Nearby, a wooden cistern creaked. It had been designed to capture a trickle of water dripping down the face of a large rock formation, evidence of an underground source. The water filled a small wooden vessel perched on a wooden axle-assembly, and when the level reached a tipping point, the whole thing would tilt forward to fill the larger cistern. The overflow splashed on the stones below, some of which had been worn smooth, and disappeared into the damp earth. A few feet ahead on the trail, a lone gate beckoned, the paint chipped away at the bottom, where the wood showed signs of rot.
Emily picked up the ceremonial ladle and splashed water from the cistern on one hand, then the other, and offered it to Stone.
“Be careful not to let it splash back in,” Emily said. “It’s supposed to hit the ground.”
“Does it really make a difference?” Li Li watched as Stone struggled to manage the long, thin handle of the ladle with his large hands. “It’s not like our hands are really dirty… and there’s no soap anyway.”
“It’s not that kind of clean.”
“It seems silly to me.”
“It’s kind of like this gate.” Emily gestured to them to join her, as she crouched down to inspect the inscription. “See if you can read what it says.”
“Bamboo… forest… rubber business.” Li Li pieced the kanji together. “Nineteen twenty six.”
“Yes, the Takemori Rubber Company paid for this gate.”
“It looks pretty rotten now.”
“Now step through it.” Emily demonstrated, and then gestured to Li Li and Stone to follow her. “Does it feel any different?”
“No,” Li Li said. “It’s just a wooden arch.”
Stone stepped back through a second time, and then a third. Emily reached through to touch his hand, and then turned to Li Li.
“Look closely. He’s on one side and we’re on the other, but we can still reach each other.”
“I don’t get it, Emmy,” Li Li moaned.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. There’s nothing to get. It’s just that the world is divided in lots of ways, but it’s always possible to reach from one side to another.”
“But why did the Takemori Company put this here?”
“It’s a sort of a good-luck offering to the fox demon. They wish for their business to do well, and the kitsune are like guardians of prosperity, like Yuki was saying.”
“You mean because they catch rats?”
“Yes. The rats would steal the rice harvest.” Emily paused to consider how to convey her thoughts to a very practical-minded teenager. “Businesses succeed or fail all the time, and it doesn’t always matter if the people who own them are skilled or unskilled. Everyone would like to think they can control their destiny, but some things elude our grasp. Does that make sense?”
“I guess… sort of.”
“When the Takemori people put up this gate, they were acknowledging that the fate of their business was not completely in their hands.”
“You mean, so that if they failed, they could blame it on the kitsune, right?”
“Maybe that’s a way of putting it… but you should never blame the kami.”
“The kami?”
“The demons, like the kitsune. It’s appropriate to request their protection, but not to blame them if you fail.”
“Why not?”
“Because, if you fail, and you examine what happened, you will always find the mistake you made. Sacred things, even sacred monsters…”
“… like the kami, right?” Li Li asked. Stone nodded vigorously, now standing directly behind her.
“Yes, like the kami. We need them so that we can understand the things that aren’t sacred, the things that are profane.”
“Profane? Does that mean evil?”
“Not exactly. The profane is everything that isn’t sacred, and this gate represents the connection between them. If there were no connection, the kitsune would not be able to protect us. When we wish for good health, or prosperity, or happiness, we’re wishing for something profane. But a wish is a sacred act, because it invokes everything about the world we can’t understand. The gate is like the form of a wish.”
“That sounds crazy, Emmy.”
“I know.” Emily smiled at both of them, and reached her arms around their shoulders. “Sometimes life is crazy.”
This was the moment to broach the subject of Li Li’s departure with Stone, Emily sensed well enough. He already knew all about it, of course – how could he not, the way Andie and Yuki had carried on over the last few weeks? But was he ready to accept it? When Emily reminded him of the bad news, Li Li began to tremble and tear up, until finally she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed. This turned out to be the tonic he needed. Soothing her was the best way to soothe himself, and they stood together for several minutes. Emily pulled them back to the gate, and positioned them on either side.
