I will call him Houzi. Is that to your liking?”

  Du laughed and hugged the girl. “That is perfect. Do not show him about, but keep him near.”

  Nory hugged the monkey with only a moment’s hesitation, which was amazing considering how strange it looked. “This hug is for you, Uncle, and shows our appreciation.”

  Du pushed back the chair from the table and stood over them smiling. “Most of you still have bodies and are at the start of an adventure; I would suggest you rejoin bodies and spirit and rest. Tomorrow you will be much closer to solving your problem.”

  He patted Nory on the shoulder and left, followed by Ping Tu and the unnamed dancing girl, carrying the cane he received from George. Everyone watched him disappear as he came to the door.

  “I think we’ve been dismissed,” David said. “Best to keep our views to ourselves until another time.”

  The others nodded in agreement, and Moon smiled at them. “I will be following along as we make contact with Susan’s friend. Hopefully it works out that he is available tomorrow.”

  “I’ll call him first thing in the morning,” Susan confirmed.

  With that they all popped out of the night club and the 1930s to return to their own time and their present bodies.

  ***

  They woke to a rainy day in Shanghai and the manifestation of a green silk bag lying on the floor under the baby’s bed. David picked it up and looked inside.

  “Well, I guess that happened,” he said with a sigh. Ricky got up and inspected the mummified monkey, which looked even more bizarre in the light of day.

  “We shouldn’t talk about this until we are out and about, then we’ll decide if it’s worth the risk to use it,” Ricky opinioned.

  “Agreed,” David said with a shudder. A moment later the phone rang.

  “Hope I didn’t wake you,” Susan said with a yawn. “I remembered Sung Ho was an early riser, so I called him before he was unreachable. We have an appointment for this morning at ten. Can we get our act together by then? It’s eight-thirty now, and it could take anywhere from fifteen to forty-five minutes, depending on how jammed up the main roads are.”

  “We’ll make it happen,” Ricky replied. “I assume Bonta knows, so give George a call. We’ll plan to be out by 9:15.”

  “Bonta is on her way to your room to help with Nory. I called room service for a light breakfast for all of us delivered to the sitting room. George and I will see you there,” Susan said before she hung up.

  Bonta arrived, dressed in silk trousers and a peasant blouse, covered by a quilted jacket. She was ready to clean up the baby and dress her in a pair of pink overalls and a turquoise tee-shirt, then put pink bows in her short black hair.

  Ricky and David shared the large bathroom with twin sinks and dressed in casual slacks, long sleeved tees and walking shoes so they would blend in with the rest of the American tourists. It was a good thing that everyone had brought jackets and sweaters to layer considering the cold weather. Breakfast was served in the sitting room, and Ricky ate a delicate rice-flour pastry and drank a cup of tea as she nursed the baby.

  George and
Susan arrived soon after and helped themselves to food, and all were in the cab in front of the hotel by 9:15. Susan had asked for a small van, but it was more of a squeeze than any of them had expected. The streets of Shanghai were clogged with morning traffic, but Susan talked to the cabby in flawless Mandarin dialect and had him smiling in no time. He graciously found a back route to 500 Peacock Way, which got them there in twenty minutes.

  The house was at the center of a cul-de-sac with a large expanse of land behind it. It appeared to be old, built in a style that mimicked the castles of France in the eighteen hundreds. There was a large turret at the front of the structure and a winding stone wall around the property.

  “So, Susan, you’ve been here before? What’s the story of the house?” George asked.

  “It’s about a hundred and fifty years old and was built by a wealthy bachelor who owned this house and one in France. Sung Ho’s grandfather was his manservant and pretty much ran the place how he wanted. The owner was seldom in Shanghai. The boss, James La Fee, never married and hadn’t a family member to his name, so left the place to Sung May Su. That was a good thing for everyone since May Su had a wife and three kids who lived in the servant’s quarters and had already stashed thousands of items in the cave storage space behind the building. The stuff was pilfered from the National Museum where he worked part-time. These were things the government had decided to purge.

  “When the boss died, the Sung family moved into the main house, and May Su worked at the museum full-time. His middle child was named Sung Park Su. He married and stayed on at the family homestead, with his mother and sisters, and worked the museum job he inherited from his father when his father died. He had one son and two daughters; Sung Ho is the son.

  “The aunties grew ancient living there, never married and died in the house. They have a really spooky upstairs room dedicated to them. Ho’s sisters were part of the entertainment industry in the French Quarter and both married well. So there is Sung Ho, a confirmed bachelor, who lives alone in the house and still works in the museum. He lets tourists in his home on weekends and makes a bundle just from that,” Susan concluded.