“Remember, even if a world divides you from each other, you can always reach back.”
Emily also knew to remind Stone of the importance of keeping Andie and Yuki safe while she was gone. Ordinarily, this would be too much of a burden for a boy, but given the circumstances and Stone’s character, it seemed to be a charge of suitable dimensions, especially since she harbored the worry that he might run away to find Li Li if no other obligation held him back.
22
A Death in Seoul
The flight to Osan Air Force Base, on the outskirts of Seoul, proved uneventful, and entering through the makeshift terminal was a bit of a slog, but not because of anything sinister. Michael had reassured her that even if there was some lingering interest in connection with the death of several NIS agents a few years back – which he doubted – she would still be protected under the Vienna Convention of 1961. Even third-party states are obliged to honor immunity for diplomats passing through their territory. At the end of a longish hour, a distracted border control officer grunted and stamped their passports, and they were free to wander about the city for the next day and a half.
The taxi ride into town took less time in mid-morning traffic than it would have an hour earlier. Emily had selected one of the hotels on the fringe of Gimpo International Airport, mainly for the sake of convenience tomorrow, but also because another errand had been tickling the back of her mind since their visit to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. The room wouldn’t be ready until later in the afternoon, so she checked her bag with the front desk clerk – Li Li didn’t have a bag of her own, yet – and set out for the Airport Market subway station.
It might have been simpler to take another taxi for what would have been a twenty-minute ride, but Emily preferred to spend an hour or so in the Seoul subway, riding Line 9 to Noryangjin, to give Li Li a taste of city life before she arrived in Beijing. From the elevated walkway outside the station, the crowds congregating around the fish market caught Li Li’s eye.
“Is that where we’re going, Emmy?”
“Are you hungry?”
Li Li’s affirmation was tentative, which was hardly surprising for a girl who’d grown up eating hamburgers and pizza in suburban Virginia. Yuki had introduced her to a few Japanese dishes – miso soup, sushi, ramen – and Andie liked to think her stir-fry was somehow representative of Chinese cooking. Of course, Mrs. Sung made sure she was exposed to something genuine, whenever Li Li came to visit in Alexandria.
Emily had her own reservations about entering the market. The last time she’d visited Seoul, trouble followed in her train, and she didn’t wish to bring any more misery into the lives of the Lee family. But the idea of staying away – when something that felt like destiny had brought her near again – couldn’t get a full hearing in her thoughts.
The market consisted of several dozen stalls housed in a hangar-sized, pre-fab steel and corrugated metal structure nestled in between two sets of rails. A forty foot roof allowed for a second story food court to look over the main floor, and a long, angular opening in the roof let sun and sky in, and provided much needed ventilation to
the whole structure.
“Trust me, you’ll like it. Fried seafood, rice, maybe some fish soup.”
Li Li nodded and followed Emily through the main entrance on the side near the subway line. They walked past exotic creatures displayed on all sides, some with encrusted shells, others spreading tentacles from one inky tub to another. Li Li squealed to see enormous prawns scuttling along the bottom of an even larger tank, and a crab the size of a manhole cover lounging on a nearby bed of ice and seaweed.
In a more central location than she remembered, and occupying the space of three stalls, Emily spied what looked to be the business she’d been surreptitiously seeking. A sign suspended from the ceiling read “Lee & Family,” in English, with hangul characters on top and bottom, but she saw no sign of Rhee Sung or Lee Kyung Hae. Could this really be their business? Two young men bustled behind a tile and glass display case, and a teenage girl who couldn’t be older than sixteen rang up an elderly customer’s purchase. Emily pushed some folded bills into Li Li’s hand and pointed her to the counter.
“But I don’t speak Korean, Emmy.”
“Don’t worry. It won’t matter. Just tell them you want something to take upstairs.”
“Something? What are we getting?”
“Ask her to pick something.” Emily indicated the teenage girl. “She’ll know what’s fresh today.”
With a nudge and a sneaky smile, Emily finally got Li Li moving, then watched as the two girls figured out how to communicate. A few hand gestures, a mix of Chinese and English words, and Li Li handed some money across the counter. A few minutes later, she returned with a plastic sack full of assorted creatures, and they headed upstairs.
A dozen or so grill stands lined the back wall of the food court, and Emily chose the one she remembered from last time she was here. The chef spoke enough Japanese to understand what she wanted – rice, a stew made from fish, scallop and assorted tentacles, two bowls of the heavy, spicy soup that was a local delicacy, and a plate of pickled cabbage. When he brought their order over to a table Emily had picked near the railing, Li Li looked relieved. The meal seemed familiar enough, even enticing.
While Li Li slurped and crunched and pretty much devoured what was on her plate, Emily craned her neck to get a better view of the people seated nearby. The crowd must have thinned, since the lunch rush probably ended a half hour ago. A few feet away, a table of tourists was easy to spot, gawking at the strange sights below, and there were tables where stall workers bolted their lunch on a break before heading outside for a smoke. On the far side of two empty tables to their right, Emily took an interest in three muscular men who had finished eating. She tried not to stare, but they were dressed too stylishly to work in the market, and their haircuts didn’t exactly fit the profile of a typical banker or stockbroker, or anyone else who could afford even their shoes. One of them leaned back in his chair, hands clasped behind his neck, and a tattoo peaked out from a rolled up cuff.
Were these Jo Tae Chang’s men, watching over the Lee family’s business… or had Shinjo failed to keep his word? That day nine years ago, it was nearly a decade, she’d encountered him in Jo’s Gangnam mansion, and entrusted a lonely yakuza with this mission. He’d struck her as a lost soul, orphaned to the universe, with nothing to lose or gain by whatever happened next. The Osaka oyabun had sent him to oversee the operation in Seoul, and give some subtle direction to their junior partners in the Han Dragons, but she had seen then that he was adrift. It occurred to her that he might have been recalled to Osaka.
Downstairs, the adults had returned to the market stall, and Emily recognized them, Rhee Sung and his cousin. Perhaps she stared a little too intently to satisfy the rules of decorum, but she was searching for some sign, some hint, of their condition. They seemed calm and content, and she wanted to take this as a sign of their safety. If only such a fact could be read in their faces.
“Are you okay, Emmy?”
She turned to respond to Li Li’s inquiry, but the main question wouldn’t release her attention. Had she done well by the little man who’d helped her rescue the children from Colonel Park all those years ago? The tattooed man and his companions sitting two tables over were gone, and she hadn’t even noticed their departure.
“No, I’m fine, sweetheart. I was just…”
The tattooed man reappeared on the market floor below, and the other two toughs walked behind him in a standard security flanking position. He approached Rhee Sung, who was busying himself wiping down one of the displays in front of the stall, and Emily shifted into an even more alert mode, one hand gripping the railing and her feet already shifting position in case she needed to move quickly, her eyes still glued to the scene unfolding downstairs.
“Emmy, you’re scaring me,” Li Li whispered, tugging on her shirtsleeve.
But somehow Emily’s worst fears were not realized. The large man with the tattoos bowed, and shook Rhee Sung’s hand, and she leaned out over the railing. Had she heard correctly? Whatever he’d said, it seemed to end with the phrase, jal meo geosseumnida, or something to that effect, and the little bit she understood of Korean made her think he was thanking Rhee Sung for the meal. A moment later, the men sauntered off down the main alley of the marketplace, like three princes surveying their estates.
“I’m sorry. It’s nothing… I think… but there’s someone I think you should meet.”
After clearing the table, Emily pulled Li Li into a hug, and like any freshly minted teenager, she squirmed out of it. A moment later, Emily tugged her by the hand, brooking no protests for her sudden display of affection and led her to the stairs.
“Why are you acting so weird?” Li Li squawked.
Finally, standing in front of the Lees’ stall, Emily waited to see if he would recognize her. With his back turned, busying himself about tidying something else that must have gotten out of order during the noon rush, he didn’t have time to notice her. But Kyung Hae saw, and gasped from behind the counter, frozen for a moment at a reminder of the darkest times, confronted with a face that had only ever been a harbinger of bad tidings. Emily tried to smile the bad omen away, and Rhee Sung turned to see her, and his cousin stepped out next to him. The two of them bowed with great care, hands clasped behind them, and uttered a polite formula, and Emily pulled Li Li into a similar bow.
“Can we speak in English?”
“Yes, please, Tenno-san,” Lee Kyung Hae said, her voice still shaking. “What brings you to our humble stall?”
“I’m glad to see it is not so humble. I hope this means you are doing well.”
“Yes, very well… and I think we owe it to your friend, the gangster. We are in your debt.”
“Please, don’t worry. You owe me nothing.” Emily took Kyung Hae’s hand for a moment, even though it wasn’t etiquette here, and tried to soothe her. “We are only passing through. But I thought your cousin might like to see what has become of the girl he helped me rescue all those years ago.” Emily gestured toward Li Li, who bowed nervously.
Rhee Sung smiled and bowed in return, and a gleam in his eye as he beheld Li Li revealed his excitement. He chattered something to his cousin, which she translated. “He says she is tall and beautiful. He wonders how the boy is.”
“The boy is big and strong and very happy in his new home, but he couldn’t come with us today.”
“Miss Tenno,” Kyung Hae began, her voice fluttering. “We are very grateful for the assistance you gave us. As you can see, our business has grown…”
“… but I frighten you… I know, and I should not have surprised you like this. Please, do not be ashamed to say it. I hope I am not bringing any troubles in my train this time… and we will leave Seoul tomorrow morning.”
Emily was conscious of the impropriety of not formally introducing Li Li, or even mentioning Stone by name. In the back of her mind, old security protocols still exercised their influence, and this was not information Rhee Sung or his cousin needed to be burdened with. This quiet intuition was co
nfirmed by the way he still trembled to see her, after all these years.
The two young men bustled behind the counter, still tidying up from the earlier crush of business, and seemed to pay no attention to any goings on out front. But the same could not be said of the young lady who’d served Li Li. She’d been watching intently from behind the cash register, staring even, and Emily became aware of her gaze. When she turned to face her, the girl tilted her head slightly, in that way dogs sometimes do when confronted by something peculiar. In a flash, her eyes lit up and she ran over and threw her arms around Emily’s neck, before Kyung Hae pulled her back, and then she bowed respectfully, and said, “Emmy-unnie.”
“Is this little Ji Yeong? But you’ve grown so tall. I can’t believe you still remember me.”
The girl nodded, her eyes melting, and then threw her arms around Emily again, and she held her close, too, though she could sense that Li Li did not exactly approve. A long moment was required to extricate herself from the situation, and Emily was well aware that Kyung Hae would have some choice words for her daughter’s indiscretion after they were gone.
How exactly could Ji Yeong have remembered her after all these years, on the basis of a single afternoon spent playing in a plastic playhouse? She dearly hoped the girl had not been scarred by the violence of that day, since it was hardly credible that any other aspect of their time together could have left such a mark. An even more troubling thought presented itself: Ji Yeong’s recognition was an alarming sign that she was not as inconspicuous as she might have hoped. Emily tried to shake these reflections off. Perhaps the dark turn of her thoughts had been brought on by having crossed paths, however tangentially, with the men she took to be gangsters.
Later, as she ran through the instructions Jiang Xi had given for the meeting with Choi Kyung Min, a similar darkness made her shiver with foreboding. She’d urged him to choose an open space, like the plaza outside the Olympic Stadium, where she might assess any threats before committing herself and Li Li to the meeting. But what made her think she could recognize something dangerous here, Jiang wanted to know, and the danger posed by such a location, for an outsider unfamiliar with the local flora and fauna, could hardly be mitigated, since they would be as easily trapped in the open as in a narrow defile.
Girl Goes To Wudang (An Emily Kane Adventure Book 7) Page 24